05/30/2024 – 17:58
The Corpus Christi carpets, in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral of São Sebastião, on Avenida Chile, downtown Rio de Janeiro, are a tradition that brings together faithful from parishes and religious movements from various neighborhoods in the capital. They arrived in the late hours of the morning to begin making them and, around 12pm, they were completing work on 50 rugs with various motifs related to religious themes from the Catholic Church. In general, they are made using coarse salt, sawdust, coffee grounds and coloring agents.
Tiago Pereira is a young man preparing to enter a seminary and left home at 4:20 am. He lives in Madureira, a neighborhood in the north of Rio, for the fourth year to participate in the assembly together with friends from the Archdiocesan Vocational Group (GVA). In the future he wants to be a priest. “My will and I think it is also God’s will”, he revealed.
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In James’s view, the making of carpets is a different form of worship of the Lord, when Christ is expected to pass through the carpets that represent all the efforts of the faithful. “This celebration of the Body of Christ is being able to tell the world that it is real. Jesus present in the Eucharist is true. It is He who is there, the Lord himself who instituted the Eucharist on that Thursday, together with the apostles. And even today he calls apostles to serve, but he also strengthens with His Eucharist, so many families and so many people”, he said, explaining the meaning, for him, of Corpus Christi.
Right next to the GVA carpet, members of a samba school were present. This rapprochement between Rio’s samba schools and the Catholic Church is encouraged by the Archdiocese of Rio itself. Salgueiro took a group of faithful to assemble a carpet that had the image of São Sebastião, patron saint of Morro do Salgueiro, the school and From Rio.
Salgueiro’s Communications Director, Vitor Brito, said that this was an idea from Father Wagner, parish priest of the Church of Santa Rita and São Jorge. He is the one who celebrates all the parties we hold on the court. The priest is always with us. This connection with Salgueiro and Morro do Salgueiro has always existed,” he stated.
“Salgueiro is a black school, it has always praised African-based religions, but it also has a large part of its community that is Catholic and is very happy to participate in this Corpus Christi event”, he added.
Religious union
Afterwards, a group from the Religare Institute, made up of representatives from 28 religions, prepared a carpet to symbolize the union. “So that people can see that we respect each other, learn a little about each other’s history and, above all, have peace between religions. It is very necessary, not just here, but all over the world”, defended Luzia Lacerda, president of the Institute, remembering that this is the fifth year that the group has participated in making carpets for the Corpus Christi procession, in the capital of Rio de Janeiro.
Record
In São Gonçalo, in the metropolitan region of Rio, the faithful once again made the largest carpet in the state. With two kilometers long, it was already a record in Latin America, a place currently occupied by Curitiba. “We see a lot of joy from the people who come to prepare, organize and make it beautiful here, celebrating Jesus Christ”, commented the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Niterói, Dom Geraldo de Paula in an interview with Brazil Agency. The archdiocese is made up of 14 cities, including São Gonçalo and Cabo Frio.
Christ the Redeemer
At the Archdiocesan Sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer, the Archbishop of Rio, Dom Orani Tempesta, participated at 7 am in the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, opening Environment Week. A sustainable carpet was made at the feet of the image of Christ the Redeemer, made by young people. Prepared with coffee grounds, sawdust, eggshells and colored salt, it presented the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations (UN), the Works of Mercy, and an image of Our Lady, Queen of Ecology . At the end of the celebration, the materials were taken for composting, a process of decomposition of organic materials that results in fertilizer.
In Rio, the religious celebration program also includes the staging of the show Auto do Corpo de Deus next to the Metropolitan Cathedral of São Sebastião and the traditional Corpus Christi procession.
São Paulo
The solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi, in São Paulo, brought together faithful, religious, deacons and priests in front of the Sé Cathedral, in Praça da Sé, this Thursday morning. The open mass was celebrated by Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer and concelebrated by the auxiliary bishops of São Paulo.
Dom Odilo stated that this was a moment of great unity and communion for the Archdiocese around Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and remembered those most in need. “Let us give thanks today, in a particular way, for all the benefits received, and to Jesus in the Eucharist; let us present the needs of our brothers, especially those who suffer most: the poor, the sick and people who have difficulties in life”, said the cardinal, in a text published on the Archdiocese website.
Still in the state of São Paulo, the solemnity of Corpus Christi is also traditional in the city of Santana do Parnaíba. Since 1961 it has been celebrated with the making of 60 carpets along which the procession passes. Carpet production begins before Thursday. It extends approximately 850 meters in length, and materials such as clay, eggshells, wheat flour, popcorn, coffee powder, among others, are used.
Brasilia
As has traditionally been the case for 46 years, the Esplanada dos Ministérios was the location chosen for the religious solemnity of Corpus Christi, in Brasília. In response to a request from the Cardinal Archbishop of the Federal Capital, Dom Paulo Cezar Costa, for the faithful to take non-perishable food, which will be sent to victims of the floods in Rio Grande do Sul. “This is a way of showing solidarity with those who they need our help,” said the cardinal.
According to the archdiocese, the activities began around 6 am today, with the assembly of the 125-meter carpet on the central lawn. The assembly brought together approximately 600 people from various movements, pastorals and services of the archdiocese.
The tradition of carpets
Dom Geraldo de Paula, from the Archdiocese of Niterói, said that it was the Portuguese who brought the making of carpets to Brazil as a form of evangelization. “They brought this tradition, this custom of decorating the streets on this day of the solemnity of the Body of God. This moment when we have to assemble the carpets is very interesting because it is a space for everyone, from children to the elderly. This ends up attracting more people because they see it as an open place where people can express their creativity. It’s a blessed living space,” he said.
Celebration
According to the Archdiocese of Rio, the solemnity always takes place on the Thursday after the religious feast of the Holy Trinity and meets a recommendation from the Code of Canon Law, in which it asks the diocesan community to “publicly witness the adoration and veneration for with the Holy Eucharist.” According to Dom Orani Tempesta, on this day the Church celebrates the presence of Christ in the Eucharist to remember the death and resurrection of the Lord.
“It is also a way of telling the world that we are not alone, Christ is with us and we want his presence to transform our lives, our society so that we are increasingly more just, more human and more fraternal”, said the cardinal in audio sent to Brazil Agency by the Archdiocese.
The celebration began on August 11, 1264 with Pope Urban IV. But the origin of the religious event is in the year 1247, in Liège, Belgium. According to the Archdiocese of São Paulo, at the time, “a eucharistic movement emerged with the purpose of propagating the Catholic faith in the real presence of Christ in the eucharistic species”.
“On that occasion, the first Eucharistic procession took place through the streets of the city. Years later, this celebration became national and, in 1313, Pope Clement V established it as a worldwide celebration”, says the text published in site of the archdiocese.
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