News & Updates
Brazilian Monks Visit the Mount
The monks and their translator receive
a blessing from the sisters.
On July 19, 2025, the Mount sisters enjoyed a visit from four Benedictine monks from Mosteiro São Jose (St. Joseph Monastery) in Mineiros, Goias, Brazil, which is part of the monastic community of St. Benedict’s Abbey. These monks are colleagues of the Brazilian sisters in the Mount’s daughterhouse in Mineiros. After receiving a tour of the monastery and grounds, the monks joined us for dinner. Bishop Joaquin Carlos Carvalho, now serving as the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Jataí, Brazil, spoke to the sisters with the help of an interpreter, Sister Joana Dalva Alves Mendes, SSJ. The other monks — Father Thiago, Brother Domingo, and Brother Romario — were introduced and spoke a few words. The sisters then gave them a blessing, and they blessed us in turn.
On July 21, many of the Mount sisters attended a dinner hosted by the Atchison Serra Club where the Brazilian monks shared photos and stories about their ministries in Mineiros. Sisters Elaine Gregory and Grace Malaney, who spent years working at our daughterhouse in Mineiros and still speak Portuguese, particularly enjoyed visiting with the monks and sharing memories of their time in Brazil.
