Catholic Music in Lusophone New Jersey: Circum-Atlantic Music, Intergroup Dynamics, and Immigrant Struggles in Transnational Communities

Approximately eight hundred Brazilians, Portuguese, and other Catholics gathered outside St. James Church in Newark, New Jersey, on a mild Sunday morning in October 2013. They convened for a procession, Mass, and festival to celebrate the Virgin Mary in her advocation of Our Lady of Aparecida, the patroness of Brazil. Her clay statue had appeared in 1717 to river fishermen in Aparecida, a town in the state of São Paulo, which became a major pilgrimage site. During the procession through a neighborhood called the Ironbound, in the center of Newark’s Lusophone (i.e., Portuguese-speaking) community, the small replica statue of the Virgin Mary, with a dark blue robe and gold crown, was carried next to a tall cream-colored statue of Mary as Our Lady of Fátima, the patroness of Portugal, who is also venerated in Brazil.¹ In front of the two statues’ palanquins, parishioners carried flags of the Vatican, Brazil, Portugal, and the United States, as well as a banner to Saint James (see Figure 1). While processing through the neighborhood, devotees sang Marian hymns in Portuguese to Our Lady of Nazareth and apparitions significant in the Lusophone world: Our Lady of Aparecida, Our Lady of Fátima, and Our Lady of Lourdes. The procession began by singing to Our Lady of Aparecida:

Viva a mãe de Deus e nossa, Sem pecado concebida!Viva a Virgem Imaculada,A Senhora Aparecida!Aqui estão vossos devotos,Cheios de fé incendida, de conforto e de esperança,Ó Senhora Aparecida!

Hail the mother of God and our mother,Conceived without sin!Hail the Immaculate Virgin,Lady of Aparecida!Here are your devotees,Kindled with faith, comfort and hope,O Lady of Aparecida!

They then sang two hymns to Mary of Nazareth, including “Maria de Nazaré,” a popular song by Father Zezinho (José Fernandes de Oliveira), a prolific Brazilian composer and recording artist. A hagiographic hymn followed, recounting the Virgin Mary’s 1858 apparition to Marie Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.²

Um anjo descendoNum raio de luzFeliz, BernadeteÀ fonte conduz.Ave, ave, ave MariaAve, ave, ave Maria

An angel descendingIn a ray of lightHappy, BernadetteTo the fountain leads.Hail, hail, hail MaryHail, hail, hail Mary

Finally, celebrants praised Our Lady of Fátima, singing a hymn from Portugal that recounts Mary’s 1917 apparition to three shepherd girls in Iria’s Grave, a cavern in Fátima, Portugal:

Sobre os braços da azinheiraTu vieste ó Mãe clementeVisitar a lusa genteDe quem és a padroeiraFoi na Cova da ÍriaQuando o terço te rezavam,Quando os sinos convidavamA orar, era meio dia.*

In the arms of the holly oakYou came, O merciful MotherTo visit your Portuguese peopleOur matron saintIt was in Iria’s GraveWhen the rosary for you they prayed,When the bells invitedTo pray, it was noon.

*Although the word “era” was not on the song sheet from the festival, three Portuguese parishioners I consulted at St. James Church include “era” as do most versions of the hymn on the Internet.

By this time, the procession paused in front of the parish dedicated to this apparition, Igreja Nossa Senhora de Fátima, whose members are predominantly immigrants from Portugal and their kin. The Brazilian priest leading the procession, Father Celso L. Martins, Jr., who grew up in a parish dedicated to Our Lady of Fátima in southern Brazil, acknowledged the church and requested blessings from the Virgin Mary for the community. The procession then returned to St. James Church, whose members are predominantly immigrants from Brazil, to celebrate the Mass outdoors and a festival with Portuguese grilled chicken, Brazilian drinks, children’s games, and secular music in Portuguese. To accompany the Mass, the ensemble of Brazilian musicians sang and played electric keyboard, acoustic guitar, and trap-drum set (see Figure 2). They began with the hymn mentioned above to Our Lady of Aparecida, adding a tagline to Our...