PAX – SISTER SUSANA DA SILVA

PAX!

Renewing our faith in the Risen Christ, in whom we place our certainty and hope, we announce, with emotion and gratitude that on June 6^th, 2025, at 7:58 am (local time), at the Santa Casa Hospital in Vinhedo / São Paulo / Brazil, the heavenly husband welcomed into his arms:

SISTER SUSANA DA SILVA

Province of Divine Providence

81 years old and 58 years of Religious Profession

Sister Susana (Maria Helena) was born in Elói Mendes (Minas Gerais / BRAZIL), on March 1^st, 1944. The vocation of Maria Helena was matured in contact with the Benedictine Sisters of Divine Providence, present in her city.

In 1963, at the age of 19, she entered the Congregation in the city of Rio de Janeiro, being received by the then local Superior, Sister Maurizia Laboranti, during the government of Mother Emanuele Bonacina.

In 1965, she was sent to Nova Veneza / Santa Catarina, where she completed her first year of Novitiate, with Sister Beniamina Carbone as her Mistress and Sister Eurosia Gritti as Vice Mistress. God’s plans are inscrutable. In 1966, the Novitiate was transferred to Quitaúna – Osasco / São Paulo. Fifteen Novices, including Novice Susana, and nine Postulants went to the new Novitiate headquarters in Quitaúna (Osasco / São Paulo), to continue their initial formation with the new Mistress Sister Eurosia Gritti. On January 13^th, 1967, she made her First Vows in the Chapel of the Saint Pius X Institute, in Osasco / São Paulo.

With her Religious Profession, she embraced a path of self-giving and generosity, because it was her ideal to love and serve the Lord through Religious Consecration. She wrote decisively to the Delegate of the Superior General in Brazil, Sister Afonsina Romão, saying:

“Since I made my first vows, I have made them definitively, and I want to follow them until the end of my life; since I heard God’s call, I have responded freely and consciously. My ‘YES’ must be given throughout my entire life.”

Sr. Susana fulfilled her YES, accepting the challenges of following Jesus with the certainty that Providence will go forward opening paths. She had a big heart and work tirelessly to serve wherever she was needed. She left her mark on day-care centres, hospitals, schools and nursing homes. Precisely because she was a generous and available person, she also held the position of local Superior in several communities: Santa Rosa de Viterbo (São Paulo), Itaguaí (Rio de Janeiro), Guaraná (Espírito Santo), Varginha (Minas Gerais), Santo André (São Paulo). She was also a skilled tailor and very committed to the Congregation.

Let us give a word to those who knew Sister Susana best:

Dear Sisters, while traveling to visit the Communities of Guinea-Bissau, I have just arrived at the airport in Casablanca / Morocco and came across the news of the death of our Sister Susana. This news is indeed very sad.

We believe in the resurrection; we believe in eternal life. With sadness for the loss, but with a feeling of deep gratitude to God for the vocation, mission and dedication of Sister Susana, throughout these years, for the Kingdom of God, I join our entire Province and Congregation in prayer and I ask God for her eternal rest. Sister Susana is with the Divine Spouse whom she loved and served so much. May she rest in peace and intercede for us, with God. I pray for her family, that they may have strength in God, to experience in faith this very delicate moment.

Grant her, O Lord, eternal rest, and may perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen! (Sister Barbara C. F. Britto, Provincial Superior of the Province of Divine Providence)

Dear Sister Susana, I am grateful to God the Provident Father, the Lord of Life, for the gift of your life given to Him in the construction of the Kingdom of God in our Congregation, while you were with us, giving yourself entirely and tirelessly. Rest in Peace, dear Sister, and may the Perpetual Light illuminate you. (Sisters of Imperatriz – Maranhão – Sr. Salute Bet)

We are very sorry; you have left us a great testimony. Sister Susana, may God, the owner of life, receive you in his eternity. The love you shared with me in Teresina will not die! May your soul rest in peace. (Sr. Meireane do Nascimento)

Recently, an acute respiratory infection complicated the life of our Sister Susana. Her Province spared no effort to provide her with the necessary attention, with care and affection. She was admitted to the Santa Casa Hospital in Vinhedo / São Paulo, but her time was ending. The Lord took her on the morning of June 6^th, at 7:58 am, and, in the arms of Providence, our Sister surrendered herself to live forever with Him.

Dear Sister Susana, you were picked like a beautiful flower to beautify the Lord’s Garden. Now pray for us. Ask Jesus to plant new flowers in our garden and ask, on behalf of all of us, for new vocations for our Congregation and for the Church. Thank you for your witness among us.

The funeral will be held tomorrow, June 7^th, 2025, at 10:30 am, at the Chapel of Residential Divine Providence in Vinhedo / São Paulo and, afterwards, the body will be buried at the Cemetery of Valinhos / São Paulo.

In communion of prayer, united with all the Sisters of the Province of Divine Providence, family and friends, let us entrust our Sister Susana into the arms of the Providence.

“My heart burns with love for You.”

(from her 25 years of Religious Profession)

REST IN THE PEACE OF THE LORD!

Sr. Maria das Dores Paz – General Secretary