Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception

Founder

Father Raimundo Dos Anjos Beirao

Raimundo Maria Ferreira da Silva Beirao was born in Lisbon, in the parish of Socorro, on March 08, 1810, son of Francisco Antonio Ferreira da Silva and of Raimunda de Jesus Maria Jose Bairao.

At the age of sixteen, he entered the Third Order Regular of St. Francis and was vested in the habit of a novice in the Convent of Our Lady of Jesus, taking the name of Friar Raimundo dos Anjos. He was ordained a priest in 1833.

Due to political situation he was forced to abandon the Convent, and he dedicated himself to the apostolate of preaching throughout the country. On May 06, 1855, through a decree the Sacred Roman Congregation for the Propagation of Faith declared him an Apostolic Missionary “ad suum beneplacitum.”  A person with an open, joyful and integral spirit who  gave witness to  his great love for God and neighbor by attending  to the poor and the needy, spiritually  or materially, with profound humility and kindness.

Already in the early days of his priesthood, he founded the Association of Sons of St. Cajetan which was meant for the instructing and catechizing of the youth. In the year 1834, he was appointed, the chaplain of the Royal army, and was the chaplain of the house Our Lady of Rose, an institution that was dedicated to sheltering the unprotected and the abandoned.

He helped the community of the Capuchins of Our Lady of Conception of Aldeia Galega, which was later to become the origin of our Congregation. He is the one who guided and helped Mother Maria Clara and appointed her as Superior.

On July 13, 1878, in the peace of the Convent of Trinas in Lisbon, Fr. Raimundo dos Anjos Beirao had a happy death, surrounded by the religious family which embodied the great dream of his apostolic and missionary ardor.​

Where there is good to be done, do it.