Nicola José Frattari Neto (photo)became a Spiritist in 1986, when he was still a teenager in the city of Ituiutaba, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, where he still lives. He works there as a teacher, after getting a degree in Physics and a Masters in Education. He is a volunteer member of the Seareiros de Jesus Spiritist Centre. As a teenager, he spent a lot of time with Jerônimo Mendonça, a highly revered Brazilian Spiritist who continued to work for decades as a volunteer even after losing his eyesight and his leg movements because of rheumatoid arthritis. Nicola has now published a book with his memories of those encounters.

When and how did you become a Spiritist?

I became a Spiritist after seeking a new direction to my life. As a teenager, I began to notice the presence of Spirits around me, but I didn’t understand what was going on. I didn’t have a religion, which made things a lot more difficult to me. But eventually, advised by friends, I came into contact with Spiritists, who explained to me what was happening. I found peace and balance in Spiritism, which encouraged me to read more and more. All that happened between the ages of 13 and 15.

And how did you meet Jerônimo Mendonça?

It was precisely at that time when I was discovering Spiritism that I met him. I was introduced to him by a friend, who took me to his house. We went there for a chat and I couldn’t imagine that a new wonderful chapter of my life was about to begin. I mentioned to Jerônimo phenomena that were happening with me, which were bearing the first signs of spiritual obsession, or spiritual attachment. He explained to me many things about mediumship and said I should, first and foremost, read and study the Teachings. Otherwise, he said, I would be like an illiterate car driver: someone who doesn’t know the traffic rules and every now and again causes an accident. I began to attend the Spiritist Centre founded by him and continued to visit him at home every afternoon, for about three years, until he passed away in 1989.  

What memories do you bring from the time you spent with him?

The best possible memories! To spend time with Jerônimo was like attending one amazing lesson after another. He used to shed light on all sorts of issues, always based on the Spiritist Teachings. He encouraged us to think for ourselves and to reason using Spiritist common sense when dealing with all matters and questions. Not to mention the main lesson he taught us, which was his example of faith and endurance. He was, indeed, a living example of someone who put the Spiritist Teachings into practice. Being next to Jerônimo was like learning new things all the time.

What was the strongest aspect of Jerônimo’s personality?

His happiness, his joy and his high spirits! He had a contagious aura of peace and harmony around him. His balance prompted to us to go ahead hand in hand with Jesus and to think only about good things and good deeds. It’s amazing how catchy his high spirits were. He joked all the time, he made clever jokes that made us think about new aspects of Spiritism and he also recited poems and sonnets. It was truly amazing his capacity to overcome his physical limitations and to ignore exhaustion, sadness and pain. He had clear goals, which he followed to the letter. Even while lying in that orthopaedic bed and going through constant pain, he was always ready to smile, to sing, to comfort other people and to help everyone else. I’ve never found a similar example of faith and courage in any other human being.

And how do you feel now when you look back at that time you spent with him?

The afternoons I spent with Jerônimo and in the company of so many other friends were the best afternoons of my life. When I look back at those days, I understand how much we still need to work to transform our feelings into positive experiences and to help others in accordance to the law of love. Whenever I think of him, my commitment to work within Spiritism grows stronger.

How did you come up with the idea of writing a book about him?

I began making notes, some years ago, about the chats I had with Jerônimo. My intention was only to avoid that those memories were lost in time. I wrote down a few pages of notes, not many. I then made an effort to remember and collect other stories and events that happened around him. Some I had experienced in person, others had been shared with me by his sisters and closer friends. I decided to interview twenty friends who had close contact with Jerônimo at different stages of his life. The result of all that is the book, “Novos Casos de Jerônimo Mendonça” (New Stories of Jerônimo Mendonça). It gathers 83 unpublished stories. A few of them may be linked to some of his public speeches, but the vast majority are unknown to the wider public. The book also has 42 pictures of his life, most of them unpublished until now.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

The book is a work of love. Many friends got together and helped with the preparation of this book, which has been very well received. To speak about Jerônimo and to share his life story, his exemplary way of dealing with his problems and his work is much more than paying tribute to him. To share with others what he’s done is a way of telling everyone that we can also overcome our trials and tribulations. When we read about his life and his tales, we come to the inevitable conclusion that we also have the power to be strong when faced with pain and suffering. That amounts to putting the Gospel of Jesus into practice.