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A mulher reza por si mesma no retiro sagrado.

A mulher reza por si mesma no retiro sagrado.
The woman prays for herself in the sacred retreat.
From Lesson 410:Third-person prepositional reflexives (si, consigo)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about A mulher reza por si mesma no retiro sagrado.

Why use por si instead of por ela if they both can translate to "for her"?
The pronoun si is strictly reflexive, meaning it always refers back to the subject of the sentence. Since the woman is praying for herself, we use si. If you said por ela mesma, it would sound like she is praying for a completely different woman.
Is the word mesma required here, or could we just say por si?
You could just say por si, but adding mesma (or própria) is extremely common. It acts as an intensifier, making it crystal clear that the action reflects back onto the subject. Both mesma and própria must agree with the feminine subject A mulher.
The lesson also covers consigo. Why isn't it used in this sentence?
The word consigo is exclusively the combination of the preposition com (with) and the reflexive pronoun si. Because the woman is praying "for" herself, we need the preposition por. There is no special combined word for por + si, so they stay separate as two words.
Why does sagrado come after retiro? Don't some adjectives come before the noun?
Most descriptive or classifying adjectives in Portuguese, like sagrado (sacred), follow the noun they modify. Adjectives placed before the noun are usually subjective, figurative, or express an inherent quality. Here, sagrado simply tells us what kind of retreat it is.

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