(ZENIT News / São Miguel Arcanjo, Brazil, 01.09.2024).- A monument of Saint Michael the Archangel has begun to be built in the city of São Miguel Arcanjo, Brazil, whose image — 75 meters high including the base –, will be the largest in the world, and completed in 2026.
São Miguel Arcanjo is a municipality in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, whose historical roots began in the 19th century. In 1841 Lieutenant Urias Emídio Nogueira de Barros, a miner of Baependi and resident in Casa Branca, acquired land in the area and started to colonize the region. The population grew with the spread of the cultivation of coffee. Tourism developed in the second half of the 20th century given its closeness to the Paulist capital and the conservation of its exuberant nature, with ecological parks, trails and waterfalls.
The first stone of the new Mother Church was placed on December 1, 1944 and its was inaugurated on January 1, 1945. Work began during its time as parish while building of the new Church, which was completed in February 1962. Father Márcio Almeida, the Basilica’s current Rector, announced its creation and presented a plan of the Centro de Evangelización Gruta do Arcanjo on December 12, 2021.
The center is the Gruta del Arcángel, a building inspired in the Shrine of Monte Gargano, located in the south of Italy where, according to Tradition, Saint Michaell appeared four times. The monument will have a replica of the façade and interior of the Italian Shrine.
It will also include a church for 400 people, a miraculous room, a museum of sacred art, an auditorium, a devotional pavilion, confessionals, house of candles, Marian grotto, outdoor Chapel for 12,000 people, shops, food patio, parking lot and dancing waters with synchronized water jets to the rhythm of music, and nocturnal illumination.
Saint Michael’s image follows the proposal of sculptor Markus Moura, with the Archangel holding a sword in his right hand and a scale in the left. It will have a viewing point on the chest.
The Catholic community built the first Chapel of Saint Michael the Archangel in 1884 and was given the title Diocesan Shrine in September 2013, in recognition of the great number of pilgrims and devotees that attend the Sunday Eucharistic Celebrations and during the September 29 festivities. It received the title of Minor Basilica in May 2018.
