Pope Francis and the Marian Shrine of Aparecida

(Vatican Radio) As we know May is a month dedicated in a special way to Our Lady. And as we know too right from the very start of his pontificate Pope Francis entrusted his ministry as Successor of Peter to Our Lady making a surprise visit to Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major on the day after his election.

He also made a point when returning to his own continent for the first time as Roman Pontiff to repeat this gesture by adding a visit to a Marian Shrine to his already tight schedule. Listen to this feature presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:

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It was while he was in Brazil for World Youth, the date was the 24^th of July 2013 and the place, one dear to him: Aparecida.

The event began at the Basilica of the Shrine with a brief moment of prayer in the Chapel by the Hall of the Twelve Apostles where an image of Our Lady is housed and it ended with an Act of Consecration to Our Lady of Aparecida. A consecration which took place at the end of the Holy Mass celebrated in Portuguese with the local Bishops. During his homily on this occasion, Pope Francis highlighted in a special way his Marian devotion entrusting to her the people of the Latin American continent.

In the course of his homily during Holy Mass, at what he described as the house of the Mother of every Brazilian, he said: “When the Church looks for Jesus she always knocks at his Mother’s door. I too have come here to knock on the door of the house of Mary, so she may help us pass on to future generations those values necessary to build both a more just and fraternal nation and world".