Born in 1972 in Itajai in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil, Eduardo Ferreira found an image of Our Lady of Aparecida in the courtyard of the family house on January 6, 1983. On October 12, 1987, four days after his first communion, Eduardo and his sister Eliete were praying in front of this image when Eduardo saw a blue light emerging from it and illuminating the room. On February 12, 1988 he had his first vision of the Virgin, seeing her as if in a rose-filled grotto, holding a snake with her foot. Apparitions subsequently occurred almost daily until January 1, 1996, two months after the first message from Jesus in a hospital where Eduardo was working as