CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE — PIERSON 



173 



seven crosses, always ending up at the cross there by the 

 cemetery, at midnight. As they went along, they couldn't 

 look back or to either side, or even talk with one another ; 

 they could only luay and keep looking to the front. 



PROMESSAS 



At a time of personal crisis, especially on the 

 occasion of a severe illness or accident, a promessa, 

 or vow, is often made to a given santo. It consists 

 in a promise, spoken in prayer, that if the afflicted 

 person is brought safely through the crisis, a speci- 

 fied act will be performed in honor of that santo. 

 The promise may be made either by the afflicted 

 person or someone who acts for him. It may be 

 the only means employed to deal with the crisis, 

 or a further precaution in addition to seeking the 

 aid of a "blesser," a curandeiro or a physician. 

 "If you don't ask the saritos to help you," said a 

 farm woman, "going to a curandeiro or taking 

 medicine may make you better, but veiy slowly. 

 It is the Santos who make the remedies work." 



If, after making a vow, a person who is ill or 

 has suffered an accident does not recover, the rea- 

 son is thought to lie either in a lack of faith or in 

 the fact that it is the "destiny" (sina) of the person 

 to die at that time and consequently no interven- 

 tion can be of avail. "To make a prowessa," said 

 a young woman, "a person must have faith in the 

 santos. If you don't have faith, the vow will do 

 no good." "If your hour has not yet come," a 

 young woman remarked, "and j'ou make a vow 

 with faith, the santos will help J'ou; but if it's 

 time for you to die, the promessa can do no good." 



If the individual obtains that for which he has 

 asked, the subsequent fulfillment of the promise is 

 considered absolutely imperative. Fulfilling the 

 vow is referred to, rather realistically, as "paying" 

 it. There is no specified time in which this must 

 be done, but if the vow is not fulfilled within what 

 is thought, under the circumstances, to be a "rea- 

 sonable" period, the individual may e.xpect to be 

 subjected to chastisement {castigo) on the part of 

 the santo. "If you don't 'pay' a vow," said a 

 farmer, the santo will punish you. Besides, if you 

 ask him again some other time, he'll not listen to 

 you." If death intervenes before the vow is ful- 

 filled, it is thought, as has been indicated, that pun- 

 ishment will fall upon the soul until, through the 

 aid of some living person, it is able to discharge the 

 obligation. "If a person fails to fulfill a pvomessa 



before he dies," said a farm woman, "his soul will 

 not go to heaven. It will have to return to earth 

 and find someone to help it fulfill that vow." 



In the community, as throughout the region, 

 the principal santo to whom promessas are made 

 is Sao Bom Jesus de Pirapora. Vows are known 

 to have been made also to Sao Benedito, Santo An- 

 tonio, Sao Koqiie, Sao Gon^alo, Siio Jose, Sao La- 

 zaro, Nossa Senhora da Aparecida, Nossa Sen- 

 hora do Monte Serrat, the Divino Espirito Santo, 

 and the Santa Cruz. In each instance, the vow was 

 occasioned by illness, injury, pain, loss or other 

 adversity. Involved were the following specific 

 promises : 



To make, upon recovery, a pilgrimage on foot to 

 Pirapora. 



To have a photograph made of the person who is ill 

 or of the injured part of the body and to present 

 the photograph to Sao Bom Jesus de Pirapora where 

 it subsequently will be kept in the Casa dos Mila- 

 gres (House of Miracles) near the church in Pira- 

 pora. 



To have a was image made of the injured part and 

 presented to Sao Bom Jesus de Pirapora. 



To let the hair of an afflicted child grow without cut- 

 ting until the child reaches a certain age and then 

 offer a photograph of the child to Sao Bom Jesus 

 de Pirapora (in some cases, the hair, when cut, is 

 presented to the Casa dos Milagres or thrown into 

 the river at Pirapora). 



To take the clothes which the person uses while ill 

 and throw them in the river at Pirapora. 



To can-y a large rock on the head in the procession of 

 Sao Bom Jesus Pirapora at the annual fcsta in his 

 honor. 



To give a dance in honor of the santo (only in the 

 case of Sao Gongalo). 



To beg alms for the santo for 9 days. 



To name a child in honor of the santo. 



To have a child baptized at the altar of the santo. 



To make a child a fcsteiro "" at a festa for the santo. 



To beg alms to pay for a Mass. 



To pray certain prayers. 



To give money for prayers for souls in purgatory. 



To set up a cross at the spot where a man has died 

 unshriven. 



To refrain from eating meat on Friday.™" 



The following accounts of promessas given by 

 local inhabitants illustrate the behavior involved 

 and the ideas, attitudes, and sentiments which 

 guide and support it. 



™' See Religious Festas, p. 157. 



^° As previously indicated, a man from southern Minas Gerais 

 some years ago carried on his shoulders or dragged along the 

 ground a heavy vrooden cross some 200 miles to Pirapora. 



