The United Nations International Statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be brought to several locations in the Diocese of Peoria in early December to inspire prayer and promote the Fatima message.

Accompanying the statue — one of four official International Pilgrim Virgin Statues from the World Apostolate of Fatima — during stops in Moline, Peoria, Normal, and Peru Dec. 6 to 9 will be Judy Studer, who claims to have been healed from colon cancer after praying to Jesus through Mary while kneeling before the image.

Studer, a nurse in a cardiac care unit in Providence, R.I., travels around the United States telling the story of Mary’s appearances to three poor children in Fatima, Portugal, from May to October, 1917. In those appearances, the Blessed Mother urged the world to pray for peace and for the forgiveness of sins.

Studer is a caretaker for the statue, which was brought to the United Nations from Fatima in 1952 and placed in the Meditation Room.
She will bring the statue to the following locations in the Diocese of Peoria:

Dec. 6 (Monday) — St. Mary’s Church, Moline. A Mass in Spanish will be celebrated at 7 p.m., followed by the rosary in Spanish.

Dec. 7 (Tuesday) — St. Mary’s Church, Moline. A Mass will be celebrated at 8:15 a.m., followed by the rosary and a social.
That afternoon, OSF St. Clare House, Peoria, will host Studer and the statue for Mass at 3 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., the location shifts to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Chapel for a presentation, recitation of the rosary, and Benediction.

Dec. 8 (Wednesday) — Epiphany Church, Normal. On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Studer will be present for the 8:15 a.m. Mass and then visit with the children of Epiphany Grade School. That evening, after the 5:30 p.m. Mass, she will speak about the message of Fatima with veneration of the statue to follow.

Dec. 9 (Thursday) — St. Bede Academy, Peru. Studer will spend the day visiting with students during their religion classes. She will speak to the public at 4:15, followed by Mass at 5 p.m. The cost of Studer’s travel to St. Bede was funded by the Normal Knights of Columbus, Father Carmody Council No. 6498.