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Religious Name : |
Sister Mary Fulgentia of Mary Immaculate |
| Maiden Name : | Margarita Pinto | |
| Religious No : | 1069 | |
| Native Place : | Ammembal | |
| Parish : | St.Thomas the Apostle Ammembal | |
| Diocese : | Mangalore Diocese | |
| State : | Karnataka | |
| Date of Birth : | 03.02.1933 | |
| Date of First Profession : | 03.01.1958 | |
| Date of Perpetual Profession : | 18.05.1963 | |
| Date of Decease : | 02-08-2021 |
OBITUARY
Sr. Mary Fulgentia of Mary Immaculate
Institute No. 1069
“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship.” Rom 12: 1 This clarion call of St. Paul has been aptly followed by our dear Sr. Fulgentia all through her life. Prayer, sacrifice and discipline was the fragrance of her life. Her spirituality consisted in offering her total self to the Lord as a living holocaust, a loving sacrifice and continuous act of worship to the Lord her Master.
Sr. Fulgentia was born on 2nd February 1933 at Ammembal to Mr. Lawrence Pinto and Mrs Rosa Maria Coelho. She became a child of grace on the day she was baptized and was christened Margarita Pinto. She was the youngest in the family of 10 children. She was to them a persona of grace and blessings through the authentic religious life she lived to perfection.
Margarita Pinto at the age of 22, joined the Apostolic Carmel on 5th July 1955 and made her final profession in 1963 to give herself in service to the church and the society. Spending long hours before the Blessed Sacrament and the longing of her heart to participate in the daily Mass proved her ardent love for the Eucharist. She was the personification of hard work and perfection. As an Apostolic Carmel educator she imparted quality education to the little ones, giving solid foundation in order to be grounded in their basics . She made great efforts to correct their books, mending their ways in order to groom them into refined citizens of our country.
Discipline was her way of life, endurance her hallmark. Convinced by the principles of Tony Robbins ‘ It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives but what we do consistently ‘, she directed her life by taking control of her consistent actions and adopted good practices in order to make them her habits. Sr. Fulgentia strove to attain holiness by living an austere life of silent bearing, detachment from all material possessions and loved ones and seeking the Lord through prayer, reading and reflection. The battle for self discipline made her always a better person and available for others. She proved to be a simple and contented religious with hardly any needs. Never did she entertain any negative talk about the other. Her focus was solely on God and His mission. With determined determination, she made her life a sacrificial oblation through self control, fasting and penance.
She offered 63 years of loving service at different communities namely St. Joseph’s Convent, Kundapura, Carmel Convent, Gangolli, St. Maria Goretti Convent, Kemmannu, Carmel Convent, Pezar, Yesu Kripa, Shimoga, Provincial House, Lourdes Convent, Kalianpur and St. Cecily’s Convent, Udupi. She generously carried out the mission entrusted to her in different capacities as superior, headmistress, bursar, sacristan, infirmarian, refectorian, in-charge of mess, kitchen and compound. There was a strong element of perfection in all her commitments.
Her patience and power of endurance was tested three years ago, when the Lord visited her with a cross on her shoulders, in the shape of a fall which caused the hipbone fracture and was thereafter confined to bed. She suffered much from Parkinson’s disease. All of us were edified to see her spirit of resignation and quiet surrender to the call of the Master to participate in His passion. There was never a complaint or a negative word on her lips. He purified her in the crucible of suffering towards the end of her life. Prayer enabled her to be self effacing.
Her condition deteriorated during the last ten days. Her verbal communication had stopped. Her last days were marked with excruciating pain. She was fed with fluids to prevent her from getting dehydrated. She was administered the Sacrament of the sick by the parish priest Rev. Fr Charles Menezes. The visit of our Provincial Superior revived her spirit. The Superior Sr. Vibha along with the sisters and domestic staff took turns to be at her bedside. Submitting to the great call of the Lord she gently winged her flight to heaven at 11 a.m. on 2, August 2021.
On the following day, 3, August , her mortal remains were brought to the convent chapel around 1p.m. Our dear Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Jerald Isaac Lobo celebrated the Holy Eucharist along with five other concelebrants at 3.30 p. m .The Parish Priest Rev Fr. Charles Menezes preached a meaningful homily. Sisters from the province, staff, relatives, ACAs and parishioners bid her a respectful goodbye. Her mortal remains were laid to rest at our convent cemetery at 4.30 p.m.
Our sincere thanks to our dear Bishop Rt. Rev. Gerald Isaac Lobo and the clergy for their pastoral presence, the Superior General Sr. M. Nirmalini and her team for their prayers, the Provincial Superior Sr. Shamita and her council for their supportive presence, the staff of Hitech Hospital for their ever ready free service, domestic staff Salma, Violet, Bharathi and Keerthi for their tender care. Our heartfelt condolences to all the family members especially to her nephew Emeritus Archbishop of Patna Most Rev. William D’Souza S.J.
Thank you dear Sr. Fulgentia for the exemplary life you have lived and the legacy you have left behind. May you be a powerful intercessor for the Apostolic Carmel, for your dear ones and for all those who crossed your path while you were here on earth.
A tribute of love and fond remembrance from the sisters of St. Cecily’s Convent, Udupi.
Name in religion : Sr. Mary Fulgentia of Mary Immaculate
Maiden name : Margarita Pinto
Inst. No. : 1069
Date of Birth : 02-02-1933
Date of entrance to Postulancy : 05-07-1955
Date of first Profession : 03-01-1958
Date of Final Profession : 18-05-1963
Date of Decease :02-08-2021
Date of Burial :03-08-2021
Place of Burial : St. Cecily’s Convent Cemetery, Udupi
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