By Fr. Cyril Lovett mssc

From time to time we come across a book or document, from another age, which moves us. One such Brazilian document that moves me profoundly is known as the Book of Slave Marks. It is a register of more that fifteen hundred slaves, their baptismal names, nation of Origin, sex and approximate age, as well as the marks with which they were branded and the part of the body on which these marks were inflicted.

This is an extremely rare document. When, in 1888, Brazil finally abolished slavery, it had dubious destruction of being the last country in the world to do so. One of the official actions that followed almost immediately was the burning of all the documents to do with slavery – a kind of national effort to wipe out the memory of one of the most shameful episodes of Brazil’s history. This Book of Slave Marks is one of the very few documents that survived.

All the names in the book are written in the same hand. We do not know why this list was composed from the original documents. It may have been merely a bureaucratic task or it may have been some impulse of pity or shame at so much pain inflicted on human beings. In support of this latter interpretation is the fact that the scribble highlighted in inverted comas the suffix “dor” meaning “pain” in the little of the ships – the “Especulador”.

By John Din

Since we arrived in Bainopolis, the parish of Padre Donaldo Hornsey situated in Bahia, we always visit the small communities or barrios. They are very alive and full of hope especially during the fiestas with songs and dances that reflect their struggle as Indios, descendants of African slaves, poor and abandoned peasants.

By Fr. Bart Toledo

One of the many cultural shocks I experienced upon arriving in Brazil was the celebration of the Feast of the Holy Spirit. It is celebrated with unique traditional pomp, lots of noise, a red flag, an “emperador”, a “maestro” and a banquet.

Not One Celebration but Many

The Church has one fixed date for this celebration the Feast of Pentecost. But here in Brazil, any dates suffices according to the needs of a community or of a family-in-charge of the celebration. Usually a community has two days for its annual fiesta, the feast of the patron saint on the first and that of the “Divino Espiritu” on the second. More crowds show up the second day due to the banquet that takes place in the house of the “Emperador”.

By Ariel Presbitero

Japanese Filipino

On her favorite porch in front of her little two-room house, day after day, 78 years old Donna Cypriana sits quietly and watches as the streams of people pass along her street. I sense a little flicker of joy in her face ad she spots me, her ‘Japanese’ friend, approach. (For some reason, Donna Cypriana and most of the folk in this part of Brazil think we Filipinos are Japanese.)

Keeper of the Keys

Becoming Donna Cypriana’s friend didn’t come easy. Her little world is this little front space and her sparsely furnished sala and kitchen. Her son, Honesto, a cook in the nearby naval base lodges with her at night and on an occasional weekend, a grandson comes to stay with her. Her most important office is ‘Keeper of Church Keys’.