FESTIVAL TO SANTOS COSME AND DAMIÃO: REPRESENTATION AND SOCIO-RELIGIOUS CULTURAL CELEBRATION, FROM IGARASSU-PERMAMBUCO, BRAZIL

REPRESENTAÇÃO E FESTEJO CULTURAL SOCIORRELIGIOSO DE IGARASSU-PERMAMBUCO, BRASIL

Abstract

Saints Cosme and Damian were physicians who would have practiced medicine without charging fees, that is why they are called "anargiros", that is, that they are not bought for money. They are martyrs, identified by the Catholic Church. The devotion to Cosme and Damião dates back to 1535, when the first church was built in Igarassu, Brazil, as a tribute after the Portuguese defeated the Caetés Indians. Since then, the city celebrates a religious novena and the profane feast takes place during the entire month of September, since the twins are the patron saint of Igarassu, a city in the northern Mata region of Pernambuco.  The feast of saints Cosmas and Damião de Igarassu is popular and imagery, attracting Catholics to the novena and to the celebration that takes place in the city, because September 27th is the commemorative day of its foundation. Devotion and gratitude to the saints make the party a religious and popular tradition that has the procession with the images and relics of the saints, the high point of the celebrations