[Gocamino] Brasilian albergue. Volunteer "hospitaleros"

[Blaroli at aol.com]

Hello you all,
Acacio Paz. the driving force behind the new Brasilian albergue and its 
associates took possession of the albergue premises on January 2nd., and are in the 
process of completing the furnishings and the installation of all the 
necessary equipment for utilities,  appliances etc.  
It is expected that they will have finished everything by the end of 
February. Meanwhile, Acacio assures that,  even now, pilgrims in the neighborhood of 
Vega de Valcarce that need accommodations will be received in the premises if 
needed; if you wish more information you may send an e-mail to:
alberguedobrasil at yahoo.com
While Acacio may be unsure of his proficiency in writing English, he reads  
and understands it perfectly well.
There is a call for volunteer hospitaleros issued by the Asociacion de 
Voluntarios en albergues del Camino de Santiago (Association of Camino de Santiago 
volunteers). Those interested may go to:
www.caminhodesantiago.com
when the page comes up click on the paragraph that starts with" Peregrinos", 
above Coelho's picture on the right, and  that will lead to a page whereon 
information and instructions are available in all languages.
There will be a  formal opening of the albergue,  with a party. I'm sure, and 
I've been lucky enough to have been invited. Time and health permitting, I'd 
love to go since I have humonguous soft spot for things Breasilian.
The albergue is named after the Patroness of Brasil, "Nossa Senhora 
Aparecida" (Our Lady Who appeared";) I seemed to have offered to tell you about it 
since quite a few of you have asked.
Well, the official image is very small,, about 24-30 inches in height, and 
very dark. Her tiny size belies the huge following that she has in Brazil.  The 
main basilica dedicated to the image is one of the largest churches that I 
have ever seen, and is up in the mountains a couple of hundred miles from Rio de 
Janeiro.  The huge church is enormous and it replaces another one.  It is so 
big that it actually has a flying bridge leading up to it, for pedestrians,  
and nearby, at the bottom, the reception area for pilgrims, most of whom drive 
to the town, is larger than Pennsylvania station in New York City!
 Inside the church there are motorized belts, such as the ones in airports, 
to take the faithful to a close proximity to the little image.  The church is 
built in almost a cross shape, and it has a platform at its center where some 
pilgrims can pray through dance.  I have never seen anything like it anywhere. 
The only other place where I know of dancing as a form of worship in a 
Catholic Church is in Seville, where the famous "Seises" have been performing the 
rite for centuries (That's another story.... if you are interested I can tall you 
about it later).
Well, at any rate.... it is well known that the countries formed by the 
Spaniards in continental America never had slavery.  Queen Isabel  La Catolica, who 
financed Columbus' expedition, was a sincerely devout Christian who would not 
allow slavery wherever she had power.  In fact, Columbus lost favor with her, 
and was taken back to Spain as a prisoner, for suggesting the capture and 
sale of American natives as slaves.
But Queen Isabel did not have any authority over Brasil, whose territory had 
been granted by the Pope Alexander VI (The Borgia Pope who was, by the way, a 
Spaniard and italicized his name to Borgia from its original Borja) to the 
Portuguese.
Brasil is huge.... not counting Alaska it is larger than the continental USA. 
Also, Brasil is the spot in America closer to Africa, so that slavery was 
early and freely established in the Country.  
Now and then the Portuguese kings would send distinguished emissaries to 
Brasil.  In one such occassion, the ruler of the region expected one such guest, 
and he ordered that the finest fish be found to serve the dignitary.  Several 
fiushermen went to the nearby river looking for the very best fish. Towards the 
end of the day two of the fishermen, who had discarded many of the caught 
fish as not good enough, brought up from the bottom of the sea what appeared to 
be a piece of wood; cleaning it they saw that it was a small doll-like image 
with a beautiful and serious, rather sad, adult face. The object seemed to have 
been in the water for a long time because it had become quite dark.
The fishermen took the image with them, not knowing exactly what it was; they 
cleaned it up and stood it on a table in a shack not far from the river. Some 
time later, a guard was leading an escaped slave back to its owner for 
punishment; the slave's feet were shackled and his hands were chained behind his 
back.  As the guard and the slave were walking in front of the shack the slave, 
who was sure he'd be killed as a warning to other potential runaways, asked the 
guard to let him have some water and a little rest; they went into the shack, 
the slave fell on his knees and started talking to the little image on the 
table asking for help. Miraculously his chains and shackles fell off his hands 
and his feet.
Soon this incident became known all around and people from all over came to 
visit the little image. In time, the church dignitaries declared it to be an 
image of the Virgin Mary that deserved a proper church. She is believed to 
perform all sorts of miracles for those who have faith in her, and the people of 
her country are crazy about her, so much so that even in ordinary conversations, 
where we would say "my God! (it's raining)" or "Oh God (what have I done?) ", 
Brasilians say "Nossa"  (Our, in the femenine form) which is short for Nossa 
Senhora Aparecida.
Those who may have visited Rio de Janeiro know that the main street is called 
"Nossa Senhora de Copacabana".  Nossa Senhora (Our Lady) refers, of course, 
to the Virgin Mary.
In my parish in Greenwich Village in New York City we now have a significant 
contingent of Brasilians who have a Sunday Mass, with visiting priests from 
Brasil, and religious services in Portuguese.  Sometimes I go to their services; 
 they bring out a table, cover it with a Brasilian flag and put a replica of 
the small Nossa Senhora Aparecida image on it.  The Brasilians also prepare, 
and enjoy, a lively Sunday lunch after Mass and quite often have parties.
The name of my parish is (what else?) Our Lady of Pompeii.
Big hug to you all, or, as the Brasilians would have it:
Beijos, beijinhos e beijaos*
Rosina
*kisses, little kisses, and big kisses. 
  
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