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==See also== |
==See also== |
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[[Marian apparitions]] |
[[Marian apparitions]] |
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[[Black |
[[Black Maddona]] |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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Our Lady of Aparecida (also written as Our Lady Aparecida) is the Patroness of Brazil, represented by a statue of the Virgin Mary located in the Basilica of Aparecida in Aparecida, Brazil. The name means "Our Lady who Appeared". In Portuguese the name is Nossa Senhora de Conceição Aparecida. There is another Aparecida in the province of Alicante, Spain, which also has an image of Our Lady of the Conception and is also named after the Virgin.
This shrine is the most visited in Brazil and one of the most visited in the Catholic world. Patron Saint of Brazil, Our Lady of Aparecida is also remembered by a national holiday on 12 October.
The history of Our Lady of Conception Aparecida begins in 1717, when news arrived that the Count of Assumar, D.Pedro de Almeida e Portugal , Governor of the Province of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, would be passing by the village of Guaratinguetá, on his way to Vila Rica, today the city of Ouro PretoinMinas Gerais.
Three fishermen, Domingos Garcia, Filipe Pedroso and João Alves were sent out by the local authorities to find fish in the Paraíba River. They went down the river and found nothing. After many unsucessful attempts they arrived at a place called Porto Itaguaçu.
João Alves threw his net into the water and brought back a statue of Our Lady of Conception, but the head was missing. He threw his net in again and soon reeled in the head of the statue. After that, according to the legend, the fish arrived in abundance for the three humble fishermen and their nets were full.
According to most sources the image had been sculpted by Frei Agostino de Jesus, a monk from Sao Paulo known for his sculpture. The image was less than three feet tall, was made around 1650, and must have been underwater for years. It is a dark brown color, is covered by a stiff robe of richly embroidered thick cloth, and wears an imperial crown which was added in 1904. Only her face and hands can be seen.
For the next 15 years the statue remained with Felipe Pedroso's family and neighbors came to pray to it. The cult began to grow and, according to the story, many prayers were answered by the Virgin. The fame of the extraordinary powers of Our Lady went out through the regions of Brazil. The family built a prayer chapel, which soon became too small. Around 1734 the priest of Guaratinguetá built a chapel on the hill of the Coqueiros, and public visits began in July 1745. The number of faithful increased and in 1834 construction on a larger church (the Old Basilica) was begun.
In 1904, the statue of Our Lady of Conception Aparecida was crowned and in 1908 the church received the title of Basilica Menor.
Twenty years later, in 1928 the village that had grown around the church on the Hill of the Coqueirs became a Municipality. Finally, in 1929, the Virgin was proclaimed Queen of Brazil and its official Patron Saint by Pope Pius XI.
Because of the popularity of the statue another much larger temple became necessary and in 1955 construction on this New Basilica was begun. The architect Benedito Calixto projected a building in the form of a Greek cross, 173 meters long and 168 meters wide; the naves have 40 meters and the dome is 70 meters high. It can hold 45 thousand people. The 272 thousand square meters of parking hold 4 thousand buses and 6 thousand cars.
In 1980, still under construction, it was consecrated by Pope John Paul II and received the title of Basilica Menor. In 1984 the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) officially declared the Basilica of Aparecida "the largest Marian Temple in the world."
While in 1900 the number of visitors was calculated in 150,000, today that number is in the millions. According to the official site of the Basilica in 1999 the pilgrims were 6.565.849.
The influence of the cult of Our Lady of Aparecida on Brazilian society is incalculable. In 1992 a study showed that 296 parishes were dedicated to Our Lady Aparecida while five cathedrals had the same title. In addition many towns are named after the Virgin.
On 12 October 1995, day of Our Lady of Aparecida, considered by Catholics to be the Patroness of Brazil, one of the ministers of the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (a controversial pentacostal sect that controls television and radio stations in Brazil), Sergio Von Helde, on a television program, kicked a clay statue of Our Lady of Aparecida. The alegation for the act was that the image was only a statue of clay. Von Helde shouted, "This is no saint,". "Can God really be compared to this ugly thing?" 884K QuickTime Movie The episode had serious repercussions in the country and Von Helde had to be transferred to Africa until the controversy died down.
The initial commotion of the incident found support among the authorities. Complaints in the judicial system against the minister and against the IURD church were made by both private citizens and by prosecutors, with the allegation of crimes being committed such as insult and disrespect for the constitutional right of freedom of religion. For several days the scenes of the kicking and the judicial workings of the case were in the news until the public lost interest and it was forgotten. For more detail on this episode see the Wikipedia article on the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
Marian apparitions Black Maddona
