Germano Guilherme dos Santos was born in Piauí, in May 28th of 1902. He moved with his family to Rio Branco, Acre, where he lived working in the colonies. When serving in the Territorial Guard, Germano met Raimundo Irineu Serra, as well as he met the Daime through this friend. He was not only one of Irineu’s first followers, accompanying him since 1928, but was the first to sing a hymn in the doctrine, even though the first hymn was received by Mestre, two decades before, in the Peruvian jungle (1912). Therefore, it is tradition in the Alto Santo to sing his hinário before the “O Cruzeiro” -- Mestre’s hinário.

Germano Guilherme was a man of black skin and pristine teeth, having great fondness for Mestre. They called out mutually as “little brother”.

In his asking to the Daime, for the cure of a wound in the leg, he saw that in a previous incarnation he had been a cruel Slave holder, thence not having a cure for the same wound because it was a “sentence”. Because of this he could not eat certain kinds of food, but when Germano was in the “little brother's” house he could eat everything without felling anything.

In 1943 he married Cecília, a daughter of Antônio Gomes and Ms. Maria de Nazaré, twenty-six years younger than him and whose adolescence son (that she had with José das Neves) had been adopted by Mestre and his wife, Ms. Raimunda. To this son was given the same name of Mestre's maternal uncle from Maranhão, Paulo d ’Assunção Serra. In the following years they moved with Mestre to the piece of land that he received from the government, firstly called “Alto da Santa Cruz” (summit of the Holy Cross), and later on “Alto Santo”, where they proceeded living in a communitarian life as a great family.

Germano Guilherme died in 1964, leaving behind his hinário “Sois Baliza” as one of the foundations of the doctrine that he helped to build together with his beloved Mestre.

***

“Germano Guilherme was one of the first who helped my uncle in the doctrine. He was the second person to receive hymns. I worked a lot with him, including in his home. He had a good life, being a very perfectionist person, married to Ms. Cecília Gomes –- Madrinha Peregrina’s sister (Mestre Irineu’s widow). He had a very strong personality and he was well respected by his brothers and sisters, because he liked everything to be perfect to the details. He was very rigorous with the ones who worked with him, as it had to be the way he wanted, and even to sing his hinário one had to have respect, because he didn’t like when people sang it outside the works.
 
His hinário was sung in the Day of Our lady of the Conception, because he was Her devote. After his hinário we would sing the New Hymns (from O Cruzeiro). It was Mestre who inserted his hinário in the order of that day.

Physically speaking he was an average person, 5.5 tall, neither very strong nor very thin. He was always on a wheel chair [at the end of his life] and even his hinário he sang sat down, due to the illness in his leg, which he told to be a sentence from past incarnations. He would tell that he suffered with the regeneration because he was paying a debt from another incarnation.

His relation with Mestre was very good and they were always together. Mestre had all respect for him.”

Daniel Arcelino Serra (Mestre’s nephew)

***

Germano Guilherme and the oranges

Likewise, one “telling” of Germano, who either we wants it or not is always mentioned when we talk about Maria Damião, due to the proximity that she had with Mrs. Cecília [wife of Germano], is that once he was at home when a boy came by and asked of him two oranges from a fully loaded orange tree, what he promptly consented. Only that the boy took several oranges and put them in a sack. When he walked away, saying thanks, Germano called him back and said: “You asked me for two, therefore, spill the sack and take the ones that you asked.” This way it was done, and the boy was leaving a little ashamed when Germano called again. He, already afraid at this point, stood still. And Germano said: “Now you gather the rest and take it, because I am giving to you, and learn how to ask in order to be able to receive.” Because of this story, and others, it was reserved to Germano the nickname “buraco” (meaning “hole”, as of being extremely assertive).

Teófilo Maia

***