On behalf of the Organizing Committee I welcome you to the Fourth International Conference on the Holy Ghost Festas, a joint promotion of the Portuguese Community of California, Direcao Regional Das Comunidades and Portuguese Heritage Publications of California.
Inspired by His message of peace and love, motivated by our desire to honor the pioneers of these celebrations, determined to honor the volunteers who keep them vital to our cultural imprint, we gather for three days to deepen our understanding and share our experiences of this religious and cultural phenomenon that unites every Azorean around the world.
While these festas are the subject of many studies, to us, Azoreans in every corner of the world, it was the love and devotion to the Holy Spirit that ameliorated the shock of the cultural changes, soothed the pain of the uprooting and welded the Azoreans of different islands into one single community.
It is heart warming to have represented at this conference so many people from so many countries. I specially want to acknowledge Dr. Andre Bradford, Secretario da Presidencia, Governo Regional dos Acores, whose presence highlights his determination to maintain the uniting embrace among Azoreans in the world. We are honored by your presence at this event where we will learn of these celebrations to the Holy Spirit in Alenquer, Azores, Canada, Bermuda, Cape Verde Islands, Katofe, Angola, Hawaii and, of course, in California where these festas are the largest and most visible of all our cultural and civic manifestations.
Reflecting the reality of these celebrations in so many countries and languages, I will weave between the English and Portuguese languages, although with an accent on both of them. In English, because it is my second language; in Portuguese, because I will always keep, with pride, my sotaque micaelense.
I have a special request for everyone involved – presenters, performers and attendees – please respect and meet the time constraints of the program.
The Organizing committee is determined to ensure that every participant will enjoy the time allotted and the full attention that their important presentations deserve.
And if you are registered to attend any or all the sessions on Friday and Saturday, we encourage you to arrive on time in order to fully enjoy every presentation.
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Minhas Senhoras e meus Senhores,
Benvindos ao quarto Congresso sobre as Festas do Divino Espírito Santo. O Comité Organizador está altamente grato pela vossa presença.
O nosso agradecimento muito especial à Dra. Rita Dias da Direcção Regional das Comunidades e à Comunidade Portuguesa da Califórnia nossos parceiros na organização deste evento.
Fazemos os melhores votos para que este congresso vos proporcione a oportunidade de criar novas amizades, aprofundar conhecimentos e aprender as diferentes realidades destas celebrações à volta do mundo.
Esta linda fotografia, tirada pouco depois de 1910 numa pequena leitaria na cidade de Strafford, Vale de San Joaquin, ilustra esta sala e todos os programas deste congresso. Nenhuma outra imagem traduz, tão fielmente, os sentimentos dos nossos pioneiros:
O orgulho na promessa cumprida
A simplicidade das pessoas que eregeram esta enorme obra
O espelho fiel dos sacrifícios de uma vida difícil
A importância do Espírito Santo na vida de cada emigrante
A reafirmação de mais faz quem quer do que quem pode
Foi desta gente simples, destas mãos calejadas pelo trabalho honrado que brotaram a centena e meia de irmandades na Califòrnia e o feito singular de oferecerem no dia da festa uma refeição de sopas e carne a mais de um quarto de milhão de pessoas, um número igual a toda a população dos Açores.
This photo, taken in the very small dairy of the Rodrigues family in Strafford, California, in the late 1910, was adopted as the ex-libris of this conference because, in our opinion, no other single picture represents so well the pride in the promessa, the love of sharing and the support of our dairymen for these celebrations.
To Dr. Rita Dias and her staff at Direção Regional das Comunidades, the co-sponsors of this conference, our gratitude for her inspiring and unwavering support. We are appreciative of her determination to build ever stronger bridges of understanding and unity among all the Azoreans communities around the world.
A very special thank you to my fellow co-chair, Tony Goulart. The title of co-chair might convey equal contribution to the task, however, in this case, it is a misnomer. The depth and breath of this conference is owed to Tony, who dedicated heart and soul to this task for the last few months. We could not have reached this extensive level of participation and support without his total commitment to the task.
Pedimos a vossa boa compreensão para que nos ajudem a resolver as falhas que certamente irão ocorrer durante os próximos dias. Não somos profissionais na organização de eventos. Somos simplesmente um grupo de devotos e amigos destas festas do Divino Espírito Santo que unidos pela boa vontade e guiados pelo respeito mutuo quiz proporcionar a oportunidade deste intercambio a todos aqueles.
Apelamos, melhor, exigimos a todos os apresentadores para que respeitem o tempo que lhes foi reservado. Não faremos excepções. Não seria justo sacrificar ou reduzir o tempo das apresentações dos seus colegas por falta de disciplina. Todos os apresentadores merecem o nossa atenção e o tempo que lhes foi reservado.
To all the volunteers from the organizations of the Portuguese community in Santa Clara, who planned and financed this event, the names of the organizations are listed in your program, and to Maria Fernanda Ricardo, our Master of Ceremonies, member of the Organizing Committee and coordinator of the event, our enormous gratitude for this beautiful opening ceremony.
And to you, ladies and gentlemen, we are very grateful for your presence this evening and hope to see many of you at the many sessions in the next few days.
Que o Divino Espírito Santo vos abençoe e às vossas famílias.
Crédito Imagens: gentilmente cedidas por José Maurício Lomelino Alves