January 31
Nossa Senhora da Esperança, Cidade da Esperança, Natal, Brazil
The devotion to Our Lady of Hope in Brazil dates from its discovery: Pedro Álvares Cabral undertook his voyage to the Indies, which ended in the discovery of Brazil, carrying in his ship an image of Our Lady of Hope. Father Vaz Caminha, in one of his letters to the Portuguese king Dom Manuel I, related that the first Catholic masses were said on Brazilian soil, April 26 and May 1, 1500, in the presence of a large cross and under the maternal gaze of the Mother of Hope. This image returned to Brazil in 1955 for the International Eucharistic Congress in Rio de Janeiro. A replica is found in the Brasilia Cathedral, and by the time Cidade da Esperança was established, eleven other Brazilian parishes claimed her as patron. Inaugurated January 31, 1966, Cidade da Esperança (City of Hope) was the first public housing development in the country, a model for those in other states. When the community was being planned, the Catholic women decided on the idea of building a church to Our Lady of Hope. The parish celebrates its patronal feast on the community's founding date.
Source: "Paróquia de Nossa Senhora da Esperança Cidade da Esperança," Arquidiocese de Natal, www.arquidiocesedenatal.org.br (with text by Msgr. Severino Bezerra, Tribuna do Norte, 25/10/1964)
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