You probably won’t see this in the media much, but read about this remarkable woman.
Sr. Dulce Lopes Pontes was beatified today in San Salvador de Bahia in norteastern Brazil. Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo presided over the Mass that was attended by over 70,000 people.
Never heard of Blessed Sr. Dulce? Look at this:
She was born in 1914 in Brazil and joined the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. She devoted her life to the needy, founding hospitals and a social support network which she managed until her death in 1992. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. In 1991, she was visited on her deathbed by Pope John Paul II during his second visit to Brazil.
Her beatification began in 1999. In 2003, Brazilian and Italian doctors certified an extraordinary healing that occurred after Sr. Dulce’s intercession was called upon. Claudia Santos de Araujo suffered from severe hemorrhaging following childbirth and the doctors gave her only hours to live. A priest prayed for this woman’s health by asking Sr. Dulce’s intercession. In a matter of hours, Claudia was completely cured and she and her child were released from the hospital within two days.
When Sr. Dulce’s body was exhumed and transferred to the Cathedral of San Salvador in 2010, her body was found to be incorrupt.
If another miracle is found attributable to Blessed Sr. Dulce, she will be canonized as Brazil’s first native-born female saint.
Read more about this at: The Catholic News Agency.
Blessed Sr. Dulce, pray for us.
