This article analyses the manual Mestre da Vida que ensina a viver e morrer santamente, written by João de Castro and published in Spain in the first half of the eighteenth century. It is known that the work was translated and republished many times during the nineteenth century, and that some of these copies circulated in Brazil. In addition to the identification and analysis of the representations of the Virgin present in the work, we are concerned with the orientations that believers should follow in devotional practices to Mary, suggesting an evaluation of the acceptance and diffusion of these orientations in the Luso-Brazilian world. This analysis takes into account recent discussions regarding reading practices, including the many forms of appropriation and reception of texts, inserted in their contexts of production and circulation.
religious manual; devotion to the Virgin; salvation of souls
