The Red Flag Of The Holy Spirit
By Fr. Bart Toledo
One of the many cultural shocks I experienced upon arriving in Brazil was the celebration of the Feast of the Holy Spirit. It is celebrated with unique traditional pomp, lots of noise, a red flag, an “emperador”, a “maestro” and a banquet.
Not One Celebration but Many
The Church has one fixed date for this celebration the Feast of Pentecost. But here in Brazil, any dates suffices according to the needs of a community or of a family-in-charge of the celebration. Usually a community has two days for its annual fiesta, the feast of the patron saint on the first and that of the “Divino Espiritu” on the second. More crowds show up the second day due to the banquet that takes place in the house of the “Emperador”.