As part of the program for the 2024 Feast of Blessed Father Eustace in Belo Horizonte, the relics of Blessed Nhá Chica will visit the Sanctuary of Health and Peace, the Church of Blessed Father Eustace, in Belo Horizonte. The welcoming ceremony will take place this Saturday, August 17th.

The day's program begins at 3 PM with the meditation of the Holy Rosary, followed by a moment of praise and then a talk on "Holiness." At 5 PM, Holy Mass will be celebrated, where pilgrims from Poá-SP will be welcomed at the Sanctuary. Immediately afterwards, everyone is invited to a time of fellowship at the stalls set up in the church square.

Blessed Nhá Chica

Francisca de Paula de Jesus, who was born in Santo Antônio do Rio das Mortes, a district of São João del-Rei (MG), arrived in Baependi (MG) as a young girl. She came accompanied by her mother and her brother, Teotônio. Among their few belongings, they brought an image of Our Lady of the Conception.

In 1818, at only 10 years old, Nhá Chica's mother passed away, leaving the two children, Francisca de Paula de Jesus, aged 10, and her brother, then 12, in the care of God and the Virgin Mary. Motherless and alone in the world, Francisca de Paula and Teotônio grew up under the care and protection of Our Lady, who gradually won Nhá Chica's heart. She affectionately called her "Minha Sinhá," meaning "My Lady," and did nothing without first consulting her.

Nhá Chica knew how to manage very well and make the spiritual inheritance she received from her mother prosper. She never married. She freely rejected all marriage proposals that came her way. She was entirely devoted to the Lord. She got along well with the poor, the rich, and the most needy. She attended to all who sought her out, without discriminating against anyone, and for everyone she had a word of comfort, advice, or a promise of prayer. Even at a young age, she was sought out for advice, prayers, and suggestions for people involved in business. Many did not make decisions without first consulting her, and for so many people, she was considered a "saint," yet in response to those who wanted to know who she really was, she calmly replied: "...It's because I pray with faith.".

Her reputation for holiness spread so widely that people from far and wide began to visit Baependi to meet her, talk to her, tell her about their sorrows and needs, and above all, to ask for her prayers. She attended to everyone with the same patience and dedication, but on Fridays, she did not attend to anyone. It was the day she washed her own clothes and dedicated herself more to prayer and penance. This is because Friday is the day that commemorates the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of us all. At three o'clock in the afternoon, she intensified her prayers and maintained a particular veneration for the Virgin of the Conception, whom she treated familiarly as a friend.

Nhá Chica was illiterate, for she had never learned to read or write; she only wished to read the Holy Scriptures, but someone would read them to her, which made her happy. She composed a Novena to Our Lady of the Conception and, in Her honor, built a small church next to her house, where she venerated a small image of Our Lady of the Conception that had belonged to her mother, and before which she prayed devoutly for all those who commended themselves to her. This image is still found today in the living room of the little house where she lived, on the altar of the old chapel.

In 1954, the Church of Nhá Chica was entrusted to the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Lord. Since then, a social assistance program for needy children has been running right next to the church, maintained by benefactors devoted to Nhá Chica. Today, the INC – Instituto Nhá Chica (Nhá Chica Institute) shelters more than 150 children, both girls and boys.

The "Little Church of Nhá Chica," after undergoing some renovations, is now the "Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Conception," which welcomes pilgrims from all over Brazil and various parts of the world. Many faithful who visit the place ask for graces and pray with faith. Many return to give thanks and record the graces they have received. Currently, in the "Register of Graces of the Sanctuary," one can read about approximately 20,000 graces obtained through the intercession of Nhá Chica.

Nhá Chica died on June 14, 1895, at the age of 87, but was only buried on the 18th, inside the chapel she had built. Those who were there felt a mysterious rose perfume emanating from her body during the four days of her wake. This perfume was again felt on June 18, 1998, 103 years later, by Ecclesiastical Authorities and members of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal for the Cause of Beatification of Nhá Chica, and also by the stonemasons, on the occasion of the exhumation of her body. The mortal remains of the Venerable are today in the same place, inside the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Conception in Baependi, protected by an acrylic urn placed inside another made of granite, where they are venerated by the faithful.