The International Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima has returned to Maine after a 14-year absence.

Thousands flocked to see the “weeping Madonna” when it toured the state in August 1991.

On Tuesday, the 4-foot statue carved from wood began a three-week tour of 17 Roman Catholic parishes, a shrine and a healing center at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

The statue will stop in Brewer, Skowhegan, Pittsfield, Old Town, Sherman Mills, Howland and Ellsworth before heading to southern Maine again.

It is known as the “weeping Madonna” because believers have reported seeing the statue shed tears on at least 30 occasions.

When she heard the statue was coming to Maine, Linda Hardy, 51, of Hancock arranged to have it visit her parish, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ellsworth. Hardy said that seeing the statue 14 years ago was a spiritual experience.

“It’s such a beautiful piece of art,” she said. “There’s also a spiritual impact when you have an opportunity to see the statue. It affects everyone in different ways.

“We believe as Catholics that the mother of Jesus is a powerful intercessor,” Hardy said. “We ask her to pray for us like we would ask a friend to pray for us. Seeing the statue fostered a stronger devotion to the mother of Jesus as an intercessor for me.”

The likeness of the Virgin Mary is reported to have appeared to three youngsters once a month from May to October 1917 in Fatima, Portugal. It asked them to spread a message of peace, repentance and daily prayer. One of the children became a Carmelite nun and took the name Sister Lucia. She died in February at the age of 97.

The statue was sculpted in 1947 by Jose Thedim. It was based on the description of Sister Lucia, one of the young seers. Over the past 58 years, the statue has circled the globe many times, visiting more than 100 countries, including Russia and China.

The statue never travels alone. It is chaperoned by Carl Malburg, 64, who works for the Minster, Ind.,-based Pilgrim Virgin Committee, which coordinates its globe-trotting and raises money to support the program. A retired lumberjack, Malburg has accompanied the statue to more than 25 countries and has visited every continent except Antarctica.

Although the statue gets its own seat when it flies, it will travel through Maine inside a blue case lined with protective material in Malburg’s white minivan, which sports an Indiana license plate that reads: FATIMA1.

Malburg will give lectures and distribute information about the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima at every stop, Hardy said.

DATE SITE TOWN

Aug. 6 St. Peter & Paul Lewiston

Aug. 7 Our Lady of the Rosary Sabattus

Aug. 8 St. Rose de Lima Jay

Aug. 9 St. Ambrose Richmond

Aug. 10 Holy Spirit Waterville

Aug. 11 St. Joseph’s Brewer

Aug. 12 Notre Dame de Lourdes Skowhegan

Aug. 13 St. Agnes Pittsfield

Aug. 14 Holy Family Old Town

Aug. 15 Lifesong Healing Center Sherman Mills

Aug. 16 St. Leo the Great Howland

Aug. 17-18 St. Joseph’s Ellsworth

Aug. 19 St. Denis Whitefield

Aug. 20 St. Patrick’s Newcastle

Aug. 21 St. John the Baptist Brunswick

Aug. 22 Holy Cross South Portland