Capela da Imaculada Conceição

In Madeira, devotion to the Immaculate Conception is very old, having arrived on the island since the time of the 'discoveries' ('rediscoveries') or 'finding' and the beginning of settlement, between 1420 and 1425. It is worth recalling the construction, by João Gonçalves Zarco, 1st captain of the Funchal grantee, of the churches of "Conceição de Baixo" (the old and demolished Church of Nossa Senhora do Calhau, built around 1438 and damaged by the flood of 1803) and "Conceição de Cima", in whose chancel the Church of the Convent of Santa Clara do Funchal was built, beginning in 1450. In addition to several chapels and altars dedicated to this devotion, throughout the island of Madeira, we have very old parishes whose patron saint is Nossa Senhora da Conceição, such as Machico and Porto Moniz, since the 15th century, and in the 20th century (1960), the parish of Imaculada Conceição, in Ponta Sol, was based in an equally ancient chapel, Capela dos Esmeraldos (or Espírito Santo, now also known as Conceição), blessed on 27 August 1508 by the Bishop of Tangier, D. João Lobo. Devotion to the Immaculate Conception seems to have originated in the Eastern Church in the 7th and 8th centuries, although it was only officially recognised from the 12th century onwards when it was introduced into the liturgy. Spain and Portugal have always been great defenders of the Immaculate Conception, whose feast day has been celebrated since the 13th century on 8 December, the day on which, according to the Immaculate Conceptionists, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim conceived the Virgin Mary with an embrace and a kiss at the Golden Gate. According to Xavier Coutinho, the feast of the Immaculate Conception has been celebrated in Portugal since the 14th century, basing this statement on the work of Friar Álvaro de Pais (c.1275-1352), "De Statu et planctu ecclesiae" (1332-1335), with the feast of the Conception having been instituted in the diocese of Coimbra by Bishop Raimundo Ebrard I (1319-1324) in 1320. Raimundo Ebrard I (1319-1324) in 1320. However, some historians, pointing to the Franciscans as the great defenders of the Immaculate Conception, claim that there are records of this festival dating back to 1263. In the "Book of Hours of D. Fernando", now in the National Library of Rio de Janeiro, commissioned by Father Joaquim de Sá, preacher to D. Fernando (1367-1383), there is a representation of the Immaculate Conception. In 1430, the Council of Basel established the feast of the Immaculate Conception as obligatory, and the Franciscan Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) was its great defender (1477). The Jesuits were also defenders of the Immaculate Conception from 1534 onwards, when the Society of Jesus was founded. The Dominicans accepted only the concept of the sanctification of the Virgin. However, some popes, during their pontificate, took an anti-Immaculate position: Leo I (440-461); Gelasius I (492-496); Gregory I (590-604); Innocent III (1198-1216); Innocent V (1276); John XXII (1316-1334) and Clement VI (1342-1352). It is natural that the Franciscans should be credited with the devotion to Our Lady of the Conception in Madeira, as they accompanied João Gonçalves Zarco in the discovery of the archipelago, celebrating the first Mass and then providing religious assistance to the population that settled here. The Immaculate Conceptionists, like the Franciscans and Jesuits, defended Mary's virginity 'ante partum and post partum' (before and after childbirth). This is a controversial situation, even within the Catholic Church, as the Holy Scriptures do not explicitly refer to this condition of the Virgin. The Immaculate Conceptionists point to the words of greeting from the angel Gabriel, "Ave Maria Gratia Plena," as an indication of her immaculate state, but Protestants explain that "full of grace" does not mean "immaculate," but rather "grateful," with that state of grace being exclusive to Christ, according to some theologians. Theologians such as St Augustine (354-430), St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), Albertus Magnus, O.P. (c.1193/1206-1280) and St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P. (1225-1274) affirmed that the Virgin was, like all creatures, conceived in sin and redeemed by Christ, thus defending only the sanctification of Mary. In Portugal, this position was taken, for example, by Friar Bartolomeu dos Mártires, Archbishop of Braga (1559-1582) and Friar Diogo do Rosário, who died in 1580. However, other theologians staunchly defended Mary's purity, such as Friar Amador Arrais, a Carmelite, in his "Dialogues," and Father João Rebelo, a Jesuit who died in 1602. Although the Greek Church had celebrated the Immaculate Conception since the 5th century and the Latin Church since the 7th century, the triumph of the Immaculate Conception was only consecrated at the Council of Trent by Pope Paul IV (1555-1559) on 7 August 1555, "Cum Quorundam", on the perpetual virginity of Mary, and Paul V (1605-1621) prohibited any doctrine contrary to the Immaculate Conception. The discord between immaculists and maculists continued for many centuries, and it was only in 1708 that it became mandatory for the whole Church, dating only from 12 December 1854, the institution of its dogma through the bull "Ineffabilis Deus" (Ineffable God) by Pope Pius IX (1846-1878). Portugal seems to have venerated the Immaculate Conception since the time of the Reconquista, but it was King John IV (1640-1656) who was the great promoter of her cult, electing her as Patroness of Portugal in 1646, after the triumph of the Restoration in 1640, the date of Portugal's victory over Philippine Spain and the beginning of the Bragança dynasty.

Photo Details