Abstract
The relationship established in one of the most important Brazilian religious festivities – the Círio de Nazaré, in Belém do Pará – between religion, party and food allows to reflect on this sacrificial feast, taking as motto the word “paticídio”, that leads us to think of sacrifice in contemporary religious practices. It is ritual within the ritual, representing moment of fraternization between families. The article reflects on this ritual in the light of anthropological theory, analyzing it as a sacrifice, whose celebrants are housewives. So, this domestic ritual becomes almost mandatory, the occasion of marking the identity of Pará, invoking the “Fable of the three races”, representing the traditional ritual food as the “pato no tucupi” (Indian), “maniçoba” (African) and codfish (Portuguese).
Keywords
Catholicism; Círio de Nazaré; Almoço do Círio; Sacrificial Feast; “Paticídio”