The Festivities in honour of Saint Theresa and Our Lady of the Rosary take place in the parish of Samil, in the municipality of Bragança. They bring together two devotions in a single celebration, with moments of faith, prayer and community togetherness.
The devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary has ancient roots: its origin is linked to a victory of 1571, which Pope Pius V attributed to the protection of Our Lady of the Rosary. It is a Marian invocation venerated in many places, and the festival invites members of the community to come together in celebration and prayer.
The sources consulted do not offer reliable details about the specific origin of the devotion to Saint Theresa in Samil, nor about the particular traditions of the chapel or the local pilgrimage festival, and so we have not expanded on them here.
There are places that hide in the folds of the Trás-os-Montes lands like someone keeping a secret, and Samil, in the municipality of Bragança, is one of them. It is a parish in the northeastern corner of Trás-os-Montes where the rugged landscape and wide skies still speak the ancient language of those who work the land and live by the rhythm of the seasons. A people of hard work and faith, its inhabitants have raised chapels and churches over the centuries that now stand as stone witnesses scattered across the parish. Here, religious festivities continue to serve as a reason to bring people together around generous tables, where smoked meats, butelo com casulas, salt cod, bread and wine make their presence felt as tradition demands. Samil is, at heart, one of those places that does not boast about what it has — you need to stop, climb up to the chapel on the hill and let the land tell its story at its own pace.
