Brazil: A Land Born in the Blessed Virgin’s Arms

Our Lady of Apparecida (and admirer)

Brazil is the largest Catholic country in the world, as Pope John Paul II reminded us during the centenary celebrations for the crowning of Our Lady of Apparecida in 2004 (1).

It was Pope Pius X who solemnly crowned the Virgin Mary as “Queen of Brazil” in 1904. But the story of devotion to Mary in Brazil began in the 16th century, when the fleet of the Portuguese admiral, Pedro Alvarez Cabral (1467-1520) landed in April 1500 on the coast of the as yet unknown land that was first called “Vera Cruz Island” before acquiring its present name “Brazil” (from the word “pau-brasil” or “ember- wood” from the fiery colors of the tree-trunks).  (more...)

Brazil: A Land Born in the Blessed Virgin’s Arms