On May 12, 1925, the first missionaries of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts arrived in Brazil, disembarking in Rio de Janeiro. Their plans were to found the Congregation in the South American country and serve in cities that needed spiritual guidance.

To pray for the work that was beginning, in June of that year, Father Eustáquio, Father Mathias, and Father Gil traveled to Aparecida, in São Paulo. They went to the Church of the Patron Saint of Brazil to pray before the image found in the waters of the Paraíba River.

During the visit, Father Eustáquio sent a postcard from the city to his sister Pacífica, also a nun, in the Netherlands. In the postcard, the priest wrote:

“Dear sister Pacifica,
Sincerely, from this famous pilgrimage site in Brazil – to the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, to the Reverend Mother and the sisters. Everything, thank God, is going well. We will support our bishop in Uberaba. Temporary address: Episcopal Palace, Uberaba, Brazil. Next, we will go to a pilgrimage site that is without a spiritual director: Água Suja, to settle permanently. You will receive a letter soon.
Your beloved, Father Eustace.”

At another time, during the Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida, Father Eustáquio attributed the faith and devotion of the Brazilian people to the mother of Jesus. Read the full text:

I have faith that the Catholic religion in Brazil will never be lost, because devotion to Mary secures it. Our Lady is invoked under all titles, yesterday under the title of Our Lady of Lourdes, another day under the title of Our Lady of the Abbey, today under the title of Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil.

And to further increase your devotion, I want to show you that the image that will be carried in triumph is the image of your heavenly mother, under the title of Our Lady of Aparecida. Mother is the title we understand best, the title that inspires the most confidence in us, the title that best explains Mary's inexhaustible qualities. And who wouldn't be thrilled to see their own Mother carried in triumph?

Mary is our Mother, how much love must a child have for his mother! A mother is everything to her child, just as children should be everything to their Mother. This we must learn from the heights of Calvary, where Jesus, dying of thirst and hunger, entrusted Mary, as Mother, to humankind through the hands of Saint John!

Daily life explains to us what a mother is. The first word a child speaks is the tender word "Mother." Mother – that's how the child cries; Mother – the child shouts with joy; Mother – the child groans in pain; Mother – the child exclaims in danger; Mother – the child speaks with their last breath. From beginning to end, we always find the word "mother" on the lips of a good child. From the mother's memory, the memories of her child never fade, and the child will only lack bread when the mother no longer has it. Isn't it true that a mother never forgets her child, that she never denies forgiveness even to a child unworthy of this world?

Oh earthly Mother, you are the image of our Heavenly Mother. If a mother is willing to sacrifice her life to save her child, our Heavenly Mother will not rest until she saves the life of our soul. If our mothers forgive us on earth, how much more hope do I have in you, oh Mary! If even an impious mother wants to protect her children in any way, how much more so a Heavenly Mother, a Holy Mother. Yes, oh my loving Mother, because you are the purest, the holiest – you are, oh Heavenly Mother, found worthy enough to be the Mother of God!

Our mothers do not forget us on earth, but much less You, Heavenly Mother, who loves us so much. Oh My Mother, increase my faith, my trust in you. But if our Heavenly Mother is a true Mother to us, let us also be true children to Her. If we do not leave Mary's memory, our mother will never leave our memory either.

We will always keep a memory in our hearts. If She gave her life for us, we cannot fail to give it to her. I must always walk in her holy shadow. I must say the prayers she likes, and the rosary will never leave my side..

In sickness, look upon Mary! In joy, look upon Mary! Throughout your life, at the hour of your death, invoke the name of your Mother Mary, whom we invoke today under the glorious title of Our Lady of Aparecida! Yes, in the image of Our Lady of Aparecida we must always see the image of our Heavenly Mother, our Mother whom we love so much, who loves us so much, our Mother who protects us, from whose protection we will never leave, our mother who defends us and whom we will always defend..

My Mother, who gave her life for me, and for whom I too shall give mine, without sin, without stain, by the grace of God, so that my soul may fly to the bosom of my Mother to sing her glories and the glories of her Son, Our Lord, for ever and ever. Amen..