Popular Religiosity has an important place in
the life of Brazilian Catholics and has helped to bring people closer
to God and deepen their faith.
By far the biggest religious attraction of
all is the Shrine of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception at Aparecida
(Nossa Senhora de Conceicao Aparecida).
As many as 8 million pilgrims
come here every year to pray to Our Lady of Aparecida ("Our Lady Who
Appeared"), who is not only Patron Saint of Brazil, but also of
mothers-to-be, the newborn, the rivers, the sea, gold, honey and beauty.
It is arguably the most important Marian shrine in the Americas.
Saint Pope John Paul II prayed there in 1980.
The devotion's origins date to 1717, when
three fishermen threw a net into the Paraiba River, less than 200 miles
from Sao Paulo. On hauling it in, they found a headless statue of a Black Virgin.
Casting their net a second time, they dragged in the head.
After that, they caught enormous amounts of fish and concluded that the
statue had miraculous powers.
One of the fishermen, Felipe Pedroso, took
the 3-foot-tall dark brown wooden statue back home.
People flocked to
see it, and a cult soon started. Many graces were reported as people in
Brazil and all over Latin America came to know about the miraculous
statue.
In 1904, the 50th anniversary of the dogma of
the Immaculate Conception, Sao Paulo's Archbishop crowned the statue,
which by then was covered with a heavy mantle of richly embroidered
cloth.
In 1930, Pope Pius XII proclaimed Our Lady of Aparecida, whose
feast day is Oct. 12, to be the Principal patroness of Brazil.
After many earlier churches, a Shrine was
built in 1955 to accommodate the crowds.
Pope John Paul II blessed the
shrine during his visit in 1980.
It holds 45,000 people.
Credits : Our Sunday Visitor
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