On this Fifth Sunday of Lent (April 6, 2025), in a Jubilee Holy Year dedicated to the Theological Virtue of Hope—proclaimed by His Holiness Pope Francis—hundreds of people crossed the city of Braga toward the Santuário do Bom Jesus do Monte, guided by the pastoral plan of our Archdiocese, which calls everyone to be “Juntos no Caminho de Páscoa” (Together on the Path of Easter). This is a tradition that grows stronger with each passing year.
Bom Jesus do Monte is, above all, the primordial sanctuary of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. It is an artistic, architectural, theological, and catechetical prefiguration of the Caminho da Páscoa de Jesus (Path of Easter). For this reason, every year—since time immemorial—the faithful gather in a Peregrinação Penitencial (Penitential Pilgrimage), beginning at Igreja de Santa Cruz (Largo Carlos Amarante, Braga) and ending at the Adro da Basílica do Bom Jesus do Monte, where an open-air Eucaristia Campal is celebrated in the presence of the primitive image of the Cristo Crucificado (Crucified Christ), the Bom Jesus.
D. José Cordeiro, Metropolitan Archbishop of Braga, took part in the approximately 6km walk. During his homily at the Eucaristia, he referred to the four stairways of the Santuário do Bom Jesus do Monte (Pórtico, Sentidos, Virtudes, and Ressurreição) as the “Escadórios da Esperança (Stairways of Hope)”. He recalled the 1,700th anniversary of the Concílio de Niceia (Council of Nicaea), where the first part of the Credo (Creed) was written, proclaiming “um só batismo para a remissão dos pecados (one baptism for the forgiveness of sins)”—a theme closely connected to the day’s Gospel, which recounts the episode of the mulher adúltera (adulterous woman) (Jo 8, 1-11).
“By reconciling all those men with the truth—‘Quem de entre vós estiver sem pecado atire a primeira pedra.’ (Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.) (Jo 8, 7)—Christ establishes a new Culture of Welcome, Listening, and, consequently, of Hope.”
The prelate also quoted Camilo Castelo Branco (on the bicentennial of his death), recalling the text in which the writer refers to the trees of Bom Jesus as his companions and confidants (“No Bom Jesus do Monte,” 1864). The Madeiro da Cruz (Wood of the Cross) is the Árvore da Vida (Tree of Life), where all Hope resides.
Finally, he invited everyone to visit the Fonte da Esperança (Fountain of Hope) (located at the Escadório das Virtudes), where the female figure holds the Âncora (Anchor) and the Pomba (Dove) [now-missing sculptural elements], symbols of Hope. There, one can read a Latin inscription from the Carta a Tito (Letter to Titus), which means: “aguardando a nossa bendita esperança e a manifestação da glória (awaiting our blessed hope and the manifestation of glory)” (Tt 2, 13). The ancients (who built the Santuário do Bom Jesus do Monte) knew how to educate for the Future and form for Hope.
Rev. Cón. Mário Martins—President of the Mesa Administrativa da Confraria do Bom Jesus do Monte—thanked everyone for their presence and contributions in keeping this tradition alive. He also emphasized that the event took place near one of the eight Igrejas Jubilares (Jubilee Churches) of our Archdiocese, from which flow Bênçãos de Deus (God’s Blessings) upon the entire Igreja Sinodal e Samaritana (Synodal and Samaritan Church).
