Around 250,000 Catholic pilgrims gathered at the Sanctuary of Fátima in Portugal for the annual Mass of the Blessing of the Candles.

Footage showed crowds holding candles, singing hymns and taking part in nighttime processions honouring the Virgin Mary during the May 12-13 pilgrimage.

Pilgrims from Portugal and abroad filled the sanctuary grounds as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was carried through the crowd.

Some worshippers arrived barefoot or walked on their knees as acts of devotion. The annual pilgrimage commemorates the reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary to shepherd children in 1917.