This Saturday morning (20), the day of the Patron Saint of Rio de Janeiro, the Basilica Sanctuary of São Sebastião dos Friars Capuchinhos, in Tijuca, North Zone of the capital of Rio de Janeiro, received thousands of faithful. At 9 am, the mass was celebrated by the Archbishop of Rio, Cardinal Dom Orani Tempesta.
Until 1956, Rio's birthday was celebrated on its Patron Saint's Day. After that, the celebration took place on March 1st, in reference to the moment when Estácio de Sá arrived in Guanabara Bay, in 1565. Even so, the carioca continues, to this day, considering both dates.
The Catholic Church expects that throughout this Saturday, 40,000 people will participate in the celebrations, which take place every hour until 7pm.
The traditional procession, of around 5km, will leave the sanctuary, in Tijuca, at 4pm, heading to the Metropolitan Cathedral, in the city center, where the closing mass of the procession will be held, also by Dom Orani, at 6pm.
The program also includes “Auto de São Sebastião 2024”, next to the Cathedral, which will tell the story of the patron saint's life. In addition, there will also be the traditional blessing in the Basilica courtyard. If the faithful wish to take holy water home, simply go to the friars to have them bless the bottles.
Festivities in honor of São Sebastião take place in several other cities in the country, which have São Sebastião as their patron saint. Among them are Suzano and Presidente Prudente, in São Paulo; Boa Vista, in Roraima; and Xapuri, in Acre.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
