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Religious Name : |
Sister Mary Claretta of the Child Jesus |
| Maiden Name : | Monica D'Sa | |
| Religious No : | 1383 | |
| Native Place : | Pangala | |
| Parish : | St. John Evangelist Church, Pangala | |
| Diocese : | Mangalore Diocese | |
| State : | Karnataka | |
| Date of Birth : | 09.11.1939 | |
| Date of First Profession : | 03.05.1966 | |
| Date of Perpetual Profession : | 24.05.1971 | |
| RIP: | 13-03-2023 |
OBITUARY
SISTER MARY CLARETTA A.C
Inst No. – 1383
Well done, good and faithful servant….
Now enter into the joy of your Master. (Mt - 25:30)
Bravo! dear Sr. Claretta, these words of Jesus are felicitous to your life. You were a woman of great power, enthusiasm, hard work and soaked in the Love of God and neighbour.
On 9th November 1939, Sr. Claretta Nee Monica D’sa was born in Pangla, a place well known for jasmine cultivation in Udupi District of Karnataka. Mr. Alex D’sa and Mrs. Pauline Quadras welcomed into this world their fifth child, a perfect gift from God and a true child.
While she was very young she lost her mother, so she quit schooling to take care of her siblings. After all her siblings were settled well, she continued her schooling, after a gap of few years at St. Joseph’s High School, Kundapura and at St. Ann’s, Mangalore. Monica, born when her only brother Fr. Thomas D’Sa was in St. Joseph’s Seminary, was a role model for his sister and motivated her to walk in his footsteps and after her teacher training at St. Ann’s, she joined the Apostolic Carmel on May 24th, 1963. Sr. Claretta made her first profession in the Apostolic Carmel on 3rd May 1966 and final profession on 24th May 1971.
Sr. Claretta was a lively and affectionate person by nature. Whoever came in contact with her went back with a fulfilled heart and every meeting ended with a friendly note. Some of her very old friends and parents of her little pupils who attended her funeral were a proof to her affectionate and caring nature. She was so friendly with a host of people that she knew everyone by name and kept contact with them almost till the very end. She was also gifted with a large heart, generous hands and forgiving spirit wherein she accommodated all and cherished their sweet memories.
Sr. Claretta was a born leader. Within seven years after her final profession she was appointed as a Local Superior. Since then she held this office with breaks in between, with confidence and love, warmth and wit for a span of twenty-one years in different communities. She was a caring and loving animator in our convents at Haliyal, Asha Nikethan, Bala-Yesu Nilaya, Kemmannu, Belgaum and Maryhill Mangalore. Wherever she was she built joyful communities. After her active life as Headmistress and Superior she chose a quiet life and served as Minister, in charge of guests, maintaining Community Accounts for many more years.
She was a very good educator, a loving teacher and capable headmistress in our aided higher primary schools for over twenty-two years. She was honored as Best Teacher by the Lions Club of Kulshekar Mangalore on Sunder her care and dotted love and care on them, in fact, when the numbers in our Kannada schools started dwindling she was one of the first headmistresses to go visiting the neighbourhood and the locality to encourage children to be admitted into schools. Even at the evening of her life she kept contact with all her family members and friends and was connected to them. Their visits, phone calls, messages gave her much comfort and solace. She would update the community with all the current news.
She fought a brave battle for several years with diabetic and other age related ailments. She took each day in her stride with endurance never really complaining, but always hoping that the medical treatment would finally end and she would be able to lead a normal healthy life. The attack of Covid-19 in 2021 came down heavily on her. She took a very bad turn and was confined to the MIC unit of JSS Hospital Mysuru for several days. Never thought she would fight it out and return home smiling but she did it and was back with a smiling face. However, she could not pick up to lead a normal life as she constantly got ill and had to be admitted to the hospital at Mysuru. Covid-19 took a toll on her lungs and later developed acute breathing problems. In December, 2022 she suddenly grew breathless and had to be shifted to the hospital and stayed on for a fortnight. Later, on the doctor’s advice she was brought home and provided with oxygen as life support. After a couple of months she started deteriorating and in January, 2023 it was diagnosed that her lungs were not functioning normally as the carbon dioxide was getting accumulated in her brain. As a result she was found to be dis-oriented and drowsy. After three weeks she was brought back to the convent but within a few days she took a bad turn and was shifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital.
At this juncture, our Provincial Superior, Sr. Maria Shamitha and her team decided to shift Sr. Claretta to Fr. Muller Hospital, Kankanady, Mangalore for better treatment. Hence, on 1st February 2023, the Superior, Sr. Maria Priya took the risk of shifting Sr. Claretta in a Centralized Oxygen Ambulance along with a nurse, to Fr. Muller Hospital, Mangalore. Sr. Claretta withstood the strain of the journey fromMysuru to Mangalore.. Towards the end of February she was taken to St. Agnes Convent, directly from the hospital, where Sr. Lydia, the Superior and her Community warmly welcomed her and bestowed love and care and did their best to alleviate her sufferings. She was on oxygen support 24x7 and showed improvement for some days but grew worse again. Sisters of our local communities, her relatives and friends kept visiting her and enquiring after her frequently.
On Monday, 13th March, our Former Superior General Sr. Agatha Mary who is the current infirmarian at the convent visited her at 5a.m. and whispered her name to which she responded. Within an hour Sr. Claretta breathed her last, slipped into eternity and offered her soul to the Father as a fragrant jasmine of His choice saying Father into your Hands I commend my Spirit. Thus ended the beautiful journey of our beloved sister on this earth May she now rest in the Fathers Arms forever.
Her remains were shifted to the mortuary of Fr. Muller Hospital the same morning. The funeral was fixed for Tuesday, 14th March, 2023 at St. Agnes Convent at 3.30 p.m. Rev. Fr. Daniel Veigas, OP and Episcopal Vicar for Religious, Mangalore Diocese officiated at the funeral Mass along with three concelebrants. He compared the human life to God’s breath, the gift to each one of us. Sr. Claretta, in fact had struggled with patience with this special gift of God when she gave up this human support and entered into THE BREATH, of eternal life, God Himself. St. Agnes Convent Chapel was full with several sisters from our convent, her friends and relatives even from Mumbai and Bangalore.
The Superior and sisters of St. Joseph’s Convent Mysuru are grateful to our Superior General Sr. Nirmalini and her team for being a source of encouragement and support to our dear sister through their visits during her illness. We owe a debt of gratitude to Provincial Superior Sr. Shamitha and her team for going out of their way to ease the sufferings of our sister by arranging for better medical facilities and personal care at St. Agnes Community. We thank Sr. Lydia and sisters of the community for the diligent care.
A loving tribute to you dear Sr. Claretta from your sisters of St. Joseph’s Convent Mysuru
BIO-DATA
Date of Birth : 09-11-1939
Entry into Postulancy : 24-05-1963
First Profession : 03-05-1966
Final Profession : 24-05-1971
Date of decease : 13-03-2023
Date of burial : 14-03-2023
Place of burial : St. Agnes Convent Cemetery, Mangalore
