March 22, 2025

Salvador da Bahia is the fourth largest city in Brazil and one of the many ports we are visiting as we sail up the long east coast of Brazil after having left Rio de Janeiro. I’ve attached a map where you can see the locations of Maceio and Recife two other ports we will visit before recrossing the Equator and making our way inland and cruising down the Amazon River for 7 days.

 Like Valletta, Malta that we visited in December of last year Salvador is built on two levels with administration buildings and residences constructed on the hills: forts, docks, and warehouses on the beaches. The Lacerda Elevator near the cruise terminal connects the two and costs just 15 centavos (3 cents in U.S. currency) to ease the otherwise very steep climb to the upper level.

In my blog of March 4, 2024, from Osaka, Japan I wrote: “It has been my experience that all cultures symbolize their holy petitions. Some use candles, others incense and the most notable is the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I have witnessed firsthand the pilgrimages of worshippers who will place slips of paper containing written prayers into the crevices of the Wall.“

In 2024, I visited the Shrine of Osaka which offered a unique symbolism on the offering of petitions. (You can read my blog of March 4, 2024) There were ropes hanging where you could tie a prayer request. My understanding is that when your prayer request is answered you remove your note. As it is the nature of man that we are imperfect people living in an imperfect world there would naturally be an ebb and flow of prayer requests and prayers answers.

Our mission in Salvador was to visit the Nosso Senhor do Bonfim Church, described as one of the most famous churches in the world and the home of a huge procession of pilgrims seeking answers to prayers each year. While Catholicism is a major religion here, so too is Candoblé, a culmination of religions Africans brought to Brazil. Pilgrimages of the faithful tie Bonfim ribbons outside the church as a symbol of their submitting a prayer request to God.

Although I no longer practice Catholicism I was raised as a Catholic and both my Irish grandmother and mother would light candles in church with their prayer requests. To be perfectly clear there is nothing at all magical about a candle or a Bonfirm ribbon. So why do people do it? Why do Chongae and I choose to visit these places of pilgrimage around the world?

I realize that there are some people who pride themselves on being self-reliant and don’t want any help navigating the peaks and valleys of life. When my daughters were young, they would naturally reach up to take my hand when we crossed the street. I believe we all need someone to help us through the difficult intersections of life. We all need a father.

When I visit these sites, I realize that each symbol represents a real person who is expressing a real need. Maybe it is a recent difficult medical diagnosis, or an ongoing concern not yet resolved. Perhaps it is a hurt that won’t heal, a broken heart, a wayward child gone astray or a wound that is too deep to discuss. I find myself wanting to lock arms with those in need and climb their mountain together. I am reminded that there is always something readily available that I can do for those in need.

I can pray.

And so can you.

I can tell you what Chongae’s prayer request was without asking her. It is always the same. She prays for protection over our children and grandchildren, by name. Our children have never had any run ins with the law, have suffered no addictions, are good spouses and parents and show empathy and concern for others. Were we lucky? Did we just get the luck of the draw? I don’t think so.

I believe we all need someone to help us through the difficult intersections of life.

We all need a father.

We all need a praying mother.

Thanks for traveling with us.