Our visit to Corcorvado

This is a great moment, when you see however distant, the goal of your wandering. The thing which has been living in your imagination suddenly becomes part of the tangible world.–freya starck




















This morning, after two years of mental, spiritual, and physical preparation, we finally had Jesus Day! When we arrived at the parking lot where we were planning to board our vans to take us to the Corcovado, the mountain on which the Jesus statue stands, we were surprised to find out that a group of Germans had paid the vans to take them to the top instead of us. After a little negotiation, we acquired several taxis. Our unexpected change in transportation was just another turn in the pilgrim’s “labyrinth” we are becoming so accustomed to.









After careening our way to the top of the mountain, thanks to our typical crazy Brazilian drivers, we were greatly rewarded with the view from the top. As we anxiously waited for the elevator to bring us to the feet of the huge statue, I truly felt like a pilgrim. The statue I had seen in so many pictures and tried to imagine so many times was finally right in front of me. Up close, the fifty-two year old Jesus statue looms over its visitors and looks out over all of Rio de Janeiro with a watchful eye. We admired the 360-degree view as well as the masterpiece we had waited so long to see. While at the top, we had our own liturgy and read the passage about Jesus walking on water. After our service and a little more staring, we tore our eyes away and walked back down the stairs to our taxis.















Next, we arrived at Jan and Anne Benedict’s (two of our Brazilian hosts) country club for a beautiful lunch. We had steak and fried mashed potatoes on the patio overlooking the beautiful pool. After our late lunch, we headed to the outdoor botanical gardens to see the Brazilian flora. Jan, our resident ecologist, gave us a tour and pointed out the monkeys, Jack birds, and every beautiful tree we asked him about. We were all relieved when our bus driver for the day, Washington, eventually made it back to the convent after fighting Rio traffic at rush hour.

Our dinner was a surprise: fried fish along with our mandatory rice, beans, and salad. We had Compline on the roof and we talked about “Arrival” and the reality of our pilgrimage. As we looked up at the Jesus statue, illuminated by bright white light, each of us shared when we believed we “arrived” in Rio. Between moments like the consecration of the Santa Teresa project, our tour of Boystown orphanage, finding ways to connect with our Brazilian friends, and finally seeing the Jesus statue up close and personal, we have all finally fully arrived.

-maggie riddell