OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY OF THE BLACKS

Day 229: December 27

Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Our Lady of the Rosary of the Blacks), Atibaia, São Paulo, Brazil



In 1763, slaves who could not attend the church of St John the Baptist, in Atibaia in Brazil, decided to build their own church where they could be free to enter, pray and receive the sacraments.

It was completed only in 1817, the church was nicknamed Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, Our Lady of the Rosary of the Blacks, precisely because of the role that this church had in society.

This agricultural city is home to the oldest and most active Afro-Brazilian cultural and religious event called Congada. In the Congada there are Catholic religious elements such as devotion to St Benedict and the Virgin of the Rosary with typical elements of the dramatic dance celebrated during the coronation of the King of Congo and Queen Ginga of Angola with the presence of the court and its vassals. It is an event that brings together African themes with Iberian ones, whose dissemination took place from the seventeenth century.

On December 27, as they have done for over 200 years, the Congadas gather outside the church of Our Lady at dawn, dressed in bright uniforms of scarlet, green, blue, pink or white, carrying swords but also banners of Our Lady of the Rosary and typical musical instruments such as the possum, the box, the cavaquinho, the snare drum, the accordion and the reco-reco.

The day begins with a serenade and ends with fireworks. To the sound of drums, guitars and pealing bells, Congadas dance through the city: young, old, male, female, white and black.

The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is part of a Christmas celebration that begins on December 25 with the erection of two towering poles topped with images of saints in Rosario Plaza and ends on December 28 with processions in honor of St Benedict.

The church has undergone several renovations. The first occurred in 1914, when lightning struck the tower and gradually crumbled it. The work was completed only in 1916, returning their beautiful temple to the city, but the work had not been sufficient.

In 1954, the Church of the Rosary was restored again. A Commission of the Lords encouraged by Father Feliciano Grande spared no effort to ensure that this church was not abandoned and in 2002, Father Eugenio Luiz Berti managed, through public agencies and donations from the community, to find the necessary resources to carry out new work on the structure: roof, walls, altars and interior decoration were all rearranged.

The entrance driveway of the church has been widened for better circulation of groups 5 groups of Congadas in the city and the Slave Museum has also been created. According to the During the last restoration, a bottle was found with the names of the slaves who had contributed to the construction of the original church.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"O Blessed Mary, glory and delight of the Blessed Trinity, grant that your lowest servant, disciple and son may unite himself to the Church Militant, Suffering and Triumphant and grant that he may unite himself to your Religious, your Angels, and especially to your Saint Joseph, in glorifying you."

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Luois Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, p. 144)

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