Abstract:
Through this dissertation I reflect on the possible understandings of faith manifested in the bodies of the devout followers of Maria de Salette and to what measure these bodies become a theological space. The research presented has as one of its goals, to study the aspects related to the corporality present in the Nossa Senhora de Salette Pilgrimage, which takes place annually in a small municipality of Rio Grande do Sul, Marcelino Ramos. The apparition of Maria in La Salette in France happened in 1846 and was witnessed by two shepherd children workers. In my ethnographic report I present some perceptions, among which is the relation between the bodies of the devoted with the image of Maria, which is configured within the same sacred space together with the Fac-Simile of the apparition, a ritually constituted space where the sacred "is manifest". There occurs a sensorial identification with the sacred image, which seems to be another ritual within the pilgrimage. This sensorial-bodily identification of the devoted with the image of Maria takes place through a kiss, or hug, or touching the images, including the images of the witnesses of the apparition. The sacredness is not centered in the object but in the relation established. In the union with the sacred, it is through the senses that the identification, the openness and the possibilities of approximation and living out mystical experiences occur. The body is the fundamental focus in any relationship and in the relation with the sacred as well, through the sensory perceptions. In this sense, we are reminded of Roberto da Matta, when he says that in seeking to see the body we see the soul and in seeking to see the soul we find the body.
