Pilgrim travels on foot with Círio boats across the country – 04/24/2023 – Brazil

With a beard and white hair and a crucifix hanging around his neck, Mateus Coutinho Aguiar, 70, pushes a wooden boat, illustrated with sacred images, along the roads. The retiree fulfills the mission of taking 33 Círio de Nazaré canoes to sanctuaries in Brazil and other countries. More than 160 days ago, he walked from Belém to Rio de Janeiro.

The trip began after the traditional paraense procession, resumed in October last year, after two years suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Considered the largest in the country, it brings together millions of faithful, who follow the image of Our Lady of Nazareth on foot, by car and even on boats.

This is the pensioner’s ninth pilgrimage, which already exceeds 2,000 km of travel. In all, there will be 12, in reference to the number of apostles of Christ.

“I chose to honor our Lord and all Catholics who are promise-payers”, he explains, pointing out details such as the absence of a cross on the boat, as it is a salute to the 33 years of Jesus in human life, also symbolized by the number of planned canoes.

This year, the pilgrim takes five boats. Three were delivered between Pará and Ceará. The pusher should arrive in the state of Rio de Janeiro and another one, which is disassembled inside, will be left in Salvador in the next few days.

On each trip, he takes one or more boats, one inside the other. Assembly is done upon arrival at the chosen temple. On each trip, he traces the route where he will leave the canoes.

Since the first walk, the sum of kilometers covered has already exceeded 27,000, in 16 countries. The plan is for the mission to be accomplished by 2025, reaching the 40,000 km mark and 50 countries, including Europe.

Travel was Aguiar’s old desire. Born on Ilha de Santana, a small district of Amapá, at the age of 22 he made his first long trip —the same journey from the capital of Pará to Rio— to look for a job.

On the ship trip, which lasted 27 days, he met sailors with stories that awakened his desire to see the world.

The dream was kept for a while. Working in the maritime area in the capital of Rio de Janeiro, he returned to Pará, where he opened a shipping agency and started a family. “I waited to educate my children to understand my will,” he says.

At 51, in August 2004, he took his first trip on foot. There were 259 days walking to Porto Alegre, along the coast. Another longer one was in the countries of Latin America bordering the Pacific, when it passed through the Atacama desert and crossed the Andes mountain range.

Both, no boat, just mapping the area. “If you don’t design well, you can’t do it,” he says.

The adventure was funded initially by savings from years of planning. Through the cities, he gets support and donors who sign a contribution book.

In an interview with Sheet, last Friday (14), the retiree was researching low-cost accommodation in Petrolina (PE) and remembers the difficulties of the mission. “I’ve slept on the road, without shelter. I’ve slept in trees and at a bus stop,” he says.

The first mission with a vessel was to Aparecida (SP), in 2018. Since then, it has already delivered 18, large and small, which are displayed inside or outside the churches. The pilgrim says that the distance covered varies every day, but it reaches more than 40 km in some.

The canoes, made by him, are an average of three meters long and have bicycle wheels adapted for transport. “You have to know how to do everything. I paid for the first two, but then I decided to build, because of the costs”, he says.

The life project only took a break during the pandemic, when he stayed at home for almost two years. But, he took the opportunity to write memoirs of the years on the road. “I am recording my passage on planet earth in an unforgettable way”, he says, who is thinking of publishing a book.

Before continuing his journey, between one stop and another, he attends masses and meets people, which he says is one of the advantages of traveling around the world.

“It’s a different and unique experience. I’m replacing all that faith inside myself. I leave one sacred place for another, in search of knowledge. These are spaces that give strength to my day to day life”, he says.

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