The Process Of Beatification

Even when she was still alive, the fame of holiness of Sister Benigna was already acknowledged by the people. Ever since she passed away, the number of people asking for her intercession keeps increasing. Due to this fact, on October 15th, 2011, it was held the opening of her Process of Beatification by the Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte, beginning the Diocesan Phase, which had as responsible: Dr. Paulo Vilotta, Postulator of the Cause; Dom Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo, President of the Cause Court, and Enquiry Instructor, Monsignor Geraldo dos Reis Calixto, Delegated Judge of the Diocesan Phase, Father Reinaldo Maria Medeiros, Prosecutor of Justice od the Cause; Maria do Carmo Mariano, President of the Association of Friends of Sister Benigna, and Mother Neuza Cota, Mother of the Congregation Of the Auxiliary Sisters of Our Lady of Pity, Authors of the Cause and Sister Teresa Cristina Leite, President of the Historical Commission of the Diocesan Phase.

The Eucharist Celebration was presided by Dom Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo, Metropolitan Archbishop of Belo Horizonte. Held in the Church of Saint Teresa and Saint Teresinha, in Belo Horizonte (MG), the ceremony was full of friends and devotees, coming from many locations. With the opening of the Process, Sister Benigna received the title of Servant of God. The next titles will be Venerable, Blessed, and in the end, Saint. The Process of Beatification consists of two phases: Diocesan and Roman.

Diocesan Phase

Performed in the Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte, this phase consisted in the gathering of testimonies and documents that prove the life, the virtues and the reputation of the Servant of God. This work was done by the Ecclesiastical Court and by the Historical Commission, appointed by the Metropolitan Bishop. This first phase of the process was concluded on January 26th, 2013, also in the Church of Saint Tereza and Saint Terezinha. At a ceremony presided by Dom Walmor, who sealed the box that had all the gathered documents, giving it to the Postulator, Dr. Paolo Vilotta, in charge of taking and presenting the documents to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, at the Vatican (IT).

Roman Phase

On February 1st, 2013, the Vatican confirmed the receiving of the documentation of the Process. With the opening of the documents in the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, on April 15th, the Roman Phase started. After the approval of the legal validity of the Process, a Rapporteur was named so that, along with the Postulator, accompanies the development of the Positio – a dossier containing all the proofs gathered in the Diocesan Phase.

Transfer Of The Relics

As a result of the opening of the Process of Beatification and the exhumation of Sister Benigna’s remains, ever since January 30th, 2012, the Novena, which was prayed beside her grave, on the Bonfim Cemetery, was transferred to the Sanctuary Our Lady of The Conception of the Poor, in order to satisfy the decree signed by Dom Walmor, Metropolitan Archbishop of Belo Horizonte.

In March 8th, 2012, was held the first transference of the Relics (remains), from the Bonfim Cemetery to the Novitiate of Our Lady of Pity, both in Belo Horizonte. The Eucharistic Celebration was held at the Church of Saint Theresinha, in Belo Horizonte (MG), along with the closing ceremony and the seal of the urn, where the Relics of the Servant of God was placed. A multitude of devotees visited the church for several hours, while the Relics were exposed. At the end of the celebration, they were conducted by the truck of the Fire Brigade, followed by a procession, with a great number of cars, until the Novitiate. Because of the transfer, from April 8th, of the same year, all the prayers of the devotion, which took place on Saturdays, including the Prayer of 20 Rosaries, where transferred to this place, along with the Relics of the Servant of God.

On October 28th, 2016, a second transfer of the Relics occurred. They were taken to the Sanctuary Basilic of Our Lady of Pity, in Caeté (MG). At the Sanctuary, there was a Eucharistic Celebration, followed by a procession until the Saint Joseph Crypt, also located at the Sanctuary, remaining there until following day.

On October 29th, on its third transfer, the Relics were conducted in a motorcade to the Nook Monsignor Domingos, also in Caeté. On the same day, the Corner Stone of Sister Benigna’s Memorial was blessed by Dom Walmor, who right after preformed a Eucharistic Celebration in honor of 35th year of the passing of the Servant of God. After the Holy Mass a small motorcade was performed, followed by hundreds of friends and devotees, taking the Relics to Crypt of the Resurrected, on Saint Joseph’s Chapel, near his Memorial, where the Relics remain until today.

Due to the transfer of the Relics of Sister Benigna’s, since October of 2016, the Prayer of the Twenty Rosaries, which used to be in the Novitiate of Our Lady of Pity, every Saturday, as well as the Mass in honor of the anniversary of passing of the Servant of God, now take place in the Memorial, instead of Belo Horizonte, where it used to happen.

Memorial

On October 28th, 2017, after a Eucharistic Celebration in honor of the 36º year of passing of The Servant of God, The Sister Benigna Memorial was inaugurated and blessed by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Belo Horizonte, Dom Walmor. The Memorial was built near the place where her Relics are placed. At the Memorial, people have the opportunity to know, even more, about the life and legacy of the Servant of God.

Timeline Letter To The Pope