Incense for Our Lady of Aparecida: Patroness of Brazil
Our Lady of Aparecida is the patroness of Brazil. Her image was crowned in 1904 under Pope Saint Pius X, and Pope Pius XI declared her the country's patroness in 1930. Her national shrine, in the city of Aparecida in the state of São Paulo, is the largest Marian basilica in the world and receives millions of pilgrims every year. Her feast, October 12, is a national holiday in Brazil, and it is kept in Brazilian parishes and homes across the United States, from Florida to Massachusetts and New Jersey.
This post tells the story of the 1717 finding of her image, the basilica that grew around it, and how the Milagros Aparecida incense can bring the devotion to a home altar.
The 1717 story
In October 1717, three fishermen on the Paraíba do Sul river, Domingos Garcia, João Alves and Filipe Pedroso, were sent to catch fish for a banquet in honor of the Count of Assumar, the governor passing through the region. The river had given them almost nothing. They cast the net once more and brought up the body of a small, dark clay statue of the Virgin, without its head. The next cast brought up the head. Joined together, it was an image of the Immaculate Conception, hands folded in prayer.
After that, the nets came up so full that the boat was in danger. The fishermen took the statue home, word of the catch spread, and neighbors gathered to pray the rosary before it. A first chapel was built in 1745. The present basilica was begun in 1955 and consecrated by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1980, and the original image, dark with age, is kept there today. Aparecida means "the one who appeared."
The basilica today
The Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida is one of the largest churches in the world and can hold tens of thousands of people at a single Mass. The city around it is small, so on feast days and holidays the pilgrims far outnumber the people who live there. Saint John Paul II visited in 1980, Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and Pope Francis in 2013. In the days before October 12, pilgrims arrive from across Brazil, many of them on foot, and the basilica is full every evening.
Why incense, and the Milagros Aparecida blend
For anyone who has made the pilgrimage, the shrine is remembered through the senses: the long walk, the candles, the singing, and the incense of the Mass. Burning the same kind of liturgical incense at home is a simple way to keep that memory near.
Milagros makes its incense in Aparecida itself, in the city that grew up around the shrine.
The Milagros Aparecida resin is made of blue grains flecked with drops of gold, the colors of her mantle. Milagros created it for papal liturgy: it was first used in May 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI at the canonization Mass of Frei Galvão, Brazil's first native-born saint, during the same visit that took him to Aparecida. It has since been used at Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica. The scent is sweet and resinous with a floral note, and the smoke is generous without being harsh, which makes it well suited to a long rosary.
For her feast on October 12
The luxury kit has everything, including the blue burner. The mini kit and the resin alone suit a home that already has a burner.
Everything in one boxAparecida luxury kit0.7 oz of Aparecida resin, a blue ceramic burner, six quick-light charcoal tablets and tongs.$29.90See the kit
No burnerAparecida mini kitThe same 0.7 oz of resin with six charcoal tablets and mini tongs, for a burner you already own.$14.90See the kit
Just the resinAparecida and Fátima resinThe Aparecida blend on its own, from a small sachet up. The Fátima blend for October 13 is on the same page.From $4.40Choose a size
How to use Aparecida incense at home
Two patterns work well.
Daily Marian prayer. Light a charcoal disc, set a few grains of the Aparecida resin on it, and pray the rosary or the Angelus. October is the month of the rosary, so the feast falls in the middle of it.
The feast at home. Many Brazilian families pray the rosary on the evening of October 11 and keep the feast on the 12th with Mass and a meal. Light the burner for the evening rosary, and again on the morning of the feast for the day's Gospel and the Magnificat. Bilingual families often pray in both Portuguese and English. The next day, October 13, is the anniversary of the last apparition at Fátima, and the Fátima blend suits it well.
New to burning resin? The step-by-step method is in How to Burn Resin Incense.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the Aparecida image dark?
The image is a small clay statue, and its dark color is usually explained by its time in the river and by centuries of candle smoke. For Brazilians, the dark Virgin is at the heart of the devotion, and many see in her the mixed heritage of the country.
When is the feast of Our Lady of Aparecida?
October 12. In Brazil it is a national holiday. Outside Brazil, the feast is kept in parishes with Brazilian communities and by many families at home.
Where is Aparecida?
In the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in the Paraíba valley, about 105 miles northeast of the city of São Paulo.
Is the incense blessed?
It ships unblessed. If you would like it blessed, ask your parish priest. Most will gladly bless incense for home prayer.
What is the difference between the luxury kit and the mini kit?
Both hold 0.7 oz of the Aparecida resin, six quick-light charcoal tablets and tongs. The luxury kit adds a blue ceramic burner. The mini kit has no burner, so it suits someone who already owns one or wants a small gift.
How strong is the Aparecida resin?
Soft. It sits at the gentle end of the Milagros range, so it works well in a small room and for a long prayer. Start with a few grains and add more when the smoke fades.
Keep her feast at home
The Aparecida luxury kit holds the blue and gold resin, a blue ceramic burner, charcoal and tongs: everything for the rosary on the evening of October 11 and the feast the next day.
Or browse:
- Pure resin incense, including the Marian blends
- All prayer and starter kits
- Related: Incense for Saint Therese of Lisieux
Milagros incense is made in Aparecida, Brazil. Every order ships from Florida.