Coimbra: Rainha Santa continues to be a source of inspiration

It's just after 6:00 PM when the image of the Holy Queen leaves the Church of Santa Cruz. Suddenly, shattering the silence of waiting, a huge ovation is heard. Some faithful are moved, others throw roses at the image as it returns home in this solemn procession.

On this route to the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova, a crowd of devotees once again thank the Patron Saint for prayers that have been answered: be it the health that has returned, the job that has been gained or the love that has never been lost.

Some simply pray; others, curious, surrender to the manifestations of faith of so many who walk these streets.

Minutes earlier, at the mass that preceded the procession, D. Virgílio Antunes, the bishop of Coimbra, had recalled that the unifying reality of the Holy Queen's entire life was “only” her unshakable faith in God.

"She had Christ as the one who had first place in her life," he said. And it is precisely because she "carried the Gospel of love in her mind, in her heart, in her lap, and in her hands, that the people love her, feel her as their own, and turn to her as an intercessor in the midst of their afflictions," he noted.

You can read the full story in the July 14, 2025, print and digital edition of DIÁRIO AS BEIRAS