PARISH OF PRISCOS
PARISH OF PRISCOS
Today, the parish of Priscos is part of the pastoral area of Oeste/Veiga in the Archpriesthood of Braga. Already deprived of its large domains and income, which set it apart from the remaining parish units and subjected its titular priest to a tender in order to ensure the position, Priscos is recognised today for the works of its famous Abbots.
Priscos had São Tiago Maior (Saint James the Great) as its patron saint, one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus, who became especially popular due to the rumour that his tomb was in the Galician city of Compostela, which occurred during the 9th century and resulted in the emergence of pilgrimage routes, as was the case with the medieval route that passed through Priscos, having founded said evocation here.
As a parish that hosted the presentation of the Mitre, which means that its Abbot was appointed by the Primate Archbishop and visited by him, or his immediate representative, highlighted its relevance in comparison with the other neighbouring parishes.
The relevance of the assignment of the parish of Priscos is particularly noticeable through its territorial and ecclesial dimension. With two attached parishes, São Tomé de Moimenta and São Mamede de Sezures, Priscos stood out for its prestige and, particularly, for the income received by its Permanent Abbot. During the Modern Age, the Abbot benefited from a high income, varying between 300 and 800 thousand réis (Portuguese medieval unit of currency) according to sources.
The parish of Moimenta was later extinct and definitely unified with the parish of Priscos in 1599. In turn, the parish of Sezures would be granted autonomy and is currently an administrative and pastoral unit of Vila Nova de Famalicão.
Today, the parish of Priscos is part of the pastoral area of Oeste/Veiga in the Archpriesthood of Braga. Already deprived of its large domains and income, which set it apart from the remaining parish units and subjected its titular priest to a tender in order to ensure the position, Priscos is recognised today for the works of its famous Abbots.
Priscos had São Tiago Maior (Saint James the Great) as its patron saint, one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus, who became especially popular due to the rumour that his tomb was in the Galician city of Compostela, which occurred during the 9th century and resulted in the emergence of pilgrimage routes, as was the case with the medieval route that passed through Priscos, having founded said evocation here.
As a parish that hosted the presentation of the Mitre, which means that its Abbot was appointed by the Primate Archbishop and visited by him, or his immediate representative, highlighted its relevance in comparison with the other neighbouring parishes.
The relevance of the assignment of the parish of Priscos is particularly noticeable through its territorial and ecclesial dimension. With two attached parishes, São Tomé de Moimenta and São Mamede de Sezures, Priscos stood out for its prestige and, particularly, for the income received by its Permanent Abbot. During the Modern Age, the Abbot benefited from a high income, varying between 300 and 800 thousand réis (Portuguese medieval unit of currency) according to sources.
The parish of Moimenta was later extinct and definitely unified with the parish of Priscos in 1599. In turn, the parish of Sezures would be granted autonomy and is currently an administrative and pastoral unit of Vila Nova de Famalicão.
The current Parish Church and its Grounds date back to the 18th century and are built on the same place as the primitive parish church and the old residence of the Lords of Priscos.
The current Parish Church and its Grounds date back to the 18th century and are built on the same place as the primitive parish church and the old residence of the Lords of Priscos.
THE PARISH CHURCH AND ITS GROUNDS
The Parish Church of Priscos, located on a hill in the heart of the parish, is the result of a rebuilding conducted in the late 18th century. With its simple Neoclassical style, and together with the parish house, it forms the heartland of the territory of Priscos. By maintaining the ancestral orientation of Christian temples, it attests its ancestry and provides evidence regarding the primitive space-time parish church of the community.
On the top of a small hill, the parish temple is located in the heart of the parish, with a dominant position over the surrounding territory. The parish residence and its extended grounds are located on the west side. Since the last quarter of the 19th century, the cemetery of the parish has been located in the northeast. As the civic centre of the community, the main convivial spaces opened in its surroundings, such as cafés, a primary school and even a chapel devoted to Senhor dos Passos (Our Lord of the Stations).
The hamlet of Torre is located a few meters from the Church, which may suggest that the Lord of Priscos may have lived there, originating the current parish grounds. Due to the lack of feudal power following the medieval period, the temporal power would have naturally passed on to its Abbot, as was the case of several rural communities of Entre-Douro-e-Minho province.
During a visit to the parish in 1767, the Abbot was ordered to hide a sculpture of São Sebastião (Saint Sebastian) inside the church, given that it looked “quite indecent”, “poor”, and its “wooden materials were worm-eaten”. The parish still preserves this evocation in the reredos of Santo António, to this day. It is worth remembering that the worship of São Sebastião (Saint Sebastian) became significantly frequent during the Middle Ages, as he was said to especially intercede in times of famine, plagues and war.
The lack of conditions of the parish church of Priscos was highlighted in the successive reports of several Visitors since the middle of the 18th century. The shortage of space required that the homilies took place outside the temple, so that the faithful could properly follow the explanation of the sacred texts by the priest.
A few years later, the parish church of Priscos was considered “prisca, small and dark”, a sign of the difficulties originated by the shortage of space needed to practice the divine offices. In October 1790, the Visiting priest stressed the need to build a bell tower, because “the bells cannot be heard in the most remote hamlets of the parish”.
Considering that the order to bless the Church of Santiago de Priscos dates from 28 June 1798, the current version of the temple should be from that period. It is very likely that the previous temple was located in the same space as the current one. The east-west orientation with which it was built is a sign that there was a previous temple there, given that said norm had already fallen into disuse in the 18th century. This orientation, which was canonical until the 16th century, allows us to infer an ancestral sacralisation of the site.
The construction of the new church began in 1796 and lasted four years.
On 22 October of that year, the Judge of the parish requested authorisation from the Visitor to start the construction of the new church “because they already had a plan with a settlement deed” and intended to use a generous donation of “3,000 cruzados” offered by someone who was born in Priscos and had emigrated to the United States, a significant amount in the socio-economic context of the time. In 1797 the Visitor’s report refers the need to finish “as soon as possible” the works in the “main chapel already started”.
Another fact regarding the temple is the erection of its bell tower, whose construction process is referred to as urgent in 1790. However, this tower would only be built in 1800 by José de Sousa, two years after the conclusion of the body of the temple (Rocha, 2012: 355). The sacristy was also included in these construction works, although its roof was only finished eight years later.
This way, in the late 18th century, Priscos complied with the order issued in the Constituições Sinodais (Sinodal constitutions) of 1697, which obliged communities to have a parish duly capable of administrating Sacraments to the faithful, which did not lack a steeple with its bell.
Based on the date of this provision, we can also assume that the blessing of the new temple, a moment of special rejoicing for the community, might have coincided with the celebration of the parish patron saint, São Tiago (Saint James the Great), on 25 July. We are also not sure if the Primate Archbishop, at the time D. Frei Caetano Brandão (1790-1805), attended said blessing, although it is reasonable to assume it.
With a simple architectural design and few ornaments, the Church of Priscos stands out for the geography where it is located
Besides the two plaques regarding the years the Abbot Artur Lopes dos Santos spent serving the parish, the façade presents two tiled panels in honour of the two main worships of Priscos: São Tiago (Saint James the Great) and Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Our Lady of Deliverance).
The temple’s interior, with a capacity for almost two hundred parishioners, features five polychrome late Neoclassical reredoses: one main reredos, two side reredoses and two other smaller reredoses, displaying statues of the main worships of the parish.
In addition to the sculpture of Christ on the cross, in the centre, the main reredos also has the statues of São Tiago Maior (Saint James the Great), patron saint of the parish, and São Pedro (Saint Peter) on the sides. The reredos on the Gospel side has the statue of Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Our Lady of Deliverance), the most important sacred art sculpture of the temple. The reredos on the Epistle side displays the statue of Santo António.
At the end of the body of the temple, two other smaller reredoses of similar style can be found: one devoted to Nossa Senhora da Saúde (Our Lady of Good Health) on the Gospel side, and the other to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on the opposite side. They were both placed here in the second half of the 20th century. The retable of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was an initiative by Father Manuel Joaquim Machado Rebelo, the first to include this worship in the parish, along with the delegation of the Apostleship of Prayer. The retable of Nossa Senhora da Saúde (Our Lady of Good Health) was an initiative by Father Artur Lopes dos Santos at the beginning of the 1940s.
The ceiling, painted in 1824 and restored between 1994 and 1996, features an image of São Tiago Maior (Saint James the Great) framed by the iconography of the four Evangelists in the corners, completed with the illustration of the façades of the Primate Cathedral and the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
Its large and wide churchyard is defined by the temple’s façade on the east and the parish house on the west, which form a relatively proportionate and symmetrical set.
The parish house may have been subject to a rebuilding during the same period as the temple. Featuring two floors and a staircase to access the main entrance, which is protected by a porch, the façade presents an image of Saint James the Great carved in stone of Ançã, probably from the Renaissance time and belonging to the primitive parish church. The front façade of the parish house faces its grounds.
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
IN THE WAY OF ST JAMES
The patron saint of Priscos has always been São Tiago Maior (Saint James the Great), an apostle of Jesus who originated one of the most prominent pilgrimage sites for Christianity, and whose routes played an important role in the definition of the north-western territory of the Iberian Peninsula. Despite not being part of the most popular route, few doubts remain regarding the connection between Priscos and the Santiago pilgrimage, thanks to another route whose traces persist to this day. Coming from Rates and Arnoso, pilgrims who began their journey in Vila do Conde would cross the Este river in Priscos, using the Crasto bridge, making their way to Braga.
The golden age of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela occurred during the Middle Ages, period in which the route that crossed Priscos must have emerged, connecting Vila do Conde to Braga, where it joined the main route. This hypothesis, not duly studied yet, was revealed by the testimony of José Manuel Ribeiro, as told by José Campos Ferreira.
The existence of a transversal pathway that started in Vila do Conde, passing through Rates, where the tomb of the mythical first Bishop of Braga, S. Pedro de Rates, was located, then leading to Braga, where pilgrims would pay visit to the Primate Cathedral, has been suggested.
There are no guarantees regarding its exact path, but there are several evidences of some of its stages, in addition to Priscos and a stone cross in Santa Maria de Arnoso. The stone cross, known as Cruzeiro do Lugar da Quinta, is proof of said alternative route followed by Santiago pilgrims that could have crossed through Priscos. The 1564 structure presents a column ornamented with a Pietà on one side and São Tiago (Saint James the Great), with a scallop-shaped halo, on one of the other sides.
Before that, pilgrims would most certainly enjoy the benefits of the Monastery of Arnoso, then move along the rivulet towards Cruzeiro do Lugar da Quinta, located between a crossway of paths, followed by the passage through some agricultural tracks until Tebosa, seat of a medieval monastery devoted to São Salvador. Their path would then continue through Priscos, where they would cross the Este river, and head to the city of Braga. From that point on, pilgrims would take the main route towards Ponte de Lima.
As we know, the routes to Santiago de Compostela usually followed the main communication roads, through which the journey was swifter and offered the ideal conditions to seek lodging, water or food. Monasteries and other emblematic worship sites were frequent staging areas, as these offered accommodation. Nevertheless, some alternative routes with different itineraries also existed and lead up to the main ones at some point of the journey.
This might have been the most frequent route for those coming from the coastline of the Archdiocese of Braga up to the early 14th century, at which point the construction of the Barcelos bridge favoured the Barcelos route.
In addition to the monasteries, which functioned as hostels, one of the essential elements for pilgrims was the crossing of rivers, given that bridges or piers only existed in specific points of their margins. For that reason, places like Barcelos and Ponte de Lima stood out as crucial stages on the Way of St James in the Entre-Douro-e-Minho province.
Although the Este river was not known for having a vigorous flow, in the wintertime it demanded a stable crossing, as provided by the Romanesque bridge of Crasto, currently renowned for its wayside shrines, in Priscos.
With the decline of the influx of pilgrims following the Counter-Reformation, the route passing through Priscos also dwindled, as opposed to the main route coming from Vila Nova de Famalicão via Veiga de Penso, highlighting the trajectory of the ancient Roman route. Currently, a few traces of this pathway remain in Arnoso, one of the crossing points before Priscos, although some elements are yet to be deciphered.
The current Parish Church and its Grounds date back to the 18th century and are built on the same place as the primitive parish church and the old residence of the Lords of Priscos.
THE PARISH CHURCH AND ITS GROUNDS
The Parish Church of Priscos, located on a hill in the heart of the parish, is the result of a rebuilding conducted in the late 18th century. With its simple Neoclassical style, and together with the parish house, it forms the heartland of the territory of Priscos. By maintaining the ancestral orientation of Christian temples, it attests its ancestry and provides evidence regarding the primitive space-time parish church of the community.
On the top of a small hill, the parish temple is located in the heart of the parish, with a dominant position over the surrounding territory. The parish residence and its extended grounds are located on the west side. Since the last quarter of the 19th century, the cemetery of the parish has been located in the northeast. As the civic centre of the community, the main convivial spaces opened in its surroundings, such as cafés, a primary school and even a chapel devoted to Senhor dos Passos (Our Lord of the Stations).
The hamlet of Torre is located a few meters from the Church, which may suggest that the Lord of Priscos may have lived there, originating the current parish grounds. Due to the lack of feudal power following the medieval period, the temporal power would have naturally passed on to its Abbot, as was the case of several rural communities of Entre-Douro-e-Minho province.
During a visit to the parish in 1767, the Abbot was ordered to hide a sculpture of São Sebastião (Saint Sebastian) inside the church, given that it looked “quite indecent”, “poor”, and its “wooden materials were worm-eaten”. The parish still preserves this evocation in the reredos of Santo António, to this day. It is worth remembering that the worship of São Sebastião (Saint Sebastian) became significantly frequent during the Middle Ages, as he was said to especially intercede in times of famine, plagues and war.
The lack of conditions of the parish church of Priscos was highlighted in the successive reports of several Visitors since the middle of the 18th century. The shortage of space required that the homilies took place outside the temple, so that the faithful could properly follow the explanation of the sacred texts by the priest.
A few years later, the parish church of Priscos was considered “prisca, small and dark”, a sign of the difficulties originated by the shortage of space needed to practice the divine offices. In October 1790, the Visiting priest stressed the need to build a bell tower, because “the bells cannot be heard in the most remote hamlets of the parish”.
Considering that the order to bless the Church of Santiago de Priscos dates from 28 June 1798, the current version of the temple should be from that period. It is very likely that the previous temple was located in the same space as the current one. The east-west orientation with which it was built is a sign that there was a previous temple there, given that said norm had already fallen into disuse in the 18th century. This orientation, which was canonical until the 16th century, allows us to infer an ancestral sacralisation of the site.
The construction of the new church began in 1796 and lasted four years.
On 22 October of that year, the Judge of the parish requested authorisation from the Visitor to start the construction of the new church “because they already had a plan with a settlement deed” and intended to use a generous donation of “3,000 cruzados” offered by someone who was born in Priscos and had emigrated to the United States, a significant amount in the socio-economic context of the time. In 1797 the Visitor’s report refers the need to finish “as soon as possible” the works in the “main chapel already started”.
Another fact regarding the temple is the erection of its bell tower, whose construction process is referred to as urgent in 1790. However, this tower would only be built in 1800 by José de Sousa, two years after the conclusion of the body of the temple (Rocha, 2012: 355). The sacristy was also included in these construction works, although its roof was only finished eight years later.
This way, in the late 18th century, Priscos complied with the order issued in the Constituições Sinodais (Sinodal constitutions) of 1697, which obliged communities to have a parish duly capable of administrating Sacraments to the faithful, which did not lack a steeple with its bell.
Based on the date of this provision, we can also assume that the blessing of the new temple, a moment of special rejoicing for the community, might have coincided with the celebration of the parish patron saint, São Tiago (Saint James the Great), on 25 July. We are also not sure if the Primate Archbishop, at the time D. Frei Caetano Brandão (1790-1805), attended said blessing, although it is reasonable to assume it.
With a simple architectural design and few ornaments, the Church of Priscos stands out for the geography where it is located
Besides the two plaques regarding the years the Abbot Artur Lopes dos Santos spent serving the parish, the façade presents two tiled panels in honour of the two main worships of Priscos: São Tiago (Saint James the Great) and Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Our Lady of Deliverance).
The temple’s interior, with a capacity for almost two hundred parishioners, features five polychrome late Neoclassical reredoses: one main reredos, two side reredoses and two other smaller reredoses, displaying statues of the main worships of the parish.
In addition to the sculpture of Christ on the cross, in the centre, the main reredos also has the statues of São Tiago Maior (Saint James the Great), patron saint of the parish, and São Pedro (Saint Peter) on the sides. The reredos on the Gospel side has the statue of Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Our Lady of Deliverance), the most important sacred art sculpture of the temple. The reredos on the Epistle side displays the statue of Santo António.
At the end of the body of the temple, two other smaller reredoses of similar style can be found: one devoted to Nossa Senhora da Saúde (Our Lady of Good Health) on the Gospel side, and the other to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on the opposite side. They were both placed here in the second half of the 20th century. The retable of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was an initiative by Father Manuel Joaquim Machado Rebelo, the first to include this worship in the parish, along with the delegation of the Apostleship of Prayer. The retable of Nossa Senhora da Saúde (Our Lady of Good Health) was an initiative by Father Artur Lopes dos Santos at the beginning of the 1940s.
The ceiling, painted in 1824 and restored between 1994 and 1996, features an image of São Tiago Maior (Saint James the Great) framed by the iconography of the four Evangelists in the corners, completed with the illustration of the façades of the Primate Cathedral and the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
Its large and wide churchyard is defined by the temple’s façade on the east and the parish house on the west, which form a relatively proportionate and symmetrical set.
The parish house may have been subject to a rebuilding during the same period as the temple. Featuring two floors and a staircase to access the main entrance, which is protected by a porch, the façade presents an image of Saint James the Great carved in stone of Ançã, probably from the Renaissance time and belonging to the primitive parish church. The front façade of the parish house faces its grounds.
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
IN THE WAY OF ST JAMES
The patron saint of Priscos has always been São Tiago Maior (Saint James the Great), an apostle of Jesus who originated one of the most prominent pilgrimage sites for Christianity, and whose routes played an important role in the definition of the north-western territory of the Iberian Peninsula. Despite not being part of the most popular route, few doubts remain regarding the connection between Priscos and the Santiago pilgrimage, thanks to another route whose traces persist to this day. Coming from Rates and Arnoso, pilgrims who began their journey in Vila do Conde would cross the Este river in Priscos, using the Crasto bridge, making their way to Braga.
The golden age of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela occurred during the Middle Ages, period in which the route that crossed Priscos must have emerged, connecting Vila do Conde to Braga, where it joined the main route. This hypothesis, not duly studied yet, was revealed by the testimony of José Manuel Ribeiro, as told by José Campos Ferreira.
The existence of a transversal pathway that started in Vila do Conde, passing through Rates, where the tomb of the mythical first Bishop of Braga, S. Pedro de Rates, was located, then leading to Braga, where pilgrims would pay visit to the Primate Cathedral, has been suggested.
There are no guarantees regarding its exact path, but there are several evidences of some of its stages, in addition to Priscos and a stone cross in Santa Maria de Arnoso. The stone cross, known as Cruzeiro do Lugar da Quinta, is proof of said alternative route followed by Santiago pilgrims that could have crossed through Priscos. The 1564 structure presents a column ornamented with a Pietà on one side and São Tiago (Saint James the Great), with a scallop-shaped halo, on one of the other sides.
Before that, pilgrims would most certainly enjoy the benefits of the Monastery of Arnoso, then move along the rivulet towards Cruzeiro do Lugar da Quinta, located between a crossway of paths, followed by the passage through some agricultural tracks until Tebosa, seat of a medieval monastery devoted to São Salvador. Their path would then continue through Priscos, where they would cross the Este river, and head to the city of Braga. From that point on, pilgrims would take the main route towards Ponte de Lima.
As we know, the routes to Santiago de Compostela usually followed the main communication roads, through which the journey was swifter and offered the ideal conditions to seek lodging, water or food. Monasteries and other emblematic worship sites were frequent staging areas, as these offered accommodation. Nevertheless, some alternative routes with different itineraries also existed and lead up to the main ones at some point of the journey.
This might have been the most frequent route for those coming from the coastline of the Archdiocese of Braga up to the early 14th century, at which point the construction of the Barcelos bridge favoured the Barcelos route.
In addition to the monasteries, which functioned as hostels, one of the essential elements for pilgrims was the crossing of rivers, given that bridges or piers only existed in specific points of their margins. For that reason, places like Barcelos and Ponte de Lima stood out as crucial stages on the Way of St James in the Entre-Douro-e-Minho province.
Although the Este river was not known for having a vigorous flow, in the wintertime it demanded a stable crossing, as provided by the Romanesque bridge of Crasto, currently renowned for its wayside shrines, in Priscos.
With the decline of the influx of pilgrims following the Counter-Reformation, the route passing through Priscos also dwindled, as opposed to the main route coming from Vila Nova de Famalicão via Veiga de Penso, highlighting the trajectory of the ancient Roman route. Currently, a few traces of this pathway remain in Arnoso, one of the crossing points before Priscos, although some elements are yet to be deciphered.
MOIMENTA AND SEZURES
MOIMENTA AND SEZURES
CONFRATERNITIES AND CELEBRATIONS
The associations of the faithful, namely confraternities and brotherhoods/ sisterhoods, was especially fostered following the Council of Trent, as a way to mobilise Christians in the life of the Church. Priscos ahas a substantial history of religious associations.
Generally focused on a specific evocation or worship, these were usually based on the reredoses of the corresponding devotions, possessing a set of statutory ceremonials related to that devotion.
Just like other parish communities, Priscos also has a substantial history of religious associations that have co-existed in particular moments of its timeline. Currently, the parish of Priscos has no active religious association.
Two of them demonstrated greater vitality throughout the history of the parish: the Confraternity of Nossa Senhora do Livramento and the Confraternity of Santo António, which are also the two most prominent worships inside the temple, featured on the two existing side reredoses.
The Confraternity of Santo António was provided with statutes on 30 March 1740, however, it is safe to assume an existence prior to that date. The Confraternity of Nossa Senhora do Livramento was formed later on, as its oldest mention dates back to 1780.
The oldest confraternity registered in the parish of Priscos is the Confraternity of the Holy Spirit, which dates back to 1617. Mentions were also made in the documents regarding the Confraternity of Subsino at the end of the 18th century and the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament at the beginning of the 20th century.
An association of the Apostleship of Prayer was also introduced in the parish at the beginning of the 20th century, by the initiative of Father Manuel Joaquim Machado Rebelo, who also introduced a retable of said evocation inside the temple. Every year, a “big celebration, with triduum and practices, showing great splendour” was organised (Lage, 1956).
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
The devotion to Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Our Lady of Deliverance), increasingly became the most relevant one to the faithful of Priscos. This parish became yet another example of the unique Christian trend for Marian worship.
The confirmation of the Statutes of the Confraternity of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, made in favour of its officials and members, was certified on 24 February 1780. Only 11 years later, more precisely on 4 November 1791, an addition to said Statutes would have been made, which attests the vitality of this association. The statue of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, which still stands out today on one of the side reredoses of the parish church of Priscos, is a splendid model of the Baroque sculpture among the remaining sacred art pieces belonging to the parish estate.
The celebration of Nossa Senhora do Livramento is the main festivity of the parish of Priscos. It takes place once a year on the second weekend of August and is a special moment of gathering and conviviality for the community. The celebration reaches its peak on Sunday afternoon with a procession along the streets of the parish, where the statue of Nossa Senhora do Livramento and the statues of all worships of the church are exhibited on floats.
In what concerns festivities, the parish also celebrates São Tiago (Saint James the Great) on 25 July, doing justice its patron saint; whereas the main celebration devoted to Nossa Senhora do Livramento takes place during the second week of August. Currently, the most intense community event is undoubtedly the Live Nativity Scene2, which takes place since 2006 in association with the Christmas celebrations and is an initiative by the current Abbot of Priscos, Father João Torres Campos.
CONFRATERNITIES AND CELEBRATIONS
The associations of the faithful, namely confraternities and brotherhoods/ sisterhoods, was especially fostered following the Council of Trent, as a way to mobilise Christians in the life of the Church. Priscos ahas a substantial history of religious associations.
Generally focused on a specific evocation or worship, these were usually based on the reredoses of the corresponding devotions, possessing a set of statutory ceremonials related to that devotion.
Just like other parish communities, Priscos also has a substantial history of religious associations that have co-existed in particular moments of its timeline. Currently, the parish of Priscos has no active religious association.
Two of them demonstrated greater vitality throughout the history of the parish: the Confraternity of Nossa Senhora do Livramento and the Confraternity of Santo António, which are also the two most prominent worships inside the temple, featured on the two existing side reredoses.
The Confraternity of Santo António was provided with statutes on 30 March 1740, however, it is safe to assume an existence prior to that date. The Confraternity of Nossa Senhora do Livramento was formed later on, as its oldest mention dates back to 1780.
The oldest confraternity registered in the parish of Priscos is the Confraternity of the Holy Spirit, which dates back to 1617. Mentions were also made in the documents regarding the Confraternity of Subsino at the end of the 18th century and the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament at the beginning of the 20th century.
An association of the Apostleship of Prayer was also introduced in the parish at the beginning of the 20th century, by the initiative of Father Manuel Joaquim Machado Rebelo, who also introduced a retable of said evocation inside the temple. Every year, a “big celebration, with triduum and practices, showing great splendour” was organised (Lage, 1956).
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
The devotion to Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Our Lady of Deliverance), increasingly became the most relevant one to the faithful of Priscos. This parish became yet another example of the unique Christian trend for Marian worship.
The confirmation of the Statutes of the Confraternity of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, made in favour of its officials and members, was certified on 24 February 1780. Only 11 years later, more precisely on 4 November 1791, an addition to said Statutes would have been made, which attests the vitality of this association. The statue of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, which still stands out today on one of the side reredoses of the parish church of Priscos, is a splendid model of the Baroque sculpture among the remaining sacred art pieces belonging to the parish estate.
The celebration of Nossa Senhora do Livramento is the main festivity of the parish of Priscos. It takes place once a year on the second weekend of August and is a special moment of gathering and conviviality for the community. The celebration reaches its peak on Sunday afternoon with a procession along the streets of the parish, where the statue of Nossa Senhora do Livramento and the statues of all worships of the church are exhibited on floats.
In what concerns festivities, the parish also celebrates São Tiago (Saint James the Great) on 25 July, doing justice its patron saint; whereas the main celebration devoted to Nossa Senhora do Livramento takes place during the second week of August. Currently, the most intense community event is undoubtedly the Live Nativity Scene2, which takes place since 2006 in association with the Christmas celebrations and is an initiative by the current Abbot of Priscos, Father João Torres Campos.
The devotion to Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Our Lady of Deliverance), increasingly became the most relevant one to the faithful of Priscos. This parish became yet another example of the unique Christian trend for Marian worship.
The confirmation of the Statutes of the Confraternity of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, made in favour of its officials and members, was certified on 24 February 1780. Only 11 years later, more precisely on 4 November 1791, an addition to said Statutes would have been made, which attests the vitality of this association. The statue of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, which still stands out today on one of the side reredoses of the parish church of Priscos, is a splendid model of the Baroque sculpture among the remaining sacred art pieces belonging to the parish estate.
The celebration of Nossa Senhora do Livramento is the main festivity of the parish of Priscos. It takes place once a year on the second weekend of August and is a special moment of gathering and conviviality for the community. The celebration reaches its peak on Sunday afternoon with a procession along the streets of the parish, where the statue of Nossa Senhora do Livramento and the statues of all worships of the church are exhibited on floats.
In what concerns festivities, the parish also celebrates São Tiago (Saint James the Great) on 25 July, doing justice its patron saint; whereas the main celebration devoted to Nossa Senhora do Livramento takes place during the second week of August. Currently, the most intense community event is undoubtedly the Live Nativity Scene2, which takes place since 2006 in association with the Christmas celebrations and is an initiative by the current Abbot of Priscos, Father João Torres Campos.
