“I arrived at the venue and saw a sea of yellow and blue ribbons in the air, as well as a contagious joy that greeted the Pilgrim Mother and sang to her. It was a day of celebration. In Portugal, they were celebrating 75 years of the Apostolate of the Pilgrim Mother and the image that João Pozzobon carried on his shoulders for many years, like a true apostle, the first apostle and missionary of our Pilgrim Mother.”
Helena Cunha, member of the jubilee team of the Apostolate of the Pilgrim Mother in Portugal
The path of preparation
The Apostolate of the Pilgrim Mother celebrates its 75th anniversary this year! It began in Santa Maria (Brazil) on September 10, 1950, under the guidance of the venerable deacon João Pozzobon. To celebrate this event at the national level, the moderators organized a meeting with the coordinators of the different shrines on April 7, 2024, in Fatima. On that day, the path of preparation for the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Apostolate of the Pilgrim Mother in Portugal was defined.
Following this meeting, the teams formed for this purpose (Spiritual, Historical, Communication, and Logistics) began planning and organizing the jubilee day. On February 16, 2025, a new meeting of the jubilee preparation team was held at the shrine in Aveiro to compile all the historical material, plan the exhibition on the history of the apostolate, define the jubilee program, and distribute the tasks. It was a journey of preparation lived with constant commitment and enthusiasm.
Portugal celebrates 75 years of the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate
On September 27, 2025, the Shrine of Aveiro joyfully celebrated the culmination of this journey with a beautiful jubilee celebration.
More than 700 missionaries and families from the four national shrines and from all over the country gathered in prayer to give thanks for these 75 years of the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate, during which our love for the Pilgrim Mother and our bond with the venerable deacon João Pozzobon deepened.
Each shrine brought its Auxiliary Pilgrim Mother to the shrine in gratitude for all the fruits and blessings received. Then the Rosary of Hope was prayed, and several testimonies were shared about experiences with the Pilgrim Mother in prisons, with families, with the sick, and in the Country Mission. A symbolic act of great significance took place in the morning: with a handful of soil from each of the four shrines, four rose bushes were received that will be planted in each of them as a perennial symbol of this jubilee.
João Pozzobon visited Portugal
After a fellowship lunch, the testimonies about the Jubilee in Santa Maria continued, along with a play about the life of João Pozzobon and the Eucharist. In it, Father Gonçalo Cravo, director of the Schoenstatt Movement in Portugal, challenged us to let the Blessed Mother unsettle us, keep us faithful, and reveal her will to us.
During the offertory, flowers painted in the colors of each shrine were brought to the altar as a symbol of the capital of grace offered during the preparation for this jubilee. A spiritual bouquet for the Blessed Mother who, for 75 years, has been traveling to homes to bring hope to hearts.
Throughout the celebration, visitors could view an exhibition with excerpts and photographs from the history of the Apostolate, from the beginnings of the Pilgrim Mother in the different dioceses and shrines, as well as João Pozzobon’s visit to Portugal in 1979, a story that will later be captured in a book.
The Blessed Mother took care of every detail and, despite the rain, everyone experienced this day with great joy and serenity.
May this Jubilee have strengthened the missionary zeal in each heart, so that the Apostolate of the Pilgrim Mother in Portugal may grow in commitment, youthfulness, and hope.
Photos: Bruno Zêzere
Translation: Sr. M. Lourdes Macías
