History of the Brotherhood of Clérigos
History
History of the Brotherhood Of Clerics
The history of the Brotherhood of Clerics is a long one. Beginning in 1642, when the Brotherhood of Poor Clerics was set up in Porto, followed, in 1654, by the Brotherhood of St Peter ad Vincula, and in 1666, the foundation of the Congregation of St Philip Neri.
- 1707Foundation of the Brotherhood of Clérigos
- 1725Nicolau Nasoni's arrival in Porto
- 1732Laying of the first stone that began the construction of the Clérigos Church
- 1754Construction of the Clérigos Tower begins
- 1763Completion of work on the Tower
- 1779Solemnisation of the Church
- 2014Rehabilitation and enhancement of the Church and Tower
- 2017Winner of the Europa Nostra Award in the "Conservation" category
- 2018Accreditation of the Clérigos Museum
The three brotherhoods were based in the Church of Mercy and despite their differences, their essential mission was to help the Clérigos in sickness, poverty and death. In order to fulfil this mission and the survival of the brotherhoods themselves, which depended on the number of brothers and financial stability, they decided to unite into one.On 18 April 1707, the Confraria de Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia, de São Pedro ad vincula e de São Filipe Neri, today known as the Irmandade dos Clérigos, was founded. Later, new statutes were drawn up, a coat of arms was created to identify the Brotherhood, its goods and documents, and in 1731 it was decided to build its own headquarters (church), since the new Brotherhood continued to meet in the Misericórdia Church. Resulting from the union of the three brotherhoods, the coat of arms combines the monogram of Mary (AM), the papal keys and tiara of St Peter, and the azucena of St Philip Neri.On 28 March 1748, the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy, Saint Peter ad vincula and Saint Philip Neri moved definitively to its headquarters: the Clérigos Church.
Patron saints
Our Lady of the Assumption
St Peter Ad Vincula
St Philip Neri
Our Lady of the Assumption is an invocation of the Virgin Mary and an allusion to her ascension.
The choice of this patron saint was somewhat peculiar, as each of the three brotherhoods had an elected patron saint – Our Lady of Help, Our Lady of Necessities and Our Lady of the Assumption – and as the election was not consensual, it took place by ballot, i.e. the names of the three invocations of the Virgin were placed in a ballot box and fortune dictated that the patron saint of the Clérigos would be Our Lady of the Assumption.
The devotion to St Peter ad Vincula or St Peter “in chains” originated in the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome, where the chains that are thought to have chained Peter – the apostle and disciple of Jesus Christ – when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem are displayed.
St Philip Neri, known as the Saint of Joy, showed a very kind character and Christian vocation from a very young age. In 1565, he founded the Congregation of the Oratory in Rome, with the aim of providing Christian education for young people and the poor.
Digital Archive
13 December 2013 marked a new period in the history of the Brotherhood.
Its archive, made up of various books, bundles and notebooks, was removed from the building and transferred to the Casa da Prelada, where the Misericórdia Historical Archive is located.
The Irmandade dos Clérigos and the Centre for the Study of Religious History at the Portuguese Catholic University (CEHR – UCP) created a partnership that enabled the Irmandade’s documents to be organised, digitised and described.
The archive consists of four sections – Table, Church and Sacristy, Hospital and Choir – and has more than 20,000 pages with three hundred years of history.
