Aparecida, São Paulo, Brazil · 1717
In 1717, three poor fishermen on the Paraíba River were ordered to fill their boat for a banquet honoring a passing nobleman. They had labored all morning without catching a thing. They cast their nets one more time — and pulled up the body of a small terracotta statue of the Immaculate Conception. The next cast brought up the head. From that moment, their nets came up so full they could scarcely manage them. Three centuries later, that same little statue, dark as the river that carried her, is the patroness of all Brazil.
The Lady of the River
The fishermen — João, Domingos, and Filipe — kept the statue in their humble home, where neighbors began to come to pray. Miracles followed. Word spread. A small chapel was built; then a larger one; then the great Old Basilica that still stands. The image, only thirty-nine centimeters tall, was named “Aparecida” — “the One who appeared.” She was crowned by the Vatican in 1904 and named principal patroness of Brazil in 1930.
The statue is dark not by design but by time and the river: a coating of natural patina, a small wonder in itself. She is robed today in a great mantle of richly embroidered fabric and a crown of gold, but the face beneath it remains the face of a Mother who came up from the water into the hands of the poor.
In 1980 a great new basilica was consecrated by Pope Saint John Paul II. It is the second-largest Catholic church in the world after Saint Peter’s in Rome, and the largest Marian shrine on earth. More than thirteen million pilgrims pass through its doors every year.
The Sanctuary Today
The Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida rises from the small city that bears her name, between Rio and São Paulo, in red brick beneath a great cross-shaped dome. Beneath that dome the image herself is enshrined in glass, lit softly by candles, watched over day and night.
On October 12, the feast of Our Lady of Aparecida and Brazil’s national holiday, the basilica overflows; pilgrims arrive from every state. The Rosary is prayed in many languages — Portuguese first, but also the Tupi of Brazil’s indigenous people, the languages of the African diaspora, the prayers of every people who have come to call her Mother.
A Prayer at Aparecida
Our Lady of Aparecida,
you who came up from the river
into the nets of three poor men —
thank you for choosing the small,
the overlooked, the workers of long days.
Find us in our own poverty.
Lift us, as the fishermen lifted you,
gently into the light.
Mother of Brazil, Mother of all the Americas,
pray for us. Amen.
Live from Aparecida
The National Shrine broadcasts daily Mass and the Rosary live from before the image of Our Lady of Aparecida — the same little statue lifted from the Paraíba River three centuries ago, now watched over by millions.
Visit & Learn More
- National Shrine of Aparecida (official): www.a12.com
- Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Aparecida
Journey with Mary: A Path to Jesus 