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In 1937, upon the invitation of Brazilian Bishops, some of our Sisters from Dillingen, forbidden to teach in the schools of Nazi Germany, emigrated to north and to south Brazil. From the beginning the Sisters were involved in elementary and secondary schools for children. They also had an educational outreach to illiterate girls and women, called "alphabetization". This continues today, and in remote areas they add the teaching of child care and good natural nutrition, taking advantage of the natural resources of their own area. |
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Sr. Celina and Sr. Olga at an Indian mission. After Vatican II many Sisters of many congregations, with the Bishops stressing "the option for the poor", left the larger institutional apostolates to live with the very poor in order to help them help themselves. In the Brazilian vernacular, they were "inserted" among the poor, living in the same material conditions as the poor. To this day the "very poor" includes the landless farmers, the Indians, prostitutes in the larger cities, the unemployed, and orphaned or abandoned children. |
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Sr. Josefina Maioli (right), the present Provincial Superior in Caxias, and Sr. Beatriz Semiano, former Provincial Superior and the present General Counselor representing the two Brazilian Provinces. Sr. Beatriz is now working in Dillingen, Germany, with Sr. Ann Marie, the newly elected Superior General. Here, they are speaking at an assembly at their large school, Colegio San Antonio, in Caxias, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Sr. Beatriz has also been very involved in adult education, and in prison ministry. She is specially trained in psychology and in social work. |
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A new apostolate for the Caxias Province is caring for abandoned elderly persons. According to Sr. Josefina, everyone wants to take care of children, but few have the same inclination to serve the physical and spiritual needs of the elderly because these brothers and sisters are at the "other end of the spectrum." For many years it was a dream of Sr. Josefina's to build a home for elderly men and women who had no where to go and no means to feed or house themselves. In 1997 God set her dream on the road to realization in a most wonderful way. That year, through the very generous donations of Vince and Mary Spader, impetus was given to raise funds and to begin the construction of a home for the elderly in Caxias. |
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In an almost miraculous way, just when the Spaders were looking for a worthy cause to support, the Lord brought them into contact with our Sisters. Initially interested in building a few single family homes for families with children, they selflessly allowed their charity to be directed to the care of abandoned and destitute elderly men and women. Instead of a few modest homes for a few families, the Spaders made it possible for this beautiful and safe haven for 100 poor and sick brothers and sisters. Over many decades Casa Paz y Bene, Home of Peace and Good, will be home for many many hundreds of poor persons who no longer have any means of taking care of themselves. |
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In the 60's the Sisters of the Caxias Province were gifted with a large estate for the purpose of taking care of orphans "for at least 25 years". In 1994, when the first 25 years were completed, the Sister re-evaluated the use of the house and converted it into a kindergarten because orphanages are no longer needed to the degree they once were. In 1998 they converted the use of the building, again, to a daycare for poor families. Often these parents must leave home early in the morning to work in Rio de Janeiro, and return again only later in the evening. |
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