Francisca de Paula de Jesus ( São João del-Rei,

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

, 1810 –

Baependi Baependi is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. Location The population of Baependi as of 2020 was estimated to be 19,199 people living at an altitude of 893 meters. The area of the municipality is 751.748 km². ...

, Minas Gerais, 14 June 1895), also known as Nhá Chica ("Aunt Francie" in Portuguese), was an

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see " preto"). Most members of another group of people, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a range of degree of African ancestry. ...

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and popular religious figure known for her humble life and her dedication to God. Nhá Chica bore no surname and was an

illegitimate child Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ...

born to a slave mother; she herself was a slave until being freed in 1820 which allowed her to dedicate herself to the plight of the region's poor and the construction of a Marian chapel near which she resided for the remainder of her life. Her beatification was celebrated in Brazil in mid-2013 and made her the first

woman to be

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their n ...

Life

Francisca de Paula de Jesus was born (as an illegitimate) in Santo Antônio do Rio das Mortes Pequeno - a neighborhood in São João del-Rei - in 1810 to the slave Izabel Maria and it was there that she was also

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost i ...

on 26 April 1810; this means her birth took place in the first quarter of 1810. Her mother decided to relocate after being freed in 1820 so all moved to

where she lived until 1895. Her maternal grandparents were also slaves. Her brother Theotonio Pereira do Armaral came from another union. In 1820 she had dedicated her life to her faith and decided to help the poor at her mother's request as she was on her deathbed at that time; her mother's freedom was for a few months before she died. The girl now chose to live alone rather than with her half-brother and refused all marriage proposals put forward to her. Her brother died in 1862 and she was designated as his sole heir thus used her newfound inheritance to increase her social work and begin construction of a Marian chapel. Donations were used as a means for her to build the "Our Lady of Conception Sanctuary". Despite being illiterate and impoverished she welcomed the poor into her new place and became known as the "Mother of the Poor". She lived in a humble two-room hovel and constructed a small altar adorned with roses, and she was well known for giving acts of comfort and spiritual healing to those that visited her. On 8 July 1888 she drafted up a will in which she decided to leave all her possessions to her local parish and set out how she wanted the parish to distribute her possessions among the poor. She also set out how she wanted her funeral as well as the number of Masses celebrated for her soul. Nhá Chica died on 14 June 1895 in her chapel and was entombed there on the following 18 June. It was reported that there was an unusual smell of perfume when she was buried and when her coffin was opened on 18 June 1998.

Beatification

The beatification process commenced on 17 January 1992 under

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

after the

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issued the official " nihil obstat" to the cause and titled her as a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

; the diocesan process was held in Campanha from 10 October 1993 until 31 May 1995 while a supplementary process was held throughout 1998. The C.C.S. later validated these two previous processes in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 12 March 1999 and received the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. De ...

from the postulation in 2000. Historians first assessed and approved the cause on 30 October 2001 as did the theologians on 8 June 2010 and the C.C.S. on 11 January 2011. The confirmation of her life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

on 14 January 2011 allowed for

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

to name her as

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

. The process for the miracle required for her beatification took place in 1998 and received validation from the C.C.S. on 8 October 1999 before a team of medical experts approved it around a decade later on 13 October 2011; theologians also assented to this on 18 February 2012 as did the C.C.S. on 5 June 2012. Benedict XVI approved this miracle on 28 June 2012 and thus confirmed the beatification would take place. Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the beatification in Brazil on 4 May 2013 on the behalf of

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

. The miracle that secured her beatification was the 1995 cure of the Brazilian woman Ana Lucia Meirelles who had been healed from pulmonary hypertension. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

for this cause is Dr. Paolo Vilotta.

References

External links

Official website

Family Search
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nhá Chica 1808 births 1895 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century Brazilian people Beatifications by Pope Francis Brazilian beatified people People from Minas Gerais Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI Afro-Brazilian