The Our Lady of Miracles Festa was 75 Years Old in 2011.
This OLM Website was created in 1998
and has had over 150,000 visits worldwide.
I created the Our Lady of Miracles Festa History website
because the Festa was a part of my life ever since
I was a little girl. My parents were Presidents of the Festa twice.
I have a great devotion to Our Lady of Miracles.
I also have a great love for the music of the OLM Festa,
In 1998, I produced a CD of Our Lady of Miracles Music.
At my mother's urging for her love of the rosary,
I also produced a CD of the Portuguese Rosary and Portuguese Music.
I hope the OLM Portuguese Festa Music will never be forgotten.
Please check out the links at the bottom of this page for
further information about The Our Lady of Miracles Society's history.
Thank you for visiting the OLM Festa History Homepage,
Kathryn Castro Maffei
A long-standing celebration of faith, one of the oldest
in the United States, continues every year in September
when Our Lady of Miracles hosts its annual Festa.
Thousands of visitors fill the little town of Gustine in a
celebration that was brought here from the little island
of Terceira in the Azores Islands. It has been a part of
Gustine and the lives of Portuguese people here
for over 60 years. Two common bonds are shared by
those who travel to Gustine for the event. One is
a love of the Portuguese heritage and customs they
share; the second is a deep faith in
Our Lady of Miracles. Many of the traditions
of the OLM Celebration reflect both aspects of
culture and faith.
The songs you will hear on this site are the original hymns that were brought from
Terceira for the Festa. The songs were originally the only songs sung at the
Our Lady of Miracles Portuguese Festa in Gustine, CA. As time went by, other
Portuguese hymns were also sung at the Festa to give more variety. It was then
that I decided to record the music of Our Lady of Miracles Festa so that the original
hymns would never be forgotten. The original music was never before recorded even
though it was used in the "Old Country" of Serreta, Terceira, Azores Islands, Portugal,
and then brought to the United States over 60 years ago. Only a few of the orignal
hymns are played at the Festa each year so many of the younger participants have
never heard all of the orignal music. I have appealed to the OLM Society to keep the
music alive by playing every hymn at the 9 day Novena each year. The music is
sometimes lively and sometimes sad or melancholy and incorporates many instruments
like piano, guitar, strings, trumpet, accordian, marimbas, trombone, harmonica,
and clarinet. The music will surely strike the heartstrings of all who listen!
Monsignor Myron Cotta's CD,
"The Rosary" in either English or Portuguese
PLEASE HAVE A NICE DAY!!!
