Last night’s wild celebration reaches its peak in religious terms today, marking the Assumption of Our Lady. This is the Catholic Church’s solemnity that commemorates Mary’s definitive elevation, body and soul, to eternity with God.
Up high in the city, the Region’s patron saint will receive praise from the people, but also from representatives of the various bodies of power, who will come together, as is customary, in the ceremony that should, once again, make the time spent climbing the staircase that is so characteristic of her short.
This year, the motto of these celebrations, which combine the profane with the religious, is ‘History, Faith and Tradition – Our Lady of Monte in the Heart’.
The day begins with the Pilgrim’s Mass, scheduled for 8 am., in thanksgiving for all those who still keep alive the tradition of going to the Festa do Monte on August 14th to 15th, on pilgrimage.
Soon after, at 9:45 am., the faithful gather again at the Parish Church to pray the rosary, which precedes the solemn Mass followed by a procession. At 7 pm., there’s another Mass, and the end of the guard to Our Lady of the Mount at 8:30 pm., symbolically marking the end of this festival.
But the festival in the region is not limited to the Parish of Monte. The so-called ‘Seven Ladies’ liven up the celebrations that take place, for example, in Lamaceiros – Porto Moniz (Our Lady of Monte); Ponta do Sol (chapel of Our Lady of Monte); in Porto da Cruz (Our Lady of Guadalupe); in the Strait of Câmara de Lobos and the Strait of Calheta (Our Lady of Grace); in Porto Santo (chapel of Our Lady of Grace); in Serra de Água (Our Lady of Help). In Choupana, Funchal, this festival is also celebrated in the Chapel of the Assumption.