In the early times of Christianity, a statue of Our Lady of
Nazareth was venerated. However, during the iconoclast heresy
when statues were being destroyed, this ancient statue was
brought to Spain to be protected. In 714, King Rodrigo fled to
Portugal to escape the ravages of the Saracens and took the
small statue with him, hiding it in a cave located in a coastal
town which was later known as Nazare. Here it remained until
1179, when a shepherd rediscovered it. Three years later, Dom
Fuas Roupinho, a knight in the court of King Alphonse Henriques,
was hunting deer. Suddenly his prey tumbled off a seaside cliff
and he was miraculously saved from the same end by calling out
to Our Lady of Nazareth. In thanksgiving for his life, Dom Fuas
built a small chapel over the cave in which she had resided for
so many years. Soon, word of the miracle reached far and wide,
bringing countless graces to the many pilgrims who came to
venerate this ancient relic. What do we see about the ways of
Divine Providence in this bea