Antonio José Ferreira Viçoso (1787-1875), born in Peniche, Leiria, Portugal, on May 13, 1787, was ordained a priest of the Congregation of the Mission in Lisbon in 1818. In 1819, the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission, responding to a request from Bishop João VI for priests to Brazil, sent the young Father Viçoso and his confrere, Father Leandro Rabelo de Castro. They were destined to the interior of Minas Gerais, to a building of solid construction that the hermit Brother Lourenço had granted them, so that they could establish some kind of social work there. There, the two priests founded the Colégio do Caraça.

Viçoso, engaged in the education of the youth, spent 15 years in Jacuecanga, near Angra dos Reis. On his return to Minas (1837), he was elected Superior of the Congregation of the Mission in Brazil and, in 1844, nominated for the episcopate.

Ordained bishop in the monastery of São Bento in Rio de Janeiro, he administered the bishopric of Mariana for 29 years with unparalleled pastoral zeal: he was a devoted father of the poor and orphans, protector of slaves, selfless missionary, reformer of the clergy, defender of the rights of the Church and exemplary devout of the Virgin Mary.

Viçoso was the 7th bishop of Mariana, appointed in 1843. Besides reforming the clergy of his diocese, he worked as an educator and was a great advocate for raising awareness among the people of Minas Gerais against slavery, and the burning and the preservation of the forests. He established the first female school in Minas Gerais in 1849. When he died in Cartuxa, in Mariana, on July 7, 1875, he was already considered a saint by the people, who loved him dearly.

On July 8, 2014, the Holy Father authorized the promulgation of the Decree on the Heroicity of Virtues. For the beatification, the approval of a miracle (presented to the Congregation of Saints in 2010) is awaited.

Bishop Antônio Ferreira Viçoso, C.M.: an Inspiring Example of Vincentian Vocation and Missionary Commitment

In his posthumous work Estas Estórias, Guimarães Rosa states that “Stories do not simply detach from the narrator; they shape him. To narrate is to resist.” The stories we tell and the history we live, both individually and as a community, are not just the result of our choices and decisions. Stories also act upon us—they take shape under God’s grace and are driven by the Spirit of the Lord in such a way that they become a rule of life, forming those who live them in the light of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. Stories are not merely emotionless and purposeless narratives, devoid of causes or intentions. Rather, they shape people and, if they are open to God’s grace, they orient them toward the perspective of the Kingdom. This is why storytelling matters. To narrate is to resist. Every time a story is told, its events and episodes are made present in the here and now. If the story being told is that of a saint—someone who was not afraid to be challenged by the Gospel and to place themselves under the action of the Spirit—then that story takes on an even greater dimension of resistance. It becomes a source of strength for all who hear it. It is an act of resistance against a world that often refuses conversion or seeks to confine faith to the realm of neoliberal individualism. It is resistance when the pain of failure and frustration weighs on the hearts of the consecrated and the faithful. It is resistance when motivation to remain faithful and persevere in following Jesus begins to wane.

The accounts of the life of Fr. Viçoso presented here should be understood from this perspective: prophetic resistance in the face of a Church with few living icons to emulate; apostolic resistance against complacency that has weakened missionary zeal; and charismatic resistance against a distorted institutionalization of the spirit of St. Vincent.

1. Antônio Ferreira Viçoso: missionary of the Congregation of the Mission.

Antônio Ferreira Viçoso was born in Peniche, Portugal, on May 13, 1787. Raised in the faith and Christian virtues by his parents, Jacinto Ferreira Viçoso and Maria Gertrudes, at the age of 9 he was sent to the Carmelite convent to study basic education. With the desire to consecrate himself to God as a priest, he entered the Seminary of Santarém at the age of 14, where he stayed until 21, awaiting the age required to be ordained a priest. He had a bright intellect and an aptitude for teaching, and for the last two years he was in charge of teaching Latin in the Seminary. Minor problems in the diocese made ordination impossible for Antônio, who returned home to nurture his vocation with his family until the day he could be ordained.

At home, he further nourished his desire to consecrate himself, now not only as a priest, but especially in a congregation where he could follow Jesus more radically. He contacted the Congregation of the Mission in the town of Rilhafolles and asked to be admitted among the sons of St. Vincent. After several attempts, he finally entered the Little Company on July 25, 1811. Following his initial formation, he professed vows on July 26, 1813. He then devoted himself to deepening his studies and to the sacred sciences. Ordained a priest on March 7, 1818, he was soon sent to the seminary of Évora to teach philosophy.

Obeying the will of God revealed in the great needs of his people, Antônio accepted the invitation of the Congregation to work in the missions of Brazil, specifically in the Captaincy of Mato Grosso, where he would go with Father Leandro Rebelo Peixoto e Castro as his companion and superior. Burning with missionary zeal and the desire to turn the world to God, they left Lisbon on September 27, 1819 and arrived in Rio de Janeiro at the end of November. The missionary’s heart burned with the desire to be a sign of love for humanity, sharing its pains and hopes. To this end, he continually removed from his heart the “temptation of regarding himself as a mere delegate or simply a representative of the community; rather he is a gift to it by the anointing of the Spirit, and by his special union with Christ the head” (Aparecida Document, 193).

Once on Brazilian soil and received by the Portuguese Crown, established in Rio de Janeiro since 1808, Fathers Leandro and Antônio learned that the mission to which they had been called was already taken over by a Capuchin. They were then offered the shrine of Caraça, in the heart of the province of Minas Gerais, the former shrine of the recently deceased Friar Lourenço de Nossa Senhora (+ October 27, 1819), which he had donated to the King so that priests could be sent there to care for and maintain the shrine and the pilgrimage and mission center.

Accepting the donation, they left Rio de Janeiro in February and arrived in Caraça on April 15, 1820. In June, they started with the purpose of their departure from Portugal, thus also fulfilling the will of Brother Lourenço, which was to make the sanctuary a mission center. The two priests went to Catas Altas and there, for a month, they preached missions to the people, heard confessions of a large number of faithful, administered the sacraments, gave catechesis, etc. From there, they moved on to Barbacena for another missionary trip. After these missions, Father Viçoso returned to Caraça, while Father Leandro went to Rio de Janeiro, where he gathered the first four students to the nascent Colégio do Caraça.

Father Viçoso was the great soul of the Colégio do Caraça, educating young people, guiding their studies and seeking academic excellence in the transmission of humanistic content. By associating theoretical knowledge with concrete life and ethical values fundamental to human existence, Father Viçoso and his confreres of the Congregation succeeded in making Caraça the greatest center of academic activity in Brazil at the time, and it was the most famous, important and longest-lived school in Brazil, until it burned down in 1968.

The renown of Caraça was already so great in its beginnings and the pedagogical capacity of its founders so recognized that, in 1822, at the request of the Prince Regent, who would become Pedro I, Father Antônio Viçoso was called to take charge of the Seminary of Jacuecanga, in charge of the reception and education of the boys of Rio de Janeiro, one of the many works of the famous Brother Joaquim do Livramento.

In 1837, after 15 years in Jacuecanga, years of painstaking dedication, boundless zeal, eloquent witness and missionary vigor, Father Viçoso returned to Caraça and, due to diplomatic conflicts between the Brazilian Empire and the Portuguese Court, he was elected Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission in Brazil. His title, equated mutatis mutandi to that of the Superior General of France, did not make him different. On the contrary, it placed him even more at the service of the missions, of the education of youth and of his confreres.

In 1842, being in charge of the College of Caraça, and fearing the Revolution that was turning the Province of Minas Gerais against the Empire, he decided to move the College to Campo Belo da Farinha Podre (today Campina Verde-MG), transferring there some of the students (most of them were taken to Congonhas do Campo-MG, where the Congregation had another College), slaves, books and other goods. This truly epic journey, of at least 700 kilometers, lasted more than forty days, and brought Fr. Viçoso to the hinterland of Minas Gerais, where his zeal and missionary witness instructed and sanctified many.

While he was engaged in his work in Campo Belo, Fr. Viçoso was named bishop of Mariana by the monarch Pedro II; the See had been vacant since September 28, 1835, the date of the death of Frei José da Santíssima Trindade. After much reluctance, advised by his confreres, he decided to accept the appointment and place himself entirely in the hands of God, who had called him to be a missionary and was now giving him an immense diocese, covering almost the entire state of Minas Gerais. In order to respond favorably to His Majesty and await the Pope’s confirmation, Father Viçoso traveled to Rio de Janeiro. Not being content to wait for the consecration, he accepted a difficult mission in Bahia: to take care of the reorganization of the Carmelite Order of Bahia, a difficult task due to the indiscipline of the friars and the unwillingness of their superiors to put things in order.

After fulfilling this assignment, Father Viçoso returned to Rio de Janeiro and was consecrated bishop on May 5, 1844. Eager to shed light on his flock with a few words and to place himself at God’s disposal for the care of the faithful entrusted to him, he immediately wrote a Pastoral Letter to his diocese, a true episcopal project of service to the People of God and a faithful portrait of what would be his 31 years at the head of that important diocesan Church: “It could be said that the Bishop is a servant of all his diocesans, a servant who, with torch in hand, goes ahead, to light their way in the dark night of this life, to warn them of the pitfalls and precipices that can cause them to fail on their journey, until he places them at the door of Heaven, opens it and enters with them!“

2. Antônio Ferreira Viçoso: Missionary Bishop of Mariana

In fact, the 31 years of Bishop Viçoso’s episcopal ministry at the head of Mariana were a precious time of God’s grace, in which he devoted himself as a faithful servant, obedient to the Lord and ready to take to heart the demands of the people, seeking with all his strength and abilities to heal their wounds and guide them in the right direction. More than ever, his desire was “to embody love for Jesus Christ and for the Church in the intimacy of prayer, and to give of ourselves to our brothers and sisters, over whom we preside in charity” (Aparecida Document, 186). His mission was to deeply love the people of Mariana, being for them a true shepherd who, suffering and rejoicing with his sheep, was able to bring about the Kingdom of God that everyone was waiting for.

In the aforementioned Pastoral Letter, Dom Viçoso expressed his desire to work with the clergy, and not against them, without feeding intrigues or divisions.

He wanted to be, and in fact was, a servant bishop and father of priests, inviting them to take their pastoral work earnestly, to constant formation and to give witness to a life consistent with the Good Shepherd. As for vocations, for which he devoted great effort, not only in the accompaniment of seminarians, but also in increasing the number of seminaries, he achieved many things, such as the construction of one of the most important and distinguished presbyteries of the Church of Brazil. In his writings and in his life, he never ceased to say that the true priest must be a servant, a clear expression of the genuineness of his vocation. Before the people, especially the most influential, he was categorical: social advancement could not come from the oppression of the lowly and the subjugation of the poorest. Salvation was a gift of God that had to be accepted in the realities of each person’s life and in all segments of society.

In order to serve and form a renewed clergy that would truly serve the people, he reopened the diocesan seminary, which had been closed for some years. In addition to the seminary, he opened an Episcopal College, as a result of his concern for the education of young people and the formation of people of integrity and irreproachable ethics. In 1853 he handed over the Major Seminary of Philosophy and Theology to his confreres of the Congregation of the Mission, and in 1855 he gave them the Episcopal College (Minor Seminary), where they taught Humanities. Before, however, transferring the college, Dom Viçoso moved to live there to closely follow the education of the boys with the zeal of a pastor and educator and with a missionary spirit.

His zeal for the formation of the clergy, both seminarians and the ordained, was so great that, in the midst of so many occupations, pastoral visits and attention to the people, Dom Viçoso still had time to translate books on spirituality, morals and theology, for the ongoing formation of his priests and to promote good service to the people. In the most complicated and delicate cases, he neither feared nor refrained from visiting the priest who found himself in a troubled situation, listening to his questions, writing to him and giving him guidance…. Suspension or admonitions were only carried out when all other channels had been exhausted and there was no hope of amending or fixing the errors. In the words of Dom Silvério Gomes Pimenta, his first biographer and later his successor in the See of Mariana, Dom Viçoso never “imposed his will with rigor until he had exhausted the means of gentleness.”

Besides these efforts to instruct the clergy, Dom Viçoso devoted himself to charitable endeavors, as a good son of St. Vincent. Begging for charity personally, creating campaigns to be held in churches and finding ways to sustain his works permanently, Dom Viçoso devoted himself to strengthening the charitable dimension of Mariana. In 1848, he founded a home for orphaned and poor children, and soon after founded another home for another 12 children. From 1849, with the help of the Daughters of Charity, which the Bishop requested from the then Superior General, Father Jean-Baptiste Etienne, C.M., he was able to found the charity for orphans and poor girls, a hospital and the College of Providence, for the education of the better-off girls of the city, who were denied any kind of formal education at the time. The care of the orphans and the hospital, especially dedicated to the poor and the mentally ill, were, in Dom Viçoso’s heart, the core of his concerns, which accompanied him until his death, when he said that his last wish was that the orphans and the sick should continue to be cared for and supported.

His episcopate was also affected by the conflict between the Church and the Empire, especially because of the invectives of the Freemasons, of great influence in the Empire at the time of Dom Pedro II, to undermine the authority of the Church, turning it into a servant of the temporal power, proclaiming deism, the end of the Gospel as a rule of life and philosophical, political and social freedom without foundation in God. In a Pastoral Letter, written on September 18, 1857, Dom Viçoso, criticized for not accepting the arbitrary nature of the Empire in replacing and appointing canons and parish priests and imposing laws and norms in the Seminary without his participation or ignoring his opinion and jurisdiction, wrote: “I trust that God’s mercy will give me courage to suffer prison, exile and much more, remembering that the Church of God has always had to suffer in silence.”

To defend the Church, its freedom and its authority, Dom Viçoso was ready to be arrested and even condemned by the Empire. What he could not accept was the total dependence of the Church on imperial laws, which were subject to arbitrary readings and interpretations for the benefit of particular and partisan interests, and never with a view to the common good and the glory of God: “It is regrettable that Catholics in England and China, Protestant and Gentile countries, have more freedom than in Brazil, where the dominant religion is Catholicism. God cannot bless such abuses and slavery” (Letter to the President of the Province of Minas, May 6, 1856). Although he accepted the Emperor as Protector of the Church and that the appointments to the offices passed through his hands, even before Rome defined and elected them or the diocesan bishop confirmed them, the so-called Right of Patronage, Dom Viçoso was always an ardent defender of the freedom of the Church and never tired of condemning the tutelage of the Empire and the excesses of the civil government, which wanted to benefit from all transfers, from all taxes and tithes and from all appointments.

The so-called Religious Question, which led to the imprisonment of the Bishops of Olinda and Pará, and the conflicts with Freemasonry, especially the campaign to abolish Article 5 of the Constitution, which prescribed the Catholic Religion as official, and to decree once and for all the submission of the Church to the Empire, despising the figure of the Pope, led Bishop Viçoso – accused by his adversaries of being decrepit, incapable of governing the diocese and without his own opinion, of being easily controlled and deceived by the Jesuits – to protest openly before the Emperor, even at the risk of being punished and imprisoned like the other bishops. At 86 years of age, his voice was fearless and firm; his zeal for the good of the people, determined and unquestionable; his position, clear and prophetic: “We are 12 Catholic bishops in Brazil, closely united and submitted to the Holy Father, as the 12 Apostles were to St. Peter. Our crime (or our glory) is this submission, union and obedience [to the Pope]. While I was writing and protesting about my adherence, the official mail of January 4 arrived with the news of the arrest of the Bishop of Pernambuco (…). Sir, Your Majesty knows that I have no horses or carriages that can be taken from me. Nor can they put me in a dungeon, because I have been in a dungeon for 30 years and I am almost 90 years old. They will release me if they get me out of this dungeon of the Bishopric, even if it seems to them that they are sending me to another worse prison. May God inspire Your Majesty and your ministers with feelings of peace (…) in such critical circumstances as these in which we find ourselves.”

Although he did not take sides in political issues, increasingly festering due to the monarchy, Freemasonry and other anti-clerical movements, Dom Viçoso never shirked his responsibility as pastor and guide of the flock, as a man inserted in a specific society and as a shaper of opinion. Guiding the clergy, he condemned the use of the liturgy for partisan discussions, but instructed preachers not to fail in their role as shapers of consciences and enlighteners of the simple and often apathetic people on so many matters: “The priest who in preaching the Word of God, forgetting the respect due to the Christian chair, would turn it into a tribune, even if he only made more or less direct allusions to public affairs and to those who take part in them, would have endangered the high interests of religion. We recommend all reverend orators to take advantage of the many things that will be said in these speeches about the qualities of the electors, about the freedom of the vote, about the calling upon the lights of the Divine Spirit, about the sweetness of peace and a thousand other things that God will inspire them with, in which we charge them with their conscience.” This orientation was of vital importance because in many cases the political division was beginning to cause fatalities and serious divisions in the population. For the saintly bishop, the Church could not be involved in such confusion, otherwise it would betray the very Gospel of life. Therefore, it was necessary to promote love and peace, harmony and reconciliation, starting from a discernment of consciences in the light of the Word of the Lord.

3. Antônio Ferreira Viçoso: Visitor of his People and Preacher of the Gospel

As a preacher of peace and love, of justice and of the life that streams from the Gospel, Dom Viçoso covered countless miles in his pastoral visits. He visited his immense diocese three times, devoting at least six years to each visit. Aware that one of the most important duties of the Bishop is the service of visiting his flock, in 1868, when he was no longer in a position to do so personally, he appointed some regional priest visitors, so as not to leave his people without the consoling words of preaching and the needed help of the presence of the Shepherd. From 1844, the date of his consecration and of his first pastoral visitation, until 1868, Dom Viçoso devoted himself to this endeavor in every year, with the exception of 1855, when he resided at the Minor Seminary to help direct it and remained busy with the renovation of the Episcopal Palace. Generally, but not as a rule, his visits were made from May to October, since in the other months various matters endangered the trips and the usefulness of the visits.

He spent a great deal of time on each of his visits preaching, which he did with the utmost tenderness and eloquence, zeal and authority. When he did not deliver the two sermons prescribed for the day, as was the regular practice, he gave at least one, leaving the other for one of the priests who always accompanied him. In addition, he devoted his days to confirmations, catechesis for children, care of the people and various audiences. All these activities occupied the Bishop from the morning, which began with the celebration of Holy Mass, until late in the evening, when he was neither tired nor dejected, but only zealous for his flock and ready to give his whole life for the good of the people entrusted to his care. At the end of the visit, moreover, he would leave a written pastoral letter in which he summarized what he had done and pointed out the way forward to the local parish priest.

Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive record of his visits. Many documents have been lost and many visits have not been registered. However, those that have been recorded give a clear idea of how exhausting the office of bishop of Mariana was, and how he took advantage of his pastoral visits. Having taken on the bishopric in 1844, in September he went to Congonhas do Campo to meet his flock, gathered for the Jubilee of the Good Jesus of Matozinhos. Shortly afterwards, he spent five days in Congonhas do Sabará, officially beginning his series of pastoral visits. On September 30, 1845, Dom Viçoso went to Juiz de Fora, almost at the limit of his immense diocese. In 1846, on May 24, he went to Ponte Nova; on May 25, to Santa Cruz dos Escalvados; on June 28, to Cachoeira do Campo; on October 27, to Tapanhoacanga; on December 8, to Macaúbas. In 1847, on July 6, he visited Sabará. In 1848, Dom Viçoso went to Barbacena on June 21, to Turvo de Aiuruoca on August 23 and to Piedade do Cajuru on December 6. In 1849, on June 10, he was in Lagoa Dourada; on June 15, in Freguesia da Lage; on June 19, in Santa Rita da Lage; June 25, in Prados; July 9, in Brumado; July 15, in São João del-Rei; July 25, in Conceição da Barrra; July 29, in Nazaré; August 2, in Saco do Rio Grande; August 9, in Rosário de Lavras; August 12, in Ibituruna; August 24, in Santo Antônio do Amparo; August 26, in Sant’Ana do Jacaré; August 30 in Cana Verde; September 2 in Perdões; September 6 in Vila de Lavras; September 14 in São João Nepomuceno; September 19 in Porto de Mendes; September 22 in Espírito Santo de Coqueiros; September 28 in Três Pontas; October 19 in Carmo da Divisa; October 29 in Iguapé; November 4 in Dores da Boa Esperança; November 15 in Campo Belo; December 3 in Oliveira; December 14 in Santiago. In 1850, on June15, Dom Viçoso was in Lavras Novas; on June 22, in Itabira; on June 26, in Cachoeira; on July 8, in São Gonçalo do Bação; on August 4, in Rio das Pedras; on August 16, in Bonfim; on August 25, in Santo Antonio do Rio Acima; on September 5, in Piedade de Baixo; on September 13, in Contagem; on October 8, in Itabira; on October 10, in São Bartolomeu. In 1851, on June 25, he was in Marinard; on July 2, in Piranga; on July 11, in Dores do Turvo; on July 15, in Conceição do Turvo; on July 27, in São José do Turvo; on August 1, in Santa Rita do Turvo; on August 4, in Anta and Conceição do Anta; on August 18, in Turvão and later in Presídio de São João Batista; on October 11, in Ubá; on October 13, in Presídio; on October 16, in São José do Paraobepa; on October 21, in Sapé; on November 27, in Conceição do Rio Novo; on December 10, in Chapéu de Uvas. In 1852, Dom Viçoso was in São Caetano on September 3; Abre Campo on October 10, from where he left for Bicudos, Santa Cruz, Saúde, Paulo Moreira, etc.; Paulo Moreira on November 4, and then Prata, Sant’Ana do Afié, Antonio Dias, São José da Lagoa, São Miguel de Piracicaba, Fonseca do Inficcionado and Itabira. In 1853, on May 31, he was in Itabira; on June 11, in São Sebastião das Correntes, then Peçanha, São José de Jacuri, etc.; on August 31, in Diamantina; on November 14, in Cidade da Conceição; and on August 4, in Diamantina.

In 1854, the year in which he completed 10 years at the head of the Bishopric of Mariana, his enthusiasm was still the same as at the beginning, only now with much more experience and knowledge of his diocese. That year, on June 11, he visited Taquaraçu, coming from Roças Novas and passing through Macaúbas, Lapa, Santa Luzia, etc.; on July 6, he was in Matozinhos, then in Sabará, Pitangui, Aterrado, Bambuí, Pium-í, Formiga, Tamanduá, Cláudio, Japão, etc.; on July 30, he was in Lagoa Santa; on September 11, in Pitangui; and on October 5, in Saúde de Bom Despacho. In 1856, on September 16, it was in Pomba, then in Taboleiro, Piau, João Gomes, Dores and Quilombo; on October 7, in Chapéu de Uvas; and on November 21, in Bom Jardim. In 1857, on May 29, Dom Viçoso was in Cachoeira do Campo; on June 18, in Rio Peixe and then in Oliveira; on August 8, in Itaruna and then in Presídio de São João Batista; on August 18, in Rosário de Lavras; on September 9, in Presídio; on October 18, in São Gonçalo da Campanha, where he met with the bishop of São Paulo; on November 27, in Baependi, followed by Campo Belo, Angaí and Luminárias; on December 2, in São Tomé, and then in Rio Grande, Ponte Nova, São João del-Rei and Lagoa Dourada. In 1858, he was in São João del-Rei on March 3, then Aiuruoca; Itaverava on May 14, then Dores, Glória de Queluz, Santo Amaro, Lagoa Dourada and São João del-Rei; Morro do Chapéu on June 20, then Capela Nova das Dores; Lagoa Dourada on July 9, Aiuruoca on September 12; on October 8, in Presídio, then Ubá, São José do Paraopeba, Sapé, Meia Pataca, Santo Antonio do Porto, Santíssima Trindade, São João do Nepomuceno and Rio Novo; on October 11, in Pouso Real; on November 3, in Carandaí; and on November 9, in Queluz. In 1859, Dom Viçoso was in Jequeri on July 13; in Abre Campo on July 18, then Vermelho, Santa Margarida, São José do Quati, Indaiá, São Francisco das Estrelas, Tombos, etc; in Presídio de São João Batista on October 9; in Ubá on October 17; in Paraibuna on November 29; and in Queluz on December 20. In 1860, on August 19, he was in Ponte Nova; on August 31, in Bicudos; on October 11, in Prata; on October 23, in Antonio Dias Abaixo, and then in Itabira, Bom Jesus do Amparo, Taquarassu, Jaboticatubas and Jequetibá; on November 7, in Carmo de Ferros. In 1861, it was in Jequitibá, on August 6; on August 25, in Sete Lagoas; on September 13, in Santa Quitéria; on November 3, in Dores do Indaiá and Dores da Marmelada; and on December 10, in Bonfim. In 1862, Dom Viçoso was in Morro Vermelho do Caeté on July 23; on July 25, in Sabará; on August 2, in Mateus Leme, then in Santana de São João, Cajuru, Espírito Santo and Itapecerica; on August 4, in Tejuco; on August 9, in Itapecerica; August 16, in Santo Antonio do Monte; October 31, in Formiga and then in Tamanduá. In 1863, it was in São Caetano, on May 9; on July 18, in Sabará; on July 23, in Curral del-Rei; on July 26, in Conceição do Turvo; on August 7, in Itabira; September 10, in Oliveira; September 15, in Itabira; September 19, in Bonfim; September 27, in Passa Tempo and then in Oliveira; October 5, in São Miguel de Piracicaba; October 30, in São João Nepomuceno de Lavras; November 17, in Bom Sucesso; November 24, in Nazaré, coming from Amparo and going to Conceição da Barra, Brumado and Congonhas; December 1, in Santa Rita de São João del-Rei; December 6, in Capela Nova do Desterro.

In 1864, having served 20 years as bishop and at nearly 80 years of age, his visits continued to accompany the needs of the people, the zeal of his parish priest and the urgency of evangelization, although somewhat hindered by his advanced age. This year, on January 30, he was in Sabará; on April 6, in Santa Bárbara; on April 22, in Serro, then Diamantina, where he was on the occasion of the consecration of his first diocesan bishop, Itabira, São Gonçalo, Cocais, Santa Bárbara, Caraça and Catas Altas; on June 10, in Itabira; on July 20, in Sabará; July 31, in Itaverava; September 6, in Ponte Nova; September 29, in Três Pontas; November 1, in Bom Jesus dos Aflitos da Ponte do Sapucaí; November 3, in Três Pontas, then in Passos, Ventania, Carmo, Divisa, Motuca, Três Corações, Conceição do Rio Verde, São Tomé and São Vicente de Minas. In 1865, on April 16, Dom Viçoso was in Caraça; on July 4, in Ouro Preto; on July 18, in São Caetano do Chapotó, then in São José do Chapotó, Remédios, Capela Nova das Dores, Glória, Vila Bela do Turvo and Campanha; on October 13, in Pouso Alto, then São João del-Rei; on October 17, in Capivari. In 1866, he was in São João del-Rei, on April 2; in Serro, on May 13; in Ouro Preto, on August 16; later, in Santo Antonio da Casa Branca, Rio das Pedras, Santo Antonio do Rio Acima and Congonhas; and in Pitangui, on September 5.

In 1867, the year he turned 80, he visited Caraça on May 6 and Calambau on August 9. In 1868, his last year of pastoral visits, due to the serious illness that overtook him after his trip to Rio de Janeiro in early 1869, he was in Macaúbas on August 20; on October 23, at the head of the Sant’Ana River, in Abre Campo; then in Santa Margarida, Santa Helena, Vermelho, Abre Campo, Bicudos and Barra Longa; on October 31, he was in Matipó; and on November 26, in Santa Cruz.

This immense, and unfortunately not exhaustive, list of pastoral visits is Dom Viçoso’s best testimony, especially with regard to his zeal as a pastor and the choices he made during his episcopate. It is undeniable that the holy bishop, having before him the multitudes of his flock, decided to “to devote time to the poor, provide them kind attention, listen to them with interest, stand by them in the most difficult moments, choosing to spend hours, weeks, or years of our life with them, and striving to transform their situation from within their midst” (Aparecida Document, 397).

As a pastor and the head of the spiritual and social life of his diocese, Dom Viçoso always used preaching to reach out to his flock and instruct them. His sermons, delivered with fervour and unction wherever he found himself, in his cathedral or during pastoral visits, earned him a reputation throughout the diocese. A tireless missionary, Dom Viçoso left the healing balm of the sacraments and the light of the Word of God wherever he went. At the end of his life, he could say with joy and humility that, during his 31 years as bishop, he visited and preached in all the parish churches of the diocese and in almost all the chapels, many of which he authorized to hold the Blessed Sacrament. Virtually everyone in the diocese had the opportunity to listen and be touched by the wisdom and depth of Dom Viçoso’s preaching. In addition, when he was in Mariana, he preached every Sunday and feast day in the Cathedral, taking the pulpit two and even three times. When he was invited to participate in the patron saint festivities, he always accepted when he could and, on these occasions, he took the opportunity to instruct his people and sanctify his flock. Through these sermons, he revived the fervour of faith, instructed in matters of faith, regularized marriages, reconciled enemies and put an end to scandals.

Among the most serious scandals he fought against was slavery and his attempt to minimize the suffering of enslaved Africans. His strong will to serve the people and fight for their rights meant that he did not hold back in his letters and writings against slavery, even if this put him in a position opposed to that of his most illustrious friends. In a small book written in 1840, even before being elected bishop, entitled Escravatura ofendida e defenda (Slavery offended and defended), he writes against a “respectable clergyman from the province of Minas,” possibly his own confrere Father Leandro Rebelo Peixoto e Castro. As bishop, in October 1850, he did not hesitate to advise a member of Parliament on the matter: “As for your question as to whether it would be good to … buy Africans for agriculture, I say that such a purchase is not licit, because while there are those who buy them here, there will be those who buy (or steal) them from Africa, something so contrary to humanity. This revolts my mind. I do not have them, nor do I want them … With the Africans you would achieve a lot, it’s true, but as well as attracting the wrath of God with that barbarity, you would immobilize a lot of capital… and as your godfather is one of the legislators, that purchase would scandalize many.”

Seeing the benefits of his pastoral visits among the people, partly due to their isolation and the vast geographical areas they lived in, he wanted to establish the Perpetual Missions in the Diocese of Mariana. To this end, he started a major campaign in the parishes, asking for everyone’s help in supporting the missionaries. At the age of 76, he himself began to walk from place to place begging for alms, together with two other priests. The Missions were founded in 1862 and bore innumerable fruits. Throughout the diocese, at least two or three priests from the Congregation of the Mission were in charge of preaching and instructing the people during these great missionary journeys, thus obtaining innumerable blessings and progress. Each year, more than 40,000 confessions were heard and at least 400-500 marriages were celebrated by the missionaries.

His episcopal work was so notable and beneficial for the Church that three of his immediate disciples were elected bishops, and during his ministry they were true examples for the Brazilian episcopate. Leaving Mariana, with Dom Viçoso as their master, friend and inspiration, were Dom João Antônio dos Santos, destined for the recently created diocese of Diamantina-MG, Dom Luiz Antônio dos Santos, destined for Fortaleza-CE, and Dom Pedro Maria de Lacerda, destined for Rio de Janeiro.

4. Antônio Ferreira Viçoso: Faithful testimony until death

Aged and weakened, but always attentive to the cries of his flock and tireless in the defense of the faith, the bishop of Mariana beamed holiness and was sought out by everyone, including foreigners, researchers and authorities. He impressed everyone, both for his simplicity in welcoming people and for his intelligence when he spoke and reflected. Richard Burton, an English traveller who visited Mariana shortly before 1870, was one of those illustrious men who, on seeing Dom Viçoso, was impressed by his life and his episcopal ministry, even leaving an account of his visit: “We found the bishop, Dom Antônio Ferreira Viçoso, in the Palace, a large old house, with the hat and arms of the Bishopric on the door. This venerable 80-year-old priest was still Portuguese in his features and accent; he had lively, intelligent eyes and a calm, intellectual face; he was dressed in purple, according to the same order that prescribes that black is for the priest, red (symbolizing the shedding of his own blood) for the cardinal and white for the Pope. The Bishop received us very kindly, and led us to the library, which was mostly full of theological works and adorned with ornate medallions and portraits of classical philosophers. (…) The Most Reverend is highly regarded and has done much for ecclesiastical education in this and other provinces. (…) More than once he spent six or seven months, even in the rainy season, visiting his diocese, preaching, hearing confessions and administering confirmation. We can, without fear of contradiction, add our own to the general prayer: ‘God save your days!‘”

When the First Vatican Council was convened in 1868, Dom Viçoso, who had never been to Rome, not even for the ad limina visits, carried out three times by delegation, feeling compelled to respond positively to the call of Pope Pius IX, went to Rio de Janeiro and was welcomed by his friend Dom Pedro Maria de Lacerda. In 1869, the date of his trip, Dom Viçoso was 82 years old. His trip to Rio aimed to undergo medical examinations to check and certify his state of health and whether or not he could travel to the Council in Rome. The results of his examinations were so clear, due to his advanced age and the afflictions of old age and his fragile health, that even there, in Rio de Janeiro, his condition worsened to such an extent that the Bishop of Rio de Janeiro himself thought that Dom Viçoso would never return to Mariana. The long journey to Rome for the Council was impossible, just as it was also impossible for him to continue at the head of a flock as immense as that of Mariana. He therefore approached the emperor Dom Pedro II to ask for his dismissal or, at least, for a coadjutor bishop. But his efforts were in vain.

On his return to Mariana, after this trip to Rio de Janeiro, Dom Viçoso’s health deteriorated rapidly. In May 1874, while resting in his Cartuxa, he became so ill that he had to be rushed to the Episcopal Palace, thus beginning his final convalescence. Those closest to him forced him to interrupt all his activities. They took away his Breviary and all his books. They also transferred the government of the diocese to the Vicar General.

Despite needing a chair more than once to move around and be transported from one place to another, due to his constant weakness, Dom Viçoso still conferred Orders on October 28, 1874 and February 14, 1875, not forgetting the blessing of the Holy Oils on Holy Thursday 1875. Tireless in his zeal and missionary fervor, he asked to go to Caraça to ordain some seminarians who were already of the required age. Despite the displeasure of his assistants, he left on April 21, 1875 for the Sanctuary of Caraça, his great missionary passion and the first house from which he sowed his seeds in Brazil. Still on his way, he ordained two deacons at the end of April and, at the sanctuary, he conferred orders on the seminarians from May 1 to 3.

Because of the cold, he returned to Mariana. A week later, on May 19, his health worsened considerably. On the May 25 he received the viaticum and the last rites. Having recovered slightly, on June 16 he still celebrated the Eucharist, presiding over it completely for the last time on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. When his health worsened and he retired to his monastery, he gave his life to God on the night of July 7, 1875, between 10 and 11 p.m.

In his life, both personal and ministerial, in his missionary and educational service and later in his arduous episcopal work, Bishop Antônio Ferreira Viçoso fulfilled what the Bishops of Latin America affirmed and projected for themselves in Aparecida: “We cannot forget that the bishop is principle and builder of the unity of his particular church and sanctifier of his people, witness of hope and father of the faithful, especially of the poor, and that his primary task is to be teacher of the faith, proclaimer of the word of God and the administration of the sacraments, as servants of the flock” (Aparecida Document, 189). This statement provides an excellent overview of the life and work of Dom Viçoso. The unity of his particular Church was cemented in the preaching of the Gospel during his pastoral visits, in his selfless service to the people of God who continually sought him out and in his innumerable charitable works of care and assistance to the small and abandoned. Not an imposed unity, but a unity built on communion, on the encounter of his spirit of episcopal fatherhood with the filial docility of a people thirsting for God and for hope. A witness to the Kingdom and a promoter of Christian hope and the utopia of the Gospel in the midst of his flock, Dom Viçoso knew how to usher in a new era for the Church of Mariana and for the Brazilian Church, guaranteeing the Church evangelical freedom and authority, based on the testimony of an ethical and transparent life, of service and dedication to his brothers and sisters in love.

His passing, mourned by all, did not mark the end of this new era because the true witnesses of the Kingdom leave disciples behind and their work, imbued with the Mystery of God through the action of the Holy Spirit, does not disappear or retreat due to the limitations of human beings. However, the pain and longing were great! One of the greatest bishops the Church has known had died, one of the most relevant and influential in the Church of the time. The shepherd died, to the sorrow of his sheep; the father of orphans and the abandoned died, to the desolation of the young and the suffering; an illustrious son of St. Vincent died, to the longing of his confreres and the Daughters of Charity; the defender of the Church and the sure support of the clergy died, leaving for posterity an eloquent testimony that the priestly and episcopal life can be filled with light and eloquence when it is based on the following of Jesus and on the love-service to the people of God, when all personal interests are put aside so that the Kingdom of God may flourish and shine forth in all actions, words and attitudes. In short, Dom Viçoso died, a man whose life shone out like the sun, a man whose influence was felt throughout the Church, and particularly by the Vincentian Family, who have in him one of their most illustrious sons, thus strengthening their fidelity to the Good Shepherd and Missionary par excellence of the Father, Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom Dom Viçoso served with joy and constant dedication throughout his entire life.

Fr. Marcus Alexandre Mendes de Andrade, C.M.
Source: https://santuariodocaraca.com.br/