Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres Festivities are the largest festival and religious celebration held in the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the second largest in Portugal. Year after year, the Campo de São Francisco (where the celebrations take place) brings together thousands of people, from the local population, tourists and migrants who return to their origins out of devotion and the nostalgia they feel for their land. But how did the festivities come about?
It is believed that the image of the Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres was offered by the Pope to two nuns from the Convent of Vale de Cabaços (Caloura Convent). However, the convent was subject to several attacks by pirates and corsairs and the nuns had to be evacuated.
Some of these nuns, in view of the evacuation, entered the Esperança Convent in 1541. The image that had been offered by the Pope was also transferred to this convent but ended up being forgotten and put away.
Mother Teresa d’Anunciada, at the end of the 17th century, eventually found the picture and dedicated her time to it. She recovered the image with great devotion, thus implementing the cult and veneration of the Holy Christ.
Teresa de Jesus – Mother Teresa d’Anunciada – born in the parish of Ribeira Seca in the municipality of Ribeira Grande. She was born on November 25th 1658, daughter of Jerónimo Ledo Paiva and D. Maria do Rego Quintanilha. Her name was chosen in honour of Saint Teresa de Jesus.
The festivities and devotion to “Ecce Homo” would come to gain its status in the year 1700. In that year the island of São Miguel suffered several earthquakes. The population felt the need to go to the Convento da Esperança and organize a procession with the image of Senhor Santo Cristo. The image left the convent, travelling through the city and passing by the other convents in the city.
The truth is that after the procession the earthquakes ended. From that moment on, everyone associated this event with a miracle of the image of Senhor Santo Cristo and from then on the procession never stopped.
There are those who say that due to the earthquake the image of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres fell to the ground. It remained completely intact.
