The construction and blessing of the Church (1733)

When at the beginning of 1727 they finally decided to move forward with the construction of the chapel, the location was no longer Campo da Feira. After several advances and setbacks, particularly in relation to costs and the construction location, in 1728, Vitória de Jesus had a new vision of divine inspiration. In addition to building the chapel, he also had the idea of ​​building a shelter for orphaned maidens. Vitória de Jesus had to look for another place to build the church and the gathering. The choice fell on the current location of the chapel and retreat, north of the town of Barcelos.

A new petition was made to the archbishop of Braga. He responded affirmatively on April 16, 1728. Immediately, at the beginning of May, contracts for stonework, carpentry and blacksmithing were signed to begin the works! These took off, despite financial difficulties.

However, Vitória de Jesus had another problem: the lack of qualified labor. At that time, the king of Portugal, D. João V, was committed to the construction of the Convent and Palace of Mafra. In this sense, he determined that all bricklayers who were working on other works were obliged to work on the construction of the aforementioned Convent and Palace. Vitória de Jesus, moved by audacity and spiritual will, took the initiative and traveled to Lisbon, obtaining royal authorization for the masons to return and finish building the church and collecting the Child of God.

The work ended in mid-1733 and the Church was blessed on September 27 of that year, when the image of the Child was transferred, in procession, from the chapel of the Venerable Third Order of Saint Francis, of the Collegiate Church, to the Church of Menino Deus.