Rio!!

Aparecida is a truly enormous basilica, housing a small image of our Blessed Mother, who has accomplished profound miracles. As the story has it, fishermen discovered the small black statue in their empty nets as they struggled to catch fish.  A second cast of the nets recovered her missing head.  The took her home and repaired her.  Soon people began to attribute miraculous occurrences to her intercession. Pilgrims came. A larger space was needed, so she moved to the local church. Then a larger church was needed. Then a still larger church. Today it is the second largest Catholic Church in the world, and the second or third most visited Church in the world. We celebrated Mass in English there. Pictures follow at the end of the post. 

From Aparecida, we drove through the mountains to the coast and to Rio. Tensions were high as we once again endured the sorting ceremony. As per usual with World Youth Day, all was not in order upon our arrival.  I road herd on the pilgrims while Frs. Sparks and Christensen sorted all of that out. The neighborhood is quite safe, but it looks scary to any who have never visited a large city with ramshackle buildings, barbed wire wrapped walls, and graffitied walls. Luckily we are four or five to a house this time as opposed to just one or two. 

I am housed with Colin Kling, Logan Pochop, and Andrew Sullivan. This house is lovely, and we are hosted by a family of four. The veranda is almost an apartment unto itself. After a bus drive and a change of clothes, the breeze blowing through the house was a welcome relief. 

Having been fed again we are now getting our fix of American electronics. Bedtime is very soon.  We gather tomorrow at 6:30 am. I will have more for you tomorrow.