Portuguese American Journal

Faith & Feast: Festa do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres 2022 – Azores

The religious celebrations of the 2022 Festa do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres, [The Holy Feast of Christ of the Miracles] will be held on the weekend of May 21-22, in Ponta Delgada city, on São Miguel, Azores.

This year’s full calendar of celebrations will fall between Friday (20th) and the Thursday (the 26th) to include the religious ceremonies and the traditional secular celebrations.

The feast returns after being cancelled for the past two years, due to the restrictions related to the Covid’19 pandemic.

The largest religious festivity of the Azores, the celebration is also considered the second largest religious manifestation in the country after the pilgrimages to Fátima.

Cardinal D. José Tolentino Mendonça will officiate the religious celebrations as an invited guest. Born in Funchal, Madeira, he is a distinguished theologian, a poet and prolific writer, who has served as Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church and was appointed by Pope Francis as a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The event brings thousands of pilgrims from all over the world to the island of São Miguel, coming from the islands, the mainland and the communities of emigrants, namely the United States of America and Canada.

The venerated image of ‘Christ of the Miracles’ will be on display outside the Church Sanctuary on Saturday night (May 21st), as well as on Sunday (May 22nd), at the end of the procession, which will parade through the main streets of Ponta Delgada city.

Celebrated each year on the fifth Sunday after Easter, the highlight of the festivities is the veneration of the holy image of the Lord Jesus, by the people of the Azores, represented by an artistic wooden carved image of the Passion of Christ. The image is worshiped in the Chapel of the Convent of Our Lady of Hope in Ponta Delgada.

Established nearly 400 years old, the religious devotion to Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres has been held on the island following a severe seismic chain of events on the archipelago.

To watch live (in Portuguese) log on to the RTP/A.

PAJ/Staff

The Azores (population 250,000) is a region of Portugal composed of nine islands. The archipelago discovered by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century, became an Autonomous Region of Portugal in 1976. The government of the Autonomous Region of the Azores includes the Legislative Assembly, composed of 57 elected deputies, elected by universal suffrage for a four-year term; the Regional Government and Presidency, with parliamentary legitimacy, composed of a President, a Vice-President and seven Regional Secretaries responsible for the Regional Government executive operations. The Autonomous Region of the Azores is represented in the Council of Ministers of the Central Government by a representative appointed by the President of Portugal. According to the latest US census over 1.3 million individuals of Portuguese descent live in the United States, the majority with roots in the Azores.

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