“Nossa Senhora de Nazaré (Our Lady of Nazareth) means everything to me. She represents faith and hope for a better world. In addition to God, there is Our Lady, who is the mother of all and intercedes for us”. The statement delivered by the pedagogue Deusimar Nogueira sums up her relationship with the patron saint of the people from Pará. For over 10 years, she has been actively involved in the festivities, accompanying the main procession, as well as distributing food and water to pilgrims, as do so many people who participate in the Círio de Nazaré, in the capital of Pará, except for one special detail: Deusimar is from Maranhão and has never been to Belém. Therefore, she has never seen, up close, the largest of all the processions, which brings together more than two million devotees on the walking route between the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Basilica Sanctuary of Nazareth. Deusimar is among the thousands of people who experience the other Círios of the Amazon – processions which stretch across the streets of seven other states in the region, during this period.
It is not by chance that Our Lady of Nazareth is known as the Queen of the Amazon. Of the nine states in the Legal Amazon, only Mato Grosso does not have a Círio. In most states, the processions even coincide with those in the capital of Pará, with many tributes in common, but also with many particularities, which give a special and completely distinct tone to the eyes of those who, until then, only associated the Círio with the original and most traditional procession in Belém.
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In Maranhão, for example, where Deusimar lives, the official event includes the Pilgrimage, which starts at 11 pm, always on the first Saturday of what they call Novena – a ten-day period of novenas, rosaries, masses, confessions and Eucharistic adoration preceding the Círio procession, on October 16. The pilgrimage follows an impressive 13 km route along the streets of São Luís, with thousands of devotees walking from the Church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo, in the center of the city to the Cohatrac area, where the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora de Nazaré is located. Upon arrival, at daybreak, the pilgrims' mass takes place. “When the saint arrives at Cohatrac, I offer a breakfast table, including bread, coffee and juice to some people who pass by”, comments Deusimar, who attributes to Nossa Senhora de Nazaré the grace of having fulfilled her dream of being a mother, in 2012. “As a thank you, (I promised that) until my son turned 6, he and I would only wear blue and white for the entire month of May – and so we did. In addition, when he was six months old, he accompanied me in the Círio procession, dressed as an angel,” she said.
Another characteristic of Círio in São Luís is that all the processions of the festivity take place at night. Both ‘Trasladação’, in São Luís entitled “the Procession of Light’, and the Círio itself, start at 5 pm. The main procession, in 2019, took 250,000 people to the streets. Due to its relevance, the Círio de Nazaré in São Luís is considered Intangible Cultural Heritage of Maranhão state. Besides the main event, there are also other processions in at least four other municipalities in Maranhão: Trizidela do Vale (Morros do Caboclo village), Humberto de Campos (Bacabeira village), Viana and Montes Altos.
In Manaus, the 1.5m image has its mantle exchanged annually
Being bestowed with the birth of a child was also what decisively contributed to seal the relationship between lawyer Fábio Corrêa and Nossa Senhora de Nazaré. Fábio lives in Manaus, in the state of Amazonas. He reveals that, when taking part in a Couples’ for Christ Meeting, in 2013, he ended up being invited to join the Círio procession commission in Manaus, which, like the one in Belém, always takes place on the second Sunday in October. At the time, he and his wife already planned to have children, however, there was a suspicion that she might have cervical cancer. “In the middle of the procession, we said our prayers and the next day she received an examination saying she had nothing. In 2014, she became pregnant, and Alice, who is now 7 years old, was born in November,” he recalls.
Fábio is currently the general coordinator of the Círio in Manaus, a tradition that was introduced in the state of Amazonas by people from Pará and, in 2022, will have its 108th edition. In Manaus, besides the official image which guides the procession, another one of approximately 1.5 meters, carved in wood, stays permanently exposed in the Parish of Nossa Senhora de Nazaré and also has its mantle renewed, annually, at the time of the Círio.
The coordinator says that in 2022, after two years of adaptations as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Círio will return to the streets with a new ‘rope’ of promises and a much higher public expectation than the 28 thousand people who accompanied the procession in 2019. “Let's offer the Círio of reencounter – the reencounter of the people on the streets with the ‘rope’. Our expectation is that the community will participate more intensely in the festivities”. Fábio also emphasizes that, for next year, they expect to have a replica of the ‘berlinda’ used in Belém, which is being produced by a craftsman from Icoaraci, a district of Belém – Pará.
Nazaré Guard in Palmas consists mostly of women
The newest of all Círios in Amazon capitals takes place in Palmas – state of Tocantins – which this year celebrates its sixth edition. In Palmas, the Círio procession honors Nazaré, and also other Marias, as explained by Ignácio Vieira, one of the general coordinators of the program. “In Belém, when people talk about the Círio, people from Pará are already born with devotion to Nossa Senhora de Nazaré in their DNA. Not here. Here, the culture of Maria’s presence is very strong in the lives of the people of native people, so it ends up that people here participate in the Círio in devotion to Maria. There is this cool, passionate mix that we have for Maria, which culminates in the Círio”, he points out.
In Palmas the procession carries the same pilgrim image as that of Belém, that’s why the procession always takes place after the celebration period in Pará. In 2022, the procession will be on October 29. Unlike the Círio in Manaus, which was an initiative of the people from Pará who lived there, in Palmas, the initiative came from the Church itself. “Dom Alberto Taveira used to be our archbishop here for many years. When he took over the archdiocese in Belém, Dom Brito Guimarães came to the position in Palmas – and they agreed since then, the pilgrim image has come here”, he explains.
A singularity of Palmas is that the Guard of Nazaré is composed mostly of women. They will join efforts along with the Guard of Nazaré in Belém in this year's Círio.
In Acre, encounter of images in the river sets the beginning of the pilgrimage
Nossa Senhora de Nazaré is also patron saint of Rio Branco, the capital of Acre state, and patron of the local cathedral. In 2022, the procession will turn 91 years old in Rio Branco. According to the rector of the cathedral, Father Manoel Costa, the Círio this year, which also takes place on the second Sunday in October, will be a diocesan event for the first time, that is, it will involve all parishes.
As in Maranhão and Palmas, the procession also starts in the late afternoon and continues throughout the night, however, there is a particularity: the image of Nossa Senhora de Nazaré sails along the Acre River towards the Gameleira, a tourist and historical point of Rio Branco. In another boat, comes the image of Christ the Liberator. Then, the two images get together for the procession from that point on, following a 3.5 km path of lights, to the Cathedral, which in 2019 was accompanied by about 10,000 people.
Father Manoel highlights the symbolic importance of starting the procession on the waters. “Evangelization reached the Amazon, in general, through the rivers. Rio Branco was inaugurated on the banks of the Acre River, around a tree that is now considered cultural heritage, called Gameleira. Both the city and urbanization arrived by the river trails, the oldest parishes are on the banks of the rivers and celebrate that during the procession”, he says. “Some people think that our Círio was brought by people from Pará, but the truth is that the origin is the patron saint's celebration. Over the years, it happened to be similar to the Círio in Belém. Then, the people from Pará got involved and suggested including the berlinda, the rope and other (symbols)”, he concludes.
In Macapá, there are families registered to donate the mantle until 2026
In Macapá, Amapá, the first Círio de Nazaré was held in November 1934. The parish priest of the city's Cathedral, Father Rafael Donneschi, tells how it all began. “Macapá was still a small town. In order to avoid the trip to Belém that many people used to venture – for
days – they decided to bring an image here and that’s how the Círio started. (In the beginning) they were all people from Pará. The first Círio was at night”, he tells. The priest explains that, still in the 1930s, the Círio started to be held on the second Sunday in October.
Macapá is, probably, the capital in the Amazon where the Círio celebration resembles the most that of Belém, including the number of official processions. The greatest one, on Sunday, in 2019, according to Father Rafael, gathered almost 150 thousand people, an impressive number, since according to IBGE data, the total population in Macapá is scarcely over 500 thousand people. Nevertheless, there are particularities, such as the “rope of promises”, used only during the procession in Sunday.
Father Rafael highlights the people’s expectation for the Círio 2022. “There are people who do not go to church, but never miss the Círio. People are looking forward to it, they are asking about it for months. Until 2026, there are families listed who offered to donate the mantle, which is only shown on the Trasladação night, he adds.
Blessings – Great expectation for the Círio de Macapá is what lawyer Rui Cavalcante also feels, every year. He attributes to Nossa Senhora de Nazaré the salvation of his son's life, in two moments: the first, when he was around 1 year old and got sick to the point that not even a medical board was able to diagnose the child’s illness. “I remember my son totally passed out, in my arms, without movement, almost in a coma. When I, desperately, asked Nossa Senhora. He recovered and we never even knew what he had.” The second time was in early 2021, when his son, now 40, was diagnosed with covid-19. Again, he asked for Nossa Senhora's intercession for his son's life, and he was bestowed once more.
In Roraima’s interior, homages have been paid for 66 years
In Roraima, according to information from the Diocese, there are three Círio festivities – the most traditional one takes place in the municipality of Normandia, located 187 km from the capital, Boa Vista. In that city, in 2022, the pilgrimage turns 66 years and the events last from October 7th to 15th. “During the nine days, the devotees get together to pray the novena. After that, there’s the Holy Mass and, then, a bingo. On the first day, everyone gathers to go up and down a small hill, close to the city, in a procession praying the novena. On the last day, the procession is performed around the city of Normandia. The city gathers devotees from all parts of Roraima”, informs the text sent by the Pastoral da Comunicação of the diocese.
The other celebrations occur in Paróquia de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, in Boa Vista, from October 18 to 22; and in the missionary area named São João Batista, also in the capital, from October 4 to 8.
Porto Velho, In Rondônia, is the only Amazonian capital where the Círio 2022 has already taken place, on September 11. Liberal Amazon asked for more information to the Nazaré congregation from that city, but no return was received until the closing of this edition.
All paths lead to Nazaré
In Belém, the Círio 2022 will fill up the streets this Sunday, October 9, in its 230th edition. It is the most expected of all Círios. It draws the attention of Brazil and of the World, gathering more than two million people going on a pilgrimage with so intense energy that it cannot be unnoticed even by people from other religions and cultures.
The image leading the procession, more than just bringing people together, proves their unity in faith, love and solidarity. A feeling that overflows in the hearts of devotees from other states of the Amazon and from so many other corners of the planet. The same union that touches, every year, people like Alexandre Santos, from Pará, mentor of a project that encourages the practice of soccer among boys in social vulnerability condition, in Palmas, Tocantins. During all his life, there are many situations in which he turned to Nossa Senhora de Nazaré – more often to thank than to plead for anything. In 2011, he accompanied the Círio de Belém holding the “rope” in gratitude for having survived a serious accident. “I fell from a four-meter-high roof and survived. I fell over the top of a plant vase, I could have died, but I only broke my left hand. And it was using that same hand, after recovering, that I insisted on holding the rope”, he recalls, informing that this Sunday, again, he will accompany the procession, “holding the rope”.
Last year, in Palmas, Alexandre walked a 21 km route from his house to the capital's airport, to welcome the image of Nossa Senhora, who arrived at dawn, for one of the Círio’s events, a motorcade, that occurred in the late afternoon of the same day. “My mommy, ‘Nazinha’, strengthens me in every sense of my life. I'm a simple guy, humble, hardworking, but I have peace in my heart and I go on with her. I feel like a very happy man, she renews my soul, renews my faith, for the years I have left”, he finishes, emotionally, apologizing for the tears that, those who experience the Círio, recognize and understand pretty well, wherever they are.
