A promise for tickets to see BTS and the celebration of Australian citizenship took a fan of the South Korean group and a man dressed as a kangaroo to the streets of Belém this Sunday (11). The stories added to the requests and thanks from the faithful at the 234th edition of the Círio de Nazaré, which also had the rope cut by the Nazaré Guard along the way.
The pilgrim image of Our Lady of Nazareth was placed in the spotlight at 7:31 am and arrived in front of the Sanctuary Basilica at 12:15 pm, ending the procession. It was 3.6 kilometers covered from the Metropolitan Cathedral, in 4 hours and 44 minutes. Until the publication of this report, the consolidated number of participants had not been released.
On the way, the promiseees carried symbols of the graces they attribute to the saint's intercession. A miriti house on a hat, a painted belly and a 25-meter private rope were also among the ways to express gratitude.
Aline Cardoso, 41, visited Círio to thank her for being able to buy tickets for three days of BTS shows in São Paulo. Given the high demand for her performances, she made a promise that also involved giving a gift to another fan.
"The promise was to get a ticket for the BTS concert. And so, a lot of people didn't get it because the demand was very high. And I got the three days. I'm going all three days", he said.
Aline took a totem to fulfill what she had promised: to deliver the object to the first ARMY — the name given to the band's fans — that approached her in Praça Santuário.
“The promise was that, if I got the ticket, I would give the totem to the first ARMY that approached me there in Praça Santuário”, he explained.
Giorgio Venturieri, 61, followed the procession dressed as a kangaroo to celebrate gaining Australian citizenship. Born in Belém, he chose one of Australia's best-known animals to represent the reason for the celebration during the Círio.
Claudete Oliveira, 49 years old, turned the achievement of her own home into a tribute that she carried on her head. She made a hat with a small miriti house, a material extracted from the buriti palm tree and used in Pará crafts.
"It was the realization of a big dream. I signed up for 'Minha Casa, Minha Vida' 20 years ago and was included. I came here to thank Our Lady of Nazaré", he stated.
Suzy Paixão, 25, and Iran Luz, 36, participated in the procession to thank Miguel for pregnancy. Seven months pregnant, Suzy had her belly painted before heading out on the trail with her partner. The tribute to the saint was also a way of expressing the faith that supported the couple after the loss of their first child.
“We are here to consecrate it to Our Lady, a tribute also because I lost my first child”, explained Suzy. “Being supported by Maria gave us the strength to be here today and she gave us Miguel”, added Iran.
Ana Carolina Valente, 40 years old, took her own rope to thank her for her family's health. She ordered the 25-meter artifact to represent the 25 years in which she participated in the Círio rope.
"Ten years were for my grandmother's health, 15 years for my son's life. I promised that I would close this cycle with the rope, but I wanted the rope to reach the Basilica, and that's why I'm taking it", he said.
At around 9:15 am, the Nazaré Guard cut the rope between stations 2 and 3, on Avenida Presidente Vargas, to avoid commotion among the pledges after the unhitching. Images broadcast by TV Liberal recorded the action. Station 2 started to function as the head of the rope, and the others continued along the route.
During the procession, Civil Defense teams used sprayers to spray water on the faithful and alleviate the heat in Belém. Rafael Tavares, PGM station coordinator, reported that at least 28 treatments for people who felt ill were carried out during the Transfer, on Saturday night (10). For Sunday's procession, he expressed concern about the temperature.
“Today, unfortunately, we expect a higher number of these visits, due to the weather factor, higher temperature”, he stated.
