Religious honored on Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | Due to COVID-19 worries, the archdiocese has canceled the annual Mass and dinner honoring men and women who are marking silver, golden or diamond anniversaries of their religious profession. This celebration is timed to coincide with the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, which in turn is observed on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, or Candlemas Day, Feb. 2.

Nevertheless, Archbishop Thomas Wenski has marked the observance this year with a written message to all the religious men and women in the archdiocese. (Read it here.)

We also recognize those marking special anniversaries this year. They are:

 

DIAMOND JUBILARIAN – 75 YEARS 

Sister Hilda Alonso
Daughters of Charity 

Sister Hilda was born in San Juan y Martínez, Pinar del Río, Cuba, on Feb. 10, 1921. She studied at Colegio la Inmaculada in Havana and in 1946 obtained a doctorate in education from the National University in Havana. She entered the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul on May 24, 1946 in Havana, making her first vows on May 31, 1951.

From 1951 to 1959 she served as principal of the Colegio la Inmaculada in Havana, then principal and superior of the Colegio de Belen in Santiago de Cuba, Oriente. She left Cuba in 1961 and became principal of La Milagrosa School in Ponce, Puerto Rico, as well as superior of the Study House, a residence for university women of the Catholic University of Ponce.

She came to Miami in 1971 to work at Centro Hispano Católico and Gesu Parish with the newly arrived Cuban refugees. In 1972 she returned to Puerto Rico after being named provincial of the Daughters of Charity. In 1973 she founded the mission of the Daughters of Charity in Haiti.

Upon her return to Miami in 1981, Sister Hilda worked as director of Religious Education at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Miami (since closed).

She worked for the Daughters’ missions in Haiti as well Cuba. For many years she has been spiritual director of the Alumni Association of all the schools of the Daughters of Charity of Cuba in exile.

At present, her ministry is prayer.

“In these 75 years I have been happy in all the different services that the Lord asked me, and I was able to do it with his grace,” she said, quoting from Psalm 116:12: “How can I repay the Lord for all the great good done for me?” She also referenced the Spanish hymn, “Qué detalle, Señor”: “What a detail, Lord, you had with me, when you called me, when you chose me, when you told me that you were my friend.” 

 

SILVER JUBILARIANS - 25 YEARS

Sister Laura García
Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Sister Laura was born in Nicaragua and finished her studies in marketing at the age of 23. After graduation, she came to the United States to look for a better future; she met the community six months after she arrived. Her future was Our Lord and also her present. After coming to the States, she studied for certification in Sacred Scripture in Mexico, as well as in family ministry, which she practices in her service to many families. She served for many years visiting the sick in the hospital or their homes.

She initiated her process of formation as a postulant in 1993, in the institute of Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, founded by Mother Adela Galindo, who was her inspiration and a model of devotion to Our Lady. She is very grateful for her constant support. She professed her vows in 1996 and professed her perpetual vows on February 2, 2011, with the motto, “We bear this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor. 4, 7).

She has served in the Archdiocese of Miami as a teacher at St. Michael School for 13 years, as well as at Blessed Trinity School for three years. She also served in the catechetical program at St. Agatha Parish. She served for four years with two more sisters in the diocese of Peoria, Illinois, caring for the diocesan retreat house. She is currently back in the Archdiocese of Miami in her fourth year of ministry with the immigrants in Naranja, Redlands, South Dade, and Everglades.

Most of all she would like to thank the Lord and Our Lady for all their mercy and compassion toward her for His goodness, for calling her to be His.

 

Brother Richard Moore
Hospitaller Order of St. John of God

From Our Lady and St Joseph’s parish in Islington, North London, Brother Richard joined his community in Wolverhampton in 1994 and made his first profession in 1996, after a career in the Royal Air Force and civilian time with the Metropolitan Police.

His childhood vocation was renewed while volunteering with the St. Vincent de Paul Society in his local parish, when he realized that was all he wanted to do. He has spent most of his religious life in North America and has been back in Miami since 2011.

He currently works with the Lazarus Outreach program at Camillus House, is a vocation director for his community and also runs Pastoral Care at Camillus.