The batizado (baptism) of the boi/ox takes traditionally takes place on the eve of June 23 with the blessing taking place after midnight, on the turn of the night to the day of Saint John the Baptist (Sao Joao, the patron of the Bumba-meu-boi festival).
This is the heritage practice, once considered necessary before the boi enters the street to dance. In less commercial times the celebration would take place in a private space or community and might last all night. In the more commercial, performance-oriented environment of the festival in Sao Luis, it is often abbreviated or even performed early. This shows a perfunctory acknowledgement of tradition while allowing the more commercially-oriented groups to begin (paid) performance before the day of Sao Joao. The batizado is one of the heritage customs that has changed with the urbanization and professionalization of the Bumba-meu-boi performance schedule (now largely determined by the city government and commercial entities).
The batizado of Boi Uniao da Baixado, in the bairro of Monte Castelo, is somewhere in between. This ceremony was performed before the day of Sao Joao in order to allow the group to perform that night on a municipal stage. However, the batizado was performed from a specially-prepared liturgy by a priest of the Catholic Church, Padre Haroldo. He is sometimes known as “Padre boeiro,” the priest who dances with the boi.
In this ceremony he wears his boeiro hat and cape over his priest’s vestments. After the batizado we also saw that he wore the rest of his costume under the vestments, doing a quick-change in order to dance with the boi as it entered the street. He later appeared with the group as it performed at the city venue known as Maria Aragao.
The private batizado is usually attended only by members of the groups, close neighbors and friends. They are not advertised and are only known to a smaller circle.
In this case, we did not know the group well, but were friends with Izaurina Nunes, a leading local proponent of cultura popular who was instrumental in having the Bumba-meu-boi designated as a national cultural landmark in 2011. She served as the madrinha (godmother) of the boi, just as in a official baptism there are godparents to assure the spiritual development of the person baptized. Being asked to be godmother or godfather is an honor to special friends and dignitaries, and often to supportive public figures and financial contributors.
The priest is careful to say that this is not a person and therefore not a real baptism in the sense of the institutional church. Shortly after this official disclaimer, he baptizes the ox in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, sprinking water on the new boi and the crowd.
