Patron Saint and «Os Lusiadas» (The) / Padroeiro e «Os Lusiadas» (O)

To think that our greatest poet, when writing the glorious pages of «Os Lusiadas», fell into the error, by mere oversight or confusion, of confusing Saint James the Greater, the well-known apostle of the Spains and deeply revered there, with Saint James the Less, who apostolized the regions of Palestine and is the main patron of the Diocese of Funchal. In Stanza 9 of Canto V of «Os Lusiadas», it reads: We landed on that island, which took The name of the warrior Sanctiago Santo who helped the Spaniards so much To make fierce havoc on the Moors! Referring in this way to the Island of São Tiago, the main one in the Cape Verde archipelago, discovered on May 1, 1460. Camões' mistake is evident, as this island and also the island of Maio, in the same archipelago, were found by the Portuguese on the day of Saint James the Less, that is, on the first of May, and the quoted verses refer to Saint James the Greater, celebrated by the Church on the 25th of July. The name given to that island by its discoverers was determined by the circumstance that its encounter occurred on the first of May, dedicated to the apostle Saint James the Less, as mentioned above. If it were not for the genius poet's mistake, an eloquent reference to the main patron of our Diocese could be found in the cited passage from «Os Lusiadas», and not to the great apostle who evangelized the ancient lands of Spain.