August Update

Salve Maria!

Dear friends,

Since our last update Madre Lúcia, who had been hospitalized with Covid, passed away. Due to the health restrictions then in place her religious daughters were not allowed to attend her burial, though a priest was permitted. The sisters have since elected a new Mother Superior, Mother Maria José, who formally took her position on July 26th.

During the end of July Brazil also lost a beloved bishop, Dom Henrique Soares da Costa, of a diocese in the state of Pernambuco, who was a respected friend and support to traditional Catholics. He had preached the annual clergy retreat of the Apostolic Administration just two years ago. ​

​And in another passing a beloved fixture of Campos, Soror Maria do Bom Conselho, died from Covid on August 8th. She had been a cloistered nun earlier in her life, and in later years had continued to maintain her religious life outside the cloister. My only interaction with her was an exchange of big smiles one day when I saw her at an ordination Mass. She had one of those smiles full of light and joy that you remember for a long time. ​ 

Please pray for the souls of the faithful departed.

In more festive news, early August sees the celebration of Priest’s Day (added to the feast of St. John Mary Vianney).

Brazil’s love of festivities is charming. Even in the simplest or most rustic of parishes birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and so on are opportunities for special prayers and blessings, followed by group photos, cake and soda.

Priests here are generally quite beloved and well cared for by their parishioners, and are showered with attention and gifts on their natural birthdays and ordination days, not to mention Priest’s Day, Christmas, or any other day that gives an excuse for wishing others “Congratulations,” taking more pictures, and eating more cake.

At the seminary, the saint’s feast day was the occasion of a solemn Mass and the commencement of studies for the second semester.  The school year here runs with the calendar year, with summer holidays in January and winter holidays in July. Those seminarians who had gone home for the winter holiday and then had trouble returning due to the upheavals caused by Covid are now happily back in Campos and in good health and good spirits.

The library in the new wing is really developing nicely: there is a reading room with individual desks and air conditioning (a rare thing!) and the books which had been stashed in every spare nook and cranny of the seminary and are being neatly cataloged and shelved. Finishing work continues in the remainder of the new wing, as does clean up of the gardens, which got a bit mangled during all the construction.

The Feast of the Transfiguration was the annual parish feast day in Bom Jesus (the city’s name means Good Jesus). The novena leading up to the feast featured Adoration, a homily and Confession. Despite the accommodation of state and city regulations regarding crowding and social distancing, people are happily attending Mass, Confession, and devotions in the parishes. This is true here in Rio, too, where the Tridentine Latin Mass is as full as conditions allow (it was moved to a larger church for the time being to accommodate the need for space between people in the pews). The lines for Confession are long, and the hardships and upheaval of recent times seems to have only inspired greater enthusiasm in many Catholics.

The Abrigo José Lima - the center for the elderly in Bom Jesus - has been collecting local donations from around the community to keep everyone in food, medicine, water, clothing and other necessities. They have been blessed with a donation of ten cistern refills of drinking water and a large collection of colorful winter hats for the elderly to wear on chilly nights.  A local grocery store has been donating food regularly. They have also reworked one ward to provide three isolation rooms, in case of emergencies. So far, however, there have been few cases of Covid in Bom Jesus, and none in the Abrigo. ​

In an interesting development both the seminary in Campos and the convent in Bom Jesus have received generous private donations to install solar panels. Other parishes and institutes, having seen the benefit, are pursuing the same installation via bank financing. The initial setup costs are high (150,000 to 250,000 reals), but the savings are enormous. Electricity is relatively expensive in Brazil, and an institution or parish can easily have monthly bills of 5000-8000 reals. With the solar panels, the monthly electric bill drops to a few hundred reals!! The Campos region is extremely sunny all year round, so it’s an excellent place to take advantage of the relatively new availability of solar technology in the area.

I hope that, with your help, we can continue to contribute to the support of this unique traditional Catholic community. Your prayers and donations are precious, and most welcome. You are always most welcome to reach out to me by phone or email if you have any questions.

​God keep you and repay you for your generosity.