MY BRAZIL EXPERIENCE

Forewarned that there were two hurdles to jump over in Brazil, I had postponed my trip there for as long as I could. These were the language barrier and the transport/accomodation issue. So, when I finally decided to go, I had to literally pray to Dona Lucilia and Msgr Joao to go ahead and 'prepare the way' for me. 

The first was the change of my dates for travel. I had planned to go in November for the first death anniversary of Msgr Joao and stay on for Christmas till Epiphany and return by the third week of January 2026. A week into February, I received news of an Indian group going to Brazil on a Heralds pilgrimage. I immediately changed my mind about going alone as I knew many people from this group. (Read about the pilgrimage in previous posts).

Then the second change was my travel dates. A friend and her family were also planning to visit around the same time. Their son was traveling a little later than his parents. She suggested that I travel with him instead of the pilgrims as it would be very convenient to travel directly from Goa (The pilgrims were travelling from Mumbai). 

And, what about accommodation when I reached there? Oh, that was planned even before I decided to go. A Vietnamese family from Canada, whose son was a Heralds priest, had settled in Brazil and had built a home, the ground floor of which was given on rent or kept for their guests. Mr Vu kindly agreed to house me for my entire trip as a guest! 

What privileges Our Holy Founders bestowed upon us when we arrived at GRU airport on that pleasant evening in May. Bro Rene and my son Bro Nathan were there to welcome and escort us to our respective homes. 

During the pilgrimage, many miracles took place. On the very first day, we got to meet and say farewell  to Fr Timothy Ring, who was leaving for Rome. 

In Brazil, especially with the Heralds, there is a great reverence shown to priests. People will bow when the main celebrant passes by on the way to the altar and he will in turn greet the people as he is returning back to the sacristy. Certain priests who are in higher positions are esteemed much more and people will kiss their hand and kneel down for a blessing. 

When I moved to the house where all the Indian pilgrims were staying, I experienced many miracles and learnt new things about Brazil during those 18 days. Brazilians - oh, how they love their meats! There's a particular barbeque style meat preparation. I looked up Wikipedia for some more information and got this.

We got to experience this one night as we travelled from Novo Friburgo to Rio de Janeiro. Personally, I found the meats too rare for my taste but that's how the locals love it. 

Another thing Brazilian put into all (or most) of their sweets is doce de leite. Here's what Wikipedia dished up for me

I did not enjoy this after a while as I had reduced my sugar intake to a large extent prior to the trip. Another popular sweet is the amendoim - a peanut based one. This I could tolerate and did purchase many boxes to eat during the stay as well as bring back to India to give my family and friends. 

Paçoca de amendoim  (Portuguese: [paˈsɔka]) is a Brazilian candy typical from São Paulo cuisine, originating in the interior of São Paulo. It is made from peanuts, sugar, honey and salt. Some recipes also add flour, such as corn flour, oat flour or cassava flour. (Courtesy Wikipedia). 

At one place in Rio, we stopped for lunch at a patisserie just for the experience. My stomach was full just looking at the array of delicacies. I finally settled for a calabresa. 

Me e meu calabresa. 

A major miracle that took place through the intercession of Dona Lucilia was at Ubatuba. This place is close to Lumen Maris and is a beach area. Sometime during the morning at the beach, I lost my wedding ring but didn't notice it till I had finished my bath. I couldn't figure out where it could have fallen. I did try to retrace my steps, but returned fruitless. I then told Dona Lucilia, "I cannot find my ring but you can. You've done so many miracles, please do this for me." Hours passed to no avail. I was retiring for a siesta when I put my hand under the pillow (as I need to elevate it a bit to relieve me from my breathlessness). There was something shiny beneath the pillow so I turned it up more to check. Lo and behold! It was the ring. I tried to rationalize its appearance in my mind but I couldn't see how I could have put it there and not remembered. Then it dawned on me that this had to be Dona Lucilia's work. 

The blue bed I slept in under whose pillow was my ring. 

After the pilgrimage, I moved back to the Vu residence. Since it was in a hilly area, which is gated, no one is allowed in or out without scanning for identification. There is no way to order online so it's as close as you can get to a retreat. I had to depend on my host (or later on a person living nearby) if I wanted to go anywhere or buy anything. I had to stockpile when my daughter and I had to stay together in a friend's house. There were also lessons in  learning to cope with living alone. Like when my daughter went back to her boarding house for her Congress. 

Now let me tell you the story of how I got myself enrolled into the Third Order and attended the Third Order Congress. When I mentioned to my hostess about my desire to attend the Congress, all she said was, "You can't unless you are a member of the Third Order." (Now for those who don't know, these are families of the religious in the Heralds and other cooperators. You need to enroll into a group and they have a investiture ceremony where  the priest enrobes the candidate with the cape). So I prayed to Dona Lucilia, "If you want me to attend the Congress, get me enrolled". 

I asked my son to find out how to enroll, and, to cut a long story short, I filled out the form needed to enroll and was asked to collect my cape from Aura Prophetarum, a place almost 45 minutes by car. I didn't want to trouble my hostess so I prayed once more to SDL. The next day, my son called to say one of the brothers was going to collect his boots from AP and I could join them.

That evening, cape in hand, we made our way to the Third Order Seat - Nossa Senhora de Procura - for the ceremony. On 17 June, I was officially a member of the Third Order. Code 001. 

Winters in Brazil are very cold: the chill gets to the bone. I dreaded having a bath even though it was a  hot shower. My clothes were suited for India so I really needed something warmer. When I saw my daughter's winter coat, I liked it so much.  But it wouldn't fit! So I prayed to get something similar. My daughter said she had another one, handed down  to her by a friend, that might fit. AND IT DID! 

Another great miracle that happened was that I did not fall sick even once. I had carried my usual medicines - for allergy, for fever, even for loose motions! All I used were my earbuds. 

And now, the Congress miracle! As I mentioned before, I did become a Third Order member in June. The next step was to get admitted into one of the Congresses (there were two). My son advised me to attend the second one as there'd be English-speaking people at that one. 

But, in July, I encountered an obstacle. The lady who was driving us daily to and from the church for Mass was unable to take me to attend the Congress. I prayed again to - yes, you guessed right - and just in the nick of time, a friend of my daughter asked her mother if she could help me. The lady said Yes and they took me back and forth all three days. Her name: Claudia Lucilia. 

Oh, wait! I just remembered another miracle that took place quite unexpectedly! I had seen the book on the life of Dr Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira written by Msgr Joao Cla Dias, our Founder, at the Miramar Seat before I left for Brazil. They didn't have an actual copy but a photocopy. I dearly desired a copy for myself so I put it on my wishlist and prayed to all our HOLY FOUNDERS. The miracle caught me by surprise!

 We had visited one of the First Order Seats Bela Vista and were in the bus waiting for everyone to enter, when one of our Indian brothers came with his hands full of books, medals, scapulars etc. 

"I've come bearing early Christmas gifts" he announced. My eyes popped out when I saw the book I had being praying for. Before he could say anything, I said, "I want this one." He also gave me another book that I hadn't prayed for but desired to read. St Joseph: Who Really Knows Him? It was for another person in Goa but he said I could read it before handing it over.

Later, during the Congress, I found an English copy of the same book on Dr Plinio and immediately bought it for the Miramar Seat. Another miracle  - as you never find English copies at the shop ever! And there was just one copy. 

 On my wishlist were many things - an English Preces, candle tip covers, a statue or picture of Virgen Blanca and an English copy of Mary Most Holy Part One. I got the Preces in a strange way. I had never thought to ask a certain priest for it even though I should have asked him first. This was because I had heard him say while giving a Preces to a friend of mine, "This is the last one I have." But I got an English Preces from him in the end. 

My host Mr Vu had returned from Canada in July with 25 Preces books in English for one of our Indian sisters. I asked her and received one on payment of 45 reais. So, in the end, I got two books. I gave one away to a friend as a gift. Who knows, she too must have been praying for it and Dona Lucilia worked a miracle for her too!

When I was at the Vu residence, and later at my friend's place, I learnt to live in a cell-like environment so I decided to create my own cell back home in India. It has been a month since I am here in my cell. It feels really good although I miss my daily Masses and two Holy Communions. I miss saying my Consecration prayer after receiving Holy Communion. I say it after Sunday Mass is over and only get to visit the chapel once a week. 

Life is Brazil was tough because I didn't know to drive and didn't have my own place to live in. If only I could overcome these hurdles, I'd pack up and return to that slice of heaven before you can say------DONA LUCILIA.