Marlene Saes (photo) is the founder and one of the directors of the Spiritist Centre A Caminho da Luz (Pathway to Enlightenment), in Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo. The Spiritist Centre carries out a huge and important programme of activities, from helping the poor with food, education and clothing to a profound study of Spiritism and the dissemination of the teachings. Marlene Saes, a mother, grandmother and a worker for the cause of Jesus, has written in trance the book, Insensatos Corações. In this interview she shares her thoughts on life and the work at her Spiritist Centre:

I’m one of the founders and leaders at the Spiritist Centre A Caminho da Luz, which opened its doors 36 years ago. I’m in charge of the aid and charity efforts of our group, looking after 15 nurseries, 6 hostels for children and teenagers, one home for the elderly, an apprenticeship unit and other activities. We attend some 4,000 people every day. We also work on the dissemination of the Spiritist Teachings. For the last five years we have broadcast a weekly programme, which goes on air on the Spiritist Radio Network, Boa Nova, on Wednesdays at 13h00. You can listen online online on www.radioboanova.com.br. I also have a busy family life. I’m the mother of four children and have four grandchildren. But it’s in the family life that I recharge my batteries for my work as a Spiritist volunteer, which makes me so happy. 

How do you balance your work with Spiritism with your family life? 

It is indeed a busy life, but my family is used to that and we do everything with lots of love. Every aspect of our lives is well organised and planned. My children grew up in this rhythm of life and they all work with us. My husband is also in the board of directors of the Spiritist Centre and has been part of this for the last 36 years. True, my life as a mother of small children wasn’t easy, it was truly hectic: taking the children to school, to see doctors, to swimming lessons etc. like all parents do. And I still needed to find the time to carry out my duties at the Spiritist Centre. But our Spiritual Benefactors give us the energy, the good health, the strength once we decide to dedicate our lives to such projects, and everything falls into place in the end. 

We know that the Spiritual Guide of your Spiritist Centre is Luizinho. Can you tell us a bit about him? 

Luisinho disincarnated when he was only 7 years and eight months old, on January 20^th 1972. He lived a very brief life in the flesh. He’d come back to live the remaining years of an incarnation cut short by him in the XIV century. As he explained to us, his main task in this short incarnation was to gather a group of people who needed to fulfil their commitments to charity and mediumship. I had the honour of sharing part of my life with this remarkable spirit as his aunt. And from his very first days I was aware of the greatness of that very special human being.  He returned to us not long after passing away to guide us on the work we were supposed to do. As the Spiritual Guide of our Centre, he outlined the programme of activities for the dissemination of Spiritism, the training of mediums, the support of those in need of spiritual assistance, healing, messages to be written in trance by the mediums etc. Luizinho is our guide, our bigger and greatest brother, who is relentless in his support and guidance to the whole family of A Caminho da Luz. 

To help so many people you need the money, the resources. How do you deal with that aspect of the management of the Spiritist Centre? How do you raise funds? Do you have many donors? 

From when we started our work, 36 years ago, we’ve tried to find many ways of raising funds. We provide poor families with some staple food on a regular basis, and that obviously costs money. In the beginning, we had volunteers who ran courses on painting and arts and crafts. Eventually, the word spread and there was a big demand for our courses. We could then charge for the lessons and raise some money that way. We’ve always held events like charity lunches to raise funds, to pay the rent and carry out our aid and charity work. As more and more people began to come regularly to us, we felt the need to expand. We raised the money to buy our own space. But it has been a long journey, with many challenges. We accept donations from anyone who is willing to help us, bearing in mind that some 6,500 people come to our building every week and that our charity work benefits more than 4,000 people on a daily basis. We do need the resources to carry on. The phone number to contact us is + 55 11 20208888 or + 55 11 29650317. 

Your home for the elderly, named Nosso Lar (Our Home) after a famous Spiritist novel, looks after 100 people. What have you learned from that experience with the elderly? 

It’s a very rewarding experience to have the company of our elderly brothers, who practically put their lives in our hands. A powerful feeling of love grows among all of us and we end up forming a big family. And like in every other family, there are big issues and concerns. We put a lot of resources into the home, which is very costly. Most of them suffer from hypertension and diabetes and require a great deal of medication as well as a balanced diet. We also have a physiotherapy room for the elderly, many of whom live with the impairments caused by strokes or simply physical decay. Working with the elderly is a very emotional job, as they all have remarkable life stories. They get attached to us as we to them. When one of them disincarnates we all in this new family feel the pain of grief. Working with children is planning the future; working with the elderly is living every single day. 

Tell us a bit about the book you’ve written recently through your mediumship, Insensatos Corações. 

For quite some time our Spiritual Guide, Luizinho, has been making the point that we must begin writing, especially works that will bring some enlightenment on issues such as our life as incarnates and our day-to-day challenges. In the end of 2010, I decided to allocate particular days and hours for three months to write the book. I made myself available to the Spiritual World and the book Insensatos Corações was dictated to me. It’s the story a group of spirits who’d been together for many centuries and constructed a history of errors, crimes and vengeance. They were then given another opportunity by Our Lord to rescue themselves from their past of mistakes through mutual forgiveness, reaching real peace in their hearts. The copyright has been donated entirely to the home for the elderly Nosso Lar. 

How does your mediumship manifest?  

Mediumship is a very gratifying experience. As a semiconscious medium, I feel clearly the physical changes as soon as I make the connection with the spirit who’s there to send his message. My heart starts to beat faster. You also feel all the emotions from the spirit; you feel what he’s feeling. And I get so much satisfaction out of that work, as the link, the connection established between the medium and the spirit goes beyond anything we know. 

What are your final thoughts? 

I thank you greatly for the opportunity to talk about the work we do, with so much love and dedication. As anyone who is learning the teachings of the Gospel we are invited on a daily basis to put into practice the lessons of charity. And we look for the strength to carry on in our Master Jesus. I invite you to visit our website, www.centrocaminhodaluz.com.br. Our lectures and speeches at our open meetings are broadcast live on the site every Monday at 19h00 Brazilian time. For those who want to know more specifically about our aid and charity work, I recommend visiting our other website, www.capsnossolar.org.br. I finish by saying that every day we serve Jesus we feel his gentle breeze embracing our souls. And all of those who are willing to join the path of Good could certainly come to feel the same way. Let us do today all the good we can and our lives will be always geared towards great and enlightened goals. Peace be with you.