BRAZILIAN and U.S. sisters and associates minister in Santa Helena de Goiás in central Brazil.

IN 1963, THE SISTERS of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate—the Joliet Franciscans—answered a call to work in Brazil. Today, both U.S. and Brazilian sisters make up the community in Brazil. They work in parishes, run a school, and train health workers.


“They taught us to be happy with less, says one sister who came to Brazil from the United States 40 years ago—before paved roads. “The people with whom we lived and worked taught us to keep only what we really need, to use everything, waste nothing, spend time visiting, talking, and learning their values and ways of doing things.


That’s why the sisters stay. They’ve learned to love the people and their ways.

THE SISTERS train health care workers to measure and weigh children and track their growth and development

A PRAYER at their water wheel is part of the sisters’ annual missioning ceremony.

THE PEOPLE OF SANTO ANTÔNIO da Barra live in simple houses close to the earth and the elements.

SISTER MARIA Nubia Fegueiredo is a novice with the Joliet Franciscans.

SISTER ROSE Maria Lim (above) congratulates Sister Rita Cristina after Sister Rita made her final vows.