Our Lady of the Presentation

Marian dedication of Natal (Rio Grande do Norte)

La advocación de Our Lady of Presentation is attached to the city of Christmas, capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in the north-east of Brazil, where she is venerated as patron of the city and of the archdiocese. The devotion is celebrated the November 21in relation to the liturgical feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple.

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de Our Lady of Presentation is attached to the city of Christmas, capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in the north-east of Brazil, where she is venerated as patron of the city and of the archdiocese. The devotion is celebrated the November 21in relation to the liturgical feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple.

Tradition / Legend According to the local tradition, the 21 November 1753 Some fishermen found a wooden drawer in a few rocks on the right bank of the river Potts (Potenji)in front of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, in the place today known as Rosario Stonein Natal. Inside the drawer was a image of Our Lady of the Rosary and a message that said, "Where this image brings no misfortune will happen." The fishermen would have warned the parish priest, who recognized the image as Our Lady of the Rosary; however, as the 21 November, day of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple, the image was received and invoked as Our Lady of Presentationand proclaimed patron of the city.

Documented history The sources reflect the existence of this tradition and the consolidation of the title Our Lady of Christmas Presentation as an advocation of its own, but the details of the finding (drawer, inscription, intervention of the vicar) are mainly transmitted as a devotional account. In time, the Virgin under this advocation was officially recognized as Christmas boss and his particular Church, today archdiocese of Natalwho has his chair in the Our Lady of Presentation Cathedral. They do not contain, in easily accessible sources, detailed historical documents of the 18th century about the finding; the core of the account belongs to the field of Pious tradition, taken over and guarded by the local Church.

(Important location note: the title described corresponds to Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. No data have been found that canonically place this advocation as its own of a city called Natal in the department of Rio Grande do Norte in Colombia; there is no such ecclesiastical constituency.)

The image and the sanctuary

The sources indicate that the image found on the Potengi River was a image of Our Lady of the Rosary which, when the date coincided with the feast of the Presentation of Mary, became venerated under the title of Our Lady of Presentation. There are no verifiable sources of precise technical details on the material (wood, plaster or other) nor a detailed iconographic description (size, style, author, exact time or restorations); therefore, on these aspects no consta detailed and secure information.

The main place of worship is the Catedral Metro de Natal, officially Our Lady of Presentation Cathedral, seat of the archdiocese of Natal. The present cathedral is a temple of modern architecture, built in the 20th century, which replaced the ancient parent church. The image of the patron is kept and venerated, and the main archdiocesan ceremonies are held in her honor. In addition, the traditional place linked to the finding, the Rosario Stone, in front of the ancient church of the Rosary, it is maintained as a devotional reference point and stage of religious acts related to the Virgin.

It is not recorded in the consulted sources that the cathedral has been elevated to minor basilica or that there is an explicit recognition of National sanctuary for this vocation; its main title is that of catedral metro of the Archdiocese of Natal.

Sponsorship and coronation

En el ámbito del patronazgo, Our Lady of Presentation is reminded as:

– Patron of the city of Natal (Brazil). – Patron of the Archdiocese of Natal (former diocese erected at the beginning of the 20th century, then elevated to archdiocese).

No reliable data have been found to extend this patronage to the level National in Brazil or Colombia; the title has a main character local and archdiocesan.

As for the canonical coronation, the sources consulted (including online devotional literature and general information on the title) do not mention in a clear and documented manner a pontifical canonical coronation of the image of Nossa Senhora da Apresentação de Natal. In the absence of a precise and verifiable data (date, decree, pontiff or pontifical delegate), it should be stated:

– No documented canonical coronation of this image.

There may be diocesan coronations or solemn coronation ceremonies at the local level, but these do not appear with verifiable data in the sources consulted, so they cannot be detailed.

Party and devotion

La main party of Our Lady of Presentation is celebrated November 21, in line with the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple in the liturgy of the Church. On that day is celebrated the solemnity of the patron in the Christmas Cathedral and in the parishes of the archdiocese that are dedicated to him.

Around this date they develop novenas, processions and acts of popular piety, including the participation of the archdiocesan community, lay movements, religious and faithful congregations from different backgrounds of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The tradition of found in the Potengi River is especially remembered, and the Rosario Stone becomes a symbolic place of memory and prayer.

Available sources do not offer specific flow figures (number of pilgrims, official statistics), not a detailed and documented description of the pilgrimages (routes, distances, organization). Therefore, it can only be said in a general way that devotion to Nossa Senhora da Apresentação is rooted in popular piety of Natal and its archdiocese, with celebrations that combine the liturgical dimension, the processions and cultural expressions of the Brazilian north-east. More specific details of participation or specific folklore manifestations no constan in the sources consulted.

Link to the Rosary

No explicit historical link has been found between this advocation and a the Rosary the specific practice of Rosario that defines in a singular way the cult of Our Lady of Presentation. No constain accessible sources, a particular tradition that identifies this advocation with a proper way of praying the Rosary or with an officially Marian-rosarian sanctuary.

However, the traditional origin of the image as image of Our Lady of the Rosary found on the Potengi River offers a vínculo natural with this Marian prayer: the title of the Presentation is linked to the spiritual content of the Rosary, which contemplates the mysteries of Christ's life in close union with Mary. The Presentation of Mary In the Temple, she expresses the total dedication of the Virgin to God; the Rosary, prayed in this advocation, helps the faithful to imitate this availability of Mary, meditating on the joyful, painful, glorious and luminous mysteries.

In general, in any Marian devotion, and also in the Our Lady of Presentation, el Rosary:

– Sostiene la vida espiritual de las familias y comunidades. – Acompaña las employers' parties, novenas y procesiones. – Ayuda a los fieles a unir la memory of the mystery of the Presentation of Mary with the other mysteries of salvation.

So, though no conste a specific and historical association between this advocation and a concrete rosarian work or movement, the practice of