STORY OF OUR LADY OF APARECIDA

THE BLACK MADONNA

PATRONESS OF BRAZIL

One 1717 morning, in Brazil, three fishermen rowed their boat into the Parahyba River; a River in the outskirts of the village. They were ill-lucked, because they cast their nets but caught nothing all day. Then, they decided to give up for the day; then for some reason, they wanted to make one more try. Alves let out his net and slowly pulled it in. There was something in it – not a fish, but something that looked like a chunk of wood. When he pulled out the net and brought it out, it turned out to be a headless statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The fisherman cast his net into the water again. When he pulled it into his boat, he found that this time it held a roundish piece of wood – the head from the very same statue. He picked up both pieces and found that they fitted perfectly together.

Obeying an inner voice, Alves lowered his net one more time. When Alves began to pull the net back in, he found he could hardly lift the net because it was filled with fishes. His companions threw out their nets also and they had the same luck. A few more casts and their boats were fully loaded with fishes.

The next day, they fastened the head to the body of the statue, cleaned it, and one of them set it up in his humble abode. The story of the statue and the immense catch of fishes spread and every evening people came to pay homage to the Blessed Virgin Mary. They gave it the name Aparecida, which means “She who appeared.” Soon a little chapel was erected – the crowds were too big for the humble dwelling; then a larger chapel was built. Our Lady well repaid those who honored her, for numerous cures and even extraordinary miracles took place at this shrine.

In 1846, work began on the construction of a new church, it was completed in 1888, and the statue was moved into it. In 1904 by order of the Holy Father, the image was solemnly crowned. In 1909 the church was raised to the level of a minor basilica; in 1930 Pope Pius XI promoted it to a Basilica and officially declared Our Lady of Aparecida the Patroness of Brazil.