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Religious Name : |
Sister Mary Eleanora of the Blessed Sacrament |
| Maiden Name : | Leonora Theresa Delphina Pinto | |
| Religious No : | 984 | |
| Native Place : | Bendur, Mangalore | |
| Parish : | Christ the King Parish, Karkala | |
| Diocese : | Mangalore Diocese | |
| State : | Karnataka | |
| Date of Birth : | 26.11.1932 | |
| Date of First Profession : | 05.01.1956 | |
| Date of Perpetual Profession : | 22.05.1961 | |
| RIP | 04-10-2020 |
OBITUARY
“Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His faithful ones.” Ps. 116:15. With these words our Lord must have welcomed our dear Sr. Eleanora into his loving embrace at 11.20 a.m on Oct. 4th 2020 to enjoy the bliss of His presence for all eternity. Even though during the last short phase of her life she was not able to use her memory and conscious mind, her faithful commitment to her life of consecration as a religious certainly gave her the disposition to wait upon the Lord doing His will and hence was fully prepared to meet the Lord and Master when He called her to Himself. As in life, so in death, gently and peacefully, she offered herself to her beloved Spouse as a fragrant sacrifice.
Sr. Eleanora was the first child of her parents Late Mr. Jeremias John Pinto and Late Mrs. Alice Rego. She was born on 26th November 1932 at Bendore, Mangalore and was christened Leanora Teresa pinto at St. Sebastian Church Bendore, on 3rd December 1932. God gifted her parents with six children – 4 girls and 2 boys. Leanora completed her schooling in Karkal and teacher training at Capitanio Training School, Mangalore. Her parents offered two of their children to the service of the Lord as religious in the Apostolic Carmel - Sr. Eleanora and Sr. Aquineta. At the age of 21 Leanora hearkened to the voice of her Beloved, “come follow me” and with the blessing of her parents joined the Apostolic Carmel Congregation on 15th June 1953; she did her Postulancy at St Ann’s Convent and novitiate at Maryhill Convent Mangalore and received the religious name Sister Mary Eleanora of the Blessed Sacrament. She made her first profession on 5th January 1956 and her final profession on 22nd May 1961 at St Ann’s Convent, Mangalore.
Soon after her first profession she was appointed as a teacher at St .Philomena Hr. Primary. School Kemmannu. In 1962 she was made headmistress of Infant Jesus Hr. Pry. School, Maryhill. From then onward she rendered her selfless services as headmistress in various schools till her retirement in 1991. Special mention must be made that Sr. Eleanora served as headmistress of St. Antony Kannada Hr. Pry. School, Jayanagar, Bengaluru from 1975 to 1991 and here she retired from service. She is remembered for her dedicated service for the poor children of the school, the staff, the parents and the workers – recorded indelibly by her angel in the book of life.
She served God and his people through the Congregation in various capacities as Superior, Headmistress, Society Bursar, House Bursar, Minister, Infirmarian, Sacristan and Librarian .It is remarkable to say, whatever duty was assigned to her, she accomplished it with total faith and dedication. She was indeed one of the wise virgins of the gospel parable whose lamp was always burning bright with the oil of love and faith; filled with zeal for God’s kingdom, abounding in charity especially for the poor and needy. She was unassuming in her ways, simple in her decorum, prompt and faithful to all the community exercises.
She was compassionate and loving to all those who entered the portals of the convent. As she was in charge of the parlour she was very punctual in answering the bells and meeting the visitors graciously. This was very evident even when she was not able to walk. She tried to get up and dragged herself to attend to the visitors. Those who came to the convent to request for charity always received something from her loving hands. After retirement she willingly taught catechism and was very kind to children. She gave her time to listen to them and understand their problems.
Sr. Eleanora’s life was very simple. Her needs were few. She was always ready to render help to anyone at any time. For many years she took care of the priests who came to the convent for Mass especially in Bangalore and in Maryhill. She showed her concern for them and helped them. Her old students who have become Priests were grateful for her interest and service showed to them. She inspired them through her kind words and deeds. They even visited her some time ago when they had come for holidays. When the students played some mischief in the class she would deal with the issue with success - meeting them individually including the leader of the group; she being a very understanding person gave some sweets to them along with a bit of advice.
Sr. Eleanora had the joy of having her beloved sister Aquineta in our congregation who was a very strong support to her in her declining years. She brought great consolation through her constant visits to her. Her sisters Grace and Late Eugene and her brother Edmund and her relatives visited her often. She loved her family members and took personal interest in their welfare. Her brother and sisters too had great concern towards her. She enjoyed good health till the end of her life; she was very active physically until her memory and reasoning failed. Sr. Eleanora, a dedicated and hard working person was a perfectionist in everything that was entrusted to her .We her sisters are grateful to dear Sr. Eleanora for her loving, loyal and dedicated life of love and service.
Her life of consecration has borne abundant fruit. The fruit of her happy life was her authentic living of the motto of the Apostolic Carmel ‘God alone suffices’. Her life of prayer and union with God enabled her to radiate God’s presence and fragrance all around her. The more we live the greater we appreciate God’s blessing. Her life was a life of gratitude and child like wonder .To every act of kindness done to her, she would express her gratitude with reat tenderness of heart.
She had a steady and beautiful handwriting. Her artistic and beautiful writing and the drawing adorned the community board.
In 2019, we found her becoming weaker and she had to depend on others for all her personal needs. From the time she fell ill due to knee pain our aides Mary, Meenaskshi, Rashmi and Chandrika were constantly at her service. They took care of her with love. Sisters visited her often and also spent time with her praying.
From September 25th, Sr.Eleanora showed signs of deterioration physically and mentally. Her digestion slowed down. Her breathing became hard. She could not take any food orally. So was put on saline and nasal feeding. The end of her earthly journey was drawing to a close. On Oct.1st she was anointed by Fr. Stephen D Souza OFM Cap.
On October 4th at 10 a.m. her breathing became slow. At once our nurse Neetha was informed. She came and did the needful. At 11.20 a.m on October 4th, she gently surrendered her soul into the hands of the Almighty. At this sublime moment the whole community along with Sr. Eleanora’s two sisters (Sr. Aquineta and Grace) and her close relatives were praying around her. Being a day of recollection we had our Preparation for Death in her presence as it came to an end, her breathing stopped gently. Dr. Denzil. A. Pinto certified her death. Fr. Rahul D Souza, our Asst. Parish Priest came and prayed over her.
The Superior General Sr. Nirmalini, the Provincial Superior, Sr. Maria Shamita, the local convents, the Parish Priest, AC Associates, parishioners and her family members were informed of her death. Our Provincial Superior Sr. Maria Shamita arrived at our Convent at once and helped us with her valuable suggestions. We are grateful to her. The funeral Mass was fixed for Monday, the following day. Fr. Maxim Norohna, the Vicar General was the main celebrant, Fr. Aquin Noronha OP, Fr. Stany Periera, our Parish Priest, Fr. Lancy Rebello OFM Cap, Fr. Jawahar Cutinha OFM Cap and Fr. Jeevan Sequeira concelebrated. Fr. Aquin Noronha OP preached the homily. Our sisters from local convents, our parishioners, AC Associates and relatives were present for the funeral mass. After the funeral rites performed in the chapel Sister Eleanora’s mortal remains were taken to our convent cemetery followed by Burial service. We express our deep appreciation and gratitude to each and every one who rendered elp in one way or other and all those who attended the funeral.
Our dear Sr. Eleanora, a beautiful person, in God’s sight and in the sight of others leaves behind her inspiring footprints in our hearts. Her remarkable ability of duty consciousness, her hard working spirit and gentle and polite ways endeared her to all. She carried out her responsibilities till the end and suffered without a word of complaint. Dear Sister Eleanora will remain in our individual and collective memory as the one who understood and practised the Apostolic Carmel way of life as a beloved daughter of our foundress Venerable Mother Veronica.
Thank you dear Sr. Eleanora for your cheerful presence, child-like spirit and for your prayerful support especially to the sisters of your community at Ladyhill. We miss your presence in our midst. We believe that you are with the Lord, interceding for all of us.
Adieu dear Sr. Eleanora! Adieu! Till we meet you on the heavenly shore!
A tribute of love from the sisters of Annunciation Convent Ladyhill, Mangaluru.
BIO –DATA
Date of Birth : 26.11.1932
Date of entrance into Postulancy : 15.06.1953
Date of First Profession : 05.01.1956
Date of Final Profession : 22.05.1961
Date of Decease : 04.10.2020
Date of Burial : 05.10.2020
Place of Burial : Annunciation Convent Cemetery, Ladyhill, Mangaluru.
