Olegário Ramos arrived in Garça, in the state of São Paulo, together with his family around 1934. The son of enslaved people, he had benefited from the Law of the Free Womb and was raised by a priest from Rio Claro, with whom he learned the first notions of Spiritism. The priest had perceived something in the boy that in Spiritism we call mediumship. He bought him several copies of the works of Allan Kardec, telling him that this would be his true path. Even after he married, Olegário, his wife and his children never stopped visiting Friar Luiz, as a sign of immense gratitude. When they arrived in Garça, in contact with other people who already identified themselves as Spiritists, Olegário began to hold sessions in his home. And, after some time, the spiritual guide of the work recommended that a Spiritist centre be built. Thus the idea of the Spiritist Centre Peace, Love and Charity was born, founded in 1943. There was no shortage of help from friends. From the outset, Mr Paschoal Boaretto donated the land for the construction of the centre, next to Olegário’s house. Everyone’s effort meant that in a short time the small centre was completed, new and ready for use.

As a Black, poor and Spiritist man, from the moment Olegário arrived in Garça, an open wave of discrimination was directed against him and his family, led by members of the Church and with the consent of the local parish priest. At that time, Catholicism predominated absolutely. One day, the newly built building of Peace, Love and Charity was found completely vandalised, with offensive words written on the walls, attributing Spiritism to the devil. It was a dark moment for the doctrine. Even so, the Spiritists went to the local police station and filed a complaint. Garça did not have a chief commissioner, but Mr Brasil Joly, who was a Spiritist and acting in the role, ordered that those responsible be identified and gave them a deadline to return the centre in the same condition in which they had found it. And so it was done. A few days later, however, a document accusing the Spiritist group of practising witchcraft, quackery and offences against public morals reached the police station. Olegário received a summons to appear before the police authority in the town of Pirajuí, about 50 kilometres from Garça along dirt roads, in the middle of the rainy season. Expecting the worst, riding his horse, he had to face heavy rain during the journey, as well as crossing the Feio River, already very swollen and dangerous.

There were no bridges. Dona Vitória, his wife, remained at home very worried, as days went by without any news of her husband. Because of this delay, together with her daughter Mercedes, they set off for Pirajuí riding a small donkey. Mercedes recounts that the journey was a true odyssey. When they reached the bank of the Feio River, they were frightened by the volume of water flowing rapidly under the intense rain. Even so, determined, they entered the water, running serious risks of death. With great effort (and prayer, naturally), they managed to reach the other bank. When they arrived in Pirajuí, they went straight to a boarding house, where they expected to find her husband, if he had not already been arrested. And, thank God, they found him. Olegário was surprised to see his wife and daughter, unable to understand how they had managed to get there in such bad weather and with the river in full spate. When asked whether he had appeared before the commissioner, Olegário explained that he had feared what might happen to him, but that when he presented himself at the commissioner’s office, he simply said: “Mr Olegário, you are a good man. They say you are a healer. But if you are healing, it is a good thing, because people do not die.”

That reception by the police authority took him by surprise and, not understanding what was happening, he gave thanks for the spiritual protection and returned to the boarding house to wait for the weather to improve. Olegário Ramos died in Garça in 1972, at the age of 106; his wife Vitória lived to 103, and his daughter Mercedes Ramos, who told this account, died at 92. Olegário and Vitória had five children, two daughters and three sons, all now deceased.

Source: Correio News