Wings and a prayer: Bird parade to honour saint

Paraguayans young and old donned feathered suits to honour St Francis Solano. Photo / AP

Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay have donned bird-like costumes and paraded down streets this week to honour a 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers.

The celebration in the municipality of Emboscada, 45km northeast of the capital of Asuncion, paid tribute to St Francis Solano, who was born in Spain in 1549 and died in Peru in 1610. He was canonised in 1726.

Wearing a suit made from the feathers of six hens, Maria Estela Pereira said she had come to show thanks.

"I suffer from arthritis and after praying four years ago to St Francis Solano to allow me to move from one place to another without pain, he granted me a miracle," said the 52-year-old widow, a mother of 11 children.

Four-year-old Josia Sebastian Yegros poses for a photo wearing his feathered costume during the feast of St. Francis Solano catholic, in Emboscada, Paraguay. Photo / AP

Modesto Martinez, a parish priest in the nearby city of San Bernardino, said there was no scholarly explanation for the procession, but birds were believed to have sung to St Francis Solano as he lay on his deathbed.

"It is likely that the story, if real, has given parishioners the belief that St Francis Solano is a protector of birds," he said.

There is no record of the saint ever visiting Paraguay.

Pedro Balbuena, a 71-year-old chapel musician, said the modern-day tradition grew in popularity due to the work of Dominga Machuca, a villager who promoted the saint's image.

Farmer Genaro Servin sits on a window ledge in his feathered costume. Photo / AP

But Balbuena said the feathers actually symbolise Guaicuru Indians who would attack smaller tribes and Spanish colonisers to prevent them from stealing their food and weapons.

"Since they were superstitious, the villagers disguised themselves as birds to scare them away, and that's how they stopped being bothered by them," he said.

- AP