“I already had this project in my heart, I always thought that a place would come up to help people pray. It was a dream, and this was its realization.” This is how Sister Jaqueline Mendes, sister of the Good Shepherd, describes what she felt when faced with the challenge of coming to the Sanctuary of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres.
Sister Jaqueline Mendes is one of the three new guardians of the image of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres. She arrived earlier this year at Convento da Esperança, in Ponta Delgada, for this new mission.

In a statement to Agência Ecclesia, Sister Mendes said that being in that space of prayer is the “fulfillment of a dream”. “In the first days I felt very small in the face of so much faith, so much devotion, so much respect”, she confesses. “I am very observant. We participated in the Eucharist, and I just stood there and watched”.
Born in the island of São Luís do Maranhão, in Brazil, Sister Jaqueline Mendes, who has been in Portugal for two years, says that, after so many years, being on an island “is like coming back to one’s roots”, with all the challenges it can bring.

There are three sisters from “three different nationalities and cultures that are now a community”, she says, explaining that “they have been discovering the routine of the Sanctuary, where the true charisma is prayer”. 

In addition to Sister Jaqueline Mendes, Juana Salvatierra and Magdalena Pico, from Peru and Ecuador, respectively, both living in Portugal for five years, are also part of the community.

The nuns visited the Sanctuary of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres in April 2021 and in January 2022 they arrived on the island of São Miguel. Sister Jaqueline Mendes says that the Bishop of Angra, D. João Lavrador at the time, contacted the Provincial of the congregation, and the challenge was set to come to the Senhor Santo Cristo Sanctuary. On this note, the Sisters of Mary Immaculate left the Esperança Convent at the end of May 2021, where they had been for more than 60 years.

"I was very apprehensive; I was already following the situation and praying, because I knew already about the sisters of our congregation, of apostolic life, who do work here on the island [see box], but I had no idea of the beauty and richness that existed here," she stressed.

The dream of this religious community is to "form prayer groups", of young people or adults, because it is in the shrines that a "school of prayer" is made, says the Sister Superior.

Good Shepherd Sisters provide shelter
The apostolic branch of the Good Shepherd Sisters is present in the Azorean diocese, supporting excluded people and victims of domestic violence, with a shelter home in Ponta Delgada.

The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, with about four thousand members and about 500 associates, are spread through five continents. It is also a non-governmental organization (NGO) with special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in combating trafficking of children and women.