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Project 3207 - Rebuilding the entry to the monastery
and the guesthouse

Abbey of Maria Mãe do Cristo (Caxambu, Brazil)

In 1973 the monastery was founded by seven sisters of the abbey of Belo Horizonte. They took over a farm which was lent to them. Then they threw themeselves into an audacious project of building a monastery in a place where there was no road, no water, no electricity. The water-problem was not solved until a benefactor offered them a water-source on his own land and an electric pump to draw up the water.

In 2014, the community consisted of thirteen finally professed nuns, one novice and one oblate in formation.

The community has several artistic activities, the production of cards, certificates and liturgical vestments. They also make honey-bread and waffles.

Request

Some years ago a benefactor set up a lunch which was enthusiastically received by the people of the town, and the revenue from this has been a great help to the monastery. Remembering this, and being aware that the Sunday Mass ends exactly at the lunch-hour, a plan has been made to build a new wing of the monastery to provide a place to offer lunch on Sundays.

The project requires rebuilding the entrance to the monastery (which is cracked and has a broken floor) and the entrance to the small guesthouse, which is practically in ruins. It aims to enlarge the façade of the monastery with some arches leading into the church, improve the electrical installations (damaged by parrots which strip the wires and cause short-circuits), add some sanitation and modify the entrance to the little guesthouse.

Requested amount: €13,500

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