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<\/p>\n100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VOW TO ANNUALLY PILGRIMAGE TO THE MOUNT OF SANTA LUZIA<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The vow of the city<\/p>\n
It was in October of 1918. The city of Viana was saddened by the mourning and suffering the Spanish Flu had brought to its homes. Everyone was terrified by the spread of the epidemic, and with closed homes, deserted streets, commercial life entirely paralyzed, burials were conducted at night, at the same time and without bell tolling, so as not to frighten those who still survived.<\/p>\n
(\u2026)<\/p>\n
For particular reasons, it was only on November 7, 1918, that a triduum of prayers began in the two parish churches of this city to implore the Almighty to end the epidemic.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, November 10, at 4 p.m., a penitential procession with the Blessed Sacrament left the church of San-Domingos, during which the Litany of All Saints, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the rosary were prayed.<\/p>\n
The procession went around the city to end at the sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Agonia.<\/p>\n
It was late afternoon. The Sun was dipping its last rays into the sea when the procession reached its end.<\/p>\n
In the “Campo de D. Fernando”, the crowd, which included many convalescents who could not yet suppress the remnants of coughs that wracked their chests, gathered in a block of thousands. Among them ran the sad news of the recent death of two more victims claimed by the terrible disease.<\/p>\n
The faces of all were downcast, and hearts were as sad as the night that was spreading its black cloak over the earth. The faithful knelt on the withered grass to sing Tantum ergo and receive the Blessing of the Blessed Sacrament, which was to be cast upon the people from the threshold of “Nossa Senhora da Agonia”. Tears were seen sliding down faces, when, in the midst of religious silence, a priest on behalf of everyone pronounced the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, loudly declaring that the people of Viana, humbled and bowed at the feet of the Sacred Host, promised to go in the following summer, in a pious pilgrimage to the mountain of Santa Luzia, to consecrate themselves again to the loving Heart of our adorable Savior, if He would end the terrible scourge and not allow another similar calamity to befall this land.<\/p>\n
The two victims of that afternoon were, in this city, the last claimed by the epidemic. The plague ceased, and to this day it has not revisited us.<\/p>\n
The Sacred Heart of Jesus heard those prayers, and it only remained for the city’s people to fulfill what they had promised.<\/p>\n
In the summer of 1919, despite repeated requests from a distinguished commission, the civil authority did not consent to Viana fulfilling its duty.<\/p>\n
In September of that same year, a large commission formed by ladies of the highest respectability in the county had an audience with the governor. The commission explained its purpose, and His Excellency, promising a definitive answer, later said that he did not consent to the aforementioned pilgrimage.<\/p>\n
A year passed, and in May 1920, they went to the governor and told him that newspapers reported the appearance of the Spanish Flu in the Madeira Islands, and, as this city was in debt to God, the same people who had spoken to him the previous year decided to then fulfill the city’s promise, making the pilgrimage on June 13, the Sunday after the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in “S\u00e3o Domingos”.<\/p>\n
His Excellency postponed the answer as in the previous year, and later also said that the pilgrimage could not yet be made.<\/p>\n
(\u2026)<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the promise could be fulfilled the following year.<\/p>\n
On August 21, 1921, the pilgrimage really set out from the church of “S\u00e3o Domingos”, at 7 a.m. (official time), and with the greatest brilliance and attendance of thousands of faithful, it arrived at the mount of Santa Luzia, where the entire city renewed its consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament exposed.<\/p>\n
To commemorate this event, the current committee of the santuary works had a plaque inscribed on the walls of the new church, the wording of which we reproduce elsewhere.”<\/p>\n
Author: Jo\u00e3o do Monte<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VOW TO ANNUALLY PILGRIMAGE TO THE MOUNT OF SANTA LUZIA The vow of the city It was in October of 1918. The city of Viana was saddened by the mourning and suffering the Spanish Flu had brought to its homes. Everyone was terrified by the spread of the epidemic, and with closed homes, deserted streets, commercial life entirely paralyzed, burials were conducted at night, at the same time and without bell tolling, so as not to frighten those who still survived. (\u2026) For particular reasons, it was only on November 7, 1918, that a triduum of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2416,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"archive.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1707","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/confrariadesantaluzia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/confrariadesantaluzia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/confrariadesantaluzia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confrariadesantaluzia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confrariadesantaluzia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1707"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/confrariadesantaluzia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3534,"href":"https:\/\/confrariadesantaluzia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1707\/revisions\/3534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confrariadesantaluzia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/confrariadesantaluzia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}