“What thou shalt ask, oh lady, who deny you the good Jesus?” Marian devotion and cholera epidemic inside Ceará (1855-1862)

Abstract

The article analyses how – on conjuncture of approaching of an epidemic, between 1855 and 1862 – the region of Cariri, inside Ceará, turned to Virgin Mary as a mean of defense before the Cholera. Starting from priests’ letters and prayers published in the newspaper “O Araripe”, we establish how the disease was represented from a penitential view, based on the idea of divine punishment, and how the Marion devotion was raised on helping of the frightened faithful.