The Ribeira Grande City Council, together with the Santa Casa da Misericórdia and the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs, has started the request to include the “Procession of the Third” in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The announcement was made by Councillor José António Garcia, who justified the initiative not only by the “originality of this religious event but also by how the population gets involved and gives itself in a pious act of great spiritual significance” he said, quoted in a press release.

José António Garcia, who was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the book “Ao Sabor da Bíblia,” by Luís Lavrador and the inauguration of the photographic exhibition “Arquipélago Franciscano”, which took place as part of the celebrations for the 10th anniversary of the Living Museum of Franciscanism, also said that “if today, the Procession of the Third is already far beyond the geographical limits of our municipality and our island, now we want it to have a national heritage record”.

It should be noted that the book “Ao sabor da Bíblia” portrays “a journey through the history of eating from the earliest times to the beginning of Christianity, as well as inviting us to the gastronomic experience of preparing and tasting menus where foods, spices, and flavors that mark the itinerary of Jewish and Christian history prevail,” as the author explains in the presentation of his work.

Story by Susete Rodrigues in Açoriano Oriental, Paulo Simões, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno.