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The Cathedral Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida - Sao Paulo - Brazil - South America - Catholicsm
Portuguese: Catedral Basílica Santuário
Nacional de Nossa Senhora Aparecida
is a prominent Roman Rite Catholic
basilica in Aparecida, Brazil.
It is dedicated to Our Lady of Aparecida,
(a variant of the Immaculate Conception)
as the principal Patroness of Brazil. 'Nossa
Senhora da Conceição Aparecida' roughly
translates to 'Our Lady of Conception
Who Appeared'.
History:
The site has its origins in the finding
of a statue of the Virgin Mary.
According to local tradition, three
fishermen were attempting to
catch a large amount of fish in the
Paraíba River for a banquet honoring
the visit of São Paulo Governor in 1717.
Despite their prayers, their attempts
were fruitless until late in the day,
one of the fishermen cast his net and
pulled it back to find the statue of the
Virgin Mary. Upon his next cast,
he found the head. The group cleaned
the statue, wrapped it in cloth, and
returned to their task to find their
fortunes had changed and they were
able to obtain all the fish they needed.
The statue is believed to be the work
of Frei Agostino de Jesus, a monk
residing in São Paulo. The statue was
originally housed at the home of Felipe
Pedroso, one of the fisherman who
found it. This became a popular site
for visitors wishing to pray to the statue,
leading Pedroso's family to build a
small chapel to house the
statue - and so it all began!
Papal recognition:
Pope Leo XIII mentioned the Brazilian
devotion to this image in 1903
Pope Pius X granted a canonical
coronation to this same image on 1904.
Pope Pius XI declared that same Marian
title as the Patroness of Brazil through
a papal bull signed on 1930
Pope John Paul II elevated and consecrated
formally as a Basilica on 1980.
Pope Benedict XVI granted its second
Golden rose on 2007
New Building:
In 1955 Benedito Calixto began the
construction on the new basilica.
The structure is in the Romanesque
Revival style and takes the form of a
Greek Cross with arms 188 m (617 ft) in
length and 183 m (600 ft) in width. The
dome is 70 m (230 ft) high and the
tower reaches a height of 109 m (358 ft).
The basilica contains 23,000
m2 (250,000 sq ft) of space.
The main church hall can accommodate
30,000 people, which can
expand to 300,000 during external
celebrations. The grounds contain
a shopping mall, medical clinic, restaurants
and a 272,000 m2 (2,930,000 sq ft)
parking lot that can hold 4,000 buses
and 6,000 cars.
On 4 July 1980, Pope John Paul II
consecrated the sanctuary under
the name Our Lady of Aparecida. The
feast day for Our Lady of Aparecida
is 12 October. Pope Benedict XVI visited
the Basilica of the Shrine of Aparecida
on 12 May 2007, during his Apostolic
Journey to Brazil on the occasion
of the Fifth General Conference
of the Bishops of Latin America
and the Caribbean.
On the occasion of World Youth Day,
Pope Francis visited the
basilica on 24 July 2013.
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Basilica_of_the_National_Shrine_of_Our_Lady_of_Aparecida (summarized)
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/10/12/our-lady-of-aparecida.html
