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Sr. Reinolda May, OSB
1901-1981
A Missionary Benedictine in South Africa
1.Our Lady of Ngome
(From “The Benedictines of Inkamana” by Fr. Godfrey Sieber, OSB – 1994)
At the beginning of the 20th century, the region around Ngome, about 30 km from Nongoma, was designated for commercial agriculture. The result was that white farmers bought the land and used it primarily for livestock and the production of construction and commercial timber. Black families were allowed to live on these farms as renters who were taken care of by the farmer with a surplus of workers. Missionary work among these black families could be done only with permission of the white farmer on whose property they lived.
After the Benedictine monks opened a mission station in Nongoma in 1926, they also founded a string of outlying stations in this district in order to win new Christians and form them into parishes. In 1944 they bought a 338 hectare farm in Ngome intended to be a financial help for the Nongoma mission station with its school and hospital.
The farm, named Langewacht, belonged to the Vryheid District but had a common boundary with the Zulu reserve where whites could not buy farmland. The Benedictine monks, who called their new property simply the “Ngome farm”, used their property mainly for livestock. Later on, the land was rented in 1976.
A small school was built that was known as the Mayime School. One of the classrooms was used as a chapel where the Catholics could gather on Sundays to celebrate mass or participate in a Service of the Word led by a catechist.
The number of Catholics in Ngome increased steadily until 1970, when a new government policy brought pressure on farmers to reduce the number of black workers and to send the so-called surplus back to the Zulu reserve. This brought about a sharp reduction in the number of blacks living on white men’s farms. By 1978 the number of Catholics was reduced to less than half. Ngome remained a tiny outlying station,  totally insignificant as far as the number of Catholics was concerned. In 1970 there were about 120, 80 in 1985, and only 42 in 1993.
Ngome’s future would have looked bleak had it not been for another development that quite suddenly drew the attention of Catholics in Zululand and far beyond its borders.
The revolution occurred in 1981, shortly after the death of Sister Reinolda May, OSB, who served as a Missionary Benedictine Sister in Nongoma from 1938 to 1980 and who alledgedly during that time had apparitions of the Mother of God.
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 2. Who was Sister Reinolda May?
Sr. Reinolda May was born on October 21, 1901, in Pfahlheim, a small village in the Regensburg Diocese in the southwestern part of Germany. The next day she was baptized and received the name Francisca. Her father had a small estate and was a cooper. He and his wife had ten children, of whom two died young. Francisca was the youngest. After completing her primary education, she went to a girls’ boarding school in Hochhaltingen where the Franciscan Sisters taught her domestic arts.
At that time the Pfahlheim parish had a very active priest. He made every effort to get his parishioners to join one or the other Catholic sodality. Young and old, married or single, men and women, he encouraged to practice their faith and carry out their duties conscientiously. Each group had a certain Sunday on which they went as a body to the altar to receive communion. Eucharistic devotion, especially in the form of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and devotions to the Blessed Mother formed the predominant aspects of church practices in the village. The annual feast of the patron of each sodality was celebrated with special solemnity. Participation in the holy mass was the highpoint of the day.
It is not surprising that in such an atmosphere a large number of religious vocations sprang forth. Although at the start of the 20th century only about a thousand Catholics lived in Pfahlheim, about three dozen girls entered convents while Eugene Adis was the pastor. One of them was Francisca May.
Because Francisca showed great interest in the missions, Pastor Adis advised her to enter the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing. Her first attempt to enter failed. She was told she was not healthy enough to go to the missions.
Since admission to the Missionary Benedictine Order was refused her, she was forced to return home to Pfahlheim. The people there still remember that she could often be seen praying in the parish church during the day. That must have struck the villagers as something unusual, otherwise they wouldn’t have noticed it. Francisca’s father was not at all sad about this outcome. He preferred that his youngest daughter remain at home. But Francisca’s ideas were firmly fixed on becoming a missionary sister. So she traveled to Tutzing once again and this time was accepted.
After Rome allowed the Tutzing Missionary Sisters to attend women in childbirth, Sister Reinolda was the first sister in Zululand to take a midwifery course. In May 1938 she received a midwifery diploma from the state hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
When the “Benedictine Hospital” opened in June 1938, the maternity station was entrusted to Sister Reinolda. It was a difficult beginning. The hospital had only the least facilities. Many Zulus were skeptical and didn’t want to bring their women to the hospital to give birth. Moreover, in this regard the doctor himself was against the new hospital because of fear that he would thereby lose patients.
Sister Reinolda suffered much under these circumstances, but showed great spiritual strength and never gave way to discouragement or doubts. As always, she was strengthened through prayer. In moments of crisis she spent long hours in prayer, many times during the night.
Sister Reinolda was a very determined person. When she once took hold of a task or when one was entrusted to her, she made every effort to achieve the best results. When she was asked to take a midwifery course, she appeared to be an unlikely candidate for this task. She had no higher education, was already in her mid-thirties, had worked only in the sewing room, and had seemingly scant knowledge of the English language. But she worked hard and achieved good grades.
She was very self-disciplined and balanced, did not panic in moments of crisis, and remained calm and tranquil. People who knew her well often remarked, “She has both feet on the ground!” She was not a passive person who simply awaited instructions; on the contrary, she could take her own initiative. She also had a noticeable talent for dealing with problems and showed inventiveness in seeking solutions. Her creative and inventive capabilities might well have contributed to the development of her spiritual life, especially in the form of her prayer.
Sister Reinolda remained in charge of the Benedictine Hospital’s maternity  station until June 1976 when the government took over the hospital. Over 28,000 births were registered during that time. Her professional competence and her enormous knowledge of nursing matters won her the respect and admiraton of all the doctors with whom she worked. More than once they remarked that it was comforting to have her in the delivery room in critical situations. But Sister Reinolda was such an equally modest person that she never put herself in the spotlight for her accomplishments.
Over the years Sister Reinolda became the most famous missionary in this region. The Zulus, who often gave a person a name indicating their special manners or physical characteristics, called her “Mashiyane” because of her bushy eyebrows.
It was not only her reputation as a midwife that made her popular in the whole Nongoma district, but also her genuine interest in the welfare of the people. She was gentle, friendly, and solicitous especially towards the people in our society who are easily overlooked: the children, the handicapped, the sick and those treated harshly and roughly in life.
All of these qualities made it possible for them to approach her and open their hearts to her. For many patients who came to the Benedictine Hospital, Sister Mashiyane was not only a competent nurse but also an understanding and caring mother. Years later she could still remember the names of patients who had been in the hospital, and she inquired about their condition and about the help they possibly needed.
Sister Reinolda was filled with an extraordinary missionary zeal. She felt moved to visit the Zulus in their homes, to look after the sick and elderly who couldn’t come to church, to instruct catechumens and to prepare children and adults for the sacraments. She made rounds on foot or horseback, and often accompanied a priest to the outlying stations. She was instrumental for many to find their way into the church or to bring lax Catholics back to church. As a nurse and missionary, it was understandable that she did many emergency baptisms, especially of newborns, if she believed they would die without being baptized. It must also be acknowledged that this sometimes created problems when the children survived and were not raised in a Christian family.
Placing herself totally at the service of others was the way in which she understood her missionary vocation. Nothing was too much for her if she could help someone else. When she distributed food or clothing, she was always genuinely interested in the need of every person who came begging to her. She often spent hours at the bedside of seriously ill patients. It is noteworthy that during the fifty years she worked in Zululand, that she never took a home leave and scarcely took a few days off from her work to rest. Being a missionary was, for her, a far-reaching obligation that allowed no compromise.
In June 1976, at the age of 74, Sister Reinolda retired and withdrew from her maternity station. She moved to St. Albans convent, about a kilomenter away from the hospital. But even from there she went to the hospital daily to visit the sick and be with the dying. She had a unique gift for comforting people standing at the threshold of death and preparing them for their last journey. Through her initiatives, many were reconciled with the church or were baptized before they died.
In June 1980 it was obvious that she herself was dying. The diagnosis: colon cancer. In August 1980 she came to the Inkamana convent infirmary. It was hard for Sister Reinolda who had been so active her whole life, no longer to be able to get up and make her daily rounds. It caused her great spiritual pain that she found more difficult to experience than physical pain.
She died on April 1, 1981. An unusual number of mourners took part in the Requiem and burial in Inkamana on April 6. Among the mourners was a representative of the Zulu king Goodwill Zwelethini (Zulu custom forbade that the king would attend the funeral in person). His presence confimed the friendly relationship Sister Reinolda had with the royal family. With the death of Sister Reinolda, the Catholic church of Zululand lost a beloved and devoted missionary.
Soon after her death, word spread widely that Sister Reinolda apparently had experienced apparitions of Our Lady. On the basis of her own notes and the respective documents in the diocesan archives, the following descriptive picture emerged.
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3. History of the Apparitions
Sister Reinolda experienced the first extraordinary apparition on December 8, 1954 at the end of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
“I saw two figures at the table where everything was prepared for holy mass. At the end of the table was a woman in a white garment with a long white veil. In her right hand was something covered. It could have been a shield. Opposite her was a monk dressed in black, with raised hands as at the consecration, with something held in his hand like an offering. Then something rose heavenward like incense. The figures disappeared as the priest put on his vestments. I could make no sense of it all, but I also could not forget what I had seen. Not long thereafter, during holy communion it became clear to me, as if someone said to me: It is a veiled monstrance.”
Eight months after this unexplainable event, Sister Reinolda experienced something like a vision of the Mother of God. More would follow. She herself referred to these alleged visions as “encounters”.
The first encou nter between Sister Reinolda and Our Lady took place during holy mass in the sisters’ chapel in Nongoma on August 22, 1955. It happened immediately after Sister Reinolda had received communion. Our Lady revealed herself to Sister Reinolda as “Tabernacle of the Most High” and expressed the wish to be called upon under this title. She emphasized that more people should make efforts to become Tabernacles of the Most High. She ordered Sister to make this known to her priest and to others.
The second encounter on October 20, 1955 and the third on October 22, 1955 had similar messages for Sister Reinolda, with additional urging to make them known to everyone.
At the fourth encounter on March 15, 1956, Our Lady pointed in a northwest direction (Ngome lies northwest of Nongoma) and allegedly asked Sister Reinolda “that a shrine be erected for me in the place where seven springs come together.” Graces would flow in abundance from this place and many would be converted and return to God.
 There were further encounters between Sister Reinolda and Our Lady on June 5, 1956, March 15, 1957 and May 24, 1957.
On December 8, 1957, after visitng a sick person in Ngome, Sister Reinolda got a strong urge that Ngome was the place where the desired shrine should be erected. After she spoke with the Fr. Ignaz Jutz, the pastor of Ngome, a large number of springs were discovered in the forest below the Ngome school.
The first pilgrimage to Ngome took place on March 15, 1966. Most of those who participated were from Nongoma. Afterwards Bishop Bilgeri allowed no more pilgrimages to Ngome.
Sister Reinolda wrote about her ninth encounter with Mary in her journal: “It was the night of March 28, 1970. During the previous night I had a horrible appearance of the devil. I was woken from my sleep. All around me was light. Who stood at my side? Mary Tabernacle of the Most High. She took me in her arms and consoled me, saying: “I know about your anxiety. I stand by you. I shall not abandon you. I will complete my work victoriously.” Before leaving me she said: ‘Look to the other side.’ There stood the Archangel Michael in armor and a lance in his hands. On his right stood a cherubim robed in white, his arms crossed over his breast. After about two minutes they disappeared and so did the brilliant light. This was a great consolation for me!”
The tenth and last encounter apparently took place on Sunday, May 2, 1971 in the small Ngome chapel. “After holy mass I went back to the chapel with a few women in order to pray with them before the picture of the Tabernacle of the Most High. Suddenly I noticed that the picture was very much alive. Mary stepped forward and was immensely beautiful. In my excitement I shouted, ‘Look at Mary!’ I was convinced that the women, too, saw Mary. I was so moved that I walked away silently.”
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4. Ngome today
After lengthy examination by the diocese, venerating Mary under the tile “Tabernacle of the Most High” was allowed in Ngome.
On November 13, 1990, Father Michael Mayer, OSB, published a circular in which he wrote:
“The Marian shrine at Ngome is a sign of the presence of Our Lady in the life of the local church.
Devotion to Our Lady of Ngome will be an opportunity to work and pray for peace in our country.”
 
Sr. Caritas Hopfenzitz, OSB
 November 2, 1913 – January 24, 2005
“Taste and see how good the Lord is!” Sr. Caritas wrote on her jubilee card for the 60th anniversary of her profession. In her 91 years of life Sr. Caritas tasted how good the Lord was and devoted her entire life to thanking and praising God and to letting others see and taste the same goodness of the Lord. In Oksadok and in the Death March Sr. Caritas walked with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the white-hot furnace of Nebuchadnezzar and saw the angel of the Lord walking with her. Daily Sr. Caritas sang, “Blessed are you, and praiseworthy, O Lord… (Daniel 3:13–45).
Life is sacred! Sr. Caritas lived her sacred life to the full. In the announcement of the death of Sr. Caritas, we hear the word of Jesus, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). The love and the charm that Sr. Caritas graced upon everyone in her presence, including that guard of the Hard Labor Camp in Oksadok, should have delighted also the gatekeeper of heaven.
Life is sacred, and it is impossible and improper to verbalize about life, especially, that of our beloved Sr. Caritas. Sr. Caritas has been the Handmaid and the Princess of the Silent, the Silent People, the Silent Village, the Silent Craft…. Silence would be the only proper tribute for our beloved Sr. Caritas Hopfenzitz, OSB.
Sr. Caritas was born on November 2, 1913 at Oettingen-Nittingen, Germany, of her parents, Sebastian and Maria Hopfenzitz. She was baptized with the name Maria Luise. She had three older brothers and two younger sisters who were born much later due to her father’s absence during the First World War. When Maria Luise was still a baby, her father went to war and suffered as a prisoner of war for six years. When father returned home, Maria Luise did not recognize him. Her two brothers went to the Second World War and, reported as Missing in Action, they never returned home. Shortly thereafter the mother received the news that Sr. Caritas and her missionary companions were missing. Having heard nothing from and about Sr. Caritas for over four years, the mother died in June 1953. The parents of many missionaries also make great sacrifices for God.
Maria Luise was a child full of life, ingenuity and charm. At times her mother told the family that Maria Luise is just like her brothers, but the grandmother’s reply was that it is no problem and Maria Luise will grow up to do great works. Maria Luise attended high school in her hometown and then went to study chemistry at Munich University. However, after her sophomore year, Maria Luise entered the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing on September 1, 1937.
Already in 1938, Postulant Maria Luise was missioned to Korea and arrived in Wonsan on June 21, 1938. Maria Luise started her novitiate on January 6, 1939 and received her religious name of Sr. Caritas. Sr. Caritas made her first profession on January 10, 1940, and final profession on January 15, 1944. Thus, proud, happy, and grateful, Sr. Caritas used to tell everyone, “I am a Missionary Benedictine Sister ‘made in Korea’.”
After her first profession, Sr. Caritas served as the sacristan of the priory house and the catechist at the nearby parish. At that time, Sr. Caritas was assigned to teach the deaf-mutes of the parish. Sister began learning sign language in order to be able to teach catechism to the deaf-mutes. Thus,
Sr. Caritas began her life mission with the deaf-mutes.
In May 1949 the Wonsan priory house and its dependent stations were confiscated, the Korean sisters were dispersed, and the foreign sisters were sent to prison. After three months of imprisonment in Pyungyang, the 39 Missionary Benedictine monks and the 20 Missionary Benedictine sisters were transferred to Oksadok, a hard labor camp deep in the mountains near Zagangdo, Kangkye. In Oksadok and during the Death March of 1951, 15 monks (10 brothers and 5 priests) and 2 sisters died, and the International Prisoners of War Exchange Pact allowed the remaining 24 monks and 18 sisters to return to their homeland. Our sisters arrived in Tutzing on January 24, 1954.
In 1955 Sr. Caritas was the first to return to Korea from where the news came that our Korean sisters fled from the North and had settled in the South. Sr. Caritas arrived in Pusan, on November 29, 1955, and was reunited with the Korean sisters in Daegu. Soon thereafter, Sr. Caritas was sent to catechize parishioners at the Donamdong parish in Seoul. On the first Sunday at the parish, Sr. Caritas met the deaf-mute couple that she had baptized long ago in Wonsan. For Sr. Caritas, it was truly a miracle spelling out God’s will for her.
The word that Sr. Caritas was also in Seoul spread like wild fire through the silent communication network among the deaf-mute refugees from the North. The refugee and other deaf-mutes from near and far flocked around Sr. Caritas. The Columban Fathers serving at the Donamdong parish fully cooperated, and thus the deaf-mutes came to the Donamdong parish for catechism, Sunday Masses, and the companionship and mutual support in their faith community.
During this time Sr. Caritas served as “the mediator” in the confessionals for the Rite of Reconciliation. Sr. Caritas heard and translated the confession of the deaf-mutes for the priests! Sr. Caritas listened to the admonitions of the priest and translated them for the penitent. Sr. Caritas and the deaf-mutes were thus so united in love and in faith.
The colonial policy during the Japanese occupation, World War II, the subsequent division of the country, and the Korean War ruined Korea. The Koran War refugees from the North suffered and the handicapped suffered more. The life of most deaf-mute refugees of the time spelled utter misery. Sr. Caritas did what she could to help her deaf-mutes.
From the early 1960s, through the help of the German ambassadors and embassy staff in Korea, Misereor and the Mission Society of the Holy Childhood in Germany, the US Army stationed in Korea, the US Catholic Relief Service, the Missionary Benedictines in Norfolk and Schuyler, USA, and other places, and many agencies and supporters, Sr. Caritas bought land to construct housing and raise crops and domestic animals, and thus The Silent Village was born. There followed many other income generating and job creating projects. A noodle factory came into being. The sewing factory was established to make Barbie doll clothes, stuffed animals and other toys, cleverly designed and colorful, for domestic but more for the international consumption. Thus, through the work of their own hands the deaf-mutes began to support themselves and their common dreams. In 1974 the dream to teach the deaf-mute children to speak began materializing, and in 1976 the “Love to Talk” School was established as a formal educational establishment.
In 1986 the Korean Broadcasting Service helped Sr. Caritas to televise her last dream. One of the TV viewers, an elderly woman living in the countryside, offered a large piece of land for “St. Joseph’s Home” for the deaf-mute elderly, the first nursing home for the deaf-mutes in the country. Sr. Caritas lived at the Home with her old friends, the elderly deaf-mutes.
When, in order to reduce the size of the community, the Missionary Benedictine Sisters in Korea were divided into two priories, Seoul and Daegu, Sr. Caritas “automatically” belonged to the Priory of Seoul. At the age of 85, Sr. Caritas handed over all her endeavors to her sisters of the Seoul Priory and retired to the Daegu Priory.
In the years totally dedicated to the deaf-mutes, Sr. Caritas lived for most of the time in small local communities. Now in the large priory house she appreciated the basic elements of monastic life and other practices such as Gregorian chant, solemn Holy Mass, Opus Dei in the big choir, silence, “withdrawal from the ‘world’”, contemplative prayer, spiritual sharing, community recreation, tending the earth, raising herbs and flowers, simplicity and frugality etc.— the ideals of her choice when she entered Tutzing.
Always aglow, Sr. Caritas smiled and talked of course with sounds and with hands as she had done over a half century. “I cannot thank God enough; I am so grateful for everything and every moment of my life;” said Sr. Caritas most frequently. With Sr. Bertwina, now our only German sister in Korea, Sr. Caritas had a “soul friend” with whom to spend time in prayer and spiritual sharing, reminiscing, dictating letters for the family, friends, and benefactors, weeding in their own herb garden and admiring flowers in each other’s own flowerbeds.
Sr. Caritas charmed the young and the old. She has been a real model of life for all of us. Her only complaint was about her arthritic knees. In early December last year, however, Sr. Caritas slipped while getting out of bed. From then on, Sister stayed in bed for most of the time. Yet, even in bed, Sr. Caritas was always in a positive mood. She greeted every visitor with a bright and happy smile and used to exclaim, “I offer my little pains and troubles. They are my small gifts. I offer them to Jesus.” “I cannot thank God enough for my vocation. If only the people realize what happiness is ours in our monastic vocation, the people, beautiful young ladies, would all flock into the monasteries.” Every day in the afternoon, one of the sisters regularly took her in the wheelchair for a “walk” in and around the house.
In the afternoon of the day of her passing, our ever happy and joyful Sr. Caritas was taken in a wheelchair to visit Sr. Bertwina. During that visit Sr. Caritas dictated a letter and chatted a little. Then she went up to the third floor to look around the novitiate. After coming to her room Sr. Caritas observed the late afternoon routine. She prayed Vespers with the community from her bed where, through the intercom, she could listen to the community chanting Vespers.
After supper Sr. Caritas appeared uneasy and the two young sisters who were with her for the evening visit tried to comfort her. Around 9 o’clock the assistant infirmarian, Sr. Myriam, came in to ready her for the night, Sr. Gertrud, the prioress, came in for the “Night Blessing” rounds, and Sr. Petra, the infirmarian, came in for the night check. Sr. Caritas complained about breathing difficulty, saying, “I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe.” Then Sr. Caritas repeated, “Mein Jesus, Barmherzigkeit! Mein Jesus, Barmherzigkeit!” (My Jesus, mercy!) and each time we repeated it. In and out of the bed twice, Sr. Caritas called out, “Mein Schutzengel! Mein Schutzengel! (My guardian angel!) Standing but being held in the arms of Sr. Gertrud, Sr. Caritas said, “Ich sterbe…. Ich sterbe…. (I’m dying…) Put me on the bed.” By the time we laid Sr. Caritas on her bed, she breathed no longer. “Mein Jesus, Barmherzigkeit!” we continued, and when the community assembled we sang the “Suscipe me Domine….”
It seemed all so sudden. In the blink of an eye the God of life and the Lord of love snatched away our beloved Sr. Cartas from our arms. “My soul is attached to Jesus. At the moment of my death Jesus will draw me up to heaven by his right arm.” Sr. Caritas used to say. It was shortly after 10 p.m. The day was January 24. On this day fifty-one years ago, having survived the indescribable ordeal for four and a half years, Sr. Caritas and her companion sisters returned home in Tutzing. On the same day and in the 50th year of her life in the South, our Sr. Caritas returned home to heaven.
As we watched Sr. Caritas ascend to the heavens, the heavens showered down millions of soft white flowers. The next day one of the postulants “trembling” confessed, “Last night I asked Sr. Caritas to send us snow. This winter has been so dry and we had very little snow.” But the planners for the funeral Mass and burial were also concerned with preparing the ground for the burial and about the possible hazardous road conditions for traveling guests, especially the deaf-mutes coming from near and far. In particular, we worried about the possible icy road up to our cemetery located on a hill.
On the 25th, despite the short notice and the treacherous road conditions, Cardinal Stephen Kim, age 85, came to be with us, to mourn for his old friend, and to be the main celebrant of the funeral Mass. On the day of the funeral and burial, January 26, the sun rose high and bright, the sky was blue and the day was warm. The deaf-mutes and the sisters from the Seoul Priory came in buses. It was a perfect day for the funeral of Sr. Caritas. The funeral procession was a “March of Glory” through the silent cloister garden and up the hill to the cemetery nestled among the evergreen trees.
At times, the political world also came to recognize the works of Sr. Caritas. In March 1977, Sr. Caritas received from the Korean government the Order of National Service Merit Dongbaeg Medal and, in November 1977, Sr. Caritas received from the German government the First Class Service Merit Cross (Das Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse Des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland). Sr. Caritas had also been named the Citizen of Honor of Oettingen (Ehrenbuergerin der Stadt Oettingen).
On February 18, 2005, the niece of Sr. Caritas, Rosemarie, wrote the following to Sr. Bertwina. Mr. Wagner, Rose Marie’s husband, had a kidney problem and was to be hospitalized. However, the family planned to have the Requiem Mass for Sr. Caritas at 7 p.m., followed by refreshments prepared by Rose Marie and a slide show presented by Mr. Wagner, all on February 10, the Feast of St. Scholastica. On that day, in the afternoon, Mr. Wagner started to have severe pain attacks. Rose Marie asked Sr. Caritas, “Who should do the slide show if my husband is so sick?” Shortly before the Requiem Mass started, a grain of wheat-size stone came out and he had no pain any more.
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We are grateful to Sr. Caritas for what she has been to all of us and to God for the gift of Sr. Caritas. On earth Sr. Caritas loved us and in heaven she will intercede for us. Please pray for us and for all who mourn for Sr. Caritas. On this earth, may we all “Taste and see how good the Lord is!”, that we may all be united in heaven.
The Solemnity of St. Joseph
March 19, 2005 St. Benedict Priory - Daegu
 Sr. Mechtild Kuhl OSB
10. April 1941 - 21. April 2005
“HE will take care”
This motto Sr. Mechtild had engraved into the ring of her Perpetual Profession and with it she understood her whole life. For the last time it came true in the early morning hours of the 21st of April 2005, as HE in his inscrutable plan fetched our dear Sister Mechtild, unnoticed by us all, home into eternal life.
Born in difficult wartime, on the 10th of April of 1941, into a big family deeply loved by her, Sr. Mechtild grew up with six brothers and sisters in her as well dearly loved native village, in Westerholt, Westphalia. All through her life, she remained closely connected with her family, lived through and suffered with her parents and brothers and sisters, especially those that went ahead of her in death. Her family remained faithful to Sr. Mechtild and accompanied her on her mission with much understanding and concrete help. Innumerable were the love-parcels they sent her in the course of the years, helping her endure more easily the deprivations of her missionary life. Still for the sake of the family, Sr. Mechtild postponed her home leave, to be able to celebrate her sister's golden wedding in the coming year. For the family, it was the last big sacrifice that they could not see Sr. Mechtild anymore, being unable to accompany her to the grave.
Sr. Mechtild's life was simple and forthright, just like she herself was: once a goal had been decided, there were no further big words and discussions over it. From 1947 to 1962, she attended the junior high school in her hometown and afterwards the Technical College for Social Work at Soest and specialized, after it, in pediatric nursing. On the 15th of April of 1963 she joined the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing and made her First Profession at the 21st of October of 1965. From 1966 to 1971, she continued her professional training with the study of general nursing and midwifery in Cologne. She sealed her professional and monastic formation with Perpetual Profession on the 15th of April of 1972. In a telephone conversation, only two days before her death, she still confirmed: “For me, Perpetual Profession was the most important event in my life. At that time, I knew what I promised and wanted to live and that has shaped my life!”
Soon after her Final Profession, she was sent for mission to Angola, to the station Cazombo, lying at the Zambezi River, far in Angola's east, in the heart of Africa. She followed readily and with courage and began a one-year study of the Portuguese language in Portugal, which was at that time required by the government to secure a visa for entrance into the colony of Portugal, “overseas province” Angola. Learning a new language remained a heavy task for Sr. Mechtild in her mission life and all her life she suffered from her allegedly poor knowledge of the language. Yet she could communicate with the people everywhere, even in very difficult dialects like Mbukuschu or N'gangela. There was certainly no wrong diagnosis she had made because of lack of understanding of the language.
Finally she could depart by ship from Lisbon on March 17, 1973. On the 1st of April she arrived in Luanda/ Angola, the country of her destination and of her great love. “Angola - meu amor”“ (Angola - my love) - this propaganda slogan of the colonial government she took to heart and it accompanied her henceforth until her death. She lived it out with its consequence and with stark fidelity, sometimes until stubbornness. The love of Angola brought her much joy in the fulfillment of her tasks, but also painful sufferings, rich in privation, compassionately living the tragic history of the Angolan people and their country.
The beginning in Cazombo was promising and seemed to meet with the young sister’s dreams: much work in her beloved ministry with pregnant mothers and with children in the hospital of the station Cazombo, a lively church in a happy tribe. However, the disastrous development of the country cast its shadows soon. Cazombo, in the stem country of the UNITA, which was already at that time living and fighting in opposition to the colonial government, could not hold itself due to intensifying fights and raids and had to be closed, to our big sorrow, in January 1975. Still in 1974 Sr. Mechtild moved into Cuchi, our oldest Angola mission, in the Kuando-Kubango Province in the south, at the “end of the world”, as is the saying of the Angolans until today. There, she worked very beneficially and there, in the newly constructed hospital of the mission, she established her reputation as an excellent, competent nurse and midwife. And again, the politics unexpectedly stopped her work: the “revolution of carnations”, from April 25, 1974, changed not only Portugal, but brought also to the colonies the long awaited independence. Angola’s hour struck on the 11th of November 1975 - however not for peace but for the final, cruel civil war. Already before, it announced itself with bloody unrests in all provinces, as well as with growing military confrontations among the ideologically contrasting three big “liberation movements”. Our sisters were granted only a short time to serve the poor, harassed people under most dangerous conditions. Already in summer 1975 the situation became so untenable that the sisters, among them Sr. Mechtild, could only save their lives through escaping into southern Namibia. It was only due to the company of a high UNITA-Officer that the group of sisters arrived there on adventurous ways.
The flight brought Sr. Mechthild a new mission assignment in the Priory of Windhoek, in the station Andara, among the tribe of the Mbukuschu, at the River Kavango, which forms the border between Angola and Namibia. The following 13 years she worked there in the hospital, with some interruptions in Windhoek. Technically advanced training courses in South Africa enriched her professional competence and during her home leaves she always took advantage of opportunities for spiritual renewal. Her yearning for “Angola” however increased with the years and also the many helps for Angolan refugees in Namibia's north could not dampen her eagerness to return to the country of her “first love”. Finally, her desire was fulfilled and on the 21st of October 1988 she returned to Menongue (formerly Serpa Pinto), the new station, which the sisters had  completed halfway in 1974, exactly before the beginning of the war. A return to Cuchi remained impossible, since the mission had been destroyed and land mines remain until the present day. The fulfilled longing brought Sr. Mechtild now on the road of deprivations, a meager lifestyle, exhaustion and confrontation with unspeakable sorrow, the encounter with the poorest of the poor. She committed herself where she could, for many years in the province hospital in Menongue, but beyond it, in the private care for poor and sick persons, especially children. She empathized deeply with famished babies and was very skilled in diagnosis. Always, she found a remedy for hopeless cases. Her reputation as medically competent was outstanding. Doctors sought her advice, and some preferred her treatment to that of Cuban or North Korean personnel. After her exhausting duties in the hospital, many sick and needy who sought refuge at the sisters’ house expected her there. Sr. Mechtild did not only care about medical treatment: other important general matters about the needy took much time: here to prepare a provisional bed; there to hand out a warm blanket; to mix, cook and distribute milk for the infants; to seek out food and clothing. The transfusions of her own blood with which she rescued the life of so many children were famous. In these years, Sr. Mechtild overspent herself completely; her physical strengths diminished strikingly and she never recovered from this exhaustion. Nevertheless, she was ready for new tasks. In the last years, after the war ended in 2002, she planned and began with the medical supply in the accessible villages of the people outside Menongue, who had to live there without medical or social help for decades and who are today Angola's really poor. In the Dispensary “São Bento”, annexed to the sisters’ house in Menongue, she cared for many patients and on the last day of her life she still looked after a malaria patient in his house, although she did not feel well at all.
Was all this service “only” an idealistic love of medicine, of nursing, of social help? This service was in its deepest sense the dedication of her life, as she had promised on the day of her Perpetual Profession – that’s how she understood it. This vocation, this answer she lived in her own way, simply and consequently, without many words. The poor were the goal of her personal “mission” and following of Christ. In her Divine Office Book, she stored a word of Gertrud von Le Fort, saying: “The sorrow of the earth became blissful, because it was loved”. This was what Sr. Mechtild wanted to accomplish with God's strength at this insignificant place, in her personal, modest way. Her authentic compassion with the wretched and distressed could stir her to tears; on such occasions, her temperament was for her like a “blocking rock” that kept her from showing her pity. Fury and indignation about the misery could prevail and lead to vehement reactions. Sr. Mechtild found it hard to show or to receive emotions, which caused her a lifelong suffering. She lived in an extremely modest way and did not want to be a burden to others, so that it was not easy to share her problems or help her during her days of illness. And so it was on her last day, when she felt quite weak because of a strong diarrhea and the beginning of malaria. On this day she remained in the sisters’ company and went to bed in her room only in the afternoon. Several times the sisters visited her, brought her some meal and finally checked on her again late in the evening, about 21.00. Sr. Mechthild gave the information that she was well and needed nothing. She had taken a strong malaria medication that, perhaps, her heart could no more withstand. As the sisters wanted to let her rest in the morning, they checked on her only at 9.20 of the following day. How terrible was the shock, when Sr. Mechthild was found dead. She obviously had died already some hours before, without agony or death-struggle. She had slid from the bed, as if she wanted to get drinking water, because she held her water bottle in the arm. Even in the coffin, she had a quiet, peaceful, almost serene expression -- one could imagine her sleeping with a beautiful dream.
God took her at life’s end, we believe, completely in accord with her desire. She was prepared for the encounter with her creator. In her prayer book, she kept in a prominent place a picture of the ‘cross of the resurrection’ and wrote on the rear in red ink:
Her ark had landed on the mountain of God!
“Her Angolans” honored Sr. Mechtild in death through an exceptionally big mourning community, according to African tradition for three days and two nights. Hundreds of people bade her farewell; the poor and sick, the rich and powerful. Nine priests concelebrated at the Requiem in the afternoon of the 23rd of April in the overcrowded cathedral of Menongue, where she lay in the open coffin. Later, the big crowd accompanied her to the graveyard, far outside the city.
Sr. Mechtild found her last resting place in a simple field for the dead, in the vastness and silence of the landscape she had loved so much during her life.
 Sister Margarita Alovera, OSB
February 22, 1913 - July 29, 2005
On July 28, while I was giving a conference to the Westgrove community, Sr. Lumen called me to say that Sr. Margarita was in a serious condition. After my talk, I went straight to MCM and soon after the Sisters of the Priory House and of the Manila Community came and prayed with and for her. While in the hospital, she expressed that the use of life-prolonging procedures which would only artificially postpone her dying process be withheld and withdrawn so that she could fulfill what she had ardently desired: to join her Creator the soonest possible time. On the eight day of her hospitalization she was brought back to St. Benedict’s Home, Marikina where God lovingly took her to his heavenly abode.
Ninety-two years ago on the feast of St. Margaret of Cortona a baby girl was born in Capiz to Margarita Soriano and Ricardo Alovera. To the Alovera household this joyous birth was tinged with a certain sadness, because the infant was a posthumous child. Ricardo, her father, had died at the age of 27 while she was three months in her mother’s womb. If the child were a boy, the mother had planned to name him Ricardo, after the father. Since the child turned out to be a girl, she was baptized Ricarda.
Candang, as she was fondly called, was a bright and cute little girl who went to school at a very early age, a year earlier than the required age. This made her even smaller in size than her classmates with the automatic privilege of always leading the line of students and having the front seat in the classroom. Little Candang did not only lead the line but led her class in such subjects as Math and Physics during her high school days.
Several years later, in May 1927, Mrs. Alovera boarded the ship SS Negros for Manila to enroll her son Jose, 17, at UP as a college sophomore and Florencia, 15, at UP as a college freshman. Candang, 14, still a high school student in Capiz had to stay behind. As the ship headed for Manila, news was flashed that a storm was brewing. The captain decided to make an abrupt turn and the ship got off-balance and slowly began to sink. The young Jose was able to jump overboard but drowned just the same. Mrs. Alovera and daughter Florencia were trapped in a cabin, and sank down with the ship.
After her high school studies and after the tragedy that befell her family, Candang proceeded to St. Scholastica’s College in Manila where she graduated Bachelor of Science in Education, cum laude. She was an athlete despite her size and seemingly frail body, a nimble dancer in many stage musicals, the prefect of the Sodality which at that time was regarded as the highest post a student could have and a leading stage actress. She was also fond of mechanics as well as sewing and music. She was a lover of mathematics, English, astronomy and physics.
After teaching at La Consolacion College in Bacolod, Ricarda entered the Missionary Benedictine Sisters together with Leonor Barrion who later became Sister Caridad. Ricarda was named Sr. Margarita, her mother’s name.
All through her life as a Missionary Benedictine, sister accepted every assignment with joy and openness, whether it be a teacher, treasurer, principal, directress and superior.
One of the biggest challenges which she had to face was in 1970 when she became the FIRST FILIPINA PRIORESS. The 70s were times of unrest in the country: martial law, killer flood in Central Luzon, student rallies and demonstrations. One with the other major superiors in 1973 she dared sign the first public statement, prudent and pointed against martial law. Though Sr. Margarita was an academician she was a consistent and quietly vocal supporter of the sisters engaged in socio-pastoral apostolate. After her stint as Prioress, Sr. Margarita still continued to work in the school of the Lord’s service. Age caught up with her until she was brought to St. Benedict’s Home for retirement.
To her nephews and nieces, Sr. Margarita was Tita. To her grandnephews and grandnieces she was Lola Tita. To her loyal class 54 of Assumption Academy now St. Scholastica’s Academy, San Fernando, she was a teacher, a mother and a friend. To us sisters, she was a paragon of a constant, steadfast and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord. She was faithfulness personified. THANK YOU DEAR SR. MARGARITA FOR SHOWING US NOT TO TIRE IN SEEKING GOD in a life of ORA et LABORA.
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 Sr. Emelinda Manuntag, OSB
June 9, 1958 – August 10, 2005
Who is FLOR MANUNTAG, “ATCHI” as she is called?
Flor Manuntag was the best Barangay Captain Angeles City never had. She grew up in Barangay Sto. Cristo, Angeles where she knew every single resident, young and old alike. From the corner of Sto. Cristo Street, children would flock to her to ask for her blessing. She would gather them on week-ends, teach them prayers and catechism, bring them to their barangay chapel and start initiating them as members of the Children of Mary Immaculate, better known as COMI.
She was like Darna, the Filipino comics heroine, who would come to the rescue of anybody in need in the barangay, in the school where she worked and the family where she belonged. She had all ears to those who sought her out for their problems and tried hard to find the possible solutions for them.
She was a consummate sacristan mayor. Fifteen minutes before the mass, she would grab the microphone and with her high-pitched voice invited the whole barangay with this phrase, “COME NOW, LET US GO TO MASS.” She had a total of three Holy Masses on a Sunday. The first mass was an anticipated one on a Saturday at 6:30 in the evening at the barangay chapel. She would prepare the altar, the readers, the offerers, and practice the songs while waiting for the priest. If there were no readers, she would pitch in. Mind you, she was also the soloist of the choir. In other words, she was the mover and shaker of the barangay chapel, short of being the priest presider of the mass.
The second mass was at the Carmelite Monastery on Sundays at 6:00 in the morning. There she would join the choir of Imang Daisy Capili, the organist, and who happens to be the mother of another choir member, Liza, now Sr. Agnella. After the Mass, Mrs. Capili, Flor, Liza and all the members of the choir would rush to the choir loft of the Holy Rosary Parish Church to sing for the 7:30 a.m. mass while still gasping. Mrs. Capili categorized Flor as soprano. The major reason was her regular attendance and categorical commitment as choir member. She never failed to attend all the practices.
Had there been an ordination of women in Angeles City, Flor would have been the first woman priest ordained. She had a string of qualifications. She was the representative of her barangay to the Parish Pastoral Council, a treasurer of the COMI, an organizer of the block rosary and prayer leader for the sick and for the dying. Together with Loida Lugtu, now Sr. Martha, Flor was engaged in giving catechetical classes and helped in putting up the Altar of Repose on Holy Thursday. Here is a typical Flor to the rescue incident. During a “salubong” (meeting of Jesus and Mary) on Easter dawn, the angel who was supposed to unveil the sorrowful mother, had dizziness spells. Right there and then, Flor put on her invisible wings and substituted as the adult angel.
Since Flor did not aspire to become the barangay captain of Sto. Cristo or the Darna of the films, Sr. Virginia, the vocation promoter of Angeles in 1991, reminded her that she had not acted on her application to the aspirancy yet. Due to Sr. Virginia’s persistence, Flor left her 13-year bookkeeping job at Holy Family Academy to join the Missionary Benedictine Sisters in 1992. She became Sr. Emelinda, a combination of her mother’s name, Emiliana and her own baptismal name, Florida.
As a novice, Sr. Emelinda was sent to Baguio. Sr. Luisa, who was then a junior sister in Baguio, recalls how the novice Flor patiently helped her in her accounting work. Her companions in the novitiate, Srs. Michaela, Leah Ann, Celeste, Fatima, Mary Louise, Josefa, Leticia and Mechtilde called her ATCHI. True to her name, ATCHI, she was a caring and loving elder sister. According to them she was not only an elder sister but also a mother and a friend who was instrumental in bonding the whole group for the past 13 years. Everyone in the group is asking now, “who will unite our group?”
As a professed sister, she was assigned to Marikina as canteen manager and head of the general services personnel. Beth shares that Sr. Emelinda was a disciplinarian. She would suspend an erring worker for a week but at the same time would secretly ask Beth to send biscuits to the children of the suspended employee, since suspension meant a no-work, no-pay agreement. Sr. Edigna, who is now the canteen manager in Marikina claims, “she was super-kind and had a heart for the poor.” Fely, another worker in the canteen, has these memories of her, “very hardworking, very efficient, there is no time wasted.” Susan asserts, “generous, but she will first scold before she gives. You will really think if what you are asking is really needed.”
Lapu-lapu was her last station. She had a special devotion to Our Lady of the Rule, the Patroness of the Parish. She would go to the Image of Our Lady with Sr. Felicity after Compline and would re-light all the candles that were extinguished by the wind. Sr. Emelinda was a very thoughtful soul. Every time she would come to Manila from Lapu-lapu, she made it a point to drop in at the Champaca Housing in Marikina to greet the families of the general services personnel. She would also go to her friends’ house in Angeles even for a very short visit bringing them three to four pieces of mangorind wrapped in small plastic bags.
I can still go on extolling the good works of Sr. Emelinda. However, I would like to stop here first and invite you to thank the Lord for giving us Sr. Emelinda for a period of thirteen years in a life of ORA et LABORA in the School of the Lord’s Service. SR. EMELINDA, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU.
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SR. ODILIANA ROHRWASSER, OSB
October 18, 1909 – October 23, 2005
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Sister Odiliana! A woman of passion! PASSION FOR GOD! Passion for God’s people and passion for God’s creation!
Our alumnae from St. Scholastica’s College, Manila where Sister Odiliana served for 26 years, and our alumni and lay mission partners from St. Joseph’s College, Maasin, Leyte who have carved a niche in Sister Odiliana’s heart, as well as the alumni from our schools in Angeles City and Lapu-lapu, cannot and will not forget Sister Odiliana: an excellent educator committed to Christian principles, no compromise, no half measures!
As a teacher, she could expound on the principles of earth sciences and mathematics, then move on to philosophy and theology. From classrooms to the science laboratories and the sections on electronics, then back to the classroom, Sister Odiliana insisted on academic discipline, principles of morality and her unbending standards of Christian decency. Alumnae love to recall Sister Odiliana’s insistence on decent clothes: skirts below the knees, no sleeveless dresses, no plunging necklines and more so, no spaghetti . . . Some took her words in fear and trembling, others with a certain lightness and fun, and yet, all had a deep respect for their dear Sister Odiliana for all she had done to help them grow into maturity, “to be true and finished women of character.”
Former students recall how Sister Odiliana worked as a high school teacher or a college professor and Moderator of the Sodality with a certain sternness. But they also know that behind that stern demeanor was a warm, loving heart that could embrace the entire universe.
Our sisters who have known Sister Odiliana for quite a time know that she had a special love for the people of Maasin, Leyte where she served as superior and directress of St. Joseph’s College. In that double capacity, she was instrumental in the reconstruction of the high school building and in laying the foundation of the college wing. Her class ’51 produced three priests. Sister Anselma Paler who, as a lay teacher, worked with Sister Odiliana, was amazed by the fact that when she visited Sister in her room just a year ago, Sister Odiliana could still sing the College Hymn of St. Joseph’s Maasin, from beginning to the end. That speaks of Sister’s strong and constant love for the people she served.
One wonders where all this tenacity and versatility in service comes from. A look into Sister Odiliana’s personal history, as related by Sister Ottfrieda, can throw light into the matter.
Sister Odiliana was born in Freiburg, Baden, West Germany on October 18, 1909. Being the only daughter of Herr Joseph Rohrwasser and Frau Ottilie Guenter, Maria Anna, now Sister Odiliana, was given the best opportunities for a well-rounded education in the best schools of Freiburg: Home Culture, Oberschule (equivalent to Liberal Arts) and Nursing. It was in the early 30’s in the springtime of her life, that the young Maria Anna, equipped with professional training of a woman of her age, felt God’s call for the mission. The father, who cherished his only daughter, did not approve Anna’s plans for life. Nonetheless, with a noble heart, he himself brought Anna to the train station for her trip to our mother house in Tutzing.
Anna was admitted to the convent in 1932. The following year, she was sent as a postulant to the Philippines in a freight steamer, the S.S. Fulda in a group of twelve, among whom were Sister Clodesindis Lucken and Postulant Christina Link, who was destined for Korea. Both would become future Prioress General. For clothing and temporary profession Sister Odiliana had as companions a Filipina, Sister Aida Villareal and a Chinese, Sister Lieou Sy, constituting the first international group in the Philippine Priory.
It was her resolute desire to SEEK GOD AND HIS GLORY IN ALL THINGS that sustained Sister Odiliana through her years of active service in the field of education. With her degrees in Bachelor of Science in Education, Master of Arts in Education and a Certificate from the School of Theology for Sisters, she spent the best years of her life in the education of the young. Her special line was science – physics in the high school and chemistry in college.
On the morning of December 8, 1941 news broke out that Pearl Harbor had been bombed and war had been declared. Sister Odiliana, who was at that time assigned in Sacred Heart Academy, Cavite, together with the other sisters were advised to leave their convent and move to Manila which was declared an open city. Their white habits were muddy and bloody, some veils were torn and most petticoats were in shreds and used as strips of bandages for the bleeding civilians. She was one of the heroines of Cavite during that dreadful event. In 1983, Sister Odiliana was assigned to our convent in Baguio. For seven (7) years she served as the Sisters’ Infirmarian. Sisters who came to Baguio remember how Sister Odiliana’s spirit of service has helped sustain the morale of the community even in those trying moments of the tragic earthquake that shook Baguio, the calamity that destroyed our St. Benedict’s building. All through the years of destruction, reconstruction and renovation of our convent in Baguio, Sister Odiliana stood by the Sisters who needed her help and care. Sisters will remember how she brought life to community recreation with interesting information about almost anything. Above all she will be remembered for her witty sense of humor that brought delight to all.
In the mid-90’s, Sister suffered from a fall that damaged the nerves of her spinal cord. Slowly, paralysis of the lower body set in and Sister had to be confined to a wheelchair and her bed. Intense pains afflicted her; but she bore these pains, accepting her condition from God as “bread broken for others.” What was so touching is that amidst these pains, she graciously welcomed any Sister or caregiver who came to her room. She kept herself alive to what was happening in God’s world. She would ask Sister Natividad to give her news about anything going on in the world, from politics, economics, and Church events. Her sense of gratitude was most touching. Whenever Sister Brigida would read a book for her, Sister Odiliana would say, “Thank you! Come again!”
Even in the last hours of life, Sister remained conscious and responsive. In the dark and still hours of the new day, Sunday, Sister started getting restless. Our faithful nurses, Tomasa and Connie, were attending to her. Tomasa said, “Sister, please wait, we are only two”. And Sister Odiliana obediently replied, “Oh yes!” At noontime, Sister Monica Nabirye, the community Infirmarian, together with the caregivers sang for Sister Odiliana. At the end, Sister Monica said, “Sister we sang for you your favorite song: “Go tell everyone…”
Sister Odiliana had a great PASSION FOR THE MISSION. Rohrwasser, her family name, means pipe water, gushing out of the Fount of Wisdom, softening sod and soil that it may bring forth fruit for the mission. By God’s special design it was on the 23rd of October, 2005 when the Universal Church was celebrating MISSION SUNDAY that Sister Odiliana gave her entire life to the Lord. Like the flickering flame of a candle Sister’s life slowly, quietly faded away until it was drawn by THE GREAT LIGHT OF AN ETERNAL DAY. Together with the angels and saints and the galaxies of stars and the whole of God’s creation, we can sing with her,
“Go, tell everyone the news that the Kingdom of God has come.”
Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB, Prioress
Manila Priory, October 23, 2005
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Sr. Armela (Maria) Praeiro de Lima OSB
September 30, 1932 - July 17, 2004
“See my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom I am pleased.
He will not shout nor raise his voice, nor make loud speeches in the streets.
He will not break off or bend a reed, nor put out a flickering lamp.” Is.42,1-3
We heard these above words of the Prophet Isaiah in our convent Mass on the morning of the day when our Sister Armela died, and they express very well the nature of our dear deceased Sister. A few hours later we prayed and sang at her bedside the “Suscipe me Domine, secundum eloquium tuum et vivam.”
Sr.Armela was born on September 30, 1932 in Agreste Pau Santo, near Caruaru, in the State of Pernambuco. She grew up among 13 brothers and sisters some of whom died in childhood. She was babtized on November 11, 1932 and given the name Maria. Her father, Antonio Praeiro de Lima, was a farmer. Together wih her wife, Maria José do Espírito Santo, he cared for his big family in a deep spirit of Christian Faith
In the few written notes left by Sr.Armela, we read: “I experienced my greatest joy on the day of my First Communion. My mother had prepared me. From my early age I worked in the house and in the fields. I could not go to school because there was no school at the place where we lived.”
At the age of 16, she came to know our school “Sagrado Coração“ in Caruaru. Her cousim Cecilia was working there and invited her to apply there for a job, too. Upon the latter´s request and “with the permission of my parents”, as she writes explicitly, she was accepted for half-day work and could go to school in the afternoon. She finished the first four years of elementary school. Later, already in the convent, she added the fifth year. In Caruaru, she also attended a cooking course. In the evening, after work, she used to go to the chapel. In those years, the desire to become a sister took root in her.
Maria confided this wish to Sr. Bernadette and was received into our Juvenate in Recife on January 29, 1955. On January 3, 1956, she became a candidate in our Priory House at Olinda. In her notes she wrote: “My second great joy came on the day of my clothing, on February 3, 1958.” Sr. Armela pronounced her temporary vows on February 5, 1959, and her final vows on February 5, 1962.
One year after her final profession, she worked for one year in Recife where she could revive some memories of the juvenate time. Then she was transferred to the State of Ceará where she worked for 15 years in the community “Nossa Senhora de Fátima”, in Barbalha. Called back to Olinda, she worked there for 11 years in the Priory House. Once again, she was sent to Ceará and assigned for 6 years to Porteira and 1 year to Palestina near Maurity, Her last station was Malhada de Pedras in the South of Bahia. Here she remained from 1998 till one month before her death.
In all these stations we could say with the Prophet: “She did not discuss nor cry aloud, and her voice was not heard in the streets.” And also with the Psalmist: “Serve the Lord in joy .” Sr. Armela dedicated herself with joyful equanimity and a sense of responsibility to whatever work was assigned to her in house and garden. As she was a good cook, the kitchen was entrusted to her most of the time.
She regularly brought Holy Communion to the sick in Porteiras and Malhada Pedras, two stations without priest in the interior of the country. The manner in which she held the host in her hands demonstrated clearly her interior adoration of the Eucharist. Her presence and the few words she spoke to them strengthened the sick and elderly people.
At Holy Mass and Services of the Word she helped with the distribution of Holy Communion.Sr. Armela was a Eucharistic and a Marian soul. Often, after Compline, she remained still for a long time before the tabernacle. She prayed devoutly the daily rosary. The people loved her and gave her the name “Sister of Silence”.
In Malhada de Pedras she helped the altar servers to do their functions well. She knew how to educate them to conscientious service at the altar. Sr. Armela possessed a great zeal for religious services and taught others to make everything in church most beautiful and perfect for Christ. At a fitting moment she could say: “You may not continue to do it this way!” Her admonition was well-known: “You may not talk about others”. She did not even want to hear criticism about President Bush, but would say: “I pray for him that he will be converted.” Sr. Armela was e consequent person and she did herself what she demanded of others.
Sr. Armela loved the poor and was compassionate with them. She was in charge of doing the shopping at the weekly market. Occacionally she bought something that was not really necessary, in order to give to the vendor a chance to earn a little. While her fellow sisters were busy with their manifold and fatiguing apostolates in the city or in the villages, she was the good spitit in the house. In her slow, careful way she kept up the house, and on feastdays, she always had a surprise of her culinary art in store for them. – Her apostolate was to visit sick and elderly people in their homes.
It was not easy to make her go to the doctor. She hid her pains, even incessant pains, from her fellow sisters. In early June this year she suffered from a flu which did not subside. She became pale, then turned yellow. The doctor suspected hepatitis. So it became necessary to bring her to the Priory House in Olinda for proper treatment. An appointment with a specialist was set. An operation revealed cancer of liver in an advanced stage and a special treatment was not longer possible; so she was dismissed from the hospital. To relieve her pain and ameliorate the itch caused by the gall fluid in her veins, a Korean doctor prescribed acupuncture of her hands; this made her suffering more bearable.
We do not know how much she suffered. She did not complain or groan even a single time during her illness. She remained recollected in prayer, so the secular nurses were astonished and considered her a saint. Her fellow sisters who lived with her in Malhada de Pedras during the past six years, confirmed the same observations.
On July 16, Sr Armela fell into a sort of coma. She received once more the anointing of the sick where, at the praying of the Our Father by the sisters surrounding her bed, she opened her eyes for some moments. She was given oxigen. The following day, her breathing became weaker and was accompanied by soft moans. Her facial expression remaind calm. At 10:55 she fell quietly asleep; it was July 17, 2004, 36 days after she had come to the Priory House in Olinda.
Sr. Armela left to us the example of a simple, unpretentious and helpful life, not attracting attention, the example of a quiet, prayerful person. At her daily work and wherever she was, her lips moved in prayer. – “See, my servant maid whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I am pleased.” – May she rest in peace!
Olinda Priory, Brasil, July 17, 2004
The Chronicler
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 IN MEMORY OF
MOTHER MARIA LUCAS RAUCH, OSB
Prioress General from 1957 to 1967
who went home to the house of the Father on the eve of the
Feast of Christ the King , November 19, 2005
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father! Come, and possess the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” (Mt. 25:34)
These welcome words of Jesus surely met Mother Maria Lucas as she entered the heavenly court to meet her King and Lord.
Eva Rauch was born on October 11, 1906 in Gruben Gem. Hochstadt of the Diocese of Bamberg, Germany. Her father was Johann and her mother was Dorothea Vogel. Eva was the third child of 12 children, 3 girls and 9 boys. Three of the 9 boys died at an early age and two girls became religious, Sr. Leobalda (Congregation of the Divine Heart of Jesus) and Mother Ma. Lucas, revealing that Eva came from a very religious family. Because of the large family, Eva was brought up by a loving uncle and aunt who took good care of her until she finished her medical studies in Wurzburg and passed the State examinations in 1933.
Wanting to become a missionary, Eva came to Tutzing and studied in the Mission school for two years. Her desire was fulfilled when on January 9, 1935, she entered the convent of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters in Tutzing. Two years later, on April 24, 1937, she pronounced her first vows as a Missionary Benedictine Sister. Being a medical doctor, she received the name Maria Lucas. After three months, on July 16, 1937, she was missioned to Raeville, Nebraska, United States of America. On June 25, 1940 she committed herself for life as a Missionary Benedictine Sister in Raeville.
For 7 years Sr. Maria Lucas worked as a medical doctor in Lynch and in 1945 she was appointed Prioress of Norfolk. To be able to practice as a medical doctor in the United States, Sr. Maria Lucas had to become an American citizen. She received her American passport on May 16, 1944 which she retained until her death.
On December 9, 1947 she was called to serve the mission in Ndanda Priory. For ten years she served as a doctor in the hospital in Ndanda Priory, treating many natives who needed medical attention and surgery. In addition to her work in the hospital she was Subprioress for 5 years and in 1955 she again became Prioress but only for two years.
In 1957 she was called to Grottaferrata to be a delegate of the General Chapter. By God’s providence she became Mother General until 1967. During those ten years of great responsibility, Mother Maria Lucas faced with deep faith the challenges and demands of her office. As she visited all the houses of the Congregation, she came to know the internationality of the membership and the different cultures and customs of the five continents. She was strict in the observance of what is written in the Constitutions and Customs of the Congregation.
During her term as Prioress General she opened a house in Bande, Portugal in 1961, which was the beginning of our Priory in Portugal.
Mother Maria Lucas was never a very healthy person. She was physically fragile but her spiritual stamina gave her the strength to overcome difficulties as the spiritual leader of an international congregation. Her goodness, kindness, understanding and care for each one’s needs were very evident. What could be considered her forte was the power of prayer and humility of her service in the Congregation. Through her example she showed her genuine love for the Church and self-sacrificing love for the mission. She made of her life a journey towards total trust in God alone. Indeed she was a woman of prayer. Mother Maria Lucas practiced personal simplicity even austerity at tim
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In Memory of 
