The Hymns

This section is dedicated to this so important subject in the doctrine, which is the live verb of the teachings transmitted to us from the astral. It will be mentioned here the several aspects if it, since how they started to be received until the way they started to be presented in the ritual, as well as details regarding the hinários, the receivers and their respective hymns.

The Hymns
White Moon (first hymn of the Santo Daime doctrine, received by Irineu Serra while in the Peruvian Jungle - Hinário O Cruzeiro)

Right at the beginning of his work with the ayahuasca the Queen appeared to Mestre Irineu. He, at this time, only knew some calls, whistled and solfeged. She said,

"Look, I am going to give you some hymns. You are going to leave behind this thing of whistling and solfeging in order to learn how to sing."
"Oh! Don’t do that my Lady because I don't know how to sing."
"But I’ll teach you!" She asserted.
One day he was looking at the moon and She said to him,
"Now you are going to sing."
"But how am I going to sing? It is too difficult…."
"You are going to learn, I’ll teach you, open your mouth."
"But how?"
"Open your mouth, am I not giving you an order?"

He opened his mouth and started to sing Lua Branca (White Moon), the first hymn, which was received in the jungle of Peru. Then he started to receive more. The three first hymns were already enough, repeating them, to sing the whole night. (...) Then he asked the Queen to also grant to his companions this space to receive hymns. It was then that Germano received his first and then Antônio Gomes his first. And it changed then, with Germano having three, Antônio Gomes with three, Maria Damião with three and we are going to suppose this way: João Pereira with three and Mestre with three or four. Then it made a much bigger set of hymns; they were already being sung the whole night.

Luiz Mendes do Nascimento

***

The Puxadoras - Relying [the doctrine] on a great number of illiterate and half-illiterate -- including Mestre Irineu himself -- Percília Matos da Silva, raised by him since childhood, received the task of writing down all the hymns received by the followers in small notebooks, in an activity known as to “look after the hymns”. According to her own reports Percília would have great easiness in the songs memorization and because of this she was always summoned by Raimundo Irineu Serra and other followers to accompany them to a silent and empty place in order to witness the spiritual birth of the hymns -- that in the case of the receiver be previously warned by supernatural entities concerning the new hymn that was about to come. That kind of assistance culminated with the receipt of the spiritual rank “Taió Ciris Midam”, given to Percília by Mestre, in obedience to the Queen of the Forest.

For that same reason Percília also received the task of intoning the hymns in the original form as they had been received from the astral, singing the first verse, during the works, before the entrance of all the voices. Although it was and still is a satisfaction, and even an obligation of all the participants the practice of the collective singing in one single voice, some women started to be responsible so that the singing would start tuned and in accordance with the original form presented by the hymns' receiver. To the ones who filled this task was given the name “puxante” and later on “puxadora”.

Lucas Kastrup Fonseca Rehen - Recebido e Ofertado - A natureza dos hinos na religião do Santo Daime.

***

O Cruzeiro

In fact, the hinário O Cruzeiro Universal* is composed by 129** hymns. The elders affirm that there are three other hymns, only music, which means, the lyrics exists, but it is only known by few. Other version is that the lyrics never existed and in this case Mestre Irineu would have received only the hymns' music.

Jaime Wanner

*Mestre's hinário has some different names running the several centers, not having a final title. In fact, most of the old hinários were named by the followers, after the receiver's death, which can vary from region and lineage.
**In Luiz Mendes personal account he tell us about the hymn 52 of the O Cruzeiro, "I completed my cross with one hundred and thirty two flowers. Then many understand that he was already predicting the quantity of hymns that would be part of the CRUZEIRO. No! He didn't foresee this. It was in the succession of hymns that it reached 132. When he received this hymn he sang of this way: "I completed my cross / With fifty two flowers / If there is some one in excess / You add my love." When he received the next, Virgem Mãe Divina (Divine Virgin Mother), he sang: "I completed my cross / With fifty three flowers / If there is some one in excess / You add my love." And so on and so forth, until reaching one hundred and thirty two flowers.

***

There are very good research papers about the doctrine. I believe that it was from a video, hearing Mrs. Percília, who was the caretaker of Mestre’s hinário that I, for the first time, knew that she was for responsible person for the hymns annotations. Mestre was during much time illiterate and even though he ended up reading a lot, even accompanying the studies of the “Esoteric Circle”, he wrote little and not very well. The only writing that I ever saw from him, till today was his signature.

It is logical that it does not validate or invalidate anything... It is only a detail. But it was Mrs. Percília, who passed away not long ago and from whom there are audio and video records, who wrote Mestre's hinário book. Even she never explained about the [3] hymns that lack, for example...

She accounts that Mestre received the hymns, then he would call her and sing it. She had to write it down soon and to remind of everything, because even Mestre would forget some parts and often asking of her, “how was it really?” For our luck, and probably by the work of the Divine, she had excellent memory. Mrs. Percília didn’t assign no caretaker for the hinários that she had under her guard but I believe that this notebook [O Cruzeiro] still exists and that it could possibly be in Mestre’s memorial... I just don’t know if it has a name...

Jaime Wanner

***

In the book "O Mensageiro" (The Messenger), of Luiz Carlos de Carvalho Teixeira de Freitas, he talks about these hymns that are not in Mestre’s hinário. According to his researches they were not normal hymns but calls that he did not teach to everybody, because they could go around singing and whistling these calls for no reason. He just taught Mrs. Percília and his penultimate wife [Mrs. Raimunda] for them to use in the moment in which the work was really heavy.

Marcus Mantovanelli

***

Percília Matos speaks about "O Cruzeiro"
SANTO DAIME: A LIVE SACRAMENT, A RELIGION IN THE MAKING - Ph.D. Thesis - Isabela Oliveira

The other existing hymns in the religion received by the adepts are perceived as messages that relate to this original indoctrinarian core and are also legitimized through the instructions present in the hinário "O Cruzeiro". Illustrating this theme, we have the life story of Mr. Wilson Carneiro; one of those who received from Mestre Irineu the mission to distribute the Daime to patients at home, which became, in the understanding of the followers of this type of activity, a spiritual emergency room.

Through various cures achieved by patients in the care provided by Mr. Wilson, he became notorious as a great healer. According to him, at the beginning of these works he did not sang hymns, offering only the Daime to the patient. However, over time, he began to sing the hymns of the sister Maria Marques Vieira, known as Maria Damião, contemporary of Mr. Irineu. When she acknowledged the fact, Mrs. Percília Matos presented the following explanation, which contributes to the understanding of the symbolic importance of the hymns of "O Cruzeiro" in the context of the religion [doctrine]. This way it was said by Mrs. Percília to Mr. Wilson [103]:

Look, you started by the tip of the branch (referring to the fact that he was singing the hymns of Mrs. Maria Marques). We have to get started by the trunk, because the trunk is "O Cruzeiro". Then you have the first branch, which is Germano. First is the trunk, then Germano, after comes Antônio Gomes, then João Pereira. The fifth is Maria Marques, who's there on the tip of the foliage, which was where you got it. You held yourself in the tip of the foliage.

Through this account, it clearly shows the importance of the knowledge present in the hinário of Mestre Irineu for the followers. He is the trunk. The other hinários are the branches, or even tree leaves, when we think of recent hinários.

103 - At the time of this research, Mr. Wilson had already passed away . The narrative presented here was collected by the anthropologist Geovânia Barros da Cunha, in 1993, and by her it was kindly given to me, from her personal archives, to be included in this thesis.

***

The Cruzeiro Universal (Univeral Cross)

According to Mrs. Percília Matos da Silva, caretaker of Mestre Irineu’s hinário, the title
left by him for his hinário was "O Cruzeiro". However, through a dialogue over time, especially with the founder’s own hymns, surges an understanding that his hinário could also be called "O Cruzeiro Universal”. This expression, for example, is present in Mestre Irineu’s own hinário, in the hymn #97 - “Centenário”, which says: "(...) I completed a centennial, in the Universal Cross..."

I also noticed, in my experience in the religion [doctrine], the hinário "O Cruzeiro" be called "Santo Cruzeiro", a term which refers to shared understanding among the followers that the hymns left by the founder are holy, which once again illustrates the broad process of redefinition in the formation of different meanings of the Santo Daime.

SANTO DAIME: A LIVE SACRAMENT, A RELIGION IN THE MAKING - Ph.D. Thesis - Isabela Oliveira.

***

43 – O Prensor (from the hinário O Cruzeiro – Mestre Irineu)

He received this hymn in a concentration while in Vila Ivonete, around the beginning of the 40s. Then, when he received that hymn, it was during the pick of the concentration. He got up, put a brother in the work's presidency and left. He called his wife, Mrs. Raimunda and asked her to call me. Then he sang the whole hymn (...). When the concentration came to its end he sang it for everybody to hear, for everybody to learn soon. Look, in this time, was at the time of an armed conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay*.

It was such a terrifying situation over there and we only knew about the news. From this day on, in which the hymn came, everything calmed down; got back to zero. He told that on his work he spiritually went there; in the middle of the battle. According to him it was a rain of bullets, back and forth, while hitting him and falling to the ground. He was there, spiritually, when the hymn arrived to control things; the force to dominate the rebelliousness that was too much (...). The truth is my son that this is just one of the representations that we have to bring forth and of the several hymns that exists, each one brings a reference.

Percília Matos da Silva - from the book Contos da Lua Branca - Florestan Neto.

*The war between Bolivia and Paraguay that occurred in this described historical period was the boarder’s war denominated as Del Chaco War (1933-1935). In the period described by Mrs. Percília (1940s) also begins the 2nd World War, which much commotion provoked in the spiritual world.

***

Today it can be difficult to differentiate the hymns “received from Astral” from the so called “made up” hymns, considering perhaps these last ones ritual songs more like human tools and less as divine instructions.

I personally had the opportunity to “go through” my own hinário with Madrinha Percília, and besides some words that she modified, I received the explanation that the hymns of a hinário should keep to each other a progressive relation of personal growth, an ascending order, and therefore hymns that review previous approaches of the own person (perhaps this being a very subconscious understanding) should be discarded, or forgotten; non cultivated. And she mentioned that João Pereira himself, whose hinário is one of the main of Mestre, had thirty hymns suppressed by him [Mestre] when they were revised.

Madrinha Percília’s Hinário is limited to fifteen hymns, what does remind us that the one of Madrinha Rita has just twenty five, the one of Madrinha Peregrina has eleven, nevertheless they are unimportant hinários or less fundamental. In terms of content, regarding hinários, sometimes “less” hymns speak “louder”, or they provide better practical result than to be responsible for a set of many hymns. This expression’s economy, however, seems to be little observed at the present time, when we know of individuals who own several hundreds of hymns (sometimes even subdivided in several hinário books). In the time of Mestre, and that does not mean to refer to an “archaic time” or a time of “drought”, to receive a hymn was not only a spiritual responsibility but also a proof, and the ones who would call themselves hymns’ owners were proved in the Daime, being called by Mestre to sing and dance their respective hinários “in the force” of this communion, without hinário books as support, pulling it off from the core of their soul the memory, the harmony and the hymns rhythm, what did not give margin to “made up” hymns to remain in the fraternity.

When someone would go through the “vexation” of not managing to present properly the lyric of a hymn that one declared to have received, this “line of truth” showed how much the detachment and the humility are natural requisites of the spiritual growth and that avidity attitudes, pride or auto-promotion through the hymns are little recommendable for induce (and in many cases lead) to the mistake or to the ideological falsification. The Daime is a mysterious teacher who many times “gives line to then strap it into the fishhook”, and because of this the great concern among Mestre’s old followers in observing the recommendations that he orally left. Mrs. Percília herself would question her own hymns, as shows a section of the interview conducted by Clodomir Monteiro regarding the hymn that presents her as Taio Ciris Midam:

Clodomir “Did you receive this hymn inside the miração?”
Percília “Yes, it was inside the miração...I had such a fever in that day!”
Clodomir “And was it an entity saying that to you?”
Percília “I listened to it but I didn’t see; I listened to the music....And when I realized I was already singing it”
Clodomir “That you were indeed this entity...”
Percília “Yes... Taio Ciris Midam...”
Clodomir “And everyone in Alto Santo recognizes that you really are Ciris Midam...”
Pedro (her husband) “Because Mestre himself acknowledged it... revised the hymn… your higher self...”
Percília “Yes, my higher self... then it means that I am of the same family... of Midam... isn’t that right?
Clodomir “You are linked to his other half...”
Percília “Yes... that’s correct”
Clodomir “Indeed, one is Jura and the other is Midam; the masculine and the feminine...”
Percília “It was revised together with Mestre...”

Eduardo Bayer -- from the website www.hinarios.blogspot.com.

***

General comment about the New Hymns -- Cruzeirinho of Mestre Irineu.

Inside his last hymns, the New Hymns, which starts in the hymn 'Dou Viva a Deus Nas Alturas' and finishes in the hymn 'Pisei na Terra Fria', is him lecturing [Mestre]; it is a lecture given by him. It is him doing an explanation as if it was an end of the work’s lecture. A brother once spoke of this way,

“Padrinho, why when you finish a work you don’t lecture, as well as the believer do; the pastor does?”
He answered of this way,
“We don’t work with the Bible here. We work with the conscience. I believe in the Bible but I don’t work with the Bible in hand. My Bible is the Daime and the hymns”
He still said,
“These New Hymns are my message that I am leaving here. That’s it, this is my lecture”
You see, the New Hymns are the summary of Mestre’s teachings.

Pedro Domingos da Silva -- from the book Contos da Lua Branca, by Florestan Neto.

***

Hymn 126 from O Cruzeiro - Flôr das Águas

"This hymn was presented in the concentration, and he [Mestre] went... it had many brothers and sisters around of him, and he went and asked the following: "Where is the heart of the world?” Then one looked at the other, the other looked at another... Nobody said anything in that moment. They didn’t know. Then Mestre went and said, “The heart of the world is the sea”.

Then I heard it from up close. I expected a person of this way, older, to answer it for him, but I also didn’t know, no. I said to myself, “I am going to wait in order to know where it is? It is the sea”.

Nonato Mendes -- Luzeiro da Manhã, Bujari – Acre (From the book Contos da Lua Branca -- Florestan Neto)

***

Diversão (Entertainment) 06, of Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra.
Commented by Juarez Duarte Bomfim

06 - Trabalhador (Worker)

Quem quiser ser bem querido
Seja bom trabalhador
Para viver neste mundo
É preciso ter amor

Trá lá, lá, lá,
Trá lá, lá, lá.

(Whoever wants to be well esteemed
Be a good worker
To live in this world
One needs to have love

Tra la, la, la,
Tra la, la, la.)

This is the sixth and last entertainment of Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra, and it was introduced by one of his disciples in the set of songs that are sung during the intervals of the hinários for an amusement, a moment of joy, an entertainment.

It is said that one of the favorite places of Mestre Irineu to pray and to meditate in the Angelus' Hour (the time to pray the Hail Mary –- 06am, 12pm and 06pm) was in a coffee plantation next to his residence; a place that displayed the propitious conditions for the meditative solitude of a God seeker. That place became known in the Vila Irineu Serra as the “Cafezal do Mestre” (Mestre's Coffee Plantation), a sacred place for his devotees and afterwards profaned by the privatization and the access interdiction by means of the high walls of the house of a new and insensitive tenant of the town, who vetoed to the countless disciples of Mestre Irineu the own contemplation of the significant site.

Mestre's coffee plantationSome photos of the Cafezal, in the Vila Irineu Serra, also known as Alto Santo, surrounded by countless species of plants, trees and also Jagube and Queen in profusion, which most of it was planted by the hands of Mestre.

Mestre Irineu Serra stimulated among his friends and companions -- residents in the colony Seringal Espalhado, today the Vila Irineu Serra –- the solidary and collective / communitarian labor, these ones being common and frequent cooperative working relations between friends and neighbors in the Brazilian rural area and urban popular districts.

Mestre Irineu Serra himself only partially accepted the solidary work regime, because as a man of possessions he always financially remunerated the needful ones.

It was in the coffee plantation the rendezvous point for the gathering of the labor groups that took care and cultivated the land. Mestre Irineu was always the first one to arrive, and even when his companions made an effort to surprise him -- like when agreeing to clean the land or do any other work without previously communicating him -- Mestre always knew, and to the agreed location he would head earlier, waiting for them.

Mestre's coffee plantationIn one occasion, when Francisco Grangeiro Filho was heading there, upon Mestre seeing him walking towards his direction, he started to sing,

"Whoever wants to be well esteemed
Be a good worker
To live in this world
One needs to have love"

Followed by the chorus:

"Tra la, la, la,
Tra la, la, la."

And the one that should be a tiring and sweating morning of arduous work, in the scorching and humid city of Rio Branco, became a great party, in the happy celebration of the friendship and of the companionship inside that fraternity.

Lucky is the one who has the privilege of acquaintanceship with the Master, because his routine will be always of celebration, always happy. In a certain occasion they asked of Jesus,

“Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?”
“And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast”

Jesus compares himself to the engaged husband, who celebrates the wedding with his friends -- the celebration of God’s alliance with mankind, who sent his son in order to save us.

Many years later that same faithful disciple of Mestre Irineu, Chico Grangeiro -- a great Mestre’s storyteller -- was at the same coffee plantation, plowing the land and waiting for the arrival of the friend Tufi Rachid Amim. When seeing his approach, he recalls this song, singing it as in a greeting to the companion. Just after singing the song he narrated to him this significant story: the special moment of the receiving of this entertainment by Mestre Irineu.

Mestre's coffee plantation

In that moment surges the idea of inserting this simple and fun song in the entertainments’ set. The proposal was formulated by Tufi and accepted by the leaders of the Free Center. As of this day, the calling to be engaged in the good combat, to be an estimate child of the Virgin Lady Mother and to live in this world with love is sung in the countless free centers dispersed on earth, which exist towards the benefit of our brothers and sisters.

***

74 – Só Eu Cantei na Barra (Mestre Irineu)
Commented by Juarez Duarte Bomfim [edited]

The story of the receiving of this hymn is linked to the passage of Antônio Gomes, which occurred three days later. Antonio Gomes, very sick, foresaw the moment of his “journey” and asked to call padrinho Irineu in order to give him a solution, as he was afraid of the death. This way tells us his grandchild, Walcírio Gomes da Silva:

“Oh boy, what do I do Irineu? I am afraid, I have no comfort. I know that I am going to die”
It was when padrinho Irineu said,
“Take it easy! I am going to give you an answer, but not now”

Then padrinho Irineu went home and drank the Daime for... because in those times the person arrived with some problem and he would drink a Daime, and would go “up there” in search of the cure, you see... he would bring it back in any possible way; the cure. But he drank the Daime and then the hymn came: Só Eu Cantei Na Barra (I Sang Alone in the Bar). (...) Padrinho Irineu went to where my grandfather was and then he said,

“I brought the answer that I owed you”

When padrinho Irineu sang the hymn, the comfort arrived for Antonio Gomes. He understood; he comprehended the message. It was a great word of solace for him. In the moment of his passage Antonio Gomes gathered the family, the whole fraternity, and asked for everyone to pray:

“Start to pray, to pray...”

As the people were praying the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the dying elder, as a zealous patriarch, still had forces to reprehend,

“There are people who are not praying!”

Invigorated the prayers, Antonio Gomes -- one of the first companions of Mestre -- serenely left for the spiritual world as in the mahasamadhi of a great yogi. The hymn starts with a common "invocation" to the ayahuasca tradition, where the idea of "bar" is recurrent.

I sang alone on the bar
And thus made it shake

And then, the signification of bar -- the entrance of a harbor; wave breakpoint bars; River mouth; heavy clouds that arises in the horizon –- whichever the meaning, always brings the idea of limit; of border. The bar in this hymn can have the oneiric sense, ontological, of the travel to the holy sea, in the boat of the souls, the individual travel to the other side; the great detachment. And the hymn follows affirming the continuity of life in this other side, fruit of the divine grace,

If you want life I give it to you
Because nobody wants to die

Death is very simple
Thus I am going to tell you
I compare death
It’s the same as being born

After one dies
Firmness in the heart
If God gives you permission
Return to another incarnation

On earth as it is in heaven
Is everyone’s opinion
If one doesn’t prepare the ground
The spirit remains wandering

***


Hymn 107 - I called there in the heights,
of the hymnbook O Cruzeiro of Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra and commented by Juarez Duarte Bomfim

107 - I called there in the heights

I called there in the heights
For the Divine to hear me
My Mother answered me
Oh! My Son I am here

My Mother, come with me
Forever Eternal Light
So I can sign
Forever the Holy Cross

This Cross of the firmament
That radiates the Holy Light
All who firm in it
It is forever, amen Jesus

***

the history of the receiving of this hymn by Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra is related to the life and death of another ayahuasquero master: Daniel Pereira de Mattos, the Friar Daniel, founder of the Centro Espírita e Culto de Oração “Casa de Jesus Fonte de Luz” – The Barquinha - created in the decade of 1940 in the rural zone of the city of Rio Branco, in the rubber plantation Santa Cecília, today a district of Vila Ivonete.
Daniel Pereira de Mattos - Frei DanielDaniel Pereira de Mattos - the Friar Daniel - the founder of The Barquinha.

Of Daniel Pereira de Mattos we known that he was born on July 13 of 1888 in a slaves' farm called São Sebastião de Vargem Grande, in the country of Maranhão state and that belonged to Brazilian Military Navy. Besides that, being a very skilful man, of him is told that he knew how to perform twelve tasks: he was a naval builder, a cook, musician, barber, tailor, carpenter, joiner, artisan, poet, mason, shoemaker and baker.

When setting residence in the city of Rio Branco Daniel became known as a restless bohemian of the Papôco district, at the margins of the Acre River – an area of prostitution and frequented by sailors and bohemian people in general.

Daniel composed musical pieces that talked about love, passion and of the search for the beloved woman; a music that flowed through his fingers to the guitar declaring passion for the night and for the serenades that inebriated the adepts of music and sugar cane rum.

When finding himself sick, with liver problems due to the alcohol abuse, he started being treated and cared by his fellow citizen, Raimundo Irineu Serra, founder of the Santo Daime doctrine. The treatment started in 1936, being interrupted by Daniel when he found himself with better health. He went back to the alcohol and, once again sick, he was summoned by the generous and patient friend Irineu Serra to start a new treatment for the re-establishment of his physical and spiritual health.

Daniel became one of Mestre Irineu Serra’s disciples, now known as the “Mestre’s barber”, playing his violin in the spiritual concentration works instituted by Irineu Serra.

Already residing in the colony Custódio Freire, the today Vila Irineu Serra (Alto Santo), Mestre also transferred his works to the same location. At the end of a Concentration work, being tired on his way home, Daniel fell asleep at the margins of the São Francisco creek. And he had dream, a vision: the descent from the heavens of two angels that, by the order of the Virgin of Conception delivered to him a Blue Book and talked about the accomplishment of a mission.

This was Daniel Pereira de Mattos’ “first death”, and of this experience and revelation he was reborn as a mystic and devote of San Francis of the Wounds. The vision of the Blue Book by Daniel can be interpreted as the first teaching of the new doctrine. Each page of this book was and continues to be in the form of received musical instructions (psalms), and the blue color of the book represents the sky from where comes revelations of our Father of goodness, of the Virgin Holy Mother and of the Divine Beings of the Celestial Court.

The spiritual works of Mestre Daniel Pereira de Mattos with the Daime lasted for twelve years (1946-1958). Daniel built a rustic little house of adobe and wood, similar to a rubber plantation’s small house: it was the Saint Francis’ Little Chapel. There he received the praising psalms and instructions derived from the sacred realms – the Superior Astral. In this space was started the assistance work denominated “Charity Works”. At the beginning he was sought by rubber tappers and hunters of the region, along with their families. Little after, tenants of the urban area of Rio Branco also started to look for him.

Daniel went from this life to the eternity inside the Daime feitio house on September 8th of 1958, at 4:30pm, at the beginning of the pilgrimage of San Francis of the Wounds. His body was placed inside the church, over the concrete table that was still under construction.

I called there in the heights
For the Divine to hear me
My Mother answered me
Oh! My Son I am here

Returning to the story of the receiving of the hymn 107 – “I called there in the heights”, by Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra, it is told that on the day of the deathwatch and funeral of Friar Daniel, inside the Saint Francis Little Chapel itself, was that, during the deathwatch, Mestre Irineu received this hymn and the calling of the entities of the Astral - common to the ayahuasca tradition - as an invocation to the Always Virgin Mary, who promptly attends: “Oh! My Son I am here”.

This Cross of the firmament
That radiates the Holy Light
All who firm in it
It is forever, amen Jesus

It is in the final stanza that one of the most beautiful images of Christendom is materialized in the verses of this song and in the hyperconsciousness of the vision: A majestic and luminous cross involving, in the firmament, Our lord Jesus Christ.

At the end of Mestre Daniel Pereira de Mattos' funeral the giant Irineu Serra, having to his side the teeny Percília Matos da Silva and his companions, came home, to the sacred land of Alto Santo, singing this hymn to be presented to the whole fraternity.

***

“O Lindo Daime” is the sixth hymn of the hinário “Centenário”, received by Luiz Mendes do Nascimento. Luiz was in a work in the living room of Mestre Irineu’s house. At an intermission, in the force, he heads towards the door, sit on the stairs and mirando look for the yard and six golden palms, like “palm leaves”, were presented to him. Luiz hears a voice that asks him to choose one of the palms, letting him know that they were hymns. He looks from end to end and all the palms were of equal beauty. Luiz was in doubt about which one to choose. The voice orders him again: “Choose one”. And he did. “I want that.” When the palm was revealed, it came with the music and the lyrics of the hymn.

The beautiful Daime
See how it is
It’s a wonderful thing
For all having faith

I ask my Master
Inside of my heart
The Holy Light
Of the Virgin of Conception

Affirm yourself in God
In concentration
For you will have
The holy Blessing

Florestan Neto, from the site www.luizmendes.org.

***

Hymn 17 - My Divine Father in Heaven (Confession)
Of the hymnbook O Cruzeiro of Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra

Sergio Augusto: What did the Church think? Did any priests or nuns come to visit Mestre Irineu?
Raimundo Gonçalves: The priests came here in 1978.
Sergio Augusto: Seventy-one? [He corrects the mistake on the date]
Raimundo Gonçalves: Yes, on Peregrina's birthday, July 14. But they also talked with Mestre.
Marisa Fontana: Were they invited or did they come in order to get to know the works?
Raimundo Gonçalves: No, they came: Father Pacífico and the one who died afterwards in the Church of St. Agnes -- a short, fat priest. They came here to talk to Mestre Irineu, that they wanted to participate, to see one of his works. Mestre then said, -- "The thing is we don't have any works right now. Not at this moment, but I am going to hold a work for you on a birthday that is coming up". So Mrs. Peregrina hinário was sung and her birthday became part of the official calendar.
Marisa Fontana: Uh huh.
Raimundo Gonçalves: It was to show them how the works were here. Then he called uncle Leôncio, -- "Leôncio, I will not be present at the session on the 14th. You will be in charge of this work at the Headquarters, and it will be official, Peregrina's hinário. We are expecting two priests, and I want you to receive them and treat them very well."
Guido Carioca: On the same year he died, right?
Raimundo Gonçalves: It was, he died on the sixth!
Guido Carioca: That's right.
Raimundo Gonçalves: He said, -- "I am not sure if I'll be there" -- He already knew, right? That he would not be there with us. But he laid out everything for uncle Leôncio; first to make it happen, he organized everything with care. When he finished, he passed away.
Guido Carioca: He had said before to Mrs. Percília that when the [Catholic] Church began to get to know his work he would be close to his passing, didn't he?
Raimundo Gonçalves: That's right.
Marisa Fontana: Then they came [the priests]. Do you remember this work to which they came?
Raimundo Gonçalves: Yes, I do.
Marisa Fontana: And did they comment on anything?
Raimundo Gonçalves: Boy, they were there and talked a lot with uncle Leôncio and Major Oderne*. Major Oderne was there and he helped uncle Leôncio to explain things to them, and Major Oderne was from their circle, wasn't he?

*Major Oderne -- from research by Moonvine, this is most likely a corruption of the word "Holdernes", with the pronunciation Roldérne / Odérne, from "Major Holdernes Maia", who was cured by the Daime from cirrhosis and became one of the greatest defenders of Mestre Irineu in Rio Branco. He ascended to the rank of Army Major and became a Military Advisor to the Acre Government. In this way arose one of the most effective shields against the persecutions to which Mestre Irineu was subjected. (OVEJERO, 1996, p. 55-57).

Marisa Fontana: Uh huh.
Raimundo Gonçalves: He belonged to society, but he was also part of us here.
Marisa Fontana: Uh huh.
Raimundo Gonçalves: There he made an effort with uncle Leôncio to explain a bit about us, showing how everything was, how Mestre did things, how he started, everything. Major Oderne is a person who, now I am not sure if he will still have the memory to explain everything, but he is a person with great knowledge of Mestre Irineu; more than me. Because he was able to write the chronicle of Mestre Irineu to be broadcast on the radio for the public to be told who Mestre Irineu was in this life. So, he has stored a lot of material from Mestre Irineu. But I am not sure if he will still have the memory to share these things now.
Marisa Fontana: Uh huh.
Raimundo Gonçalves: So, the three of them talked a lot and they explained everything to the priests, and then they went away content, they left. Afterwards we heard the news that they had recorded the Confession hymn; they took it with them to the church.
Marisa Fontana: They recorded the Confession hymn?
Raimundo Gonçalves: They did. In a sense, when it was ten o'clock there, there was not a living soul in sight at the convent; everyone was listening to the tape.
Marisa Fontana: Uh huh.
Raimundo Gonçalves: Then they said that this hymn was the true confession.
Marisa Fontana: The true hymn of the Confession?
Raimundo Gonçalves: Uh huh. It was the only true confession, there was no other.

Interview with Mr. Raimundo Gonçalves do Nascimento [brother of Mrs. Peregrina Gomes Serra] on October 23, 1994 -- Department of Historical Heritage of Acre State / Elias Mansour Foundation. English review by Moonvine.

***

Barbara - How old were you at that time?
Maria Martins - I was about twenty-five years old.
Barbara - Twenty-five?
Maria Martins - Perhaps a little older.
Guido Carioca - At that time, was the hymn "My Divine Father in Heaven" sung as a confession or was it sung like the others?
Maria Martins - It was as a confession.
Guido Carioca - With candle in hand and everything?
Maria Martins - Yes, but we did not sing with candle in hand that time. It was sung along with the hymnbook, but that does not matter right? It's the same thing with or without candle, it makes no difference. What I know is that I cried a lot when they sang "My Divine Father in Heaven". Then he came [Mestre] and said, "Do not cry, my daughter. Do not cry so as not to disrupt the rosary".
Guido Carioca - They lived at Vila Ivonete, and then, when they came here to this location, to Custódio Freire [Alto Santo], his hymnbook was at which hymn? Do you remember at which hymn was Mestre's hymnbook?
Maria Martins - No, I don't.
Barbara - You do not remember the hymn?
Maria Martins - As far as I remember it was the hymn "Daddy Samuel". He sang it at Vila Ivonete. He was about to move here, and now I cannot remember if he received yet another.
Barbara - Yes, it was at that time.
Maria Martins - They would cry every time Mestre sang that hymn.
Barbara - "Daddy Samuel?"
Maria Martins - Uh huh.
Guido Carioca - What do you remember?
Maria Martins - It was the people who cried, not me. I was never a crybaby, no. I only cried that one time, but what could I do? Our soul is guilty on the first occasion, right? We have sinned, so, to listen to a confession like that is hard, it is heavy, it is God and we have to be moved.

Interview with Maria Martins Monteiro on July 25, 1993, in Mestre's coffee plantation. Department of Historical Heritage of Acre State / Elias Mansour Foundation. English review by Moonvine.

Audio

My Divine Father in Heaven / Confession (3X standing)

My Divine Father in Heaven
Sovereign Creator
I am a son of yours
In this sinful world

My Divine Father in Heaven
My Sovereign Lord
Forgive my faults
By Thy Holy love

My Divine Father in Heaven
Sovereign Almighty
Forgive my faults
And may Thou forgive the innocents

I confess my sins
And I recognize my crimes
I ask Thee for forgiveness
To My Divine Lord God

Three Our Father and three Hail Mary intercalated; one Hail Holy Queen; Praised be God in the heights, may our Mother, the Most Holy Mary, be forever praised above all humanity, amen. By the sign of the Holy Corss...

***

Hymn 57 - I Invite My Brothers
Of the hymnbook O Cruzeiro of Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra

Antônio Alves - Another thing, he has a hymn that says: "Dreams are a truth equal to the light of day, observe in this world the dream of the Virgin Mary". Did he talk a lot about dreams?
Dona Veriana - He did.
Antônio Alves - Do you remember anything he said about dreams, did he explain anything about them?
Dona Veriana - He said it was just like the miração. It is the Daime that is giving vision to our dreams.
Antônio Alves - That is what happens with me sometimes.
Dona Veriana - Right, because many dreams that you have are a miração.

Interview with Dona Veriana da Silva Brandão. Department of Historical Heritage of Acre State / Elias Mansour Foundation. English review by Moonvine.

***

"He said that he went everywhere in his sleep. He said there wasn't a day which dawned without him knowing everything that was going on. He watched over us all". Mestre Irineu's hymnbook itself confirms the importance of dreams: "Dreams are a truth equal to the light of day". [Zulmira Gomes]

This concern to care for his followers was demonstrated on several occasions. When a brother-in-law of Irineu was drafted to fight for the Brazilian troops during World War II, several sessions were held for his benefit. He even received a hymn in which he asked the Virgin Mary to defend the innocent of all that terror. The brother-in-law was eventually discharged and returned to Manaus, without ever leaving for the European battlefields.
He had the same detachment in dealing with property. His land stretched from Alto Santo to as far as where the Industrial District is today. Each family that arrived without having a place to live, Irineu asked to occupy this land. Afterwards he would regulate the situation with the Department of Agriculture. He promoted cooperative labor to cultivate the land.

O Rio Branco gazette, July 11, 1984, Pg. 4. Department of Historical Heritage of Acre State / Elias Mansour Foundation. English review by Moonvine.

I Invite My Brothers

I invite my brothers and sisters
Who want to accompany me
For us to sing a little
On this Christmas Night

I invite my brothers and sisters
To sing with joy
For us to celebrate
Jesus Son of Mary

I invite my brothers and sisters
Each and every one who wants to
For us to celebrate
Jesus, Mary and Joseph

My Ever Virgin Mother
Thou can only rejoice
Because we all ask
That Thou help us

Dreams are a truth
Equal to the light of day
Observe in this world
The dream of the Virgin Mary

My Divine Lord God
May Thou give me the Holy Light
So that I can celebrate forever
The day in which Jesus was born