Pelos caminhos da louvação: a festa de todos os santos na comunidade de Jurussaca

Abstract

This article is a section of the research engaged in the quilombola community of Jurussaca, developed to the production of a Master’s degree dissertation presented to the Linguagens e Saberes na Amazônia Post-Graduation Program (PPLSA-UFPA). The Jurussaca community is located in the city of Tracuateua/PA, within the Eastern Amazon. Their lands are defined by Silva (2014) as black and Indian lands, due to its afro-indigenous formation. Among the features of the Jurussaca community, there are highlighted their popular religiosities, even though the community presents different religious manifestations, as the official Catholic religion, the popular Catholic religion, and other Christian religions. Thereby, this article presents an interpretative study of the Festa de Todos os Santos (a popular Catholic celebration of the community), which had its origin on a promise made by ancient dwellers that pleaded for the intercession of Saint Benedict (patron of the community) and for all the saints. They pleaded that the men of the place, which had been summoned to the war, could come back alive. Once this prayer was answered, the dwellers started to keep that promise and, since then, they join a procession every year, in honor and gratitude for this blessing and other blessings achieved by them. The importance of the Festa de Todos os Santos for the identity of the community is explicit in the strength and extent of the event in/for the community. To the black rural populations, the religious celebrations have an intrinsic importance, since the real culture of the celebration evokes what keeps, in each one, the sense of belonging to the group (MOURA, 1998).