June for the Saints

For the tradition-bound and those for whom marriage is still linked to metaphysics, St Anthony's day is vital, writes Annie Datta.

June is here, the month named after the Roman goddess Juno. Juno was invoked for happy weddings and safe childbirth, which may be part of the reason that June seems to be the favourite month for weddings. In Portugal, June is dedicated to three saints (Santos Populares) in a row. St Anthony starts the festive season on June 13 followed by St. John on the 23rd.

It is in Porto that the festivities are most colorful. On every corner of the city there are "cascatas" (arrangements of religious motifs), bonfires and groups of merry-makers singing and dancing through the night. There is a custom of tapping people on the head with leeks or mock plastic hammers. Though a vestige of the past such celebration has a social relevance even today as such hitting by strangers on one another is tolerated with a smile and becomes a great social leveller cutting across shadowy lines of class. The practice is a liberator of submerged inhibitions.

For the tradition bound and those for whom marriage is still linked to metaphysics, St Anthony's day is very important. If marriages are truly made in heaven as John Lyly the Renaissance English dramatist wrote, then it is St Anthony the marriage saint who brings them about on earth. Young women arm-twist the saint to fulfil the heavenly promise. In Brazil and some parts of Latin America, it's a ritual for single women to buy a small statue of Saint Anthony and leave it upside down for a week, coaxing him thus to find them good husband. "Santo António, Santo Antoninho: Arranja-me lá um maridinho..." is one of the oldest popular refrains extant today.

St Anthony is also one of the most beloved of saints. His images and statues are found everywhere. He is often invoked for the recovery of things lost. St Anthony is patron saint of the oppressed, the elderly, the sick, fishermen and mariners, and the protector of mothers. Saint John the Baptist is an important saint all along the Portuguese coast. The popular cult of the Portuguese folklore, São João has no parallel in the rest of Europe. John has a prominent place as patron saint of parishes, chapels and altars along the coast extending from the Algarve to the There is further overlapping, if not confusion, around the figure of St Anthony especially when the saint is painted to represent both the father and the mother figure. This is especially true of Coimbra where St Anthony competes with Holy Queen Isabel and is found on tiles on the walls next to the door of houses. The myths of Santo Antonio and his supposed miracles correspond to the myths around the Greek Hermes. Like Hermes, Santo Antonio is at the same time protector of shopkeepers. Like Hermes, he appears in commercial establishments in Minho

Saint Peter is celebrated on the nights of June 28 and 29. The Saint best portrayed by El Greco in Penitence. The festivities are similar to the others, but more dedicated to the sea with extensive use of fire. In Póvoa de Varzim, there is the Rusgas another sort of street carnival. St Peter is honoured as a fisherman. The houses are decorated with garlands of lights, nautical banners, tinfoil boats and colourful ribbons. Each festivity is a municipal holiday in the cities and towns where it occurs. Small villages and towns are lit up and liven up to mark the occasion. Fire works and music (pimba) tempt you to participate. This pagan tradition incorporated in the Christian calendar has its origins around agricultural activities, and the advent of summer and good times ahead.