History of our Brazilian Mission

Following the injunction of Pope John XXIII, religious communities throughout the world answered the call to send their members to the Third World Countries. In 1960, St. Benedict's Abbey sent their monks to Brazil. Fathers Matthias Schmidt, Otho Sullivan , and Steven Burns began language/culture training in Anapolis, Goias. In response to the invitation of Bishop Benedito Coscia, they went in 1961 to the Diocese of Jatai, in west central Goias, an area the size of the state of Rhode Island. In 1962, they established the monastery in Mineiros, Mosteiro Sao José, (St. Joseph Monastery).

Realizing the extent of the work to be done and the large Catholic population to be served, Bishop Coscia came to Atchison and asked the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica to send members of their community to assist in the ministry to the people of Mineiros. To study the feasibility of such an endeavor, Mother Celeste Hemmen and Sister Virginia Minton traveled to Brazil. As a result of this trip, Mother Celeste called the community together, explained the situation, and asked for volunteers for this mission. Of those who felt the call, Sisters Virginia, Mary Mel L'Cuyer, Modesta (Lois) Thomas, and Mary Sarto (Anne) Magadieu, were commissioned in 1964 to be the first Benedictine sisters to serve the Brazilian church in southwest Goias.

So, a century after the founding of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery in Atchison in 1863, four sisters were sent to Brazil to establish a Benedictine community, the Mosteiro Santa Maria Mãe de Deus, (Holy Mary Mother of God Monastery).

Arriving in Mineiros in July, 1964, the sisters were welcomed by the Benedictine monks Fathers Matthias, Otho, and Steven, as well as Fathers Ralph Koehler and Herbert Hermes. After finishing the Portuguese language and culture training in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, the sisters began their ministry among the people. Before long they realized they needed more sisters. In July, 1967, Sisters Mary Savio (Mary Ellen) Auffert, and Hilda (Elaine) Gregory arrived in Mineiros. Over the next several years other sisters answered the call to Brazil dedicating their lives, their work and prayer, and talents to the ministry among the wonderful Brazilian people. The sisters were the following:
1971: Sisters Mary Grace Malaney and Mariella Pucka;
1976: Sister Rita Claire Judge and Diana Seago;
1980: Sister Stephanie Anderson; Sister Stephen Larson, from the monastery of Tulsa, Oklahoma;
1988: Sister Noreen Hurter, former prioress.

For a variety of reasons the sisters returned to the U. S., leaving a vibrant community of Brazilian Benedictine sisters, firmly rooted and growing in Mineiros, Goias, Brazil. The professed members of Mosteiro Santa Maria Mãe de Deus are Irmãs (Sisters) with date of entrance are:

1984: Eliene Batista Gouvea and Maria das Graças Silva Moraes
1997: Gisélia Inácio Morais,
In initial formation:
2004: Joselaine Carla Ferreira (second-year novice), Camila Regina Ferreira
2006: Ironide Pereira Nunes