Among the non-canonical Catholic saints belonging to Northeast devotion, some of the best known are the following: Fr Ibiapina, Dom Vital, St Longinus, Friar Damião, Girl-With-No-Name and Father Cícero.

During Holy Week, on  Fazenda Nova in Nova Jerusalém, in the municipal district of Brejo da Madre de Deus in the Pernambuco countryside (180 km from Recife), a spectacle is presented about the Passion of Christ, which today is one of the greatest tourist attractions in the state.

The Portuguese word ‘romaria’ can be defined as a trip or pilgrimage to a religious site or one of devotion, a centre of Christian pilgrimages or a meeting of devotees who participate in a religious festival.

The name ‘procissão’ (procession) comes from the Latin processione, which means “to march forward”. It is the designation of a religious ritual in which priests, brotherhood and followers of a cult walk, generally in lines, singing or reciting prayers, carrying images or venerated relics.

In the vicinity of Varadouro da Galeota in 1597, the priests acquired a farm known as Olaria, which was later expanded through the acquisition of three more surrounding lots. Construction of the monastery was completed in 1599.