Last Sunday in November

Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Santarém, Pará, Brazil

Originally a candlelight parade, the Brazilian círio is often a huge daytime festival centered around the procession of a sacred object. Some 150,000 people attend the annual círio in Santarém, at the confluence of the Amazon and Tapajós Rivers in northern Brazil. The statue of Our Lady usually resides in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which goes back to 1791. On the eve of the círio, people carry it to the Church of St. Sebastian. On Sunday, a 5:00 a.m. salvo of fireworks provided by the Longshoremen's Union announces the start of festivities. After morning mass at St. Sebastian's, the statue returns to the Cathedral, accompanied by thousands of devotees, by a circuit that takes in most of the town and most of the day. When the procession arrives, the bishop says mass. The nearby town of Ponta de Pedras holds its círio in honor of the Conception of Our Lady the same day. (Picture of Saturday night "translation" by Jeso Carneiro, "Trasladação de N.S. da Conceição," 25 de Novembro de 2007, www.jesocarneiro.com).  

Also commemorated this date:

bullet Nossa Senhora das Graças, Icoaraci, Belém, Pará, Brazil. Círio (4th Sunday).
bulletNossa Senhora do Livramento, Taipu, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
bulletMadonna del Ronchino, Provaglio Val Sabbia, Brescia, Lombardy, Italy
bulletMadonna dello Schiavo, Pegli, Genova, Liguria, Italy (Our Lady of the Slave)
bulletVirgen del Olvido, Murcia, Murcia, Spain (Virgin of Oblivion)
  
 

Where We Walked ~~~ Mary Ann Daly