Evangelizing Force of St. Benedict

Evangelizing Force of St. Benedict For four centuries Benedictine monasteries in Brazil were concentrated on the coast, among growing urban centers. They perpetuated the knowledge of the person of St. Benedict, his Rule, and the history of expansion of Benedictine men and women worldwide. Upon arrival of two monasteries in Mineiros in the early 1960s – still the first and only Benedictines in Brazil´s Midwest - devotion to St. Benedict grew here also. St. Benedict Church was constructed and inaugurated in 1999; St. Benedict Parish was created in 2007. Parishioners discovered the evangelizing power of this man of God, "blessed by name and grace," as his biographer, Pope Gregory the Great, wrote in 600. The feast of St. Benedict is celebrated on July 11. Saint Benedict Parish has already established a set of activities to commemorate annually this date. July 2 begins a novena in preparation for the feast day. Each evening, in the Church, there is Mass with special prayers invocating our "Glorious Father St. Benedict," asking for special graces according to needs of each one. After the proclamation of the Gospel of the day, and a reading from one of the 73 chapters of the Rule of St. Benedict, there is a homily, showing how the wise teaching of St. Benedict many times is a concrete application of the gospel of Christ to community life. A litany follows; and at the final blessing religious articles and all those present are blessed with holy water. The traditional Benedictine medal is widely used. Every Tuesday evening there are perpetual novena prayers with the Mass, imploring divine protection, blessings and grace, through the intercession of St. Benedict. This year, on the feast of Saint Benedict, July 11, parishioners rejoiced with the monastic community upon the entrance into the novitiate of two university students, Brothers James and Philip, invested with the monastic habit. God willing, next year on this date, they will pronounce first monastic vows in this same church. To conclude the various activities in celebration of their patron saint, the parish promoted the sixth edition of Barbecued Ribs, a benefit luncheon on the pleasant gardens next to the church. Approximately seven hundred persons shared the fraternal and joyful feat, according to the likes of Saint Benedict!