The Party of St. Benedict from rua da Barra in Rosario Oeste, MT

Abstract

This article has as its object the party of St. Benedict from Rua da Barra in Rosario Oeste, MT. It aims to analyze its history, its ritual and the devotion of the party, considering the need for records of this cultural event of a religious nature, which has been happening for over 100 years and had not yet been researched as a cultural practice. The theoretical framework, guiding the analysis of empirical data, was based on the categories of culture (Alves, 2021) and religious festival (Queiroz, 1976; Claval, 2007). Data were collected through primary sources, in semi-structured interviews with descendants of the Oliveira party family and people who experience or have experienced the party. A documentary survey was also carried out, complemented by images of the event. Data obtained through secondary sources were sought in written works such as books, articles, book chapters, magazines, theses and dissertations by authors who address the subject. The Festa de São Benedito da Rua da Barra is an event of devotion and faith, which was born in the Oliveira family, in the rural area of the city, and, nowadays, it is an event of great magnitude, visited by the inhabitants of Rosario and other cities of the state. However, the continuation of the festival as a tradition with its current characteristics is not auspicious, considering that customs change at the whim of transformations in social relations. And, as the transformations are continuous, it will be necessary to adjust the party to the ongoing transformations.