The myths of the Reign of Our Lady of the Rosary and Saint Benedict in the Old Way of the Royal Road

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the myths of the Great Mother Our Lady of the Rosary and of Saint Benedict, having as reference the data found in research about the religious festivity, called congado, in honor to Our Lady of the Rosary, in the Old Way of the Royal Road (from Ouro Preto, in Minas Gerais, to Parati, in Rio de Janeiro). By listening to the (hi)stories and memories of the representatives of groups of congado (also called congada, moçambique, reign, reisado), in this route, we identified that, in Minas Gerais, the prevalence of devotion is in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary and, in São Paulo, Saint Benedict. The mythical narratives that involve the saints are different, but they have in common the relationship with the enslaved blacks in our country and the fact that they were chosen to protect these captives. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to present the mythical narratives about the black saints as well as the particularities of the festivities in honor of them. The research, which is qualitative, relied on the oral history method, with interviews being the main strategy adopted. In all, 15 cities were visited along the Old Way of the Royal Road, and 34 members of 22 different groups were interviewed.