The archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro celebrates the solemnity of Our Lady of Aparecida, on October 12, remembering the 95 years of her proclamation as patron saint of Brazil. And on the same day, the 95th anniversary of the Christ the Redeemer sanctuary, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, is also commemorated.
The Christ the Redeemer was inaugurated on October 12, 1931. But the history of the monument began in the 19th century. Since 1859, the French Lazarist priest Pedro María Bos looked at the Corcovado from the window of the Church of the School of the Immaculate Conception, on Botafogo Beach, and was inspired to build a monument to Jesus there. Princess Elizabeth knew this desire of the priest and after the signing of the Golden Law, which abolished slavery in 1888, the princess was called “redeemer” and they wanted to honor her with a statue of her in the Corcovado. She, however, preferred that the image be of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, “the true redeemer of men.” With the overthrow of the Empire and the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889, there was the separation of Church and State and the project did not go ahead.
In 1921, with the preparations for the centenary of Brazil’s independence, the project was resumed and, with the mobilization of the faithful, the archdiocese and the donation of the Brazilians, the project of the engineer Heitor da Silva Costa was carried out.
In 2006, on the 75th anniversary of the inauguration, Cardinal Eusébio Oscar Scheidt, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, created the Archdiocesan Sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer of Corcovado.
Being one of the most emblematic symbols of Brazil, the monument celebrates its anniversary on October 12 with masses, an exhibition, the launch of a commemorative postage stamp and social initiatives. The celebrations also mark the countdown to the monument’s centenary.
With its arms extended dominating Rio de Janeiro, and to celebrate this date, the Archdiocesan Sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer has prepared a special program throughout the month, with religious, cultural and social activities that honor the history and importance of one of the most famous monuments on the planet, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.
The celebrations include the opening of the exhibition “Christ the Redeemer: Towards 100 Years”, the launch of a commemorative postage stamp in collaboration with Correos, and initiatives aimed at the population in a situation of social vulnerability. The program also marks the beginning of the countdown to the centenary of the monument, which will be held in 2031.
Nuestra Señora de Aparecida, patron saint of Brazil
Nuestra Señora de Aparecida was solemnly proclaimed patron saint of Brazil on May 31, 1931, in a great celebration in Rio de Janeiro, which at that time was the federal capital. Months earlier, on July 16, 1930, Pope Pius XI had signed the decree that instituted Our Lady Aparecida patron saint of Brazil, after a request made by the Brazilian bishops, through the Archbishop of Rio, Cardinal Sebastião Leme.
The 1931 ceremony, held by Cardinal Leme, marked the public reading of the pontifical document and the confirmation of Our Lady of Aparecida as patron saint of the country.
On the occasion, the original image left the Aparecida National Sanctuary, for the first time, to participate in the ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. During the celebration, the flags of Brazil and the Vatican were added to the image layer, in reference to the recognition of the patron saint by the Church and her mission to the Brazilian people.
The archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Cardinal Orani Tempesta, recalled “how things manifest themselves in a fairly simple way: a picture broken into two pieces at the bottom of a river became a sign of our country, which had no other unity, except precisely the Church and its devotion to Our Lady of Aparecida.”
Years after the proclamation of Nuestra Señora de Aparecida patron saint of Brazil, in 1980, during the first visit of Pope St. John Paul II to the country, the law was sanctioned that declares “national holiday on October 12, for the public and official worship of Our Lady Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil.”