I arrived at Saint Anthony’s Church for the Missionaries of
the Poor of Jesus Christ’s yearly Profession of Vows. I was relieved when we
got there bursting out of a truck with eight Paraguayans. We had to make due
for the short trip to the church and I shared the back bench of the extended
cab truck with five female Formados (sisters in formation). In Paraguay the bed
of the truck is passenger space, but in Brazil the police are not as liberal
about using the outside of the vehicle as seating. All told there were eight of us squeezed
together, which also is not uncommon in Paraguay. Those crammed in the truck and the thirty
others from Asuncion Paraguay greeted me warmly with smiles and hugs that
morning. They are a sweet group of people and I was touched to be so
energetically embraced after their 10 hours overnight bus trip.
Across the parking lot was the side entrance to the church
and the walkways in front were filled with a mix of brothers, sisters, and
friends. The doors remained closed as the novices and choir rehearsed the
ceremony in private, but a flood of the music permeated the walls and closed doors
of the church. I spotted a car load from Governador Valadares, the first city I
stayed in. Among them was my fellow American friend Kristin, who had been
teaching sewing techniques to the monastic sisters in that same city. I laughed
when I saw Andrea, I had not seen him since October, and he looked
uncomfortable for about a second as he lifting his heavy torso from the back
seat of the car. He is a lay member of the order, sings at church with the
brothers, and helps greatly with activates for the poor and the youth. He is
always with a light exuberance and springy wit. He laughed when he saw me and with my improved
Portuguese we exchanged greetings.
The church doors opened and the waiting crowd pushed in to
find seats. I heard the confused clatter from inside as I stood at the back of
the swelled line. I felt no rush so I looked for friends before entering
myself. When I did enter I took some picture of the practice as I found a pew
in the second tier of seating. It was an hour until the ceremony but the church
was almost filled. I saw Brother Gabriel singing in the choir to the left of
the altar.
Br. Gabriel was the first member of the order I met in Brazil
right off the plane. He and I had many adventures in the initial two months of
my mission. He set up a classroom for me to learn entry level Portuguese, took
me on all the missions, and even nursed me back to health after my first
Brazilian flu. I feel that when I was struggling with my past he knew it. He
opened the door by saying, “You have sadness in your eyes and your soul is very
tired. We talked a lot about the freedom God wants us to feel right now, of
letting go of the past, be it painful or difficult. That forgiveness from God
is a complete gift and we have no reason to limit God, but because we have
trouble forgiving and loving ourselves and others, we think God is the same
way. Even if many of our conversation
required google translator I valued his wisdom very much. I am excited that I
will be in Kansas City to greet him when he arrives early this summer.
I sat down and waited for the ceremony to start, and when I
saw Kristen I waved her over to sit with me. She was tired from the trip and
the seemly endless energy of our Brazilian friends. It is common for them to
spend long hours with each other and, as I have seen, when they are together no
one ever stops, be it dancing, working, playing, or setting up for an event.
Bishop Dom Pedro Stringing walked into the church from the
side door and was met by many people eager to welcome him. He sponsored the
cofounders Fr. Gilson and Sister Servant for their official charter as a
Religious order in the Catholic Church. He drew quite a crowd as he made his
way out the front doors to take his place in the line of procession outside. The
start of the Profession was minutes away and I could see though the textured
glass windows the blur of hurried adjustments.
The building was now standing room only and a crowd of parents and
friends gathers along the center aisle ready to take photos. The choir stood
silent for the signal and we were instructed to be silent as well. The choir
began and those professing walked into the church in two columns, brothers on
the left and the white veiled sisters on the right. For them this is a marriage
ceremony and a graduation combined.
The journey takes many years to be ready to serve as a
brother or sister. In the beginning they learn about the order and religious
life on missions and in “vocational experiences”. The next step they decide to become vocationals
and, leaving there past lives, move into houses of the religious. They study and learn the formation of the
order, and then it is decided mutually if they are ready to announce their
intent to continue the road to religious life. During a mass many witness as
they are presented and put on a heavy brown shirt with the order’s crest, it is
their first habit and will be worn at all times during the day and when not in
their houses. It is a major step in
letting go of the outside world and preparing for a life not focused on comforts
and obedience. There are classes to complete on the liturgy, behavior, the
Catholic Church, and the order. Also requirements for assisting in the sacraments,
in the Mass, and pastoral work, along with scheduled daily prayer and work. It
is two or three years before they are ready from the novice stage, but already
a change is evident.
A novice brother or sister spends a year in their respective
novice house isolated from technology, phones, and most of the modern world.
They are given a new name in the order and only use their birth names on
government documents. They do not stop mission work with the poor and are not
cloistered from human contact. It is a time of deep prayer and reflection
combined with instruction and peace. When I visited the houses of the novices,
the peace was so palatable it saturated the buildings and the grounds
incorporated both nature and spirit. After they are sent to any number of
locations, this is their “mission year” and they are as brothers or sister working
in the company of more seasoned religious. At the completion of their mission
year they will return the novice houses in preparation of the Profession
Ceremony. It is a marked change in these men and woman from Formandos to
Professed Religious, but they don’t lose themselves, they aren’t denied
personalities, robotic, or thoughtless. I have met many who are greatly in tune
with themselves and have a strength that supersedes them. They seem to help
others simply with their presence in counseling, helping, leading, and listening.
They do know many of the life’s problems and their backgrounds are varied. They
are still human with fears, hang ups, hardships, and conflict, but are more
adapt at detaching from these issues in the light of peace and faith.
The parents are in a restrained fervor clicking their
cameras, phones, and tablets as the procession walks to the Altar. The professing
take their seats, Fr. Gilson stands by his chair in front of the Altar, and the
other distinguished members take their seats against the wall. Under the statue
of the risen Jesus the ceremony begins as the choir transitions from the open
song. The professing stand and walk as their names are called to the space
before Fr. Gilson. They form two rows, the sisters to the right and the brothers
to the left, and Fr. Gilson stands as “vows” portion of the ceremony begins. The
novices lay prostrate on the ground in an act of humility to God for this is
the more solemn promise of their lives. The choir sang over them and the vows
conclude with restrained elation from all in the church, so much emotion was
present that I saw many men and woman with tears in their eyes at this beautiful
moment.
The remainder of the ceremony confirmed their vows with
material representations, to affirm by sight what was true in their hearts.
First, all of the newly professed took a white candle to the large Easter
candle that represents the light of Christ. In ordered pairs of equal homage
one brother and one sister would light their candles at the same time. This act
is much like a marriage ceremony, and each sister is the bride of Christ, and
each brother is joined eternally to the Church. They return to the rows and are
given their respective adornments for the habits they wear. The sisters and the
brothers are given rope belts to exchange for the white cotton rope belts worn
only by novices. The newly professed are assisted by senior sisters and cover
the white veils with the final black veils of this order. Father Gilson is
seated as they come forward and he crowns them green wreaths with white flowers. The brothers come forward and receive the
circular brown skull cap distinctive to Franciscans. And finally a cross to be
worn around their necks is given to the newly professed. Congratulations are
delivered and the newly professed are embraced by all who were on the Altar,
the Priests who assisted the order in various locations, the Bishop Dom Pedro,
Fr. Rafael (the second priest in the order), and Father Gilson. Mass was celebrated by the Bishop and
afterwards was a short reception.
The hurry after mass was close to an emergency evacuation. Many
of the brothers and sisters that came to see the event had buses arriving at
the station in an hour or a half hour. Even I discovered that my bus was
leaving at 8:30 PM only two hours later. I hugged Fr. Gilson as he was quickly
exiting the church, and while I was getting directions to the train station. Before I got to the reception I talked to
twenty or more people that I had meet from all over Brazil. When I arrived the
tables were mostly empty and the food and soft drinks were being consolidated.
I wasn’t that hungry, but I knew that Brother Benjamin and Brother Gabriel
would be around, because both were staying in Cascavel.
Brother Benjamin is from Brazil, but is an American citizen.
He will be the first brother in Kansas City Missouri to help set up the house
for the other four brother set to arrive sometime early this summer. When I
meet him in 2011 he was in the Formado stage of the religious path. We became friends
when I begin spending time with the Sisters the Poor of Jesus Christ in Kansas
City, Kansas.
I asked another brother where Br. Benjamin was and the Brother quickly responded. “Oh,
Saint Benjamin, he’s around somewhere.”
I found “Saint” Benjamin cleaning the trash baskets in the
restroom. He had a giant black sack and was rushing to get everyone set to go.
“Brother how are you!” He smiles and walked with me over to the other trash
bags and said, “Do you like Brazilian Hot Dogs.” I laughed and told him they
were pretty good.
He smiled and said, “Then we have one.”
We talked for ten minutes about the plans for the house in
the United States, and how the sisters in the U.S. were doing. Then I helped
clean up and we took out the trash bags. I took some pictures of Br. Benjamin
playing Brazilian basketball, which is a joke for putting out the trash. In
Brazil they have metal racks that stand five foot tall to prevent animals from
getting into the trash; it is where you stack the garbage. Brother asked why I
was taking pictures and I said, “I can never get a normal picture of you, so I
guess a picture of Saint Benjamin taking out the trash will do.”
He muttered and shook his head, “Saint Benjamin.”
Across the street was Brother Gabriel and I waved him over.
We took a couple pictures and I had to go.
I asked Br. Gabriel when he was going to the States.
He smiled, “I think I will go with you.” Then he laughed.
“I would like that. I’ll send you my flight number.”
We both laughed. I said good bye, and then I set
off for the train station on foot.
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