Case file · Apparition / miracle
Our Lady of Aparecida
According to tradition, in October 1717 three fishermen in Brazil's Paraíba valley pulled a dark clay statue of Mary from the river and then made a miraculous catch.
1717 CE · -22.85, -45.23 · status: legend
The account
The fishermen were working to feed the Count of Assumar's party as it passed through. The statue, now Brazil's patroness, is housed in the vast National Shrine at Aparecida, São Paulo, and her feast on 12 October is a national holiday.
The sceptical view
The miracle is a pious tradition; the statue itself is a real colonial image, but the story of its finding cannot be checked.
Connections in the atlas
- Convent of Penha, Vila Velha
- Bom Jesus de Iguape
- Bom Jesus de Pirapora
- Our Lady of Graces at Cimbres
- Our Lady of Coromoto
- Our Lady of Guadalupe