Feast of the Cross
The land of what became Brazil was first called by the Portuguese captain Pedro Álvares Cabral "Ilha de Vera Cruz" ("Island of the True Cross"), upon the Portuguese discovery of the land in 1500, probably in honor of the Feast of the Cross (3 May on the liturgical calendar). This name is found in two letters, one written by Pêro Vaz de Caminha, another by Mestre João Faras, both written during Cabral's landing and dispatched to Lisbon by courier (either André Gonçalves or Gaspar de Lemos, chronicles conflict).