Our Lady of Navigators

Our Lady of Navigators also known as Our Lady of Seafarers (Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes in Portuguese) is a devotional title given to the Virgin Mary by Roman Catholics. It is a widespread devotion in South America, specially Brazil, where the Our Lady of Navigators is celebrated on February 2 as an official holiday. Religious procession where the image of the Virgin Mary is carried take place in most coastal cities that have harbors, specially the large ones. Several churches in Brazil are dedicated to Our Lady of Navigators.[1][2]

Our Lady of Navigators
Statue of Our Lady of Navigators at the Our Lady of Navigators church, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Feast2 February
AttributesBlessed Virgin Mary held by angels, Infant Jesus holding an anchor, mantle, jewelry, crown, halo of stars
PatronageNavigators, sailors, protection from storms

The devotion started in the fifteenth century by Europeans, especially the Portuguese navigators, praying for a safe return to their homes. They saw the Virgin Mary as their protector during storms and other hazards. The first statue in South America was brought from Portugal to Brazil.

The theme of the "Virgin Mary as the protector" was similarly used in The Virgin of the Navigators, 1531–36, the earliest known painting whose subject is the discovery of the Americas.[3][4]

See also

Notes
Part of a series on the
Mariology
of the Catholic Church
Catholicism portal
  1. Candice Lee Goucher, 2007 World history: journeys from past to present ISBN 0-415-77137-4 page 102
  2. Vicente del Rio, 2009 Contemporary urbanism in Brazil ISBN 0-8130-3281-4 page 189
  3. John Noble, Susan Forsyth, Vesna Maric, Paula Hardy. Andalucía. Lonely Planet, 2007, p. 100
  4. Silvio Bedini, 1991 The Christopher Columbus encyclopedia ISBN 0-13-142670-2 page 318

Sources
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.