“As I am reading your wonderful book, I am thinking about my Tia Lucy, my Mom’s sister and only living sibling of 7 children, who lived in San José for many years and went to the Five Wounds Church. She was married there also. My Tia Lucy is 90 years old now and is still very alert and healthy. I know she would love to read your book.” wrote a book reader, Diane from Stanislaus County, California.

This is a common reaction from hundreds of readers who have purchased the Five Wounds Portuguese National Parish’s centennial book,A Vestibule to Heaven. Authored by Miguel Valle Ávila, edited by Lúcia Soares, and designed by Roberto Ávila, the book was printed locally by Spectrum Lithograph, a Bay Area award-winning Portuguese-American owned business and published by the Portuguese Heritage Publications of California. The deluxe, hardbound edition contains 314 color photographs across 192 pages. The book includes a historical perspective of San José at the turn of the 20th century, the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition and its relationship to Five Wounds Church, and the parish history between 1914 and 2014. The book is further embellished by photos of the church and “A Day in the Life of the Parish” with photos of events that bring the parish to life.

“Uma Entrada para o Céu” (An Entrance to Heaven) was columnist and poet José Raposo’s title for his biweekly column. Raposo stated that “I can affirm that this book should be proudly displayed in the homes of any Portuguese or his/her descendants and there should be no home without it.”A Vestibule to Heaven is available for sale from the Five Wounds Portuguese National Parish office (www.FiveWoundsChurch.org) and online at www.PortugueseBooks.org. All proceeds benefit the Five Wounds Portuguese National Parish.