Tributes To The Servant Of God
Celebrações em Homenagem à Irmã Benigna
Ever since the passing of the Servant of God Benigna, it was agreed that, every year, on the month of August, friends and the devotees would meet in Lavras (MG), to celebrate the anniversary of her birth, and, in October, the celebration of the anniversary of her passing would be celebrated in Belo Horizonte. As of 2016, the celebration of October was transferred to the same place where her Relics are, in Caeté.
Sister Benigna, as of 2016, is also honored by her friends and devotees, on the 16th of every month, remembering the dates of her birth (16/08), and of her passing (16/10), With holy masses of thanksgiving for her life, sanctity, and for her beatification. The celebrations are held in Parishes of the capital of Minas Gerais State (BH), and the cities where she lived in.
Prayer For The Beatification Of Sister Benigna
Oh, Sister Benigna, your life was an offer of love to God and to the brothers.
You united your suffering to the pains of Jesus and His Blessed Mother on Calvary.
You always said we should pray for our needs when you went to Heaven.
We have proven the strength of your intercession alongside Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
Confident, now beseech thee: grant us the necessary graces (say the grace you need) and the salvation of our souls.
Grateful, we pray to the Father that, soon thou be raised to the altars of the Holy Church, for the glory of the Holy Trinity. Amen.
Rosary In Honor Of Sister Benigna
(To be prayed on the rosary-beads)
On the Our Father-beads:
My glorious Sister Benigna, in your greatest moments of afflictions and tribulations, didn’t the Virgin Mary and the angels come to the rescue? Help me, Sister Benigna!!
On the Hail Mary-beads:
Sister Benigna, help me on my greatest needs!
In the end, pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Hail Holy Queen.
Prayer
Author: Don Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo, Metropolitan Archbishop of Belo Horizonte
O Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, / for your greater glory, / goodness of the Church and humanity / give us the grace of the beatification of The Servant Sister Benigna / who you gifted with the endowment of listening / sheltering, charity and generosity, especially towards the poor, /the sick and suffering.
Grant us, by her intercession, / the grace of ... (mention the desired grace).
Enrich us, like this Servant of God, / with the trust in your divine providence / and your filial devotion to the Blessed Mother, / Our Lady of Pity.
We ask you, Holy Father, / in the name of Jesus Christ, / your beloved son, / who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayer To Obtain Graces Trough The Intermission Of The Pains Of Sister Benigna
Author: José Vanderlei das Dores
O God, who taught your Servant Sister Benigna to accept, with great resignation, all the suffering e humiliation which she was submitted to, we beg to Thee, teach us too to accept worthily and with humbleness the trials that are necessary to our salvation.
“O Sister Benigna, intervene for us with God to make us worthy to obtain the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to lead us well during our journey here on Earth, and so, invoke Thee: “O Source of Light and Fortress, who makes us know what is right and practice it, teach us to pray to the God of our lives and accept, O Lord, Your Yoke, that will make us lighter’.
O Sister Benigna, we wish, in this brief prayer, to honor the pains situated on Your Holy Body and, in their names, we request to you: be our lawyer by God’s Side, so that we can obtain the necessary graces (mention the needed grace) and the eternal salvation”.
And, if it is of your will, O God, we beg of you: grant to hasten the sanctification of your Servant Benigna, so we can thank for the benefits that are given to us, whenever we invoke the efficiency of Sister Benigna’s intervention.
O God, who give us the gift of life, we praise e beg of you that, like your servant, we can subdue the hatred, bad wishes, and pride. And, by your Holy Cross, give us the gift to learn to overcome all the enemies, visible and invisible. And, through the merits of Sister Benigna, O God, overcome the traps of the devil, and lead us to the Kingdom of Eternal Glory, trough the difficulties of this life.
And so, we ask of you, for Jesus Christ, our Lord, your Son, that lives and reigns with us, in the unity with the Holy Spirit for all the centuries of centuries. Amen!
Glory to the father to the son and to the holy spirit, as it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be world without end. Amen!
Busts Of Sister Benigna
In life, sister Benigna showed Mrs. Maria do Carmo Mariano, where her bust should be placed, near the Grout of Our Lady Lourdes. When she passed away, her death mask was taken, so that her bust of bronze could be done. In her honour, two busts were made, both sculped by her friend and sculptor Synfronini. The material used was donated by her friends of Belo Horizonte. One of these busts is located inside the elderly home, in the place showed by her, beside the Grout of Our Lady of Lourdes and the other one was placed in the square in front of the Lar Augusto Silva.
Tribute Paid By The City Hall Of Belo Horizonte
On August 2nd ,2012, the City Hall of Belo Horizonte payed tribute to Sister Benigna, granting her the Diploma of Honor, which was given to her representative, Mrs Dona Maria do Carmo Mariano, President of Amaiben. The nomination was made by the councilman, Bruno Miranda. The ceremony took place on the plenary of the City Hall, in a solemn ceremony and in the presence of a lot of friends and devotees.
Title Of Honorary Citizen In Lavras
In acknowledge to her expressive work performed in the “Lar Augusto Silva”, and to the citizens of the city of Lavras, the City Hall, through unanimously vote, granted to Irmã Benigna the title of Honorary Citizen of Lavras, in the year 1977.
Tribute Payed By The Legislative Assembly Of Minas Gerais
On September 18th of 2014, the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais paid tribute to Mrs. Maria do Carmo Mariano for her life dedication towards those in need, as Sister Benigna did, and for her services provided as the President of the Friends of Irmã Benigna – Amaiben. the tribute was an initiative of Mrs. Irma Isabel de Moura and the assemblyman Paulo Lamac.
Sister Benigna Square, In Itaúna
In Itaúna, by the initiative of the councilman Hélio Machado Rodrigues, and with the support of the Amaiben representation in the city, a public square of the city was denominated “Sister Benigna Square”, through the bill 40/2016. The inauguration happened on July 16th, 2016 and was blessed by the Father José Luiz de Freitas. The event counted with the presence of Martial Band of Itaúna.
Library Sister Benigna, On The State Prison Of Lavras
The principal, teachers and students of the State School of Fundamental and Middle School, named Father Israel Batista de Carvalho, located inside of the State Prison, in consideration of the devotion to Sister Benigna, which was growing in that place, decide to honor her, naming the school’s library after her. On May of 2011, it was implemented the name “Sister Benigna Library”, with the support of the community.
Municipal Center Of Children’s Education School Sister Benigna Victima De Jesus, In Lavras, Near The "Lar Augusto Silva"
On May of 2014, the Municipal Center of Education of Children's School of the "Lar Augusto Silva", had its name changed. By the law of number 4082 of April 2014, it has been named "SBMCCE" - Sister Benigna Municipal Center of Children’s Education and is located inside "Lar Augusto Silva".
The initiative and authorship of the project came from City Councilor and Mayor of the town hall, at the time, Marcos Possato.
Sister Benigna Event Center, On Our Lady Of Lourdes School, In Lavras
In June of 2013, the School Our Lady of Lourdes, in Lavras, honored the Servant of God, by placing her name on the new space for events and sports of the school: Sister Benigna Event Center, who lived and worked there, from 1955 until 1960.
The House Where Sister Benigna Lived, In Diamantina – Inaugurated On 11/16/2016
The city of Diamantina, homeland of Sister Benigna, has a space dedicated to the Servant of Of God. On the “Beco da Tecla”, the house where she lived her last years alongside with her father and her sisters, before she entered to the religious life, is open for visitation of the devotees. A place to do prayers, to get to know a little of the Servant of God and to have contact with the objects which she once used.
Sister Benigna Victima De Jesus Avenue, In Contagem (mg)
On November 18th, 1991, the city council of Contagem declared, and the Mayor signed, the Bill 2285, which names the “Sister Benigna Victima de Jesus Avenue”, one of the public pathways on the “Tropical Neighborhood”, in Contagem (MG). The initiative came from one of the councilmen at the time, in recognition of the importance of her intercession alongside God, for the people.
Sister Benigna Square, In Lavras
The Municipal Town Square of Lavras, attending the solicitation of the people of the town, trough one of its representatives, at the time, declared and sanctioned the Bill 1.348, on December 11th of 1981, which denominates the “Square Sister Benigna”, the one located in front of the Nursing Home Lar Augusto Silva – Chagas Dória, 750, Downtown.
In this square is found a Bust of Sister Benigna, a special tribute from her friends e devotees, for all the work and dedication that Sister Benigna had with the residents of Lavras.
The two Busts that exist in the city today (on Sister Benigna Square and inside of the Lar Augusto Silva, which was placed near the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes), were sculped by the plastic artist Sinfronini, based on the mortuary mask done by him, right after Sister Benigna passed away.
Popular Restaurant
The City Hall of Lavras, through the Law 3012, of 16 July 2004, denominated the popular restaurant located within the Municipal market of the city, as Popular Restaurant Sister Benigna. The project was authored by the councilman at the time, Marcos Possato who reports: "She worked very hard for the poor in the city of Lavras, was a person who spent the whole time in our city trying somehow to make that the disadvantaged people had a better quality of life. And of course, the popular restaurant that has its name welcomes also the people who are simpler, humbler, and with that, I think it was well characterized the name. Both the project of creation and the indication of her name were unanimously approved by the councilors and by the population. It was a very simple tribute that I sought to make to our dear Sister Benigna. And the people of Lavras applauded a lot at the time. She is extremely loved by the people here".
