Happiness came to him through Padre Pio. And now he is studying theology and philosophy at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (PUSC), together with twenty Brothers from his congregation, the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, including seminarians and priests.
Guilherme was born on October 26, 2003 in Aracaju, the capital of the state of Sergipe, in northeastern Brazil, a city known for its warm climate, long beaches and peaceful atmosphere on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Today he lives in Rome and is in his second year of the philosophical biennium, and then he will begin the three-year period of theological studies at PUSC.
Guilherme Silva de Araujo is a seminarian of the religious institute "Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary". He comes from a Catholic family, although he did not attend Mass every Sunday and prayed the rosary very little. He is the youngest at home; he has a sister who is four years older than he is.
His mother always saw to it that his sister and he received at least the initial sacraments and then gave them the freedom to choose whether or not they wanted to continue on the path of faith. For Guilherme, this was a very positive thing, at least until he was 14 years old, when his life began to change in a particular way.
Adolescence and some inner wounds provoked in him a distancing from God and a mistaken search for happiness.
At the age of 12 and during that period, he began to live certain negative experiences typical of adolescence, influenced mainly by unedifying friendships he had, especially at school. In addition to this, he had some inner wounds that he had carried with him for a long time, which led him to seek happiness in things he thought were good, but which in reality were not.
Little by little, she began to leave God aside. He only maintained a link with Him through pastoral work in his parish, where he collaborated as an assistant catechist. That was one of the few things he still did in the Church.
However, in the midst of all this, a deep sadness and a constant search for meaning in his life grew within him. He felt the need to find a "cause" for which to give up his existence.
At that time he started the Confirmation course, and he did it with good will, because he felt that it would lead him to something good. In fact, he lived many beautiful experiences during that year (we are talking about 2018, when he turned 15). In addition, he reconnected with a friend who often invited him to Sunday Mass.
In his parish there was a group of young people he very much wanted to join, but because of some difficulties - such as distance and schedule - it was difficult for him. However, after receiving Confirmation, he moved to a new neighborhood and was closer to the parish. A few weeks later, he began to participate in the youth group.
That changed his life in an incredible way! He met other young people who had the same desire as he did: to give their lives for a truly worthwhile cause, Jesus. They were few, but we had an immense thirst for something more.
Guilherme began to know the lives of the saints, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the tradition... All this helped him to leave behind the vices and to seek the virtues. He called this period of his life his conversion, although it was not only his own, but also that of his family.
In fact, they saw that he was no longer the same: "my friendships had changed, my arguments had changed, even the way I dressed. But, above all, there was an essential novelty in my life: prayer".
Prayer was what started my days, filled them and closed them. The happiness I was looking for was there!
Guilherme was lonely and longed for love: someone to love. So he began to ask God to allow him to find a young woman who was looking for the same thing he was: to be a saint. This was in 2019.
Some time later, in the youth group, they watched a movie about the life of St. Padre Pio. His life and his total surrender to God were like a blow to the depths of his being: "I was no longer the same. No matter how hard I tried to go on with my life as if nothing had changed, I couldn't".
There was a young woman who interested him very much, but after that "encounter" with Padre Pio, he no longer saw any point in pursuing that idea, or any other. What was burning in his heart was another desire: "I wanted to become a religious".
Guilherme confided this desire to a friend who was part of the same youth group and who was already on a vocational journey. "Welcoming my open-heartedness, he invited me to the community of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to participate in a celebration on October 13in honor of the apparition of Our Lady in Fatima.
There I went to confession and participated in Mass. Everything I experienced that day deeply touched my heart. I went back a few more times, but the community was very far from my home and, because of my lack of perseverance, I stopped going there for a year".
Guileherme's parish life was becoming more and more active and, in order to discern and nourish his vocation even more, in 2020 he entered the pastoral care of altar boys. At the end of that same year, he returned to the community, determined to resume the vocational journey with the Servants, and so it was.
In the meantime, he finished school and was accepted to the Federal University of his state. However, in order to have a year's experience within the community, he decided to give up his long-dreamed-of university place. From 2021 to August 2023 he was active in the community as a consecrated layman and "vocationed".vocation".
"I lived so many beautiful experiences: Marian missions, meetings with young people and children in the oratory... I met many people who enriched my life with their good examples, especially in the parishes through which I passed."
In August 2023 he arrived in Italy, entrusting his family and friends to the care of Jesus, in order to follow him more closely and begin his formation in the seminary. He is currently in his second year of postulancy and also in his second year of philosophy.
"Every day I am more grateful to the Lord for the grace of having received a particular calling, but even more so for having been able to respond to it."
Her vocational and conversion journey is driven by the infinite love that I receive from God every day, and also by the healing of so many wounds that He has allowed in my life. "I offer Him my existence daily, so that I may be an instrument of healing and a channel of grace for so many other people; so that they may discover how much love envelops them and who it is that loves them: Love! And this Love can only be responded to by loving".
Guilhemer also wishes to express his sincere thanks to the benefactors of the CARF Foundation, who make it possible for him to continue his education at such a high quality university. "I assure them of my prayers every day, and ask them to keep me present in their prayers, so that I may remain steadfast and always faithful to God's holy designs."
Gerardo FerraraDegree in History and Political Science, specialized in the Middle East. Head of the student body at the University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
