My Experiences with Jesus Lived in Faith

My Experiences with Jesus Lived in Faith is the intense and extraordinary autobiographical account of the life of a woman in love with Jesus, Ana Rita Otaviano Tavares De Melo (known as Mãezinha), and of the Community of the Servants of Mary of the Heart of Jesus. This book recounts, firsthand, the spiritual experiences of Ana Rita and her husband, José Tavares. Through sincere and compelling pages, the author shares her journey of faith with Christ and the Most Holy Virgin, showing how the Lord guided her and her husband step by step in founding the Community: although they were successful entrepreneurs, they had always given priority to love and charity toward the poor. This disposition prepared them to trustingly accept the calling they received in 1995 to assist the poor and the sick, eventually leading them to found the Community. The book is enriched by testimonies from bishops around the world, who offer profound thanks to the Lord for all the good this Community is able to do and for the extraordinary humility and compelling strength with which Mãezinha lives and spreads the love of God. As Archbishop João José Costa emphasizes, the book offers meditations that invite readers to reflect on their own lives: Ana Rita is, in fact, a living demonstration of the action of God’s grace and goodness. She teaches us that he acts fully through our littleness when we place greater trust in him than in our own abilities. Mãezinha’s spiritual director, Father Lorenzo D'Andrea, writes in the foreword: “The experiences of faith recounted in this book are true, and I hope they will be helpful and inspiring to all who read it.”