SÃO PAOLO, Brazil, Dec. 15, 2014—Brazilian Catholics now have the chance to venerate Our Lady Mary Mediatrix of All-Grace in an oratory which opened recently in her honor.
The oratory (chapel), which is located in São José do Preto, one of the municipalities in Brazil’s São Paolo state, is slated to be the center of Mediatrix devotion promotion in Brazil.
Though relatively small, the Nossa Senhora Medianeira de Lipa chapel draws Marian devotees young and old. (Photo:
In an earlier CBCP News post, Brazilian national Fabiano Maria told CBCP News many of his countrymen have embraced the devotion to what they refer to in Portuguese as “Nossa Senhora Medianeira de Lipa” (Our Lady, Mediatrix of Lipa) and their number is expected to increase because of the oratory.
Maria, a 35-year old lay missionary who aspires to the priesthood, shared he introduced the devotion to Our Lady of Lipa to his countrymen after he had learned of her story via social media site Facebook.
To ensure Brazilian devotees will know what the Lady of Lipa looks like, Maria had an image of her struck.
While he originally wanted to order one directly from the Philippines, the financial cost and logistical dangers of shipping a fragile religious object from half a world away prompted him to consider the more practical and safer option.
On Nov. 30, the statue was blessed by Fr. Henrique Komenda and was displayed temporarily at the Oratory of St. Philomena.
With roughly 130 million adherents, or over 64 percent of the population, Brazil is the world’s largest Catholic nation, followed by Mexico and the Philippines. (Raymond A. Sebastián/CBCPNews)
