15th National Pilgrimage to Aparecida
Participants in the “Mary, Queen of All Hearts” Shrine Apostolate gathered in August for another national pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida. The programme began on Friday the 8th with a luminous procession from the Old Basilica to the Shrine. On Saturday, the solemn coronation of the statue of the Blessed Virgin took place, as well as the recitation of the Rosary in the Pope Benedict XVI Gallery, followed by Holy Mass presided over by Bishop Benedito Beni dos Santos, Emeritus of Lorena.
Always With Mary
With sights on fostering devotion to Our Lady in souls, the Heralds of the Gospel in Brazil organized several events between June and August. The photos below show “Afternoons with Mary” at the institution’s house in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais and at the Oratory of Our Lady of Fatima in Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, with Fr. Ricardo José Basso, EP; as a speaker at both occasions, a Marian mission in Balneário Camboriú and Blumenau, both in Santa Catarina; and the beginning of a course on consecration to the Blessed Virgin using the method of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, at the Parish of Our Lady of Deliverance in Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco, with a lecture given by Dcn. Adilson Costa, EP.
Brasilia – To commemorate the jubilee year, two hundred faithful from Jesus the Good Shepherd Parish in Structural City made a pilgrimage to the Basilica-Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi in Brasilia on August 16. On the 5th, twenty-one participants in the Artisanal Bakery Project, from the same parish, received their course completion certificate from Brazil’s second lady, Mrs. Maria Lúcia Ribeiro Alckmin.
Ubatuba (Brazil) – The eighteenth anniversary of the inauguration of Our Lady of the Pillar Chapel, located close to Maranduba Beach, was solemnly celebrated on August 19 with a thanksgiving Mass presided over by Most Rev. José Carlos Chacorowski, CM, Bishop of Caraguatatuba, and concelebrated by several priests.
Colombia – The Church of Our Lady of Fatima in Tocancipá celebrated its tenth anniversary on August 8. The Mass of thanksgiving, attended by approximately seven thousand people, was presided over by the Bishop of Zipaquirá, most Rev. Héctor Cubillos Peña and concelebrated by several priests. It was this same prelate, a decade ago, who officiated at the church’s solemn dedication ceremony.
Ecuador – On the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, commemorated on July 16, the Heralds of the Gospel added a note of splendour to the Holy Mass presided over by Archbishop of Cuenca, Marcos Aurelio Pérez Caicedo, in the town of Tarqui . The Eucharistic Celebration at the Carmelite Convent of the Assumption, in Cuenca, on the last day of the novena was also organized by the members of the institution.
Paraguay – On the occasion of the first day, August 6, of the novena to Our Lady of the Assumption, the Patroness of Paraguay, the Heralds led the procession of the statue of this invocation from the National Pantheon of Heroes to the Metropolitan Cathedral. On July 26, members of the institution participated in the 2nd Catechesis Congress of the Diocese of San Lorenzo, which took place in the city’s multi-sport gymnasium.
Guatemala – In the months of June and July, the Pilgrim Statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary visited the Margarita Cruz and Day & Night geriatric centres, as well as the autonomous clinics of Guatemala’s Social Security Institute, in Guatemala City, bringing comfort and hope to the sick and elderly.
