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"Frei Miguel "
Undoubtedly the most important parish priest of the village of Arraial d’Ajuda was the Italian Friar Miguel.
Friar Miguel, a native of Naples, was of the Order of Friars Minor Capucino and served the church of Our Lady of Help for more than 30 years.
Friar Miguel is revered to this day by the oldest residents of Arraial. Responsible not only for conducting the priestly work, Friar Miguel acted as a true administrator of Arraial d'Ajuda.
He was responsible for not only safeguarding the church's assets, taking care of the existing properties, as well as beyond.
At each feast of the Saint, when the church collected a certain sum of money, Friar Miguel purchased more properties in the square for the Catholic church to house the pilgrims and work on behalf of the diocese.
If today the church of Nossa Senhora d’Ajuda has many properties in the square that contribute to for its proper administration and reception of the pilgrims, this is thanks to the work of Friar Miguel.
He was also the one who carried out the containment works on the slope to the west of the church.
The entire wall of concrete blocks that surrounds Ladeira da Santa and the old access to the square, now a staircase, was carried out by the friar. He wins even with a lot of fights with local politicians who didn't want to for the work to happen.
Friar Miguel was also the one who built the masonry Bandstand that stood in the square, in front of the church, replacing an old wooden one.
He also gave the order to remove the gazebo years later, due to constant claims for misuse.
Friar Miguel performed more than two thousand baptisms, hundreds of weddings and coordinated the saint's feast for the entire period he was in Arraial d'Ajuda.
Seu Miguel, one of the residents of the square who was a direct assistant to Friar Miguel, stated in the interview: “So the main works that took place here were done by Frei Miguel, it wasn't the city hall. It was the church here”.
Find out about the Square's schedule of events
Undoubtedly the most important parish priest of the village of Arraial d’Ajuda was the Italian Friar Miguel.
Friar Miguel, a native of Naples, was of the Order of Friars Minor Capucino and served the church of Our Lady of Help for more than 30 years.
Friar Miguel is revered to this day by the oldest residents of Arraial. Responsible not only for conducting the priestly work, Friar Miguel acted as a true administrator of Arraial d'Ajuda.
He was responsible for not only safeguarding the church's assets, taking care of the existing properties, as well as beyond.
At each feast of the Saint, when the church collected a certain sum of money, Friar Miguel purchased more properties in the square for the Catholic church to house the pilgrims and work on behalf of the diocese.
If today the church of Nossa Senhora d’Ajuda has many properties in the square that contribute to for its proper administration and reception of the pilgrims, this is thanks to the work of Friar Miguel.
He was also the one who carried out the containment works on the slope to the west of the church.
The entire wall of concrete blocks that surrounds Ladeira da Santa and the old access to the square, now a staircase, was carried out by the friar. He wins even with a lot of fights with local politicians who didn't want to for the work to happen.
Friar Miguel was also the one who built the masonry Bandstand that stood in the square, in front of the church, replacing an old wooden one.
He also gave the order to remove the gazebo years later, due to constant claims for misuse.
Friar Miguel performed more than two thousand baptisms, hundreds of weddings and coordinated the saint's feast for the entire period he was in Arraial d'Ajuda.
Seu Miguel, one of the residents of the square who was a direct assistant to Friar Miguel, stated in the interview: “So the main works that took place here were done by Frei Miguel, it wasn't the city hall. It was the church here”.
Find out about the Square's schedule of events