IN MEMORIAM

S.  MARIA PAULA GARCIA ADAOAG, RVM

(June 26, 1956 – September 30, 2016)

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, 

plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 

Jeremiah 29:11

God’s promise to Jeremiah was truly alive in the journey of S. Maria Paula. Hers was a story that commenced a little more than 60 years ago when she was born on June 26, 1956 as the sixth child into a family of ten children, with eight girls and two boys. Her baptismal name is Maria Perseveranda Ruby. Her father was Dioscoro Adaoag Sr. and her mother was Felicidad Garcia. Her birthplace was in Gerona, Tarlac, but the family migrated to Baguio City when she was barely a year old.

S. Maria Paula attributed her religiosity to her mother who nourished and nurtured not only her spiritual life but also that of the whole family. She remembered praying the angelus and rosary every evening and waking up early on Sundays for the Holy Mass. At noon and night time, silence was a must in their household, so at an early age, she learned to value silence.

S. Paula and her siblings grew up under the guidance of a very strict and disciplinarian father who instilled in them the values of punctuality, hard work and frugality.

She described herself as an “international student” when she was in grade school as she transferred from one school to another. She studied in five (5) different elementary schools in Baguio with excellent grades.

Hard work and perseverance were evident in the life of S. Paula even as a young girl. She was in fourth year high school when she started working and at the same time studying. She even supported herself through college years. She spent her first three years in college at St. Louis University, Baguio, and went to finish her Bachelor of Commerce major in Accountancy at the University of the East, Manila. It was during her stay in the city that she learned to live life amidst challenges. She learned how to help and be helped and how to make decisions for herself. When she was still young, her mother and sisters would call her “madre” not because she liked to be one but because of how she gave them pieces of advice. During those years too, her dream was like that of what most girls have – to marry an ideal man. That was despite the stirring in her heart for religious life.

While in college, she worked with the Religious of the Good Shepherd Sisters and lived with the Franciscan Missionary of Mary. She had the chance to serve the sick, adults and children. She could hardly finish her studies because she enjoyed working serving the marginalized. She also had the chance to be employed in a bigger firm in Makati City until she finished her studies. It was at this time that her call for religious life became stronger. Her search for life’s meaning moved her to apply to the Benedictine Sisters and became an aspirant and postulant there. After postulancy, however, she left the Congregation, but not without bringing with her all the learnings and joyful memories, especially the singing of the Liturgy of the Hours and the Holy Mass where she felt the nearness of God. She went home with a treasured learning, which in her own words she described as, “to live my life as the Lord wants it.”

Years later, amidst work and services to the poor, she found herself very restless and did not know what to do until she found herself searching again. She applied to the Religious of the Virgin Mary and was accepted to Postulancy on July 31, 1984, invested as a Novice on February 1, 1985 and had her first profession of vows on February 11, 1987. She celebrated her perpetual profession on March 25, 1993 and Silver Jubilee on February 2, 2012.

As a religious, she earned her Master’s Degree on Business Administration at De La Salle University in 1999 and her Doctoral in Educational Management in the same University in 2008.

She served the Church through the mission of our Congregation in St. Mary’s Academy, Pasay, Holy Cross of Bansalan College, Davao del Sur, Our Lady’s Academy, Baganga, Davao Oriental, Malate Catholic School, St. Anne’s Academy, Sta Ana, Manila, St. Rita’s College, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, Betania Retreat House, Baguio, St. Mary’s College of Meycauayan, St. Mary’s Academy, Caloocan and St. Mary’s College, Baliuag, Bulacan.

Her passion for mission was expressed by being a CL/MIC Coordinator, Campus Minister, Teacher, Local Econome, Local Superior and School Administrator. She actively involved herself in the Education Ministry Commission of the Congregation as Regional Superintendent of Luzon Region and Board of Trustee of RVM schools in Luzon and Generalate Area. She generously shared her person, time and skills to her fellow administrators and educators as well as to her students.

In 2014, S. Maria Paula was diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer stage 2B. But this did not seem to dampen nor lessen her desire to serve in the Education Ministry, which she apparently loved. This school year 2016-2017 she was still actively involved in the schools’ activities when on August 26, 2016 she submitted herself for a check-up and was no longer permitted to leave the hospital. She came home to St. Joseph on September 26 and peacefully gave herself to the hands of God on September 30, 2016 at 5:50 in the morning. She died of breast cancer with brain metastasis.

She was gifted with a number of talents and skills. She was a practical woman, outstanding in oral and written communications. As a leader she was creative, resourceful and responsible in performing her assignments. She was a real professional who was competent in doing things and capable in carrying out varied responsibilities in the community and in the ministry.

To some of those she encountered and worked with, she tended to give the impression of being strong, strict and principled. To some, she was considered a tough disciplinarian. Yet those who know her more closely saw her inner fragility and vulnerability. She had a heart with much compassion for the poor and the needy, ever willing to give herself to those who need her assistance. Her spiritual director described her: “as someone who has a sense of justice, concern for the poor and the young, generous, artistic and joyful woman.” Her works of art reflect her dynamism, inner strength, colorful life, and realistic self-concept.

In one of her moment of prayers, S. Paula wrote:

“Thank You, dear Lord,

. . . for all the time I peeled off “layers”

with all the joys and pains that went with it,

for all the time I wept with someone. . . or alone.

Thank You, most especially, for the WHITE CLEAN CORE 

that you have allowed to emerge beautifully and wonderfully

after the peeling process and the weeping. . .

I know you were there . . . through it all.

I know you will always be there. . .

So I can continue peeling layers off

and weeping. . . and BECOMING ME. . . Your Image.

The painful peeling off and the weeping are now over, our dear S. Paula. Your beauty and the wonder of you have emerged; your BECOMING YOU has come to its full circle. Thank you so much, S. Paula, for a life lived for God’s mission as a Religious of the Virgin Mary for 29 years. Thank you for your passion for faith, excellence and service by pursuing innovative programs, approaches and educational strategies in all schools where you were assigned and where you generously extended assistance. Farewell, our dear S. Paula! Jesus, our greatest Teacher, joyfully welcomes you in His Father’s School of Everlasting Love, Peace and Joy.

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

and let perpetual light shine upon her.

May she rest in peace. 

Amen.