The present state of this institution is a result of a long journey. Looking back, through the years and the decades, one can affirm almost step-by-step the providential nature of the path followed. Almost imperceptibly, the hand of Providence was guiding them throughout their journey that culminated in the recent pontifical approval.

The designs of God are unfathomable. Some He converts in a efficacious manner, as swift as lightning, as in the case of St. Paul. While with others He waits patiently for many years, leaving them to walk along the tortuous paths of life until at a determinate moment He invites them irresistibly to sanctity. Such was the case of St. Augustine

Providence also has its mysterious designs for the Heralds of the Gospel. Its origins can be traced back to the middle of the past century, when a group of young men came together in São Paulo, to admire the harmony and cultivate the spirituality that emanates from Gregorian chant, in the midst of studies about Catholic doctrine.

In this way Providence was inviting them to give themselves entirely to the true Author of all pulchritude. At the same time, the Holy Spirit raised up in their souls the desire to form an institution of a religious nature, whose goal was to promote personal sanctification, while utilizing music, and culture in general, as a means of evangelization.

At a certain moment, the reading of the True Devotion to Mary, by St. Louis de Montfort, and the consecration to the Mother of God that all of them made, conferred a distinctly Marian note to the spirituality of the group, that little by little was forming and making explicit its own physiognomy.

The private association of the faithful finally came into being when Bishop Emilio Pignoli of Campo Limpo, Brazil, whose diocese includes an important part of the city of São Paulo, approved its statutes on September 21st, 1999. This was the beginning of a new stage of intensification in the ecclesial communion.

From this moment on the Heralds of the Gospel became living instruments of the Sacred Hierarchy at the service of the New Evangelization.

In the following months, the Heralds of the Gospel were canonically constituted in 25 dioceses of various countries in the Americas and Europe. Conditions were in place for a future request to the Holy See for the recognition as an international association of the faithful of pontifical right.

For its symbolism, the feast of the Chair of St. Peter (celebrated on February 22nd) was the date chosen for the signing of the decree of approval, as the devotion to the Pope is one of the pillars of the spirituality of the Heralds of the Gospel.

At the moment of their Pontifical establishment, they were already present in 29 countries of the three Americas, and in Europe, Africa and Asia, in such places as India, South Africa, Mozambique, the Philippines and Japan.

Encouraged by more than a thousand letters sent to them by prelates, priests and religious from around the world, the "Heralds of the Gospel" had their statutes approved by Bishop Emilio Pignoli from the Diocese of Campo Limpo (Brazil).