The veneration of holy icons unites the Catholic Church (of the West) and the Orthodox Churches (of the East). During Her journey through the world "From Ocean to Ocean", Our Lady of Czestochowa visited both Catholic churches and sanctuaries, as well as Orthodox churches. In Brazil, in Sao Paulo on March 30/31, 2025, she stopped at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paradise, belonging to the Melkite Church, officially called the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite. In Brazil, this Church has 436,000 faithful in 5 parishes.
The iconographic language is well known in the Eastern Churches. The faithful pray by contemplating icons, so the visit of the Czestochowa Icon, considered to be written by St. Luke the Evangelist, was a major event.
After a solemn welcome at 7:00 p.m. and the exposure of the Mother of God in the traveling Icon on the main altar, under the iconographic fresco showing scenes from the life of the Mother of God, the Akathist in honor of the Mother of God was sung together.
This is the oldest liturgical hymn praising Mary, typical of the Eastern churches, although recently it has also been revived in the Catholic Church. It is sung every Saturday at Jasna Góra in the Chapel of the Miraculous Icon. It consists of several smaller forms of liturgical poetry (usually 12 kondakions and 12 ikos). The Akathist, like other hymns, is always sung standing a cappella. In the Melkite Cathedral it was beautifully performed and was a wonderful introduction to the contemplation of the Icon that evening.
The next morning, adoration continued, and at noon, a solemn Divine Liturgy (Mass) was celebrated by the Melkite Bishop George Khoury, concelebrating with the Catholic auxiliary bishop of Rio de Janeiro, Fr. Zdzisław Błaszczyk, and the Melkite priest Seid.
