Torchlight in the old town

The procession was due to begin at 10.30pm, We made our way to the church to find several hundred people waiting for the procession to begin.

As the statue of our lady of Fatima was processed down the knave and left the church we were stranded inside as a small service was performed in the church plaza outside. A couple of dozen of us were effectively trapped within the glorious church for 20 minutes or so before the procession proceeded into the narrow streets of the old town.

As a confirmed atheist I am always strangely moved by these outward observances of faith, in fact I would challenge anyone not to be moved by the experience. To be slowly carried along by a mass of humanity, quietly singing their devotions and as if by some invisible signal raising their candles in unison is a profound and rather beautiful feeling.

I dived down one of the many side streets (getting good at navigating these now ) to try and get ahead of the procession, after a small sermon at the small square near the town hall the procession turned around to head back along the main street, led by the standard bearers and the priest who was chanting almost continuously, the crowd following responded at appropriate times.

I recognised the Ave Maria but I must admit to being lost much of the time , I had no idea that the virgin Mary had so many names! The massed voices in the warm dark night did sound wonderful however.

Having spent a long time in Cangas it really should not surprise me that occasions like this are a real community celebration. This seemed to be an occasion for some very devout people to come together and celebrate. The cafe bars along the main street ensured that there was a clear path for the celebrants, there was no fuss and in that typical Spanish way it all seemed to just happen naturally.

As we passed the market hall I found Lynne again and she was obviously suffering a little from her strained foot, however she said the slow progress was not a bother!

As the procession continued up into the old town towards the ancient cross, we decided to head back to Dark Tarn to catch up with the elections as it was already past midnight and there seemed to be at least another hour or two to go. Tuesday was a celebration of St Anthony and I needed to compile a list of lost items I needed help finding before then!
I shot some video which I will upload and link to here later......
took a while but here it is.