marian calendar     september

Last Sunday in September

Nossa Senhora do Cabo Espichel, Castelo, Sesimbra, Setúbal, Lisboa, Portugal

Various stories describe the origin of this shrine on a windswept, barren promontory of Portugal's Atlantic coast south of Lisbon. The stories range from simple -- two men in search of firewood find a statue of the Virgin and Child -- to fanciful -- a man and woman from different towns, drawn to Cape Espichel by a revelatory light, see Our Lady ascend the sea cliff on a great white mule; tracks still visible in the rocks are footprints of the mule, or the hand- and footprints of the Virgin herself.[1][2] Now, though paleontologists believe the tracks are those of sauropods, large quadripedal dinosaurs, the shrine is still often called Nossa Senhora da Pedra da Mua, Our Lady of the Mule's Stone.[3] In some versions of the legend, the mule brings the statue to shore. In others, the seers find it nearby.

Although a letter of 1366 mentions a local pilgrimage to Santa Maria do Cabo, and some traditions take the shrine back to at least the 1200s,[4] most of the stories date the germinal miracle, the finding of the stone statue (far left),[5] to 1410. In 1680, pilgrims from Lisbon donated the large gold-plated silver statue that presides over the main altar today (left),[6] designed as a reliquary to contain the old statue, a copy of which was made for processional use.[7] This larger image has become the iconic representation of Our Lady of Cabo Espichel.

In the 1700s an elaborate shrine complex with inns for pilgrims grew up on the site. Every locality in the region had its annual círio, or pilgrimage procession, to Cabo Espichel at different times, especially on the Sunday after the feast of the Ascension. Now, though many of those have ceased, the shrine still draws pilgrims and tourists.[8]

The festa of Nossa Senhora do Cabo Espichel sponsored by its own district, Castelo, on the last Sunday in September, draws wide participation. It begins a few days before with exhibits, concerts, and shows. Sunday's festivities include a concert, mass, procession, and dancing. On Monday, the festa closes with a memorial mass for deceased pilgrims.[6]

In 2016, the City Council of Sesimbra acquired the north wing of the main building and undertook major restoration efforts to save the complex from decay.[9]

1. "Festa em Honra de Nossa Sra do Cabo Espichel," Junta de Freguesia do Castelo - Sesimbra, www.jf-castelo.pt/atualidade/noticias/cultura/1301/festa-em-honra-de-nossa-sra-do-cabo-espichel.html

2. Santa Maria, Agostinho de, frei, 1642-1728, Santuario Mariano, e historia das imagẽs milagrosas de Nossa Senhora, e das milagrosamente apparecidas em graça dos prègadores & dos devotos da mesma Senhora, vol. 2, p. 475ff, archive.org/details/santuariomariano02sant/page/n499

3. Guião Educativo da exposição “Um olhar sobre a Pré-História do Espichel,” www.clubesdearqueologia.org/attachments/article/150/(Gui_343o%20Educativo%20do%20Espichel).pdf

4. Ferreira, Alcino; Cabaça, Ana, “Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Cabo Espichel," Revista Arquitectura Lusíada, N. 3 (2.º semestre 2011): p. 41-48.

5. Photo of stone statue of Our Lady of Cabo Espichel from Paulo Nogueira, "SANTUÁRIO DE NOSSA SENHORA DO CABO ESPICHEL OU DA PEDRA MUA," Histórias com História, historiaschistoria.blogspot.com/2017/09/santuario-de-nossa-senhora-do-cabo.html

6. Photo of silver gilt statue from "Festa em Honra de Nossa Sra do Cabo Espichel," Junta de Freguesia do Castelo - Sesimbra, www.jf-castelo.pt/atualidade/noticias/cultura/1301/festa-em-honra-de-nossa-sra-do-cabo-espichel.html

7. Pereira, Paulo, "Santuário do Cabo Espichel" in Discover Baroque Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2019, www.discoverbaroqueart.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;pt;Mon11;35;pt

8. "Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Cabo," Monumentos, www.monumentos.gov.pt/site/APP_PagesUser/SIPA.aspx?id=6165

9. "Ala norte do Santuário do Cabo Espichel vai passar para o município," CM Sesimbra, www.sesimbra.pt/pages/1077?news_id=5091