Bahia, Brazil - María Gorete dos Santos, María de Lourdes dos Santos, and María Aparecida dos Santos are triplet nuns belonging to the Franciscan Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

They grew up in a large Catholic family of 17 siblings in rural Bahia state in Brazil. They felt an awakening to religious life from a very young age.

“We didn’t know … what it was like, we just wanted to be religious. It was something that only God can explain,” said María Gorete during an interview with ACI Digital, CNA’s Portuguese-language news partner.

The triplets were inspired by a nun from Italy named Sister Ricarda, who visited their community when they were children. The nun’s witness prompted them to follow the same path.

“She visited the communities there, where we attended holy Mass and, while the parish priest ministered to … the people, she gathered the children, seated them in front of the altar, put on a record player, and taught us,” María Gorete said.

María Gorete recalled that Lourdes then said: “When I grow up, I want to be like this sister.”

Their desire to become nuns was supported by their mother. However, the family did not know how to make it happen.

Eventually, a priest who celebrated Mass in the region learned about their desire and contacted the superior of a convent in Salvador, who agreed to take the young women.

The first to follow the call to a vocation was Lourdes in 1984, followed by Aparecida a year later, and then Gorete. The triplets lived in the same convent in Salvador for a year.

It was good for us to be together, because we strengthened each other,” María Gorete said.

However, the presence of the triplets “created a lot of confusion in the convent,” because although “each one worked in a different place,” when one of the nuns spoke with one of the triplets and then with another one, she thought she had spoken to the same person.

Currently, Gorete works at Asilo Santo Antônio in São José dos Campos, while Lourdes is in the convent of Santa Clara do Desterro in Salvador. Aparecida is taking care of their 85-year-old mother at home.

For the triplets, following religious life is worth it.

“It's worth leaving everything, leaving the family. It’s not like abandoning the family, but following what Jesus says: If you want to follow me, renounce everything you have, pick up your cross, and follow me. It gives life meaning,” she said.

“By deciding to follow Jesus, we prepare ourselves for whatever comes. We don’t know what’s ahead, but we know we’re not alone. So, we have the courage to give up everything and go without fear. The apostles followed without fear and fulfilled their mission. We are here in the world to carry out our mission of serving, whether in the family, in the convent, wherever God wants us,” she concluded.