Odette Vidal de Oliveira

Despite the extremely affluent environment in which she grew up, Odette manifested from a very young age an exceptional love for the poor and the marginalized. She refused the privileges of her status: she insisted on eating her meals at the same table as the house cooks and the chauffeur, invited the servants' daughters to sleep in her bed, and sometimes dressed like them. Anxious not to flaunt her wealth before her classmates at the prestigious Sion College, she regularly asked the family chauffeur to park the car far from the school to finish the journey on foot.

Every Saturday, her family opened the doors of their home to offer food to homeless people. Odette actively participated in these works of mercy, putting on an apron to joyfully serve the meals. She also accompanied her mother on visits to orphanages and constantly asked the household staff never to turn away the poor who knocked at their door without giving them help.

On a spiritual level, from the age of four, Odette maintained intimate and profound dialogues with Jesus. At five, she began attending catechism at the College of the Immaculate Conception. Endowed with a surprising spiritual maturity, she quickly assimilated the truths of the faith and began to teach catechism to the servants' children and her classmates. Her spiritual director and confessor, the Lazarist priest Alphonse Marie Germe, C.M., impressed by her piety, authorized her to make her First Communion on August 15, 1937, when she was only six years old.

On October 1, 1939, Odette fell gravely ill, afflicted with paratyphoid fever (often associated with meningitis). During the 49 days of her painful agony, the young girl demonstrated heroic strength of soul and patience. She never complained and offered all her sufferings "for the missions and for poor children." Her only desire during this trial was to receive Holy Communion daily. In her final days, she also received the sacraments of Confirmation and the Anointing of the Sick. On November 25, 1939, she passed away peacefully at the age of eight, uttering these final words: "Jesus, take me to heaven."

Odette's reputation for holiness spread immediately after her death. During her funeral, a huge crowd accompanied her to the São João Batista cemetery in Botafogo. Her grave quickly became one of the most visited in the cemetery, attracting many faithful who came to seek her intercession. In 2013, her mortal remains were transferred to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Botafogo. The cause for the beatification and canonization of Odette Vidal Cardoso was officially opened at the diocesan level on January 18, 2013, by Cardinal Orani João Tempesta, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro. The diocesan inquiry closed in 2015 and the file was sent to Rome. On November 25, 2021, the 82nd anniversary of her death, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing her heroic virtues, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable. For her beatification to be pronounced, a miracle must be officially recognized by the Church. Among the many graces attributed to her intercession, the postulators are studying in particular the unexplained healing of a woman who was a victim of a severe postpartum hemorrhage, whose imminent death had been pronounced by doctors.

Odetinha's spirituality is centered on a burning love for Jesus in the Eucharist, a filial trust in the Virgin Mary (she recited the rosary daily), and a special devotion to Saint Joseph, whom she felt was too little honored by Christians. Her life testifies to the possibility of holiness lived from childhood through simple yet heroic acts of charity and abandonment to the divine will. The legacy of Odette was also perpetuated through her parents. Deeply marked by their daughter's faith, Alice and Francisco dedicated the rest of their lives and their immense fortune to charitable works. They supported numerous religious congregations and, in accordance with Odette's wish, founded a sustainable social project for the care of orphaned girls, which is still active today.