Blessing of the Fleet - Quarteira, Portugal - Part 1

8 December 2007

Many coastal communities, especially fishing villages in Catholic countries, have an annual religious procession and festival involving a blessing of the fleet to preserve it and the fishermen from the perils of the sea. The seas and oceans of the world can be dangerous places, powerful challenges to the puny humans and their frail vessels, both their bodies and their ships. Fear of the ocean felt by those who do not know it, and respect and humility imbedded in those who do is reflected in Protestant hymns:

Eternal Father strong to save,

Whose arm doth bound the restless wave,

Oh hear us when we cry to Thee,

For those in peril on the sea.

And in prayers:

O eternal Lord God, Who alone spreadeth out Thine arms and rulest the raging of the seas …

So it was no surprise to Roger the lapsed Protestant, nor to Marie-Claire the lapsed Catholic, to discover that 8 December would witness a procession to celebrate the Festival of Our Lady of Conception, and the Blessing of the Fleet in Quarteira, a historical fishing village.

Given Quarteira’s roots as a fishing village, and its ongoing reliance on the ocean for fishing and tourism, and searching for some deeper connection with the culture of the community we devoted most of the day to the festival.

The fishing fleet here is involved in an onshore fishery, sardines being a principal harvest, and the size of the boats and the port reflect this. For the festival they were all bedecked in coloured pennants and streamers, loaded with family and friends, and ready to set sail.

A sail along the beach is punctuated by the firing of expired safety flares so that the boats seem to have caught fire.

Back at the port the fishermen chosen for the task await, with their Virgin Mary, the arrival of the much larger procession. There is, of course, a kid clown in every parish and this young seaman insisted on placing himself front and center.

The nearby houses and streets were starting to show a festive air as people lined the route and the roofs of nearby houses. At this point Marie-Claire, having been a participant in many processions as a child, was beginning to wonder if this was all there would be and why their Virgin was so small.

In a nearby café, other fisherman are entertained by a mate with a large harmonica, while they imbibe more than a few beers on this sunny Saturday afternoon, while a wife looks on with interest – or is it impatient tolerance?

The fishing fleet, accompanied by one 50 foot sailboat, began to return to the port, horns blaring and safety flares burning, making us wonder whether, as the name of the boat suggests, God Protect Us from the sea or from the fire that a dropped flare would start on these wooden vessels crammed with synthetic nets and plastic streamers.

The large procession arrives, having wended its way through the streets from the new church, bringing even more people from the town. Led by church volunteers, altar boys and girls, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides they pick their way along the docks to a central stage.

The priests and altar boys ascend the stage and lead a 45 minute service with ritual blessings, responses, scriptural readings and a sermon. With the priests’ clear enunciation and paced manner of speaking we were able to follow the essence of the message.