A video of Brazilian nuns beatboxing and dancing hip-hop, a scene taken from a local TV show and defined by celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg as “a real life ‘Sister Act,'” went viral May 28, with millions of views all over the world.
Sisters Marizele Isabel Cassiano Rego, 46, and Marisa de Paula Neves, 41, were taking part May 20 in a TV show of the Catholic network Pai Eterno (Eternal Father), in Goiás state, in order to talk about a vocational encounter the two were attending in the region.
As they mentioned their artistic ways of reaching the youth, they presented a song they wrote about God’s calling. Sister Marizele sang it and Sister Marisa began to dance — the whole act had a noticeable hip-hop nature. That’s when Sister Marizele began beatboxing.
The short clip went viral on social media and was reproduced by international news agencies May 28. Actress Viola Davis shared it on her Instagram account, mentioning Sister Mary Clarence, Whoopi Goldberg’s character in the 1992 movie “Sister Act.”
On ABC’s “The View,” Goldberg commented on the clip, saying that “anytime you can praise the Lord with some music and you’re doing your thing, I think it’s a good sign.”
Sister Marizele and Sister Marisa are members of the Brazilian congregation of the Sisters of the Copious Redemption, created in 1989 by Redemptorist Father Wilton Lopes in the city of Ponta Grossa, Paraná state, where both of the sisters live today. Their mission is to work especially on the rehabilitation of drug addicts.
Father Lopes received a revelation in 1991, after which it was decided that every day each sister would pray for drug or alcohol addicts in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
“I’ve learned how to sing with my family. My grandfather was a player of Caipira guitar,” Sister Marizele told OSV News, mentioning a 10-string guitar developed in the colonial era in São Paulo state — traditionally used for playing rhythms from the countryside.
At home, she and her sisters would promote karaoke nights. Since her teens, she has been experimenting with mouth sounds as well.
“I’ve never had the opportunity to formally learn beatboxing, but somehow I managed to develop my own way of doing it. Experts told me it’s pretty fine,” said Sister Marizele.
As a young participant of Catholic charismatic renewal groups, she began singing at church before joining the congregation 21 years ago.
“In order to evangelize drug addicts, we would resort to beatboxing, dance, music, theater. We need to be rather creative,” described Sister Marizele, who has lived for nine years in therapeutic communities.
The impact of such artistic activities in the sisters’ missionary work has been noticeable, they said.
