![[Our Lady of Aparecida]](Our%20La2.jpg)
Appeared) Mystical Roses
Our Lady of Aparecida - Brazil
(She
who
Appeared)
Feast Day is October 12
History
In
October of 1717, Dom Pedro de Almedida, Count of Assumar, was on his way to the
state of Minas Gerais from Sao Paulo. He would have to pass by Guarantinqueta, a
small city in the Paraiba river valley. The people of Guarantinqueta decided to
hold a great feast to honor the Count, and a lot of fish would be needed.
However, it was not
the season for fish and the water seemed deserted. After many hours of catching
nothing, the fishermen were very depressed. Among the fishermen were three men
who always prayed to Our Lady of the
Immaculate Conception-- Domingos Garcia, Joco Alves, and Felipe
Pedroso. Before going out to fish, they asked God to help then in this difficult
task, to find enough fish at this time when no fish were available. Felipe knelt
and prayed, along with his companions, "Mother of God and our Mother, we
need to find fish!"
Just before they
were ready to give up, Joco cast his net one more time near the Port of Itaguagu
in hopes that they would find fish. However, they found a body of a statue! Joco
called out in surprise, "Domingo! Felipe! Come and see what we have!"
They cast the net one more time and brought up the head of the statue! ![[Our Lady of Aparecida]](Our%20La4.jpg)
They very carefully
washed the statue and saw that it was Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.
They wrapped her in some cloths and continued to fish. Domingo commented,
"We worked all night and have found no fish!"
Felipe had a
proposition: "Let's continue to fish with faith in the Virgin Aparecida
(who appeared)." From this moment on, the net became very full with fish.
This was the first miracle of Our Lady of Aparecida.
It is not known how
the small (less than three feet high) statue came to rest at the bottom of the
river, but its artist is known, Frei Agostino de Jesus, a "carioca'' monk
from Sao Paulo who created artistic clay sculptures.The image was made around
1650 and must have stayed submerged in the river for many years because it lost
its original polychromy.
The image is now a
brilliant dark brown coloor, and is covered by a stiff mantle of richly
embroidered thick cloth, allowing only her face and hands to be seen. She wears
on her head the imperial crown with precious stones with which she was crowned
in 1904. In 1930 Pope Pius XII proclaimed her principal patroness of Brazil.
Her feast on October
12 is a national holiday. Pope John Paul II visited the Virgin
"Aparecida" in her much frequented sanctuary and gave it the title of
Basilica. A few days before the visit someone got hold of the statue and threw
it forcibly on the floor. Although the frail image was broken into many pieces,
the loving and careful work of several artists put it together again and the
Virgin, "Aparecida" returned to her niche in the Basilica.
Prayer to Our Lady of Aparecida
Lady Aparecida,
A son of yours who belongs to you unreservedly–totus tuus–
Called by the mysterious plan of Providence to be the Vicar of your Son on earth,
wishes to address you at this moment.
He recalls with emotion,
because of the brown colour of this image of yours,
another image of yours,
the Black
Virgin of Jasna Gora.
Mother of God and our Mother,
protect the Church, the Pope, the bishops,
the priests and all the faithful people;
Welcome under your protecting mantle men and women religious,
Families,
children, young people, and their educations.
Health of the Sick and Consoler of the Afflicted,
comfort those who are suffering in body and soul;
be the light of those who are seeking Christ,
the Redeemer of all;
show all
people that you are the Mother of our confidence.
Queen of Peace and Mirror of Justice,
obtain peace for the world,
ensure that Brazil and all countries may have lasting peace,
that we
will always live together as
brothers and sisters and as children of God.
Our Lady Aparecida,
bless all your sons and daughters who pray and sing to you
here
and elsewhere. Amen.
Pope John Paul II
