It was in the afternoon of Thursday, March 19, 2009, that the first nine brothers and sisters prostrated themselves in the form of a cross, with their foreheads on the ground, in the open air, at the Community of Aurora, Uruguay. In this very simple ceremony, in the middle of the orange grove, they promised to serve God eternally. Thus, they surrendered their lives to monastic life, and as a symbol of the vows they had assumed, they put on a cord around their waist. It was something very simple that would remain engraved in their memories and hearts forever. This act was carried out at the express request of the Most Holy Virgin Mary in an apparition to the visionary Friar Elías del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. A few days later, in a similar ceremony, other seven brothers and sisters were consecrated in the Community of Figueira, Brazil. This was when Mother María Shimani de Montserrat, who was also present that Thursday, gathered efforts with José Trigueirinho Netto to found the Grace Mercy Order and thus concretize this request of the Divinity.
The Grace Mercy Order is a monastic order that professes the faith in Christ, it is autonomous and independent of other religious institutions.
It seeks the integration of different spiritual branches that lead to God and to the expression of fraternal and community life.
The Order was founded in 2009 and its main head office is located in Brazil.
The Grace Mercy Order is formed of monks and nuns whose only search is the union with the Living Christ. This is expressed through a type of religiosity and a way of a life consecrated to peace, good, prayer, charity, healing, caring for the Kingdoms of Nature and the elevation of all Creation. It is because of this care for life that the consecrated members of this Order opt for a vegetarian diet, an option that allows them to be in more harmony with Creation and express universal love for all creatures of God.
Our roots were established in the late 1980’s in the south of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with the aspiration of living the attributes mentioned above. We consider monastic experience to be the most direct way to reach God, live to love Him and manifest His Purpose.
The consecrated beings, of different ages, come from various nations, such as Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, the United States, Spain, Portugal, France. They are part of monasteries located in our Light-Communities and they give support to the Marian Centers. Light-Communities and Marian Centers are the names we give to spaces of fraternal life of our Work.