Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Our Lady of Aparecida) 2017
Yesterday, Saturday October 14, 2017, I was given the opportunity to photograph an event with the Port St. Lucie Brazilian Community at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. I thank them for the opportunity.
For those of you who may be reading this and are not Brazilian, or aren't catholic, I'll try to explain what this event is.
This Event, which is celebrated all over Brazil every October, is about the feast of Our Lady of Aparecida, who is also the patron saint of Brazil. This day is actually a religious holiday in Brazil. Here in the U.S., since it's not a holiday, the Brazilian communities celebrate it on the weekend following the feast day.
This year, the event was even more special because it marks 300 years since the apparition of Our Lady of Aparecida to three fishermen in the southeast region of Brazil. On that day, the three men, after exhausting themselves fishing at the river, Paraiba do Sul, with no success, threw their net out once again and, to their surprise, caught the body of a small statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. On the next try, they caught the head of the statue, which fit perfectly to its body. Amazed by that event, the three fishermen prayed to "Our Lady of Aparecida", the name she received after appearing to them. What happened next is that they threw their net again, and this time a great miracle happened, the net was completely full of fish. Since this apparition, many miracles associated to Our Lady of Aparecida have been witnessed to this day. A great shrine was built on that location and pilgrims from all over the country visit the location every year.
Now that we have a better understanding of this Event and what it's all about, let's get to it, shall we.
The Event began at approximately 6:00 p.m. with a procession around the church. The procession included the Priest and the altar helpers. After the Priest was a group of the cutest little child angels carrying an enormous Rosary made out of blue and white flowers. Behind the precious angels followed a pick-up truck carrying "Our Lady". She was placed on a bed of roses that lifted her up as the center piece. The roses were encased in a very detail designed golden structure with two long poles placed horizontally at its base for carrying. Next up in the procession was the Brazilian Community lead by their worship leaders. As the procession moved, the worship leaders would lead in prayer and song.
The procession ended inside the church, which was followed by a short theatrical play and the Mass. Towards the end of Mass was a small celebration. The little angels
walked down the middle isle of the church, lined up in front of the pulpit and passed a tiny crown, beginning with the tiniest angel to the biggest. Once the biggest (eldest) angel got the crown, she climbed up a small latter and placed the crown on Our Lady's head. Once the crown was placed the community cheered with applause as the little angels threw rose pedals into the air.
This is quite a spectacular Event held by the Brazilian Community. As I'm finding out, this event is not celebrated in any churches outside of the Brazilian Community, so if you would like to experience it for yourself, you might want to make a few Brazilian friends, learn a little bit of the Portuguese language and venture a little bit outside of your comfort zone and your own regular church community.
Here are some more moments I was able to capture during the event. Once again, I hope you enjoyed the article and the images. I look forward to posting more events in the near future, so stay posted!
If you are also interesting in booking a photo shoot or event with me I would love to hear from you! My contact information can be found here. Thank you for taking the time to enjoy reading my blog! I hope to see you again on the next one!
