Jesus Gets a Letter!

Another long and loaded day, and hard to choose, but guess the highlight was "Singing the Crosses" tonight. This afternoon, people decorated various crosses in the town - this was the first one, up in the castle - the front is covered in flowers. Then this evening, they were all lit by earthenware bowls holding a cloth soaked in olive oil, and a small crowd gathered to go round them all, singing an ancient song, which has a haunting tune and many verses, some of which are very folk, such as this one:

The Madalene wrote
A letter to Jesus Christ!
The bearer who took it,
Was the priest St Francis.     (Obviously, better in Portuguese.)

We went to a few churches, the cemetery, and a couple of elderly ladies' houses, who were very proud of their elaborate constructions with lace and ribbons and saints, all topped off with a cross. It took us over two hours, and was certainly a social occasion - lots of chatting as we walked.

Apparently, something to do with Constantine's Mum, discovering the cross in the year 320 - wondering how long it's been going on here in Mourão...