70 years of Spiritist Weeks

It was in 1939, in the city of Três Rios, in Rio Janeiro state, that the Spiritist Weeks appeared. According to the testimony of an eyewitness, the confrere Antenor de Souza, the inspiration for the event came from some confreres, such as Assis Faria, Cerqueira and others, who decided to make a series of lectures from Sunday to Sunday.

Differently from the current format, the Spiritist Weeks were much more fraternal that time. Every activity was preceded by the anthem "Christian Joy ". By suggestion and work of Leopoldo Machado, theatre plays were performed and, according to the original idea, every city assumed the commitment of having Spiritist Week annually. Then the confreres from Cruzeiro (SP), Nova Iguaçu (RJ), Macaé (RJ), Juiz de Fora (MG), Três Rios (RJ) and later Astolfo Dutra (MG) started promoting them, although they did not have the support from the Brazilian Spiritist Federation. (The interview in which Antenor de Souza talks about the Spiritist Weeks can be seen on: http://www.oconsolador.com.br/11/entrevista.html.)

Thus, an important date is celebrated this year in the Brazilian Spiritist calendar.

Those Spiritists who have already participated of a Spiritist Week know what we are talking about, given that many are the ones who have been introduced to Spiritism exactly because of the Spiritist Weeks. 

Therefore, we could say that a Spiritist Week constitutes a fertile period of recycling and even learning to all of us that work in the Spiritist Centers, not to mention the encouragement to fraternization, since it is during the Spiritist Week we have the chance to meet friends from other centers who we rarely see because of the busy routine everybody has in the Spiritist Movement. 

A Spiritist speech, even being simple, always brings us something new to add to our usual studies. If it is not related to the subject, it can be related to the method, the means or the way the speaker presents his work. 

In Londrina, where one more Spiritist Week has been concluded last Sunday, we could verify this reality again, despite the fact that many fellows from their own host Spiritist Center do not understand that such a period is an additional opportunity to learn and not a mere holiday. 

We hope that the Spiritist Weeks keep happening and that similar events are created. This is what we wish in tribute to the pioneers who have started this fortunate idea 70 years ago.