Maria Auxiliadora Guimarães Beranger Henriques (better known as Dorinha) is a lawyer and estate agent from the Brazilian city of Cabo Frio, in Rio de Janeiro state. She now lives in Viçosa, in the state of Minas Gerais, where she is a dedicated member of the local Spiritist Movement. She is the director of study groups at the Irmão Scheilla Spiritist Centre and is also active at their mediumship groups. In this interview, she speaks about her involvement in the Brazilian Spiritist Movement. 

How did you become a Spiritist? 

From a very young age, I was eager for explanations which I couldn’t find in the religion I followed. My search for answers became stronger when went to university in the city Niterói to do a degree in Law and issues like social inequality, the death penalty and abortion came into debate. “Where is divine justice?” we questioned. One of my cousins then, a homoeopathy doctor, shared with me the Spiritist approach to those questions and that brought me peace. That was a watershed in my life. I have considered myself a Spiritist since 1987. 

Which aspect of Spiritism strikes you the most? 

It’s difficult to draw attention to a particular aspect of Spiritism. After all, I’ve been influenced by the whole message. That has really changed my life and I know I haven’t yet been able to fully grasp it. But I understand the small bits of a big puzzle that fits and definitely makes sense. The concept of Divine Justice, which has been the source of much inquietude, makes sense to me now. “God doesn’t punish or forgive. Instead, conscious beings transfer into themselves their conviction or acquittal sentences,” as André Luiz explained. And that’s amazing. 

And what about your family experience in the Spiritist Movement? 

I would highlight the countless relationships, meetings, friendships that I’ve had in Spiritism, and also the differences, problems and antipathies. But nothing compares to the support that my husband and I had when we went through five miscarriages. Spiritism has given us great comfort and has opened the doors for other projects in our lives. We didn’t have children but we’ve had many gratifying experiences. 

How about your mediumship? 

When we still lived in Cabo Frio and attended the Trabalhadores de Jesus (Workers of Jesus) Spiritist Centre, my husband saw me for the first time and heard from a Spiritual Benefactor that we would get married. As the sceptical and suspicious person that he is, he didn’t believe he would get involved with that lively, loud, talkative girl who dared to replace the initial prayer at our meetings with singing. But that’s what happened, eventually, and I often say that my husband and I live a normal life, in which the Spirits are not sending us messages and guidance all the time. But our life is definitely defined by the presence of the Spiritual Benefactors around us and we are hugely grateful for the lessons that we have received from them.  

What have you learned from your experience in the Spiritist Movement in Viçosa since moving to the city? 

I’ve had the best possible experience. I’ve been an active member of the Irmã Scheilla Spiritist Centre in Viçosa since 1993, with the exception of two years, between 1995 and 1997 when I lived in Piracicaba, in the state of São Paulo. The lovely couple who founded the Irmã Scheilla, Maria Mazarello and Professor Brandão, have opened their doors to us and have trusted my husband and me with many important tasks. We’ve worked in the coordination of the study groups, in the management of the Centre, in healing, counselling, helping people organise their Gospel in the Home, in social projects, cleaning etc. 

Along the years, we have welcomed new volunteers who have helped us organise events and keep our regular activities going. We’ve also overseen the physical expansion of our facilities, to include the Pingo de Luz (Drop of Light) day care centre for children. Before the coronavirus pandemic, we had 130 to 150 people on average coming to our public meetings and healing every Sunday and Thursday. Many others were enrolled in our youth groups and study groups. 

Which was the most moving moment of all the experiences you have enjoyed in the Spiritist Movement? 

I can say that I’ve had many moving and unforgettable experiences along the years, but I would like to mention something that happened shortly after we moved to Viçosa in July 1993. We used to pay regular visits on Saturday mornings to families that we part of our social programme. Many were going through very painful experiences. The possibility of providing help and assistance to them every Saturday made me feel like a truly rich and happy person. 

I must also mention the amazing levels of solidarity that I’ve observed among the people who live in the poorer areas of the city. They always shared between them the scarce supplies that we were able to provide through our food bank campaigns. We used to drop them a leaflet with a positive message and what we received in return was something much more powerful: a “thank you” or a “God bless you” that came from the bottom of their hearts… Nothing has been able to touch my heart like that, nothing can be so gratifying.