Following the example of Poveda in many ways

Celebration of the feast of St Pedro Poveda on 28 July in Taquaritinga, a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo. 

The St Pedro Poveda Community belongs to the Holy Family of Nazareth Parish. It was created in 2003 by Fr José Adalberto Salvini, a priest devoted to Pedro Poveda and a close friend of the Teresian Association. The Community has a space with a small chapel built by the faithful themselves, an open pavilion and a square that also bears the name of St Pedro Poveda. 

Mass was celebrated in the pavilion, presided by the current parish priest, Fr. Daniel Bento Bejo. It was attended by a large number of teachers, as well as devotees from all over the city of Taquaritinga.  

At the end of Mass there was a procession through the square and nearby streets, ending with a prayer of thanksgiving and a hymn to Saint Pedro Poveda, traditionally sung by the Community on 28 July. 

Here in the countryside there is simple devotion to Pedro Poveda. There is a project called “De Mãos Dadas” [Hand in Hand] that works with children, young people and their families. It is similar to Poveda's work in the caves of Guadix. 

It is a social project financed solely by donations. Each week the meetings begin with a prayer, then they have religious education topics, educational activities, and workshops in art, ecology, dance, crochet, cooking, games with children and sports. In the ecology workshop, the children learned to plant vegetables in plastic bottles to take home. They also created a small vegetable garden in the community space. Crocheting also attracted interest among the children, especially those with anxiety and hyperactivity. 

All activities are led by volunteer instructors. There is also a psychologist available who accompanies the project families free of charge. At the end of the meetings, lunch is served to the children, often with the delivery of basic food baskets to the families.  

Nicole Gomes da Silva y Celia Resende.
TA Translations Team.

The song in the video is entitled “Se calarem a voz dos profetas” [If the prophets' voices are silenced] by Cecilia Vaz Castilho, used with the author’s permission.