Flora Cantábrica

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Balasar: the miracle of the earth cross
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The chronicles say that on Corpus Christi Day in 1832, when the faithful of Balasar were heading to the church of Santa Eulalia to hear mass, they observed with surprise that, a few meters from the chapel, the silhouette of a perfectly fine cross could be seen on the ground. traced. According to the testimonies of the time, the portion of land inside the formation was noticeably lighter than that around it, which is why the cross, 3 meters long and 1.6 in its horizontal section, was clearly defined
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The then parish priest of Balasar, António José de Azevedo, wrote the following in a document that is still preserved in the archdiocese of Braga: «The land that showed this cross was whiter than the other and it seemed that dew had fallen all over it. «On the ground, in that cross-shaped place no dew had fallen.»
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In the priest’s story, the locals’ discovery is described as a «rare case» and in it he claims that he carried out some tests to try to erase – without success – the strange formation. «I ordered all the dust and loose dirt that was in that place to be swept away,» explains De Azevedo, «and it continued to appear in the same place in the shape of a cross.» He also describes in his letter to the archbishopric of Braga how the original tone of the earth inside the figure was altered through a simple experiment: «I then ordered to pour water in abundance, both on the cross and on the surrounding earth, and then «The land that had the shape of a cross appeared black, which has been preserved to this day.»

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After further observations, the parish priest notified his superiors how “on dark days the shape of the cross can be clearly seen at any time of the day; and in those with clear sun it can be seen very early in the morning, until 9 o’clock; and, in the afternoon, when the sun sets towards the west, and also at the height of the day, it is not clearly visible.

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…Apparently, and as De Azevedo also mentioned, the appearance of Balasar caused a revival of faith among the locals, who did not doubt the miraculous nature of the phenomenon. «Once the news of the existence of this cross was spread, the people began to come to venerate it. “They decorated her with flowers and left her some alms,” the priest wrote.
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The donations provided by the villagers allowed the construction of a humble chapel inside which the cross remains. Made of brick and with an austere appearance, it was completed that same year, 1832, with prior authorization from the Portuguese ecclesiastical authorities. The devotion to the earthen cross, which drew hundreds of pilgrims to that small town, continued for some years and, in response to popular demand, a brotherhood was created whose purpose was to promote the festival of the Holy Cross of Balasar. …….
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However, religious fervor gradually decreased, and the cruciform structure, supposedly miraculous, began to fall into oblivion. Today it remains in the same chapel, covered by a glass urn that, in any case, makes it difficult to verify those differences in pigmentation that caused so much talk in its day. But the Christian faith around Balasar had and has other notable references.
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