The “Confraria de Santa Luzia” is a public Aassociation of the faithful, thus enjoying public legal personality in the church, and it is this entity that oversees the “Santuário do Sagrado Coração de Jesus”. Canonically erected in the parish of Santa Maria Maior, it was founded in 1884 by Cavalry Captain Luís de Andrade e Sousa, who had suffered from vision problems since an early age and who, in 1882, began frequenting the small hermitage of “Santa Luzia”, offering devotion to the Saint and arranging for masses to be celebrated.
When he felt improvements in his condition, being able to glimpse the magnificent panorama that the top of the hill of “Santa Luzia” offers, he decided to make this place more well-known and accessible. Thus, he founded the “Confraria of Santa Luzia”, with the aim of promoting and offering due worship to “Santa Luzia”, enhancing the small chapel and its access, notably through the construction of a road.