The Império do Espírito Santo da Vila de São Sebastião, is located in Vila de São Sebastião in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, located at Rua da Igreja.
It was founded in the first quarter of the 20th century, in 1918. This brotherhood celebrates the feasts of the Divine Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sundays and the Holy Trinity, on the 7th and 8th Sundays after Easter, respectively.
On the 8th Sunday of the Holy Spirit the butlers nominate the butlers for the following year.
During the period that elapses between the nomination and the beginning of the weeks of Espírito Santo, the butlers prepare the bodos, inviting the breeders who will raise the animals that will be used in the brotherhoods, which are delivered on Saturday of the Bodo, contact the wine producer to be distributed also in the brotherhoods, as they do with the bread supplier. During this time, the stewards maintain the empire’s belongings and the building and also organize the delivery of crowns to the emperors, that is, to the people who took the 8 Sundays of the Holy Spirit, which, each one per se, for 5 weeks, watch over the Holy Spirit in their homes.
On Easter Sunday, the stewards take the wreaths of the Holy Spirit to the church to be blessed and the emperor of the 1st Sunday takes them to his house. During the week, the emperor prays the rosary to the Divine Holy Spirit, making an altar to worship him. On the Friday before Sunday, they decorate the calf that will be killed to give the meat for the soups and rump that are offered to the guests on the Sunday of the Holy Spirit. On Sunday, the emperor takes the Holy Spirit to the church for the coronation and then the guests go in procession to the place where lunch will be served. After that, they return in procession and take the insignia to the next emperor’s house. This process takes place on every Sunday in Espírito Santo.
In the week before the 7th and 8th Sundays, on Wednesdays, the stewards go to fetch the wine, making this act a conviviality. On Thursday, they receive, in the empire, the bottles that will be filled with the wine to be delivered to the brotherhoods, on Saturday. This procedure happens again the following week. On Friday, stewardship takes place. These are the responsibility of the butlers, usually half each week. The purpose of stewardship is to decorate the calf, symbol of the animals that will be killed for the brotherhoods to be offered on the Saturday of each bodo, as well as to collect the bread that will also be given that day and the following day. Each butler has his guests who will accompany him in procession to the Empire, where all the butlers and their guests, already carrying the bread in baskets, meet and all go together to decorate the calf, together with the litter of the Queen’s image. Santa Isabel, accompanied by the Philharmonic. Finishing decorating the calf, they go around the parish showing off the animal and return to the Empire, where they leave the bread, the calf and the saint’s litter. The butlers who have no butlers stay in the Empire to toast the Philharmonic, while the other butlers who have the butlers go to their homes with their guests where they serve bread, cheese, wine and other delicacies according to each one’s criteria. Later that day, the other butlers who stayed in the Empire, go in procession together with the image of the Saint and the philharmonic and “run” the houses of the butlers who have the butlers. Those who carry the litter at this moment are the butlers of the Bodo bullfight. The bullfight takes place on the Tuesday after the 2nd Bodo and has an independent commission that deals with just that. After going around the stewardships, they bring the litter of Queen Santa Isabel back to the Empire.
On Bodo Saturday in the morning, in the Empire pantry, they cut and bag the meat that will be given that day in the afternoon, along with the bread and wine. On Saturday afternoon, after the tables are ready with the brotherhoods to be delivered, the butlers take the Holy Spirit to the Church along with the image of Saint Isabel. After mass, they take, in procession, the litter and a crown to the square where the brotherhoods are located, to be blessed by the Father and distributed afterwards. It is also customary to go to the breeders’ houses to bring bread, meat and wine as a sign of gratitude.
On Bodo Sunday, in the morning, butlers go to the Empire to receive the offerings to the Divine that will later be sold at Bodo. The Emperor of that Sunday, takes the Holy Spirit to the church for the coronation. The butlers stay in the Império until the Divino leaves the church, where he is kept until the end of the Bodo, after which he is taken to the house of the next emperor. After the mass, there are auctions of the offerings and the Sundays of the Holy Spirit of the following year are raised. On the 8th Sunday, the bodo and bullfight stewards are appointed for the following year. On both Sundays, in the afternoon, the Bodo takes place in the square, where a healthy conviviality is promoted with all the brothers and the butlers. In this space there is bread, cheese and wine among other delicacies. The bodo is enlivened by the philharmonic. There are also usually auctions during the Bodo.
After the last Bodo, the Holy Spirit goes to the Emperor’s house who has the 1st Sunday of the Holy Spirit of the following year.
