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by Ona Kiser, President I had the honor of attending the reception of the cassock of a seminarian during my visit. Mr. Jurandir’s family arrived from around Brazil, too, as did some local family friends. The ceremony, celebrated by Dom Rifan, was followed by a cheerful dinner with Jurandir’s family and friends in the refectory. Following are a couple of pictures courtesy of the seminary photographer.   Mother Auxiliadora, of the congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Saint Michael Archangel, has sent us a video thanking our donors for their generous help in purchasing musical instruments and computers for the convent. They are very, very grateful, and keep the benefactors of Friends of Campos in their prayers. Salve Maria! Dear friends, This update will be largely photographic, as the seminary has sent me a slew of great photos from Holy Week, Easter and the recent ceremonies of reception of the Tonsure and Minor Orders. I have not been able to visit recently myself, though I hope to go in late May and several members of our board of directors have plans to visit in June and July. I look forward to bringing you more personal updates from those visits! Meanwhile, please enjoy the ‘virtual visit’ via these pictures: The reception of tonsure and minor orders took place on April 23 of this year: Some scenes from Holy Week: Maundy Thursday: Good Friday: The Easter Vigil: Easter: I also wanted to highlight a post over on New Liturgical Movement which features photos from the ordination to the diaconate of Mr. João Bosco and Mr. Juaci, which took place at the end of March. Take a look at their lovely photos here!
Wishing you all a blessed month of May! Ona Kiser President, Friends of Campos  Our first "virtual visit" to the seminary was informative and fun.
Join us next time! On March 5th donors to Friends of Campos were invited to a 'virtual visit' with a group of seminarians from Campos, via a Zoom call. The theme was Lent, and we had a lovely and lively conversation about the daily routine at the seminary, favorite Lenten devotions, favorite places for prayer, and typical exercises in fasting and charity. Other topics included the regional traditions of religious retreats for the laity during carnival; parish Passion plays for Holy Week; and processions in which Our Lord, carrying his Cross, encounters his Mother, Our Lady of Sorrows. Some favorite books for Lent were suggested: including Ven. Fulton Sheen's Life of Christ; The Passion of Jesus Christ by St. Alphonsus Ligouri; Meditations for Lent from St. Thomas Aquinas; and a locally available book of daily meditations for Lent organized by priests of the Apostolic Administration. We plan to do this again, with seasonal themes or themes suggested by our benefactors. Sacred music is one that has been asked for by a few people and we hope to organize later this year. Please feel free to send suggestions! We hope you'll join us next time! Not a donor? Donate here! Read more about our mission.  I was blessed to be able to attend the ordination and first solemn Mass of Father Fábio, who will spend this coming year serving the parish and rural chapels in Varre Saí, the remote mountain town in the interior of the diocese. It was a joyful occasion for his family, colleagues and the community.
We are very grateful for the generous support from our donors offered during our Advent fundraiser. We have received a little more than half of what we aimed for, which is a huge help, and we sent the accumulated donations to Brazil last week. However the additional funds are still hoped for, as this will help pay for the computers, as well as the increased food bill at the seminary - the incoming class this year is 17 seminarians, the largest in a while! Please help as you can, and share this need with friends or colleagues who might be able to chip in. Do please keep all the faithful, clergy and seminarians of the Apostolic Administration in your prayers! Wishing you all a blessed 2022, especially in the face of so many adversities. If you don’t already receive our occasional email updates, please do sign up here. Click here for our donations page. - Ona DEAR FRIENDS, CHRISTMAS IS COMING and we are launching our second fundraiser of 2021. In these trying times, in this impoverished region, your help is invaluable. Please help us reach our Christmas goal of $20,000 USD! Your contributions make a big difference for the people of this unique traditional Catholic diocese. Donate today! And please share this post with friends and family! Here are our Advent 2021 projects:
For more project details, visit the projects section of this website.
Please keep us in your prayers! The seminarians and sisters pray for their benefactors, and a monthly Mass is offered at the seminary in thanks for the supporters of Friends of Campos. Particular prayer requests are always welcome. Click here to send yours.
The rector of the seminary has informed us that 30 Masses for the suffering souls in Purgatory will be celebrated in November. The rector invites anyone to submit lists of souls to include.
Please use the form below to send in the names of any souls you would like to receive the benefit of these Holy Masses.
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Please send us your name and email below to subscribe. by Ona Kiser, President We are delighted to see that the projects we sought to help fund earlier this year are coming along well! After my recent visit to the seminary, I am happy to report: 1) Our supplemental donations for food and other necessities helped immensely during the period in which parish donations dwindled to a trickle. As people have begun to return to normal routines the donations of food have climbed up again, and the pantry is now well supplied with rice, beans, oil, eggs and other staples. Meat and chicken are less reliable, and pharmacy items continue to be costly, so we will continue to send some supplementary funding when we can, to help keep the seminarians in good health. 2) The library continues to grow, with hundreds of new books purchased. It can be hard to find texts in Portuguese, so they kept a sharp eye out for online offerings. They now have, for instance, the complete works of Saint Augustine, which is 50 volumes and cost BR$9000.00 (about US$1800). It is hard to find in Portuguese and was suddenly available, so they bought it immediately despite the high cost. They were also able to buy the complete works of Saint Jerome. 3) The big project of purchasing wardrobes for all the dormitory rooms is now paid for and underway. All the work is being done to order by local small businesses. 4) The sisters in Bom Jesus are very grateful for our donations that have helped with costly pharmacy items in particular. We will continue to send a portion to them whenever your donations make it possible. 5) The sisters’ music program remains unfunded at this time. We may re-address that in our fall campaign. Many, many thanks for your ongoing support of this unique traditional community! May God repay you! (by Ona Kiser, President) I am not always able to be in Campos for ordinations, but was blessed on my recent visit to assist at the ordinations to the subdiaconate of two wonderful young men, João Bosco and Juaci, which took place on the feast of St. Augustine. May they be holy priests! Below are a few photos from the event taken by the seminarians in charge of media. Please keep them in your prayers! You can see more frequent photos of events from the seminary on their instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seminarioic/ Priests at the seminary celebrate a monthly Mass for the intentions of our benefactors and for those who have submitted prayer requests on our site. These intentions are also included in the daily prayers of the seminarians and of the sisters at the convent in Bom Jesus. Following are some photos from the Mass celebrated for these intentions on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Christ: |
Friends of Campos, Inc.Friends of Campos, Inc. is a US-based not-for-profit (501c3) which supports the social and educational projects of the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney, most of which are located around the diocese of Campos dos Goytacazes in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Archives
November 2022
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FRIENDS OF CAMPOS, INC. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
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