the luminous blog: ~+++~

Saturday, March 28, 2009

~+++~

JoaoJacintoBorgesPimentel

Music dedicated to Joao Jacinto - by Maria Adelina

>

Joao Jacinto Borges Pimentel
my father

Born in 1934; Married in 1964 to Maria Adelina; Reborn To The Kingdom Of God in 2006...

Joao Jacinto was a hard-working man from the very beginning - laid back, he would do it as his own pace, much to the chagrin of his brothers who were hard-pressed to finish with work so they could go have some fun... Joao Jacinto was not like that - a quiet, taciturn man even as a young man, his only "peche mignon" was wine-tasting - and that was totally understandable as the family made their own wine. He and his brothers worked on their father's land - cultivating vegetables and grapes; and life was plentiful and good. Their father was very strict and even a bit tyrannical on the side though; and so, the three brothers eventually decided to leave it all behind to start from scratch in a new country susceptible of providing sufficient employment: the Americas! In those days, Canada and the USA were just about one and the same in many Europeans' minds... Canada was easier to get into - and so it was the one all of the Exma Sra. Maria Clara's boys went to, at first...
Unfortunately, once there, the three sons forgot all of a sudden who their envious enemies were - to forgive and forget is an admirable thing, but there is a limit to the forgetting part of that equation... Back in Portugal, the Pimentels were the envy of all - everybody else for miles around were jealous that they owned land, were their own bosses and had never, EVER been domestics - as they were. These envious people were sometimes even sort-of related to the Pimentels - via ill-conceived marriages, again - the bane of many a family... Once in a foreign country, all that was forgotten and all the Portuguese immigrants started to hang out together - the 3 Pimentel Boys actually hanging out with rabble that was beneath them. But, hey - it was all about national unity, kind of... And besides - they all had to start over in the same way - on a same-level-playing field, learning a new language (two eventually) and with no one else around that was a familiar face... Familiar faces are not always friendly faces though...

Their sister stayed back home - with their saintly aunt, Tia Estrela, their mother (who would soon pass away though) and their father (who'd die soon after) - it was actually Avo Anica, Maria Clara's mother, their grandmother to all, who would live longest; she'd be taken into her granddaughter's husband's house. As her granddaughter left for the Americas as well, with her husband, she stayed with that "grandson-in-law"'s family - and they would benefit greatly from it come inheritance time... The land and home of the Pimentels, that had once bristled with life and so much abundance (to the point of being the envy of ALL THE ISLAND OF SAO MIGUEL ACORES) was actually left ABANDONED... Some of it was sold and the sum was split up between the four heirs now residing in North America - with a lot of it going to the caretakers of Avo Anica. They actually had a greater share of the inheritance, because of that, than Joao Jacinto and his brother Jose for instance... The great house was dilapidated. The land, which now could be the basis for a fortune, was left uncultivated for DECADES... But this was nothing compared to the backstabbers Joao Jacinto (and Jose too) would find in "the Americas"...
All of this erroneous distributing of the heritage was directly caused by the poor foresight that dictated to most Europeans verily that "Canada and the USA are the promised land - the economical paradises of the future" (no matter how bad winters can be there!) while, judging from things in the 50s, it appeared to be a pretty bleak future for Europe... No one foresaw the advent of the Euro and the European Union; and that is a crying shame. All they had to do was read the Bible: the "rebirth" of the Roman Empire was clearly prophetized in there...
But, once in Canada, Joao Jacinto realized very quickly that he could not count on anyone but himself. He noticed treachery among those other Portuguese individuals and soon cut all ties to them - his wife, whom he had chosen well, agreed whole-heartedly with that decision, as she had in fact seen that treachery first... Alas, through his wife, Joao Jacinto was linked, once again via some ill-conceived marriage elsewhere on the family tree, to rabble just as bad as those he had just cut ties with - his sister-in-law's husband and the family that came with that... It is deplorable to note, but in his own family, Joao Jacinto would see disappointments - in a cousin in particular, who tricked him with money questions... He never spoke to him again. With all that, it comes as no surprise that, amongst co-workers, Joao Jacinto trusted few (his son is like him!)
Joao Jacinto's own brothers were questionable allies - his brother Jose was a party animal in his younger days (all the way to his latter days, really - only illness slowed him down...) but Jose too would be stabbed in the back by all those so-called friends he seemed to value more than his very own brothers... A certain couple he befriended up in the suburbs of St-Jerome turned out to be nothing but turncoats and no more than party pals - the kind that turns your back on you when you really need a true friend. Jose had many acquaintances like that - he was blind to the truth about them all. Joao Jacinto saw more clearly in most cases - and when he was in doubt about a certain individual, his wife was there to pinpoint the truth about him too...!

Of all the Pimentels, Joao Jacinto is the one most like his mother,
Maria Clara Borges, a true lady - fit for a Royal Court. His mother could have enjoyed the European renaissance, had it been given to happen in her time; truly though, she is far better off in the Court of Courts now - the Kingdom of God, where her own mother, saintly sister-in-law Estrela, sons Joao Jacinto & Gilberto and several others have joined her since...

Joao Jacinto left us way too soon though - his days were not numbered and his departure was sudden, unexpected and avoidable.
It truly is Heaven's Gain - and Earth's loss - as I said during my eulogy in church, during the 2006 funeral mass we held for him. I, his only son, should have done even more for him.
These websites are my way of doing it.

- Luciano Pimentel, March 2007

~The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi~

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred let me sow love

where there is injury, pardon

where there is anger, peace

where there is doubt, faith

where there is despair, hope

where there is darkness, light

where there is sadness, joy

O Divine Master,

grant I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console

to be understood as to understand

to be loved as to love

-Show me Your mercy, o Lord, and give me your salvation...

O, infinite Wisdom come and lead me the ways of salvation.

O, Brightness of the Father's Glory, come and enlight me by the shine of Your virtues.

O, the Sun of justice, come and give the light and liveful light to one, who is plunged in darkness of death.
O, King of kings, come to direct me.

O, the Tutor of folks, come and teach me.

O, the Saviour of the world, come and redeem me. (L. da Ponte).

- Father Gabriel of the St.Mary Magdalene

Love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, thy whole soul and thy
whole mind

the highest, purest and most excellent part of this love is absolute
conformity to the Divine Will and having in all things no other will
but God's!
â€¦

He and he alone whose will is perfectly united to God's possesses the
peace of God which surpasses all understanding.

- Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, Trustful Surrender to Divine
Providence

Oracao a SÃ£o Benedito, o mouro

Click here for the original version of this prayer with all the proper punctuation that Geocities and Yahoo appear to abhor...

Glorioso Sao Benedito, bem aventurado seja pela mansidao, paciencia, sofrimento e outras santas virtudes, sempre abenÃ§oado com a cruz da Redencao.
Por vossa humildade e vossa caridade fostes remido na terra para gozar o fruto de vossas obras no ceu, junto ao divino coro dos anjos, uma gloria eterna.
Glorioso Sao Benedito, sede meu protetor amado, concedei-me a graca de que necessito para poder imitar as suas virtudes e as virtudes dos outros santos.
(diga aqui a sua graca pedida)...

Dai-me vigor e constãncia pois sou fraco.
Sem vossa ajuda nao poderei alcança-los nessa vida de espinhos e tropecos.
Ajudai-me, com sua Divina Luz e livrai-me das tentacoes do pecado para que me torne digno da felicidade eterna.
Sede meu guia para a bem-aventuranca eterna. Amem

Sao Benedito, grande confessor da fe, com toda confianca venho a implorar a vossa valiosa protecao.

Vos a quem Deus enriqueceu com os dons celestes, impetrai-me as gracas que ardentemente desejo, para a maior gloria de Deus.

Confortai o meu coracao nos desalentos! Fortificai minha vontade de cumprir os meus deveres!

Vinde orientar-me nas horas decisivas da vida!
Dai-me confianca nos desanimos e sofrimentos. Sede o meu companheiro nas horas de solidao e desconforto.

Assisti-me e guia-me na vida e na hora da minha morte para que eu possa bendizer a Deus nesse mundo e goza-lo na eternidade com Jesus Cristo a quem tanto amastes. Amem.

Psalm 91

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright Â© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
[NIV at IBS] [International Bible Society] [NIV at Zondervan] [Zondervan]

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]

2 I will say [b] of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwellingâ€”
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

Maria Clara Borges Pimentel - like saintly mother, like saintly son

Joao Jacinto Borges Pimentel should have remained in Portugal - taken charge of the family domain and land - been the NEXT PATRIARCH. For only he, among the three sons, deserved to be. He was the more level-headed; the one with the kinder heart and the hardest-working. It would have been an honor to work with him. As it is, I only got to defend him - represent him - take care of his interests - care for him - speak for him, when he lost his speech or even when he bothered not with French...! Dear dad - you never should have bothered with French or English - ever! His hometown of Rosario, Lagoa is not a HAVEN for the well-to-do... And he, who was BORN there and came from a family that OWNED LAND THERE, SINCE ANCESTRAL TIMES, he never went back... I feel that is an injustice, one among many... But he can go back now, as often as he wants - God Permitting! He is free. He is with God.

Rita, Joao Jacinto's niece and Maria Clara's grand-daughter from her son José's marriage to Maria Margarida - Rita is said to look just like her grand-mother (in her mother's opinion)
I respectuously disagree - and so does my own mother; Rita resembles her own mother. The late Paula Ana Pimentel, Rita's sister, did not resemble either her grandmother, mother or even sister - she was rather unique although, in the years before her untimely death, she had grown to resemble her father.
I repeat that, if anyone has facial traits that closely mimic those of Maria Clara Borges, it is my dear father, Joao Jacinto Borges Pimentel

Joao Jacinto's older brother, Gilberto. Tio Gilberto was convinced, back in 1993-1994, that my father was going to die first... It was Tio Gilberto himself, the elder, who passed on, in 1996. I bought a condolences card to send, upon learning - Hallmark and all - but it was never mailed by my mother, as she was offended that he had, among other imbroglios, appeared to wish his younger brother dead...?!?
I remain convinced that Tio Gilberto was a kind-hearted man who was often misunderstood - sort of like I can be... The fact is, Maria Clara's first born grew up to resemble his father in many ways; and he died around the same age too... May his soul rest in peace as well.

Sao, filha de Lionilde Pimentel
She has no clue how close it came that she too would be an heir of Joao Jacinto Borges Pimentel (not that she needs it!)
Well, now, I guess she will know - upon reading this and her mother's page, linked above! Her mother would have gladly and enthusiastically responded in the affirmative if my father had proposed - but he never did. He never even considered it a possibility...!
See you around - sister! ;)

And then there's me - the son of Joao Jacinto Borges Pimentel -
Luciano Pimentel, the 1st...!
Notch one for originality; my father chose a name for me that had previously never been seen in the entire Clan!
With my mother's consent, of course!
For her picture - and my true picture too - you will have to befriend us and, most importantly of all, prove to be trustworthy as well!
Artists like Sao share their picture - I have published here pictures of a younger Rita (nothing too recent - although she is splendid as ever nowadays) and pictures of the departed; but pictures of myself are for close relations only!
Until further notice anyways... (I may no longer have the choice, once celebrity hits me like a truck careening down the main highway always taken by the rich and famous! But, until then...)