Eleven people from Oliveira carry a stretcher weighing around 800 kilos

"It weighs about 800 kilos, give or take, 100 kilos on each shoulder. You know it's a stretcher loaded with water to hold all those flowers. Besides the image [of Our Lady of La Salette], there's the weight of the water, the sponges, the flowers. The cow and the ox are solid, made of blackwood," Acácio Silva, 63, told us. He's been doing this work for about 23, 24 years. He carried the Our Lady of La Salette stretcher for the first time to fulfill a promise, which he continues to do to this day: "I've been accumulating promise after promise. I always do it out of a promise." This true-blue Oliveira native, born in a house not far from the chapel, calls himself "a man of faith." "I have," he confided, "a lot of faith in this saint." "A lot of faith indeed," he added.

Acácio Silva coordinates those who, in the candlelight and triumphal processions—two highlights of the religious program—carry the float of Our Lady of La Salette, moving the thousands of spectators as they pass by. In total, including the coordinator himself, the group consists of 21 men who take turns along the route, which is never less than two kilometers.

"It weighs about 800 kilos, give or take, 100 kilos on each shoulder. You know it's a stretcher loaded with water to hold all those flowers. Besides the image [of Our Lady of La Salette], there's the weight of the water, the sponges, the flowers. The cow and the ox are solid, made of blackwood," Acácio Silva, 63, told us. He's been doing this work for about 23, 24 years. He carried the Our Lady of La Salette stretcher for the first time to fulfill a promise, which he continues to do to this day: "I've been accumulating promise after promise. I always do it out of a promise." This true-blue Oliveira native, born in a house not far from the chapel, calls himself "a man of faith." "I have," he confided, "a lot of faith in this saint." "A lot of faith indeed," he added.

Acácio Silva coordinates those who, in the candlelight and triumphal processions—two highlights of the religious program—carry the float of Our Lady of La Salette, moving the thousands of spectators as they pass by. In total, including the coordinator himself, the group consists of 21 men who take turns along the route, which is never less than two kilometers.

"It weighs about 800 kilos, give or take, 100 kilos on each shoulder. You know it's a stretcher loaded with water to hold all those flowers. Besides the image [of Our Lady of La Salette], there's the weight of the water, the sponges, the flowers. The cow and the ox are solid, made of blackwood," Acácio Silva, 63, told us. He's been doing this work for about 23, 24 years. He carried the Our Lady of La Salette stretcher for the first time to fulfill a promise, which he continues to do to this day: "I've been accumulating promise after promise. I always do it out of a promise." This true-blue Oliveira native, born in a house not far from the chapel, calls himself "a man of faith." "I have," he confided, "a lot of faith in this saint." "A lot of faith indeed," he added.

Acácio Silva coordinates those who, in the candlelight and triumphal processions—two highlights of the religious program—carry the float of Our Lady of La Salette, moving the thousands of spectators as they pass by. In total, including the coordinator himself, the group consists of 21 men who take turns along the route, which is never less than two kilometers.