three cheers for São Sebastião

The feast of São Sebastião at his cathedral in Rio last Sunday was a cheerful affair. Lots of red - priests and people alike, lots of incense, roses and other red flowers, and lots of applause. Hurrah for São Sebastião! the priest would call out, and we all clapped and cheered.

I wasn´t sure about applauding the violent death(s) of this bare-chested boy. But I was happy to cheer both him and us all on, when the priest called for us to be both fragile and bold, like our brother Sebastian so many years ago.