Purgatory, already defined in the Old Testament, was added to heaven and hell to complete the picture of Christian eschatology. According to this religion, there are two definitive and extreme final states: heaven for the reward of the righteous and hell for the punishment of the damned. This alternative leaves room for an intermediate but transitory situation: that of souls whose salvation is assured but who do not yet have sufficient dignity to enter heaven and, therefore, have to endure a more or less long period of purification to atone for their sins. The votes of the living can help souls that are grieving. Until the Reformation, this doctrine had no opponents. Protestants will formally deny this conception, but the Council of Trent will reaffirm that souls trapped in purgatory are tormented by fire but can intercede for the living. On the other hand, they can be helped by the prayers and indulgences of the living.

The "alminhas" (little souls), invocation of the souls in purgatory, appear in paintings in the 16th century. From the 18th century onwards, "alminhas" appeared in niches dug into buildings and walls or in miniature chapels, like this one I found past January, on a very late afternoon, on the side of the road near the Enxidró stream. The tiles depict souls in purgatory, surrounded by angels and surmounted by Our Lady with the Child on her lap. The inscription "You who pass by, remember those who are grieving" asks travellers to intercede for their salvation. The flowers placed, and the candlelit can signify precisely this invocation or the living who ask for their benefit the interception of the souls in purgatory.

In the background, the Enxidró stream, full of water, ran at great speed. Night fell. Regardless of one's religious beliefs, the stillness of the place invited reflection and the invocation of the sacred. I particularly liked the invocation of popular religiosity amid wild nature.