New Bedford’s annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament. Photo from Feast of the Blessed Sacrament site on Facebook

More than 95% of Portuguese Americans identified as Catholics when they arrived in the United States. For almost all of the immigrants the Catholic parish and its church acted as a magnet for the development of neighborhoods. Each of the major Portuguese neighborhoods in this study, two in New Bedford and three in Fall River, is focused around Catholic churches offering masses in Portuguese. These churches were established as Portuguese National Parishes, staffed by Portuguese speaking priests and offering all masses in Portuguese. Now masses in English are common as well.

St. John the Baptist Church on County Street in New Bedford. This is the first Portuguese parish in North America, established in 1871. This building, constructed in 1913, replaced one destroyed by fire in 1875. Now the church is closed. Photo by the author

The plaque commemorating St. John’s Church in New Bedford. Photo by the author

Common church names for parishes serving Portuguese communities include Our Lady of Fatima and two saints born in Portugal, St. John of God and St. Anthony of Padua.

Church of the Immaculate Conception in New Bedford decorated for Christmas. Photo by the author

Private religious displays are important too with yard shrines and religious plaques and statues displayed on homes.

A statue of Christ on a street corner home in Fall River’s Columbia Street Portuguese Cultural District. Photo by the author

Statues and shrines to Our Lady of Fatima are common. While the casual observer may think these shrines are in imitation of those back in private yards in Portugal, they are actually more common in the United States because in Portugal shrines have been maintained in public spaces. Photo by the author.

Shrines to Our Lady of Fatima, such as this one in a private yard in Fall River, are distinctive because of the two girls, a boy and sheep. Photo by the author

This gazebo on the feast grounds at Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Fall River features a hexagonal crown like the one used in the procession on the feast day. Photo by the author

Religious processions are a part of the landscape too. These processions are reminiscent of those in Portugal and the islands. They range from simple street processions to more elaborate multi-day events such as those of the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament in New Bedford and the Festival of the Holy Ghost in Fall River. Planning for these events begins a year in advance and three-day attendance can reach 100,000 people. (Photo at the top of this post.)

The Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, commonly known as the Festa da Madeira (Madeiran Feast), is held annually during August in New Bedford’s North End Portuguese community. The event was started by four immigrants from Madeira who arrived in the early 1900’s. Legend has it that their ship encountered such rough weather that passengers feared for their lives. The four men, all with the given name of Manuel, made a vow to honor the Blessed Sacrament with a festival if they survived. The event is a recreation of the festival in Madeira, where on the day of the religious procession the street is decorated with boughs of trees and religious banners. The door of the community’s church, Immaculate Conception, is decorated with branches and the road is lined with elaborate colorful decorations made of chalk and flower petals. Residents hang bedspreads, flags and rugs over porch balconies of the three-deckers in imitation of island customs.

This monument in New Bedford commemorates the “Four Mannys” who began the tradition of the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament. Photo by the author

The Holy Ghost festival (Festa do Espírito Santo) in Fall River is a large multi-day event comparable to the Madeira feast in New Bedford. Just as New Bedford’s festival is colloquially known as the Madeira feast, the Fall River counterpart is sometimes called the Azorean feast. Holy Ghost Festivals are celebrated in all Portuguese American with large numbers of Micaelenses (people from St. Michael’s) on both East and West coasts, but the one organized by Fall River’s Santo Cristo church is particularly large, attracting thousands of celebrants. It serves as a focal point for Micaelenses from the United States and Canada just as the four-day Madeira feast in New Bedford serves as the primary annual American gathering of Madeirans.

A statue prepared for the procession in Immaculate Conception Church, New Bedford. Photo by the author

It is interesting to note that historically such festivals grew in popularity on the islands when the tradition was dying out in mainland Portugal, and more recently, have been growing in popularity in New England while declining back in Portugal and the islands. This reminds us that immigrant groups in America can sometimes preserve Old World customs better than the Old World. It was said of Polish immigrants in Hamtramck, Michigan, that pre-Communist Polish culture was better preserved in that small city than back in Poland.

The recent revival of one particular religious procession shows how, far from dying out, the Portuguese cultural tradition of religious processions and festivals is still reinvigorating and re-inventing itself. On the islands, men dressed in traditional capes and kerchiefs, and carrying walking sticks, march across the city stopping and worshiping at various Portuguese churches. In 1984 this “new old idea” spread quickly through the New England communities. Now hundreds of men (and, reflecting American influence, now including women) carry on the custom every year at churches in Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton in Massachusetts and in Pawtucket and Bristol, Rhode Island.

The annual procession of Romeiros in Fall River, held on Good Friday. Photo by Dave Souza of the Fall River Herald.

Other various island-specific holy celebrations are staged, usually in association with holy images possessed by churches back in the islands. Even smaller towns have their processions. Intra-island rivalry based on a competing St. Michael image at another parish led to the start of the Festa do Senhor da Pedra (Feast of the Lord of the Rock) procession and feast in New Bedford, helped along by the desire of the Azorean folks from St. Michael’s to have a festival akin to that of the Madeirans in the same neighborhood.

Honoring the “Lord of the Rock” in New Bedford. Photo by the author

Not all Portuguese are Catholics as shown by this church sign in New Bedford. Many Brazilians belong to Protestant denominations and some are Mormons from having converted to that religion in Brazil.

Not all Portuguese are Catholic, as shown by this church sign in the South End of New Bedford. Photo by the author

Cemeteries, particularly those associated with Portuguese Catholic churches, are distinctive elements of the Portuguese American landscape showing the impact of religion.

Grave markers reflect changing linguistics and acculturation over time. This marker in New Bedford lists “sua esposa” for a wife who died in 1938 but “his wife” for a death in 1966. Very likely the first generation was born in Portugal (born 1885 and 1893). Photo by the author

Portuguese headstones are recognizable not only by their ethnic names and frequent use of the Portuguese language, but also by their color and by material objects placed on the stones and around the graves. Grave markers may also contain images of the deceased etched in granite.

A number of religious items and flowers mark a grave in New Bedford. The Portuguese inscription loosely translated reads “Don’t cry if you did not have sons in this life because it is far worse to have had one and lost him.” Photo by the author

On male headstones, it is common to include an etching indicating the occupation of the deceased, especially etchings of fishing and naval vessels. Photo by the author

I grew up in this area and in the Portuguese American culture. Now I’m a retired geography professor and I’ve outlined these ideas in detail in my book Making History – Creating a Landscape: The Portuguese American Community of Southeastern New England:

The author’s book available on Amazon.com: com https://www.amazon.com/Making-History-Creating-Landscape-Southeastern/dp/1722258462/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title