IN MEMORIAM

S. MARIA MILANDA ONG DY, RVM

(March 12, 1955 – December 14, 2018)

S. Maria Milanda Ong Dy, RVM, a pure Chinese, and the youngest child of five (3 girls and 2 boys) of Francisco Dy and Chinga Ong, hailed from Pan-ay, Clarin Misamis Occidental. She was christened on January 15, 1956 and was confirmed after a year of the same date. Through the guidance of a neighbor who was close to the family, she committedly accomplished her spiritual obligations. She developed love for the Sto. Nino and the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom she gave much of her time in prayer and devotion.

The young Milanda, together with her siblings, grew up under the care of her hard working, industrious, enterprising, generous, and caring mother. She finished her secondary education at Misamis Chinese High School, Misamis Occidental, and completed her tertiary education at the Immaculate Conception College in Ozamis City with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Commerce major in Accounting.

There was a time in her life when she was confronted with challenges in the family, in her work place, and in her personal life. During that time, she found herself deeply confiding to God, with the faith that God knows everything about her. It was then that she heard God’s call vividly which motivated her to enter religious life. To respond to the call, she went to St. Michael’s College, Iligan City upon hearing that the Sisters of the Divine Zeal were giving vocation talk. Unfortunately, the Sisters already left when she got there. The fire within her heart kept burning, and her desire to see and talk to a Sister persisted. She went back to St. Michael’s College and met Fr. Michael Cuddigan, a Columban Priest, who introduced her to S. Maria del Carmen Yap and S. Maria Rosa Aberin. The two Sisters were instrumental in S. Milanda’s pursuit for religious vocation.

She was accepted to postulancy on July 31, 1983 and to Noviceship on Febraury 01, 1984. She had her temporary profession on February 02, 1986 and her perpetual profession on March 25, 1993. She celebrated her Silver Jubilee on February 02, 2011.

With dedication, she spent her missionary life with varied assignments in the ministries of the Congregation. In the Education ministry, she served at St. Mary’s Academy, Oslob, Cebu, St. Mary’s College, Quezon City, St. Mary’s High School, Tagoloan and Talisayan, St. Mary’s Academy, Caraga, Davao Oriental; Overseas Mission in Taiwan. In the special ministry, she served in San Carlos Seminary, Guadalupe, Makati and Mother Ignacia Healing Center, Bagumbong. For Social Ministry, Retreat and Dormitory she was in Mother Ignacia Home for the Elderly, Pansol, Betania Retreat House, Cagayan de Oro City and Immaculate Conception Ladies’ Hall, Urgello, Cebu City respectively. She also rendered her service at St. Mary’s Pre-Novitiate. She had been an econome or assistant econome. She became a resident of St. Joseph Home since 2014 for constant monitoring of her physical condition.

S. Maria Milanda was a lover of truth, and she is remembered for her belief that the external beauty of a person does not matter so much compared to one’s internal beauty which is lasting and admirable. Along with this belief, she would also be remembered as someone who was refined in behavior, gentle, kind, soft-spoken, sensitive to the needs of others, friendly and warm to others. She valued simplicity and humility. She exuded calmness and composure amidst fear and nervousness. She was thorough in her work and expectation of others. Her journey, however, was not as smooth as her positive attributes. She also had her share of struggles with dependency, indecisiveness, fear, insecurities, and shyness.

Her faith-experience was capsulized in her poem in 2016 entitled “Prove Me Wrong”. It is one of the poems featured in the “Baul Blues” collection printed in the Southern Mindanao where she was assigned when the super typhoon Pablo battered Caraga and Baganga in 2012. Here is the poem:

PROVE ME WRONG

Prove, prove, prove.

Many times I doubt, I fear, I lose.

I hesitate to go on to take a step forward.

I tend to withdraw, to stop, to step back.

I looked up; I was taken aback

and discovered that God has the immense power

to heal my brokenness and woundedness.

Then, I realized that God has proved me wrong.

Sometimes in my life I experience being cheated,

misunderstood, accused, labelled and rejected.

As I looked up a voice said:

Do your best, give your best with humility and simplicity,

in truth and in love”.

And the winner takes it all. . .

God will prove it wrong.

S. Milan, God would surely prove your fears, doubts, and lack of courage wrong, because God’s fidelity and loving embrace to you have always been constant in your life.

We thank you for your perseverance to live life and to withstand in faith the pain of the cross in following our Lord, Jesus Christ, the discomfort and ache of sickness, the patient waiting for healing and reconciliation. Thank you for the courage to say Yes to the promise of eternal life when you breathed your last at 2:52 in the afternoon of December 14, 2018 because of stage four (4) breast cancer, which led to multiorgan failure.

Thank you for living life for sixty three (63) years and thirty two (32) of which as Religious of the Virgin Mary.

Again, for certain, God will prove that you are very good as proclaimed in the book of Genesis, “Let us make man in Our Image and Likeness. . . . and it was so. God saw all that He made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:26,31) He will prove that you are wonderfully and beautifully made and as you meet Him face to face, He only sees the radiance of your beautiful self, of your beautiful soul. Farewell, S. Milan. We sincerely thank you. God, the Emmanuel, is with you forever.

Eternal rest grant unto S. Maria Milanda, O Lord, 

and let perpetual light shine upon her.

May she rest in peace. 

Amen.