Coffin Fiesta of St. Martha
St. Martha, Coffin Fiesta of
In San XosÉ de Ribarteme, in the province of Pontevedra in the region of Galicia, Spain, near the northern border of Portugal, the ofrecidos —people who have made a vow to St. Martha—lie in open coffins during a procession that takes place after High Mass on St. Martha's feast day. Most of the ofrecidos are women, but there are always a few men as well. They hire the coffins from the church, usually because they themselves or a member of their family has recently been cured by St. Martha's intervention. Most wear coarse net tunics called mortajas (shrouds) to indicate that they represent the "living dead."
SpanFiestas-1968, p. 154