With the invocation of Nossa Senhora da Saúde, it was the venerable image placed in the chapel of Santo André…… The truth is that since the terrible year of the plague of 1599, the people of Sacavém never stopped having a special veneration for Nossa Senhora da Saúde, as seen mainly on the occasion of the annual festival dedicated to him ”, on the first Sunday of September. In 1863, the parish headquarters was transferred to the church of the Convent and this, in turn, with the exception of the church and its annexes belonging to the headquarters, was handed over to the Ministry of War, by decree of 1877. In the facilities of this Convent, you can find currently the Material Service Practical School and former Heavy Artillery Barracks no. 1.
The Convent was located outside the walls and, in the area we now call Sacavém de Baixo, on a hill overlooking the Trancão River.
Although documentation about Sacavém de Cima is scarce, we know, however, that it was the oldest and most intramural agglomeration. However, there are no vestiges of a castle or walls remaining from this high part of the medieval settlement, where the parish church was located very close to the Chapel of Santo André, currently called Nossa Senhora da Saúde and in whose surroundings, around 1940, they were found. abundant bones when water is channeled on site.
We know, however, that the 1755 earthquake almost completely destroyed this parish, ruining the so-called parish church that it slaughtered, passing the parish headquarters to the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Vitória, provisionally until settling in the church of the Convent in Sacavém de Baixo, where is currently in.
Our Lady, The ancient
The IMAGE of the Blessed Virgin was in a side cell of the Cathedral of Seville in Spain. This cathedral was rebuilt in the 14th century, preserving the image, which, thus, came to be called Santa Maria, the Old, that is to say, of the old cathedral.
Santa Maria, the old one, was the first devotion to Panama in 1510. It was first established in the town of Darien. This occurred when that year Vasco Nunes de Balboa and Martin Fernandez de Enciso arrived. They had promised the Virgin by her name in the village if they would come out alive from a fierce battle they had with the natives. Thus, after the victory, the village of Cacique Cémaco received the name of Santa Maria a Antiga.
On September 9, 1513, Pope Leo X created the first diocese in Terra Firme in Santa Maria, the Old one and the chapel of the Virgin was elevated to Cathedral.
On August 15, 1519, the city of Panama was founded and Our Lady of Summer was honored, but in 1524, the diocese of Santa Maria, Antiga moved to the newly founded city. Devotion also accompanies Our Lady. Today the nation’s patron.
Our Lady Achiropita
In 580 after Christ, Captain Mauricio, diverted by the winds, arrived in a Calabrian village in Italy. The monk Éfrem went to him and said to him: “It was not the winds that led you here, but Our Lady, so that you – once Emperor – built a temple for you”. In 582, Mauricio became in fact Emperor and, yielding to the monk’s insistence, decreed the construction of the Sanctuary, which very soon came to an end.
A strange fact caught the attention of the community. The image of Our Lady, which was painted during the day, at night disappeared from the canvas.
One night, suddenly, a beautiful lady appeared who spoke to the watchman and asked to enter the sanctuary. And as she took a long time to leave, worried, he went in and did not find that lady anymore, but he saw that it was painted on the bottom of the inner wall of the temple, a beautiful image of Our Lady. Upon hearing this, the people came to that place and, in tears and chants, cheered: Achiropita! Achiropita!… Which means: image not painted by the hand of man.
Our Lady of Aparecida (12/10)
A statue of the Virgin Mary was found by fishermen in the Paraíba River, on October 12, 1717, and was called Nossa Senhora Aparecida. Having been attributed miracles to it, in 1888 a temple was built, now known as the “old basilica”, where it was taken. In 1904, the statue was adorned with a golden crown offered by Princess Isabel. In 1929, Nossa Senhora Aparecida was proclaimed “Queen of Brazil”. The monumental current basilica was consecrated by Pope João Paulo 2º in 1980. Nossa Senhora Aparecida is the patron saint of Brazil (source: SGARBOSSA, Mario and GIOVANNINI, Luigi – A saint for every day, São Paulo: Paulus, 1983, 9th ed.)
Our Lady Announced
In Setúbal, Portugal, devotion to Maria emerged with the title of Announced. This name, according to tradition, was born from the “announcement” that a lady made when she came across a small image representing the Mother of God.
A poor woman used to go to the beach to look for firewood to cook or to warm up. One of the times, when lighting the fire, when he put the sticks to feed the flames, one of them jumped from there to the middle of the house. Without suspecting anything, the old woman put it back on the stove. Again the stick jumped away, thrown by an invisible force. This happened about three times, which aroused that lady’s curiosity. She took the stick, to examine closely what forced it to jump. He observed that it was not just any chip, but a small image of the Mother of God.
It was embedded in that small stick, measuring, approximately, “one third of a span” as reported by José Custódio Vieira da Silva, in Setúbal, 1990. Amazed, the lady shouted: “Virgem Anunciada”! He left in a hurry, to “announce” to his neighbors the prodigious fact. Hence the origin of the name. The pious companions went to see the Lady Announced. All the people of Setúbal and some priests went to check out what happened. The ecclesiastics decided that the holy image should be placed in a convenient place.
