CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE' — PIERSON 



155 



iritual illness. How often, by reason of the careless- 

 ss of their parents, one sees adults who still have not 

 ken their first communion. They are not interested in 

 ang food to their souls ; they are only interested in 

 od for their bodies. My brethren, let us all take com- 

 Liniou so that Christ Our Lord can say that all the 

 ople of tlie village have received Him in their liearts. 



The term "novena" originally referred to nine 

 msecutive days of rezas in honor of a given santo. 



has now been generalized locally, however, to 

 fer to a series of consecutive rezas, held in honor 

 ' the same santo, even though the number may be 

 3s, or more, than nine; and also to refer to any 

 le of these rezas. The evenings in April are 

 ven over to a novena for Sao Benedito; those in 

 ay, to a novena in honor of Mary ; '" those in the 

 onth of June to a novena in honor of the Sacred 

 eart of Jesus, and those in October, in honor of 

 ossa Senhora do Eosario. Every evening in 

 arch used to be given over to a novena in honor 

 ' Sao Jose; today, however, the period of time 

 considerably less. Novenas are usually held in 

 le village church, sometimes at wayside chapels. 



procession occasionally becomes part of the 

 remony, setting out and returning from the 

 lurch, or chapel, in which the novena is being 

 )served. 



Special novenas are sometimes held. The last 

 16 occurred a few years ago, during World War 

 [, and was dedicated to "stopping the war." 

 ach day for 9 consecutive days Nossa Senhora 

 I Aparecida, which is the patron saint of Brazil, 

 as carried in procession, accompanied by a large 

 jmber of people, "praying and carrying candles." 

 Everyone took i^art," recalled a farm woman, 

 )ecause everyone was anxious for the war to be 

 ^er. There was no more kerosene. And when 

 le went to buy salt in the venda, you got only a 

 ny little bit. The novena was the idea of the 

 jdre and also of the people; it was the idea of 

 1." "And it worked," added another woman. 

 ?or the war stopped." 



Resas are also held at private homes, led by a 

 ipeldo. On last Twelfth Night, for instance, a 

 ipeJao was asked to come to the home of a farmer 

 id lead the following prayers : 



M* On the last night of the month, a special ceremony is held, 

 lown as the coroacuo da santa (crowning of the saint). A 

 oup of 10 girls, from about 5 to 12 years of age, dressed all in 

 lite and with wings to represent angels, goes up to the altar 

 Id puts a crown upon the "head" of the principal image in the 

 Uage church. The sanctuary usually is crowded for the 

 remony. 



Senhor Menino (sung). 



For the soul of the farmer's deceased father. 



For all the santos. 



For the souls of those devoted to Senhor Jlenino. 



For the Santa Cruz (sung). 



"We might have sung each one of them," said the 

 capeldo, "but that takes a lot of time and it's more 

 difficult. So we sang only two and prayed the 

 other three. Even then it took us an hour and 20 

 minutes." 



On the seventh day after the death of a young 

 man in the community, four capelaes held a reza 

 for the deceased at the home of his widow. In the 

 front room, a white cloth had been spread over a 

 chair near the wall and, on top of it, two small 

 images of santos and a small crucifix, about 4 

 inches high, together with a vase of flowers and 

 a lighted candle, had been placed. In front of 

 the chair, a reed mat had been extended on the 

 floor on which the capelaes might kneel during the 

 ceremony. The prayers included a Jadainha 

 (Litany), a terQo (a third of the Rosary), and a 

 hymn, Senhor Amado, during the singing of 

 which everyone present, including several men 

 and boys who were standing outside the house, 

 knelt. About 15 women, girls, and children were 

 in the room with the capeJdes, while outside were 

 about a dozen men and boys. 



One of the capelaes says that there are six 

 rezas which he most often uses: Deu,s vos salve 

 (God bless thee), Santisshna 7'rindade (the Most 

 Holy Trinity), Salve Rainha (Hail, Holy 

 Queen), Regima, Ofcrec/mcnto,-''^ and Senhor 

 Amado. The capeldo says that the latter is prayed 

 only for the dead, imless especially requested 

 imder other circumstances. "It is a vei-y strong 

 (muito forte) prayer. Whoever prays it, is freed 

 from evei'y peril." Rezas occasionally used by 

 this capeldo also include "the Gloria da Virgem, 

 Ora/^do do Bendito, Oragdo de Jesus Crista 

 Poderoso and those for the Guardian Angel, the 

 Santa Cruz and Senhor Bom Jesus do Bomfim." 



Many persons in the community pray regularly 

 in private. "I pray a gi'eat deal," said a farm 

 woman. "My son sometimes says, 'It isn't good 

 to pray so much.' But I tell him, 'It's true that it 

 isn't good to pray without faith, but I always pray 



=*> The capelao identified this prayer as "six or seven repetitions 

 of the Lord's Prayer or Ave Maria, as the person wishes ; I pray It 

 either for the salvation of a soul or following a prayer to the 

 santos.'^ 



