Search
-
June 9, 2022My sister Sheila, a Medical Missionary of Mary, spent more than forty years in Brazil. Because of that, I’ve always had a special interest in that country and, thanks to frequent flier miles, was able to visit her four times.
Today we celebrate a Spanish Jesuit, José de Anchieta [1534-1597], a relative of Ignatius Loyola, who also spent more than four decades in Brazil. He became highly influential in Brazil after a Portuguese fleet arrived there in 1550. Surviving a shipwreck on the way, he was one of the founders both of Sao Paulo and of Rio de Janeiro. But more than that, he is a renowned poet and writer and is considered the first Brazilian author.
Anchieta communicated with his Superiors mainly by letters, writing - it is said - flawlessly in Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin. He also mastered Tupi, an indigenous language. He wrote volumes on Theology, theater and poetry, and composed the first published work in the Tupi language. He was an accomplished musician and taught Christianity to the Indians by means of music and theater. He was also known for his opposition to how the colonists were treating the native population.
He wrote a famous poem to the Virgin Mary, allegedly composing it every morning on the wet sand of a beach and committing it to memory until he could much later transcribe its more than 4,900 verses to paper. Because of this, Anchieta is considered the patron of literature and music in Brazil.
His lucid and detailed reports are still important today to understand the lives, knowledge and customs of Indian and Europeans during his time, as well as the astounding novelties of Brazil’s wildlife and geography.
May this Renaissance man inspire us with his spirit of openness and adventure.
