REGISTOS DO SENHOR SANTO CRISTO DOS MILAGRES is one of the greatest expressions of the connection of the people of São Miguel to their resilience, faith and history. It is the consolidation of around 500 years of Azorean identity and the fight against all elements.

The official discovery of the Azores dates to 1427, notably the eastern group, the first island being Santa Maria and soon after the island of São Miguel. The location of this archipelago in the North Atlantic was immediately seen as a fundamental point for a Kingdom in rapid expansion. There was a need to bring population to islands covered in forest, ravaged by storms, active volcanism and earthquakes, but with a strategic location for navigation in the Atlantic that reached its peak with the arrival in Brazil and with the discovery of the sea route to India from 1500 onwards.

From an early age, on the island of São Miguel, and due to the natural protection of the islet, it was Vila Franca do Campo that became the largest settlement on the island and there naturally emerged the first female convent, in Vale de Cabaços, in Caloura, as a result of the desire of the sisters who gathered there to go to the Vatican to request that the Papal Apostolic Bull be attributed, so that the convent would be recognized by all as such. So they went and so it was, and here the true story begins.

The Bull was granted and, as a souvenir, they received a wooden image, a bust of Christ, which they brought with them to the Convent. This bust is today called SENHOR SANTO CRISTO DOS MILAGRES. Back in São Miguel, and faced with constant attacks by pirates and corsairs, the decision was made: half of the sisters would go to the Convent of Santo André, in Vila Franca do Campo, and the rest, namely Mother Inês de Santa Maria who was responsible for the Image of the Holy Christ, came to the Monastery of Esperança in Vila de Ponta Delgada, where it remains to this day.

It is from this Sanctuary and convent that the SENHOR SANTO CRISTO DOS MILAGRES is gaining increasing relevance and mainly due to the role that the devotion of Mother Teresa D’Anunciada had as an intercessor in his miraculous power. The Lord began to be covered with red capes (the first, the result of a collection within the convent) made of velvet or damask and embroidered in gold, and was embellished with jewels, most of which were donated and so rich that they received the name of the Treasure of the Lord Holy Christ.

In April 1700, the procession and festivities in His honor began and even the route was designed so that it would pass in front of all the convents and religious houses in Ponta Delgada. It always takes place on the 5th Sunday of Pentecost and its importance is so great for the main city on the Island that its municipal holiday became associated with these festivities - the day after the procession.

There, in the Lower Choir of the Convent of Esperança, remains the Image of Ecce Homo, venerated every day behind the bars, which only comes out once a year, to join the procession. As far as we know, the only exception occurred during the visit of Pope Saint John Paul II, between May 11 and 13, 1991, who celebrated an open-air mass and knelt at her feet, in a moving and unique image of contemplation, just as it is possible to see Mother Teresa da Anunciada in most records.

On the other hand, in 2020, the world stopped due to the Sars-Cov2 Pandemic, it did not stop faith, it did not stop the sun from rising, but it placed the whole world, even the Holy Christ, in physical confinement, but not in devotion.

Over time, devotion to the SENHOR SANTO CRISTO DOS MILAGRES spread to other islands, and throughout the diaspora to always remain close. Who has never shed a tear when hearing the hymn in honor of the SENHOR SANTO CRISTO DOS MILAGRES? Who in distress has never asked or promised…? Even closer to the heart is being able to have with you what is considered the handcrafted piece that most symbolizes this entire narrative - REGISTOS DO SENHOR SANTO CRISTO DOS MILAGRES.

Registos are the translation into a multidimensional picture of the faith, resilience, past, present and future of the Azorean people, but above all of São Miguel.

This text begins by talking about an island that had everything against it being populated: inhospitable terrain, no safe bay, volcanoes, earthquakes (1522 in Vila Franca do Campo) followed by tidal waves, pirates and corsairs. It was all Divine Wrath and a small group of sisters who would have faced all of this and who brought a Savior Christ to the Island!

The way in which one interprets the existence of Registos can also be the way in which one feels about the Registo and Christ! As Saramago said, “You have to leave the island to see the island!”; perhaps you need to look at a Registo to FEEL the Holy Christ.

Registos are, as a artisanal activity, a decorative composition of a page or print that serves as a background; in it are the image of Christ and Mother Teresa D’Anunciada. The image of the Lord is “dressed” in red velvet or damask embroidered with silver or gold beads and braids. Likewise, the replica of the altar is richly decorated with many flowers and even some fruits in different materials, with tissue or metallic paper being the predominant material. All handmade and hand assembled. In every detail it should be possible to recognize the delicate hands, wisdom and dedication of those who made each detail. The good taste in the choice and combination of materials, the tools and the dignity given to the Registo of the Lord Holy Christ, as it is also a work of devotion of secular tradition. The first bouquets of flowers were made in convents for sale by sisters with more modest gifts and in order to survive, just like the first prints.

It is very important to note that it is impossible to dissociate or even understand this activity without understanding its history and its connection with its people. The Registo of the Holy Christ is present in the best-known painting “Emigrants”, by Domingos Rebelo (a renowned painter from São Miguel), and is an integral part of the economy of the city of Ponta Delgada and its emigrants who return year after year for the Festivities, of the identity of its population and its artisans who are responsible for keeping the tradition alive and passing it on to the next generation, keeping it faithful and authentic.

This is an art that is being prepared for certification, within the scope of the preservation of Intellectual Property, through the Geographical Indication seal, through which the aim is precisely to protect the quality of the Artisanal Product, adding its patrimonial and economic value.