[2] The monastery was founded by Friar Dom Mauro Teixeira, a disciple of Father Joseph of Anchieta who met the cacique Tibiriçá and built a church in homage to Saint Benedict in the same location as his house.

With the help of the monks, tensions cooled and John IV was recognized by the people of São Paulo as the new King of Portugal.

Gratefully, the monks awarded him the privilege of being buried in the chancel of the monastery church, along with his relatives and descendants; his remains still rest in the central nave of the temple.

The clay sculptures of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, made by Friar Agostinho de Jesus and displayed on the main altar of the church, date from the same period.

Gresnicht came from Maredsous Abbey in Belgium and was a follower of the Beuron Art School, a Benedictine institution that influenced artists such as Gustav Klimt.

The sculptures of the 12 apostles in the nave were made between 1919 and 1922 by the Belgian sculptor and painter Adrien Henri Vital van Emelen, from the School of Arts and Crafts.

Gressnicht also designed the Basilica's stained glass windows: The Evangelists at the entrance, the death of Saint Benedict in the monks' choir in the transept and Our Lady of the Assumption on the high altar.

[4][9][11][10] The images of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica on the high altar by Friar Agostinho de Jesus, the first Brazilian sculptor who lived in the monastery in the 17th century, a Crucified Christ sculpted by José Pereira Mutas from São Paulo in 1777 and the image of Our Lady of the Conception from the 18th century are the remains of the old church in the current basilica.

It stands on the left side of the transept of the monastery church, supported by two large columns carved from oak created by Heinrich Waderé.

At the time, the most intensive work occurred in the school chapel, inaugurated in 1937 and closed for 20 years due to leaks, which destroyed a large part of the mural paintings by the monk Thomaz Scheuchl.

The six panels in the chancel depicting scenes from the life of Mary, the sacred sculptures and the images of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, sculpted in 1650 by Agostinho de Jesus, were also restored.

In 2016, the Crucified Christ, made of cedar by José Pereira Mutas in 1777, was restored after being damaged by pollution and grease from people's hands.

[20][21] In 1999, the Monastery of Saint Benedict started selling cakes, breads, jams and cookies, whose recipes were stored for centuries in the abbey's archives.

It also contains a collection of tiny manuscripts with spines less than a centimeter long, which contain a biblical passage or a prayer, as well as rare editions of books that were banned by the Catholic Church.