“Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida”
The largest Marian temple and the second largest Basilica in the world, second only to St. Peter’s in the Vatican City.
Our Lady of Aparecida has a great story! The official account of the apparition took place in October 1717, when the Governor São Paulo was passing through a small city in the Paraiba river valley.
The people of the area decided to hold a feast in his honour, and three fishermen went down to the Paraíba waters to fish for the feast. They prayed to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and asked for God’s help because it wasn’t the best season for fishing.
After several hours they had not caught any fish, and they were ready to give up when Joao cast his net once more. This time Instead of fish, he hauled in the body of a statue with a missing head. The fishermen cast their net out again, and brought up the statue’s head. After cleaning the statue, they found that it was a black version of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Legend has it that when the fishermen recovered the body, then the head, the slender figure of the Aparecida Virgin became so heavy that they couldn’t budge it.
The fishermen named the statue Our Lady of the Appeared Conception, wrapped it in cloth and continued to fish; now their catch was so great that they returned to port because the weight of the fish threatened to sink their craft.
The statue is widely venerated by Brazilian Roman Catholics, who consider her as the principal patroness of Brazil. Over the years following its apparition, veneration of the Virgin increased as many miracles were attributed to her. The dark statue is currently housed in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparcedia, Sao Paulo. The Catholic Church in Brazil celebrates her feast day every October 12th.
Its official title in Portuguese is Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida, roughly translated as Our Lady of Conception Who Appeared.
Room of Promises – The variety of promises and vows made by the pilgrims are deposited in the Room of Promises which is very large: candles of all sizes, pieces of cloth, wax replicas of parts of the human body which were cured, clothes, uniforms, weapons, musical instruments, work tools, paintings, photos, written messages and an incalculable number of objects that the pilgrims leave in the Miracle Room.
This immensity of objects explains the infinite needs and difficult circumstances that human beings find themselves in. These are gestures and objects that translate the faith, love and gratitude to God on the part of the pilgrims.
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