February 17
Nossa Senhora do
Desterro, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
On February 17, 1673, according to local tradition, fortune-hunter Francisco Dias Velho of São Paulo founded the town of Nossa Senhora do Desterro on Santa Catarina Island in southern Brazil. Dias Velho occupied the area with his family, two Jesuits, a few other Portuguese Brazilians, and hundreds of Indian workers. From their settlement grew the present city of Florianópolis, and from its chapel the Cathedral, named for the city's patron, Our Lady of Exile, honored annually on this date. A sculpture in the Cathedral shows the Holy Family on their way to Egypt after an angel warned St. Joseph in a dream that King Herod wanted to kill the child Jesus. Carved of lindenwood by the Demetz workshop in the Italian Tyrol, the statue was blessed May 30, 1902.
Novena prayer to Our Lady of Exile based on the Salve Regina, said at the Cathedral from February 8 to 16:
Nossa Senhora do Desterro, olhai por nós, vossos filhos, apreensivos e inseguros, neste vale de lágrimas, a caminho da pátria definitiva. Depois deste desterro, ó Mãe carinhosa, mostrai-nos Jesus, bendito fruto do vosso ventre, ó clemente, ó piedosa, ó doce sempre Virgem Maria. Nossa Senhora do Desterro, acompanhai-nos na travessia do deserto da vida até alcançarmos o oásis eterno, o Céu. Amém.
Our Lady of Exile, pray for us, your children, apprehensive and insecure, in this valley of tears, on the way to our true homeland. After this our exile, O loving Mother, show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of your womb, O clement, O merciful, O ever sweet Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Exile, accompany us across life's desert until we reach the eternal oasis, heaven. Amen.
Sources include:
 | The Cathedral's website, cat.arquifloripa.org.br |
| www.fatima.com.br (photo) |
Also commemorated this date:
| Flight into Egypt, Redemptorist Order and Archconfraternity of the Holy Family |
| Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Guaíba, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (Our Lady of Liberation). Church founded, 1857. |