About Our Lady of Fatima Guest House
Learn about the history of the Fatima Guest House and your hosts' faith journey
A Brief History of Our Lady of Fatima Guest House
Our Lady of Fatima Guest House is a place of refuge, a place of peacefulness and rest. The original owner built the home in the late 1990s as a place where his kids could come and be safe. He built backup gas supplies and electricity, and built enough rooms for his entire family.
Around 2007, Tom and Sonia bought the house and converted it into the Gesu Bambino Pilgrims’ House. It was a beautiful, homey place of respite for pilgrimages to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. They ran the guest house as an incredible ministry for approximately 15 years.
The current owners, Keith and Jill, saw that the house was on the market on a pilgrimage to the Hanceville Shrine in May 2021. Discerning the Lord was calling them to serve as hosts for pilgrims, they bought the house in July of 2021. They renovated the house to provide modern amenities to make pilgrims as comfortable as possible. Keith and Jill wholeheartedly seek to carry on the legacy of Tom and Sonia by providing a peaceful place for pilgrims to come and seek out the will of God.
Learn about Our Lady of Fatima Guest House Amenities.
Call or text for rental information
256-755-4815
A Journey of Faith with Your Hosts, Keith and Jill
Keith and Jill are Midwesterners who have found a home in the South. Hailing from a small town in Wisconsin, they are cradle Catholics who have journeyed back from attending weekly Mass only out of a sense of “obligation”. The Catholic faith is now the center of their lives.
A Heavy Cross
Only a year and half after getting married, Keith and Jill’s daughter was delivered stillborn. It was a devastating experience. Instead of turning away from God, however, they grew closer to Him and each other. Through their suffering, they learned the power of surrender. They accepted that roadblocks come, pain and suffering are inevitable. But God had a plan, and He loved them through every difficulty.
“I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
God comforted Keith and Jill through prayer and through people. They found that the people who were most supportive of them during this hard time were those in their parish community. Now, whenever they move, they research Catholic parishes and find a family within the Church.
When Keith and Jill started embracing His plan, when they started to say yes more, they found a deeper appreciation and great love of life.
Led to the Shrine
Years later in 2017, Keith and Jill encountered another cross in personal turmoil. They simply needed a place to get away from the world and pray. They honestly cannot even remember how exactly they found the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. They had known about EWTN, but not about the Shrine in Hanceville that Mother Angelica built. But they were called, so they went.
Keith and Jill were amazed at how peaceful the Shrine was and how kind the people were. Pilgrimaging to the Shrine allowed them to slow down, pray deeply, and meet incredible people who truly loved Our Lord.
As they walked into the main chapel, they were overwhelmed by the grandness and intimate love of God in the Eucharist. They were swept away into an ethereal experience of prayer as they heard the cloistered nuns from the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery praying. Entering into their world in a small way showed the power of a rhythm of prayer. It was so incredibly humbling h and peaceful. Something happened. They were changed. Every trip back strengthened their love for the Lord in the Eucharist, and their love for this special place.
Keith and Jill came back almost every year until buying the guest house.
Living in the South
Keith and Jill love the community they found in Hanceville, Alabama. They feel they have gone back to their small-town Wisconsin roots, where everyone knows everyone, and everyone is kind, loving, and caring. For Jill in particular, it has restored her hope in people. As they put it, they have found Midwestern values lived in a delightfully southern way.
They feel thoroughly blessed by the way that God has worked and continues to work in their lives. God is waiting for you at the Shrine, and Keith and Jill are waiting to serve you at Our Lady of Fatima Guest House.
