On Saturday, May 17, the east facade of the National Shrine of Aparecida was inaugurated with a double event: the blessing of the facade and the Eucharistic celebration in the Basilica. In his homily, Father Domingos Sávio CSsR emphasized the Providence of God, relating the liturgical celebration to the art represented on the east facade.
“You, Shrine of Mary, are a Bible open to all!” This is the chorus of the entrance hymn of the Holy Mass in thanksgiving for the inauguration of the east facade, the third façade covered with mosaics representing scenes from the book of Genesis. The Eucharist was concelebrated by the rector, Father Eduardo Catalfo, and the assistant bursar, Father Adam Rapala CSsR, together with other priests.
In his homily, Father Domingos, reflecting on the liturgy of the fifth Sunday of Easter, emphasized that we were the ones who made the first heaven, and the first earth disappear, because we distanced ourselves from God’s plan.
“We have disobeyed, we have preferred to break with God; we, human beings, are the only gods here on earth; we have abandoned God. But God, dear brothers, has never abandoned us.”
“To the extent that we love as Jesus loved, we will experience in the depths of ourselves the new heaven and the new earth. Heaven and earth in perfect union.”
Recalling the scene of the Transfiguration present in the art of the east facade, Father Domingos comments that we too must transfigure ourselves to fully live what God has dreamed for us.
The thanksgiving celebration for the opening of the east facade was also a moment of prayer for the Family of Devotees, responsible for the care of the Mother’s House and for making the Sanctuary of Aparecida increasingly a space of prayer and evangelization.
The facades of the basilica of the Sanctuary of Aparecida
The Jornada Bíblica project is an evangelization project that is transforming the four facades of the National Shrine into a large catechesis, the Bible outdoors. The realization of the project is an important gift from the Family of the Devotees (a network of people who pray and support the sanctuary) to Our Lady of Aparecida. The first phase of the north facade, opened in 2022, presents the events narrated in the Book of Exodus. The south facade, delivered in 2024, presents the mystery of Christ in his incarnation, passion, and resurrection, narrated in the Gospels. And now the east facade has been inaugurated, it carries the Mystery of the creation of heaven and earth, depicting the book of Genesis.
(a12.com)
