God our Father visited the Mother Thecla community, Pasay City, Philippines, to call to himself our sister: Gornis Anita – Sr. Maria Giacinta, born in Davao City, Philippines, on 9 February 1938.
“To pray and to love: this is our happiness here on earth.” These words of the holy Curé of Ars, whose memory we commemorate today, summarize well the life of Sr. M. Giacinta, who walked among us spreading the fragrance of God’s virtues, in particular her deep intimacy with Jesus Master and her great goodness toward every sister and indeed every person who crossed her path. She was always smiling and gentle, always ready to welcome others, always helpful and affectionate, always relaxed and kind.
She entered the Congregation in the “Regina Apostolorum” community in Pasay City Philippines, on 26 June 1955, together with her twin sister, Sr. M. Fatima. A few months later they were followed by their older sister, Sr. Eugenia Maria. (Both Sr. M. Fatima and Sr. Eugenia preceded Sr. Giacinta to heaven several years ago.) Although still very young, Sr. Giacinta had the chance to carry out the technical and diffusion apostolates for a few years in the Diocese of Cebu before entering the novitiate in Lipa. With deep gratitude to God, she made her first profession on 30 June 1960. In her request to take this step, she wrote: “I am longing for the opportunity to consecrate myself to God, although I feel unworthy to do so. But I trust in the infinite mercy and goodness of the Lord who has chosen me….”
In 1961, Sr. Giacinta had the joy of being sent as a missionary to Taiwan, together with Sr. M. Fatima. The house had only been opened a year earlier, and the small community was kept very busy studying Chinese, initiating the book center apostolate, and disseminating the Gospels that the Cardinal of Taipei had donated to them so that they could reach as many people as possible. When the community launched the FSP technical apostolate, Sr. Giacinta devoted herself to the printing and publishing of the Institute’s first editions of children’s books in the Mandarin language.
In 1975 she returned to the Philippines for a few years and then was sent back to Taiwan where, in the communities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, she was involved in itinerant diffusion and also carried out the service of cook. Upon her definitive return to the Philippines in 1983, she wrote on behalf of herself and her twin: “Having lived in Taiwan for 18 years, we cannot deny that a part of our hearts are still there, especially during the last two months of our stay in Kaohsiung, where we always dreamed of opening a house for the apostolate so that our Pauline Cooperators could share in our mission. We had also decided to get our driver’s licenses in order to reach more people and take a lot more books with us, since our hands are no longer strong. We are sure that Jesus welcomed these plans and that he will now inspire others to do the things we were unable to do.”
Docile to the will of God as manifested through her superiors, Sr. Giacinta continued the Pauline mission in the Philippines with great enthusiasm. In Pasay, Davao, Cebu and Baguio, she worked with great commitment in the book center apostolate. She was a much-loved superior in the communities of Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro and Lipa, where she sought benefactors to support the Province’s radio and TV activities. Sensitive to the needs of the Institute’s vocations, she also encouraged these benefactors to assist the poorer candidates financially in order to help them complete their dowries.
Up until a few months ago, Sr. Giacinta was a member of our Cebu community, where she continued to collaborate in the book center and raise funds for the Pauline mission. Last November, she was diagnosed as suffering from lung cancer, which metastasized rapidly, leading her to the contemplation of the face of God in all its radiance. It is consoling to think that the intimate union with God emphasized by St. John Vianney, whose memory we celebrate today, has at last been realized for her too: a union in which God and the soul are like two pieces of wax that have been fused together and will never be separated again.