Pope Francisco, the first South American Pope
Pope Francisco will arrive in Brazil tomorrow,
July 22nd. On Wednesday, July 24th, he will visit arrive
in Aparecida, a city located 168 km northeast of São Paulo city, in the State
of São Paulo, and 240 km southwest of Rio de Janeiro.
Aparecida has about 3500 inhabitants and gets used
to receive pilgrims and Catholic tourists considering it is a religious city where it is
settled Our Lady Aparecida Basilica. Eleven
million pilgrims visit the city and the sanctuary annually.
Thousands of young Catholics from all over the world,
pilgrims and Brazilian people will be there waiting for the Pope blessing and
curious to see him very close. The landing of the helicopter that will bring him
from Rio is scheduled for 9:25 am. In land the pope will take the popemobile
and surround the sanctuary slowly to greet the faithful. After a quick brake
the pope will celebrate the mass at Our Lady Aparecida Basilica. He will take
the popemobile again for another circuit that will cross several streets inside
the city on the way to the Seminary of Good Jesus. There the Pope Francisco
will have a private lunch with his delegation and local religious. Even the
menu of the lunch is kept in secret. A special comfortable room has been
reserved for the Pope to rest and pray. On 4:10 pm the helicopter flight is
scheduled to depart to Rio, where the Pope will be waited to take the way to visit
the hospital Saint Francis of Assis at Tijuca neighborhood.
Our Lady Aparecida Basilica, general view, photo by wikipedia
Our Lady Aparecida Basilica, photo by architect Eduardo Faust
Our Lady Aparecida Basilica was inaugurated in 1967
to replace the old church in colonial style of the nineteenth century, located inside
the city. It is dedicated to our holy Lady Aparecida, considered the Patroness of Brazil. The project was made by the Brazilian architect Benedito Calixto in Romanesque style which takes the form of a Greek cross. Its monumental size, with capacity for 45000 people, loses only for the Saint
Peter Cathedral in Vatican.
Our Lady Aparecida Basilica, side view, photo by Rodrigo Soldon
Our Lady Aparecida Basilica, arches, photo by Rodrigo Soldon
Our Lady Aparecida Basilica, interior, photo by Rodrigo Soldon
Our Lady Aparecida Basilica, high altar, photo by Rodrigo Soldon
Our Lady Aparecida image
The story of Our Lady Aparecida dates back to
the beginning of eighteenth century when three fishermen where trying to get
fish at Paraiba River. Although they were unsuccessful, they kept trying until
they rescued a body image. Just one of them kept trying and finally he rescued
the head of the image. After that, fishes seemed to jump into the boat. The
episode was considered a miracle by the local population. The fisherman fixed
the image carefully and has kept it for decades at home, where people came to
pray and spread out the news about the saint. Later the family built a shrine
to the saint. As the number of believers just grew up it was necessary to build
a larger church, which was the old basilica.
Our Lady Aparecida Basilica, miracle room, photo by Rodrigo Soldon
The miracle room is a evidence that a huge
number of faithful come to Our Lady Aparecida Basilica in order to fulfill their promises, after
their graces are achieved. It is
interesting to observe the number of objects related to health, like legs, arms,
heads, hearts, etc as well as personal ones like clothing and documents.
