Of heaven and of earth: Guarabira's memorial to Frei Damião
Date
2005
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The history of Frei Damião, an Italian Capuchin friar who left an especially rich legacy in the Northeast, is illustrative of the manner in which a variety of Northeastern folk prophets have molded Northeastern Brazilian culture through their missionary work. Celebrated as a mystic prophet and miracle worker during his life, Frei Damião was declared a saint upon his death in 1997, and today his teachings still influence Northeast Brazil's popular religious practice. Since his passing, many Northeastern Brazilian cities have built monuments to honor Frei Damião. The largest of these monuments, a one hundred and twelve feet high statue of the friar, stands in the town of Guarabira in the Northeastern state of Paraíba. While this statue commemorates Damião's mission, as a pilgrimage destination it also celebrates many of the Northeast's long-standing religious, economic, and political traditions. By exploring Frei Damião's legacy through the history of his statue in Guarabira, one can see how Frei Damião's statue extends the friar's mission to alleviate the temporal and spiritual concerns of those that pilgrimage by representing the temporal and spiritual interests of the Northeast Brazilian region and its people.