The Império do Espírito Santo das Cinco Ribeiras is located in the parish of Cinco Ribeiras, in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, located in Largo Padre Belarmino José da Silva.
O Império bears on its frontispiece the date of 1886, but this is already the second. The first was located in Ribeira do Mouro, at the beginning of the Pilar path. The oldest document of the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit, independent of that of Santa Bárbara, is the following engraving on the salver of the respective crown: “Belongs to the Empire of N.S. do Pilar and made in 1825″.
Inside this empire, there is a plaque commemorating its centenary, celebrated in 1986.
The proxies for that year’s bodos were: Heriberto Herculino Silveira Brasil and José Gabriel P. da Silva, who did not let this date pass without the respective celebration. In this empire, there are three crowns: that of the brotherhood of the Holy Spirit, with the date of 1825, that of the brotherhood of the Holy Trinity, undated, and a third offered, in 2002, by the attorneys of that year, Messrs. José Manuel Vieira da Rosa and Luís Henrique Furtado Nogueira.
The latter is today called the “Crown of Promises”. Devotion to the Divine Holy Spirit in Cinco Ribeiras dates back to time immemorial. On Holy Spirit Sunday (Pentecost) the coronation takes place.
Thus, the crown leaves the procurator’s house in procession to the church or to a closer place, if it is too far away. At the door of the cult center, the crown and the people who make up the procession are received by the parish priest, then the festive coronation mass begins, which is usually very popular and attended.
At the end of the celebration, the priest places the crown on the head of the procurator, or of the people he designates, and the imposition of the scepter that is wielded by the crowned. After this ceremony, there is a small procession to the Empire accompanied by the Philharmonic of Nossa Senhora do Pilar.
While the crown awaits in the Empire, the procession is carried out on the bandstand, which will dictate the procurator of that bodo the following year. It is a rule, or so it has been, that the Prosecutor is always a married man.
In the meantime, sweet pasta, wine and juice are served in the Terreiro to all the people there. Afterwards, in the hall of Casa do Povo, a “Function” is served to a large group of guests and helpers. This type of meal consists of three dishes: soups of the Holy Spirit, stew and rump, accompanied by bread and sweet pasta, ending with rice pudding served on platters and decorated with drawings made with cinnamon, allusive to the occasion.
The function is served in the hall in the presence of the three crowns, two flags and 8 sticks. At night the crown returns to the Empire. There is lighting and a fair enlivened by a philharmonic concert and the auction of offerings, mainly alfenim and massa sovada.
On Monday, the lighting and fair continues with new auctions and, usually, with the exhibition of a musical group hired or of another different nature, but that provides a good show.
During the intervals of the cultural part, the “account presentation” is carried out to the public present.
On Tuesday, the “Supper of the Helpers” takes place and the bills of the bodo are posted on the bulletin board at Casa do Povo, not forgetting to save a good sum for the bullfight. The supper ends with the delivery of a check to the attorney for the following year, with what was determined that year.
He is also given the crown to take home, one of his duties being to take care of it and have it cleaned, if necessary. After the second bodo, which takes place in a similar way to the first, and to end the festivities, the traditional bullfight, jointly organized by the two attorneys, takes place.
Source: http://roteirodesazores.com/festa/imperio-do-divino-espirito-danto-das-cinco-ribeiras/