Sister Eliene Batista Gouvêa

Sister Eliene exercises her ministry with faith and joy in Mineiros, Goiás, Brazil, her hometown. She has served for many years in professional educational service. In the parish, she continues to provide sacramental catechesis of children, adolescents, adding youth and adults in recent years.

She serves inside and outside the Benedictine community as a Sister and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, presides over celebrations of the Word in the local neighborhood communities. She provides vocational orientation, catechesis doctrinal and ecclesial instruction in preparation to Baptism and facilitates biblical reflection groups. In addition to visiting the sick to provide prayers and moral support she offers consolation to the bereaved and prayers for the dead at funeral celebrations. She has also given lectures at spiritual retreats and ecclesial meetings.

In partnership with friends, she makes and distributes basic baskets of food and clothes to needy families.

She enjoys reading and meditation, creative games, water aerobics, sewing, baking cookies, singing, visiting and helping people.

Her favorite biblical verse is Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”