🙏The devotion to Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil, originates from 1717, when fishermen, during a period of scarcity, cast their nets into the Paraíba do Sul River and retrieved a statue of Our Lady of the Conception, first the body and then the head. After this event, the fishing became miraculously abundant. The statue, due to its dark color and for having "appeared" in the waters, became known as Aparecida. She is the manifestation of the maternal protection of the Immaculate Virgin, who, as a sign of hope amidst difficulties, chose a simple place to pour out her graces. Regarding her queenship and lordship, St. Alphonsus Liguori teaches: "The name of Mary, which means Lady, perfectly suits her, since her Son willed her to be the Lady of all mankind" (The Glories of Mary).
🎶Introit (Is 61:10 | Ps 29:2)
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, and with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bride adorned with her jewels. Ps. I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me. ℣. Glory be to the Father…
📖Reading (Rev 12:1, 5, 14, 15-16)
And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod; and her son was taken up to God, and to his throne. And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her place. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman, water as it were a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
✝️Gospel (Lk 1:26-28)
At that time, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
🤔Reflections
🕊️The angelic salutation "Hail, full of grace" reveals a unique mystery. It is not a simple greeting, but a proclamation of Mary's permanent state. Grace is not just a gift she possesses, but something that fills her entirely, making her a perfect vessel for the Divine Word. This fullness of grace is the source of her power of intercession and her Divine Motherhood, which extends to all the faithful. "He filled her with grace so that from her might come to us the torrent of mercy, for through her would be given the price of our deliverance" (St. Augustine, Sermon 291). It is because she is "full of grace" that she can "appear" as a font of graces for an entire people.
🐉The vision of the Woman clothed with the sun in the Apocalypse prefigures the glory of Mary Assumed into heaven, but also her role as the protector of the Church militant. The earth that helps the woman by swallowing the river cast by the dragon symbolizes the divine aids that come through unexpected and earthly means to protect God's children from the fury of the enemy. The finding of the statue in the waters of a Brazilian river can be seen as a concretization of this aid, where the "earth" – the river, the simple people – opens up to receive and be succored by its Queen. "The woman represents the Church, which gives birth to Christ in the hearts of the faithful, but she is also Mary, who gave Him to the world bodily. The serpent is the devil, who persecutes the woman, the holy Church, with the waters of persecution" (Venerable Bede, Explanatio Apocalypsis).
👑The veneration of Our Lady under the title of the Immaculate Conception, as is the case with Aparecida, finds its dogmatic foundation in the truth that she was, from the first moment of her existence, preserved from every stain of original sin. This unique prerogative, granted in view of the merits of her Son, prepared her to be the new Eve, the crusher of the serpent's head. Her original purity is the bedrock of her continuous victory over the dragon. “We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin” (Pius IX, Bull Ineffabilis Deus).
🧐See English version of the critical articles here.
f1descatholica.blogspot.com