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Ox-pulled floats with sacred images of Mary draw thousands to Portugal’s wine-country procession
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A handler struggles to control an ox pulling a float portraying the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, during the Our Lady of Remedies procession in the small town of Lamego, in the Douro River Valley, Portugal, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. One of Portugal's largest and oldest religious festivals, the two-week celebrations that culminate with the procession, draw thousands. - photo by AP Photo/Armando Franca
LAMEGO, Portugal (AP) — Galego and Cabano, two dark-haired oxen, pulled the sacred image of Our Lady of Remedies on a procession float for more than two hours through this small town in Portugal’s wine country. They remained unperturbed even when two cannons fired salutes at the procession’s end, but their owner, a local farmer, beamed with pride. “I love to work with animals, and I have a lot of faith in Nossa Senhora dos Remédios,” said Antonio Faustino, who guided the massive animals in the celebration of this particular image of the Virgin Mary, venerated here since the 1500s.