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ANTERO DE ALDA Histories of the sacred & profane
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song intro EASTER SUNDAY (Holy Week, Braga 2011) |
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photos since
2006
Party in the village!
They may forbid the people from taking the TGV, from setting foot on the golf courses, from hearing Sokolov at the Casa da Música (Hall of Music, at Oporto) or from taking a ride on a luxury voyage on the Douro river; but nobody can ban the people from going to mass, from praying the Our Lady of Aparecida, or from seeing the band marching, in front of the church’s door.
Despite the wax heads, legs and bowels offered to the saint, the main reason for the people’s trip here, is to see seventy men carrying a 20 meters litter, the worlds largest
— they say — worthy to figure in the Guinness book of records!
All in all, no matter what they think or what they say, even with no money, the people is still entitled to its own ridiculous...
HOLY
WEEK B The most important Holy Week celebrations in Portugal are held in Braga, the city of archbishops. Of the eight commemorative days, since the removal of the Lord of the Steps until the Mass before Easter and Easter’s visitation, the rituals of Good Friday stand out: the worship of the Lord's death and Burial Procession. On the afternoon, the passion and death of Christ is celebrated, followed by the dramatic Theophoric Procession, carrying the coffin in the dark aisles of the cathedral. The dead Lord is deposed and revered. At night, the Burial Procession. It is decorated with only three litters: the dead Lord coffin, the Lady of Sorrows and the Holy Cross, accompanied by the Brotherhood of Mercy and Holy Cross and the civil and military authorities. The Friars advance with their heads covered and the “farricocos” (which can either be penitent, barefoot and dressed in black, or cacique hooded inquisitors) lead with heaps of burning fire pits and rattles. The noise of the flags irons and banners dragging on the floor is deafening. The foot-washing ceremony, the Mass of the Lord's Supper and the processions of the “Burrinha” (little donkey) and “Ecce Homo” (between Holy Wednesday and Holy Thursday) complete the religious framework of great dramatic intensity. Finally, on Easter Sunday they celebrate the Lord's resurrection and the cross is carried from house to house, to be kissed by Christian families.
OUR LADY OF THE MOUNTAIN
Cerdedo, Barroso
In Cercedo, a few kilometers away from Alturas do Barroso, every year the people gather around a small chapel in the middle of the mountain, promising great devotion in honour of Our Lady of the Mountain, who in all regions is famous for answering to the most inner prays. When the divine obligations are over, the lunch is served for the groups of people spread under the trees, in between stones.
In the improvised market one can sell clothes, fruit and other stuff, and there is also little restaurants for the most resistant. The festival continues with dancing and singing until the sunset.
SAINT BARTOLOMEU DO MAR Mar, Esposende
3'50''
In Esposende, on August 24th, people celebrate the Saint Bartolomeu do Mar, a big pilgrimage which brings many devoted people to the beach for the holly bath.
The tradition says that one should walk under the Saint´s Statue, and then, with a black chicken in his lap, takes 3, 5 or 7 (always an uneven number) walks around the church.
Finally, parents and hired swimmers take the children up and plunge them, the same number of times, into the waters of the sea so that they can escape from some diseases like stuttering and epilepsy.
OUR LADY OF PENA Mouçós, Vila Real On the worship day to Our Lady of Pena, in Mouçós, Vila Real, it´s the same as in all pilgrimages: the saints and the little shepherds, the music bands, the high mass, the saint´s pictures for a coin, the food and drink little shops, the stages for the rock bands… In the vast are of the pine forest, 25 thousand of people gather around to watch the biggest wooden framework to carry the saint´s statue, catapulted to the sky by a huge water crane. The scene seems to supersede the Our Lady of Aparecida´s case, from Lousada, in the name of a record in the Guinness world book of records.
ST. GONÇALO: JUNE'S FESTIVAL Amarante In Amarante the June´s festival are dedicated to St. Gonçalo. Disputed monk between Benedictines and Dominicans, is worshiped by the people and is known as the old ladies matchmaker, wonder-worker and merry fellow... See 
ST. GONÇALO AS GOT A THOUSAND LIVES
All these pilgrimages together, year after year, join thousands of people, and in these festivals there are many wonderful sacred and profane rituals which are mixed together and complete themselves in an imaginary expression of faith and tradition.
THE BOYS' FESTIVAL Constantim, Miranda do Douro As a proof of this we have the Boys’ Festival, in Constantim (Miranda do Douro). In here, after many days of the typical entertainment of the winter Carnival, and at the end of a morning, in which they have been persecuting the virgin daughters of the village, the bagpipe sounds divinely inside the holly place and it brightens the mass. And at the end of the procession, right there, in front of the church, the pauliteiros dance and the disguised couple rehearse without chastity the traditional mating gestures…
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