SAINT DULCE LOPES PONTES, VIRGIN - 13 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 13th of August

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

SAINT DULCE LOPES PONTES, VIRGIN 

This saint was born Maria Rita Lopes Pontes in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, on May 26, 1914; she died March 13, 1992, in the convent of Santo Antonio. 

St Dulce Lopes Pontes was the daughter of Augusto Lopes Pontes (professor) and Dulce Souza Brito Lopes Pontes.

DEVOTED SERVICE TO THE POOR

She joined Sisters of the Immaculate Conception - an order devoted to service to the poor - and began setting up migratory hospitals to nurse those sick with tuberculosis, cancer, anemia, infection and malnutrition, many near death.

SEVERAL PROJECTS

Eventually Sr Dulce was allowed to transform a large chicken coop on the convent property into a facility, then raised enough money to build the Albergue Santo Antonio (Shelter of St Anthony), which was erected on donated land in the back of the convent and opened its doors in February 1960. She also set up two medical centres, took in juvenile delinquents, and organised a food distribution hub. 

(Information from encyclopedia.com)

HER BODY WAS FOUND INCORRUPT

Sr Dulce died on  March 13, 1992. She was buried at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. On June 9, 2010, Sr Dulce was finally buried at the Imaculada Conceicao da Madre de Deus church, in Salvador, Bahia. It was discovered that her body was naturally incorrupt and even her clothes were still preserved 18 years after her death.

CANONISATION

In 2011, her beatification took place, and Sr Dulce was formally canonised in October 2019.