Yesterday, October 25, the Church celebrates the liturgical memory of St. Anthony of Sant’Anna Galvão, also known as Frei Galvão, the first saint born in Brazil.
Newsroom (October 26, 2021, 11:00 AM, Gaudium Press) Born on May 10, 1739, in the city of Guaratinguetá, in the state of São Paulo, Santo Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão still young felt God’s call to religious life.
He entered the Franciscan Convent of São Boaventura de Macacu, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), at the age of 16. He made his solemn vows in 1761 and was ordained a priest a year later. The saint was sent to the convent of São Francisco, in São Paulo, where besides continuing his studies, he began his evangelizing apostolate.
In 1774, he founded the Recolhimento de Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Divina Providência, currently the Mosteiro da Imaculada Conceição da Luz, of the Conceptionist Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, also known as Mosteiro da Luz. In 1811 she founded the Recolhimento de Santa Clara, in Sorocaba (SP).
He spent the last days of his life in the care of the religious of the Convent of Luz, delivering his soul to God on December 23, 1822, at the age of 84. Pope Saint John Paul II beatified him on October 25, 1998. His canonization took place on May 11, 2007, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI.
Phrases of Saint Friar Galvão
01 – “After childbirth, O Virgin, you remained intact: Mother of God, intercede for us.
02 – “Do not fear that life has an end, fear that it has never begun”.
03 – “Faithful to divine grace, may we be vividly aware of our nothingness and let ourselves be attracted by the everything of the Cross”.
04 – “Take away my life rather than offend your blessed Son, my Lord”.
05 – “Know that in observing the virtue of obedience, no one errs in obeying, because even if superiors and confessors err in what they order, the subject always gets it right in obeying”.
06 – “I pray to You for the passion, death and wounds of Your Son, for Your purity and Immaculate Conception”.
07 – “Charity is gentle and benign, he who has this virtue does not withdraw easily, does not misjudge, nor is disturbed by any cause, and is very capable of calming and composing the most uncontrolled tempers and tempers.”
08 – “The more silence is kept, the less danger of sinning we will have; there will be more quiet and recollection in the soul and more taste for prayer”.
09 – “The virtue of silence is very valuable, because by the mouth one sins and it is difficult to speak without making mistakes. It is through the tongue that one sins most, and often just a word can commit a grave fault; murmuring and things that displease Our Lord can easily enter.
Prayer to Saint Friar Galvão
Saint Friar Galvão, God has worked wonders in you and through you has proclaimed the Gospel of love, welcome and mercy to the weakest and most suffering. With grateful hearts for such a great gift to the Brazilian nation, we ask You: intercede for us with God so that we may live in the ecclesial community the evangelical values that you lived so heroically. Give us the courage and perseverance in the faith and openness to the Holy Spirit of God so that we can be salt of the earth and light of the world. Amen. (EPC)
Compiled by Zephania Gangl
