Church and family provide Fall River woman all she needs

By Michael Pare

Anchor Correspondent

FALL RIVER, Mass. — Maria Eduarda Araujo was born in December of 1946 in Ponta Garca, St. Michael, Azores. She and her husband Nuno were married there in the fall of 1967. Just a year later, like so many others from their homeland, they immigrated to the United States, settling in Fall River. 

And one of the first things they did upon arriving in southeastern Massachusetts was to join Santo Christo Parish. It was what most immigrants did when they got here. Father Gastao Oliveira, pastor at Santo Christo, is glad they did.

Father Oliveira cited Araujo’s unyielding and tireless devotion to Santo Christo — and to the Church. It is a devotion that manifests itself in so many different ways.

“She is a great woman,” said Father Oliveira. “She has a real sense of the parish as a community.”

At Santo Christo, Araujo is an extraordinary minister of holy Communion, serving at Mass, as well as bringing the Eucharist to several parishioners who are sick at home. She is a member of the parish’s liturgical choir. She also serves in numerous capacities on the parish feasts committee.

One of her duties, on the feasts committee, is to purchase and inventory supplies for parish events. It’s an important job and one, in these trying economic times, that needs to be taken seriously. Father Oliveira said Araujo is just the person for the job.

“Her purchasing and organizational skills are so precise that, over the years, she has been able to save our parish thousands of dollars,” said Father Oliveira. “She also serves at all of our fund-raising events, from parish dinners to cake sales to malassada sales, organizing and overseeing a large group of assistants.”

Maria and Nuno, who now live in Swansea, have been married 40 years. They were blessed with two daughters and have four grandchildren.  

In past years they have been active members of Santo Christo’s Portuguese Retreat Team, as well as the parish’s United Interfaith Action Committee. Maria also offers her time and talents each year in decorating Santo Christo for the Christmas and Easter seasons, as well as for all of the parish feasts.

To Araujo, these countless hours of volunteering for her parish aren’t anything special. After all, it is all work for the Church and nothing could be more meaningful than that.

“I feel good when I am working for the Church,” said Araujo. “Everything I do for the Church … I feel good about.”

Nothing makes Araujo feel better than when she is bringing the holy Eucharist to Santo Christo shut-ins. She has about five “regulars” right now. In bringing the Eucharist to each of them, there is that wonderful exchange that sees both sides take something special away.

For the parishioner, there is that amazing reality of being united with Jesus Christ through the Eucharist. They may be home and unable to attend Mass, but they remain one with God through the Eucharist. And for Araujo, there is the opportunity to touch another’s life so deeply. Araujo returns from those visits with a strengthened faith. “I always like to go on Easter Sunday and bring Jesus to people who are sick,” she says. “There is one woman. She tells me I should bring Jesus to her more often. I feel that.”

Father Oliveira sees a beauty in the way in which Araujo lives her faith — in her dedication to the Church. He appreciates her ability to keep things in perspective. She has a respect for the priests, he said, but also an understanding of the big picture. 

“She works for God and for people,” he said. “She understands Church and the Bible.”

Ask Araujo what she does in her spare time or, perhaps, what she does for fun, and those common themes emerge.

“Every Sunday I make dinner for my family,” she said.

And there it is … the closeness of the Portuguese family. The tradition of the children and grandchildren gathering each week over a wonderful meal. 

Asked what brings her the most joy of all, she replied “My most fun is working for the Church.”  

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