The Heus’s Song from the city of Congonhas - MG: A study to identification and rescue in a rite from Passion Friday
Heus Song, Burial Procession, Holy Week, religious rites
The aim of this research is to rescue/preserve possible ways in which the Heus’s Song was performed in the past of the city of Congonhas, Minas Gerais. The ceremonies of the so called Holy Week mark the celebration of Jesus Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection in the Catholic tradition. During that week, each day mark a specific passage of the Holy Bible which is celebrated with specific rites, full of symbolism. Among these rites, one that stands out, both for its solemnity and for its symbolism, is the Burial Procession. It takes place on Hole Friday, the day on which, specifically, the Passion of Christ is celebrated, and is quite followed by the Catholic faithful. It is an event that is still widely held in many cities in the interior of the state of Minas Gerais, especially Congonhas, located in the Alto Paraopeba region. In this city, Holy Week is an important element of cultural identity and attracts thousands of faithful and tourists to the streets to follow the Burial Procession, which represents Jesus’s funeral, after his body was taken from the cross and carried by his family and friends to be deposited in a tomb. During this procession, there is a character, Veronica, who sings a monodic song of devotion a capella, from point to point along the way, and shows a white cloth with the Jesus’s face stamped on it. Right after Veronica sings her song, there is an answering song, also a capella, sung by three women, called Heus. In several cities in the interior of the state these three characters still appear during the Burial Procession. In the city of Congonhas, however, the Heus Song does not exist anymore during the Burial Procession, nor in a written or a recorded way. Thus, in order to identify this song and to make a written and a recorded record of it, interviews with people linked to the Holy Week of the aforementioned city will be made. It is expected to contribute to the preservation and diffusion of the cultural identity of a people, which is expressed in the Catholic rites practiced in Brazil and manifested in their religiosity and artistic expressions.