The Church of Miracles

2/7

Today we ventured north to visit Nosso Senhor do Bonfim (The Church of Our Lord of the Good End), built in 1745, which is the place where pilgrims come daily, dressed all in white, to ask for miracles and healing. As soon as we emerged from the taxi, we were besieged by vendors trying to sell us rosaries, saint cards and blessings. Everyone who comes to the church receives a colored ribbon, tied around the wrist with three knots; with each knot representing a prayer request. You must continue to wear the ribbon until it falls off on its own, or your prayer will not be answered.

It is a small church, not as grand as others we've seen, with lots of gold leaf and frescoed ceilings. An anteroom off the main church is a room filled with pictures of people who came for healing or were healed. The ceiling of this room is hung with hundreds of plastic arms, legs and heads, representing requests for healing of specific body parts.

When we emerged from the church, Mario (the guy who tied the ribbons on our wrists) let us know without a word of English that he was waiting for payment from us for performance of this service. He followed us around, making sure none of the other vendors went near us, as we were "his". And yes, we eventually gave him the money….

In the afternoon, we went back to the market (mercado) to give serious consideration to the trinkets for sale. There were lots of necklaces and bracelets (Eliese – no beads, just seeds already made into jewelry…), percussion instruments painted the yellow, black and blue of the country's flag, lace and table cloths, the obligatory T shirts, and very scary-looking wood carvings of African spirits, beautifully intricate.