With these words, that actually are an invitation, the protagonist of this article, our sr. Rita White Arango, concludes the video we present, (it has been prepared by sr. Iria Natalia Ágreda Abreu in collaboration with other sisters), in which we have collected some “brushstrokes” of the life of sr. Rita who, at present the oldest sister of our Congregation, who, on June 27th, will be 109 years old.
Our written words are poor compared with the testimonies of the sisters who liked to share something about what sr. Rita has been for them and for the Congregation; so, grateful to the Lord for Rita’s long life, we’ll let the images and voices resonate and enter into our hearts.
Rita White Arango, that when she joined the religious life received the name of Hna. Pilar de Jesús de Manizales, is one of the fruits of the love of Mr. Enrique White and Mrs. Elisa Arango, that, by the Lord’s grace, on June 27th 1912, in Manizales (Caldas – Colombia), brought to the world this great woman. She was baptized on July 3rd of the same year. Rita’s parents gave her a good human and Christian formation and her education was fundamentally forged by reading and understanding texts that gave her an admirable intellectual baggage, at that time.
In 1932, Rita applied to join our Congregation of Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family and on July 2nd she began her postulancy in Yarumal (Antioquia) and on March 29th 1933, in the same house, she continued her formation in the novitiate. He made his First Profession on March 25th 1934, on the feast day we celebrate the mystery of the Annunciation and the beautiful act of God’s love that liked to take a body and become part of the humanity. Rita, has always been able to configure herself to her Lord throughout her whole life spent in love and dedication for the others. On January 22nd, 1939, she made her Perpetual Profession in Yarumal, offering all herself to the Lord for the service of his Kingdom of love, within our religious Family …
Sr. Rita spent most of her life as an educator, always striving to show to the children and young people, the face of Jesus the Master who accompanies and teaches God’s love to the others… She was a well-loved woman leaving in her students a deep trace of love for the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary, the Word of God as well as many values through which she was wonderfully forming her students in the academic, scientific and spiritual dimension, preparing them to serve the society and the Church in different ways.
In Rita’s personal life, the prayer, the accompaniment of good spiritual directors, the tenacity in whatever she intended to be and to do … helped her to be fervent, honest, patient, generous, constant, with sense of responsibility, prudent, available, cheerful and organized; she was adorned with a formidable memory that she has kept until not long time ago. Rita has been and is a woman of faith and dialogue; she was passionate about reading and she read with predilection the dwellings of Santa Teresa and was able to supernaturalize what is ordinary with religious mastery.
Since 1934 to 1967, our sister served in different communities in Colombia and in 1967, she went to Venezuela, at that time Province «Saint Francis», and she stayed there until 1991 when she went back again to Colombia, to her Province » Saint Joseph».
Rita held various services of responsibility in some institutions, such as director of different colleges, treasurer and administrator. She was also superior in various communities and novice mistress and she was always striving to give glory to God through all her being and doing.
Even when her responsibilities were consisting only in being the door keeper or in other offices in the library and today, as an aged sister member of the community “Our Lady of Montiel”, belonging to the Province “Our Lady of Divine Providence”, Sr. Rita has always been happy and smiling, revealing the living God whom she loves so much …
We like to end this article going back to its beginning, praying to the Lord to teach us to love Him, to truly love Him, as our sister invited us. That is what she tried to do throughout her long existence.
Happy birthday, Sr. Rita!
