The propagation of devotion to Our Lady of Aparecida and the administration of the National Shrine has been under the responsibility of Redemptorist Missionaries since 1894, in Brazil.
There is a special series of testimonies prepared by the Radio Aparecida whixh tells how Redemptorist missionaries had taken the work in Aparecida and their fidelity to Mother Mary as they work for spreading her devotion in Brazil until today.
http://www.a12.com/radio/noticias/especial-300-anos-conheca-a-historia-dos-missionarios-redentoristas-e-a-devocao-mariana?no-cache=1
In one of these programmes, you can find out more about “Popular Missions,” a characteristic tool for evangelization by the Redemptorist Missionaries, a ministry that helps in the propagation of Marian devotion.
The official website of the National Shrine of Aparecida has published the programme of the Jubilee celebrations and the feast day of our Lady of Aparaceda which is celebrated on October 12, the date on which 300 years before the little statue of Mary was found in the Paraíba do Sul river, within San Paolo.
There will be 26 carts for the Novena and the feast of Our Lady, prepared by the 50 employees of the organizing group that includes people working in various areas: blacksmith, carpentry, painting, electricity, maintenance and decoration; there are about 200,000 hosts for celebrations; there are about 2,500 collaborators, who are also called as the staff of the National Shrine.The Sanctuary has more than 900 Toilents both for men and wemen, 75 toilents for handicapped people amd 156 fountains for drinking water.
This largest center of Catholic evangelization in Brazil is a mirror of the popular devotion for the Queen and Patroness of Brazil, Our Lady of Aparecida. To accommodate nearly 12 million pilgrims a year, the National Shrine offers devotees an area of over 1.3 million square feet, with nearly 143 thousand square meters of built in area.
The specific area of the Aparecida Basilica comprises almost 72 thousand square meters and comprises two floors: ground floor and the lower section, arcade and South Tribuna, central dome and the Chapels of Resurrection and Baptism, as well as the Brasilia Tower.
Inside the basilica, on the ground floor, lies the niche of the image of the Patron of Brazil, exposed in a cut of 37 meters high. Inside the Basilica, there is an area of 25,000 square meters, that can accommodate almost 30,000 people for Eucharistic celebrations around the central altar; for outdoor celebrations, the capacity is 300,000.
The greatness of the world’s largest Marian shrine is present in every detail of its structure: The structure is in the Romanesque Revival style and takes the form of a Greek Cross with arms 188 m (617 ft) in length and 183 m (600 ft) in width. The dome is 70 m (230 ft) high and the tower reaches a height of 102 m (335 ft). During celebrations on the feast day of the patroness, up to 70,000 people can be accommodated in ancillary areas.The grounds contain a shopping mall, medical clinic, restaurants and a 272,000 m2 (2,930,000 sq ft) parking lot that can hold 4,000 buses and 6,000 cars.The sumptuous Pedestrian Bridge of Faith connecting the Shrine to the Basilica is 392.2 meters long and its highest part is 35.52 meters above the ground.
