From August 15 to 17, the First Conference of Marian Helpers in Brazil was held in Curitiba, the capital of the state of Paraná. About 60 people participated, representing groups of Marian Helpers from our nine parishes that we serve in Brazil.

The first enrichment of the meeting was the diversity of environments and cultures, as Helpers from the state of Ceará, 3,000 km away from Paraná, met for the first time with Helpers from Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and cities and the interior of the state of Paraná.

The conference began on the evening of August 15 in the hospitable premises of the Holy Family Parish with a Mass of Thanksgiving on the occasion of the golden jubilee of religious vows of Fr. Edmund Grabowski, MIC, and Fr. Marek Szczepaniak, MIC, the current Director of AMH in Brazil.

On Saturday, August 16, our meeting officially began with a blessing given by the Superior of the Brazilian Province of the Marian Fathers, Fr. Claudio Gomes, MIC, and the reading of a letter from the Superior General of the Marians, Fr. Joseph G. Roesch, MIC, and from Br. Andrzej Mączyński, MIC, General Promoter of the AMH. Then, Fr. Edson Hable, MIC, gave a lecture on Aquila and Priscilla, who appear in the Acts of the Apostles as the first lay ‘helpers’ in the evangelization proclaimed by St. Paul the Apostle.

Three people who participated in the 2024 SPM International Conference in Poland shared their impressions and experiences from that event.

The Director and the AMH Secretary introduced the participants to Blessed Archbishop Jerzy Matulewicz, the renovator of the Marians, thanks to whose initiative the AMH was initiated in the USA 100 years ago. Next, proposals were presented for adapting the AMH Statutes, approved by the Superior General, to our Brazilian reality.

The entire afternoon was devoted to sharing experiences from each group’s activities. It was one of the most important moments of the conference, thanks to which everyone was enriched by each other’s experiences.

In the evening, after Holy Mass at St. George’s Parish, the Helpers visited our Seminary and had dinner.

On Sunday, the conference participants attended Mass at the Shrine of Divine Mercy run by the Marians in Brazil. At the Marian cemetery, the priests buried there were remembered in prayer. After a commemorative photo in front of the statue of the Merciful Jesus, the guests were treated to lunch, and after the blessing of the Father Provincial, the First Regional Conference of the AMH in Brazil was officially closed.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the General Promoter of the AMH and the Director of the AMH in Poland for their material assistance in organizing this First Conference. All participants are already looking forward to the next one…