Anyone who studies history, and specifically the history of the Church, learns about the countless struggles for the Faith that have been waged over the centuries. What efforts expended in favour of the Mystical Bride of Christ in these struggles! How many lives cut down, that their true fruits might flourish in eternity! However tragic these battles may seem to the human eye, they were a condition established by Providence for the expansion of Christianity, because “the blood of a martyr is the seed of new Christians.”1
And what of our beloved Brazil? It was also bathed in the fruitful sacrifice of so many chosen ones in the blossoming of its mission, of a magnitude well symbolized by the geographical amplitude of the nation.
“Rio de Janeiro, by vocation, is a city of martyrs,”2 said Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. In fact, in the 16th century, Nicolau de Villegaignon, a French Huguenot leader, achieved great influence over the region’s Tamoio Indians, and had plans to found a kingdom or dominion there, of which he would become undisputed head.3 The risk this posed to Catholicism was great, and the Portuguese took up arms to defend their Faith, under the command of Mem de Sá and Estácio de Sá, with the help of Fr. Manoel da Nóbrega and St. Joseph de Anchieta.
The Lusitanian victory in this battle saw the official birth of the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, prepared by the Divine Craftsman with many natural beauties, especially Guanabara Bay – the scene of these battles – with its Sugar Loaf Mountain and Corcovado, which would later be topped by Christ the Redeemer. It truly is no exaggeration to call it the Marvellous City!
Stefan Zweig states in his work about our nation that “in Rio, everywhere, even in the most isolated and lonely places, we experience this incomparable duality of city and landscape, of what is transitory and what is eternal.”4 And again, Dr. Plinio, a great admirer of this city, comments: “In my opinion, the panorama of Rio, by a design of Providence, has some supernatural glints, at the pinnacle of natural beauty. It is a natural so lovely that that it crosses over the line of the natural, allowing one to perceive divine flashes from time to time.”5
This union between earth and Heaven is not reserved only for the former Brazilian capital, but for the whole country. And it is for this purpose that the colossal image of the Saviour crowns our territory, welcoming the children who wish to strive towards this goal.
His arms are still open and have not closed in a divine embrace. This is because many of us still need to define ourselves in favour of Christ and of His Church, a definition that also demands blood – of the soul, of course, and perhaps of the body, if it be God’s will – like that shed by the first heroes of these lands. Heaven forbid that we should be left behind!
When the last of the faithful accept this call to personal holocaust and, consequently, full holiness, and the Redeemer’s arms are crossed over us, clasping us against His Sacred Heart, then the reign of Christ will be established in the universe. ◊
Notes
1 TERTULLIAN. Apologeticum, c.L, n.13
2 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conversation. São Paulo, 10/4/1983.
3 Cf. BARROS, João de. Heróis portugueses no Brasil. Porto: Lelo, [s.d.], p.32.
4 ZWEIG, Stefan. Brasil, país do futuro. 2.ed. Porto: Civilização, 1943, p.238.
5 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Talk. São Paulo, 4/2/1990.
