“If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15, 5).
I treasure this Gospel passage that inspires and sustains me in my journey as a Franciscan Missionary of Mary.
I am Sr Maria Elena Dioneda, a Franciscan Missionary of Mary, or Malyn which is my nickname at home and fondly called as such by sisters in the Philippines. I was born and grew up in Calbayog City, Samar island where the Franciscan friars are present. I studied in their school, Christ the King College, for almost eight years, that is, my high school and college years. As a small girl I was enchanted by the beautiful voices of the Poor Clare nuns whenever I went to Mass in their monastery. My childhood dream was to become a doctor because in this way I thought of helping and healing the sick. However, life’s circumstances led me to pursue studies in Accounting. In my youth, I got interested in participating in religious activities, thus, I joined the Student Catholic Action and the school choir in High School. In College, I joined the Charismatic movement and volunteered to teach Catechism in the public school. The last involvement brought me ample and inspiring experiences. The catechists joined the Parish team in its summer activities to prepare the people in the remote barangays for Baptism and First Communion. It was a warming experience to see parents leaped for joy after their babies were baptized.
As a licensed accountant, I worked in several companies, the most of which was in an accounting firm. I never thought of entertaining the call to religious life again after my three-month experience in a Carmelite monastery. This short experience of contemplative life led me to continue my search to what and to where God was calling me. When I was working in the accounting firm, I came across many non-government organizations and other Christian communities that were involved in humanitarian activities for the poor. Their services especially for the upliftment of the poor sparked in me the desire to live my life for a cause. By chance, I shared to a Protestant friend that I wanted to be a nun, a Franciscan nun specifically. She happened to be a niece of one FMM who was missioned in the south of the Philippines. My contact with her aunt-sister led me to discover the FMM community that is in mission in Cebu City where I was working at that time. The moment I met the sisters, I felt that something was calling me to go back over and over again and to be an FMM like them. I was attracted to their welcoming attitude, their simple Franciscan fraternal life, to the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and to their missionary presence in many parts of the world. I recall that back when I was in high school, a school friend gave me a small card with the face of Mother Mary of the Passion and the words written on the same card: “Do not follow where the path leads, rather go where there is no path and leave a trail.” The FMMs were present in our island for some time but I never met them. After a year of contact with the sisters, the Vocation Directress asked me when I intended to enter the congregation because she was finishing her mission as such. That was my turning point, it was the time that I decided to say YES.
Twenty-seven years since I joined the FMM, I unceasingly treasure and love this life because I continue to discover more and more the beautiful, inspiring and challenging elements of our FMM charism. My formation years were spent in the Philippines. After the novitiate, I was sent to Stella Maris College in Oroquieta City for two years. I worked in the school as Treasurer, in-charge of the non-teaching staff and co in-charge of the working students supported by the FMM project for the poor. After a year of Theology studies at Maryhill School of Theology in Quezon City, I was sent to our community in Botolan, Zambales whose mission was among the indigenous peoples called Aetas and the small Christian community there. It was 10 years after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo that destroyed lives and livelihood and changed people’s lives radically. The sisters accompanied the community in their search for land and livelihood and finally in the education of their children. An inspiring and challenging mission!
While preparing for my perpetual vows in 2004, I received my mission-sending to North Africa (Algeria-Libya-Tunisia that time). My YES to God led me to live in intercultural communities with the sisters that God gave me and to encounter peoples of other cultures and faith being in mission among the Algerians and the Tunisians particularly. The dominant religion of these two countries is Islam. The minority Christian community is composed of foreigners. In the sanctuary of Our Lady of Africa in Algiers, it is written: “Our Lady of Africa, pray for us and for the Muslims”. This mission widened my horizon and taught me a lot as a missionary and a consecrated person. I worked in the Archbishop’s office as an accountant and was a part of the team of catechists for the children of the expatriates. However, the call of mission brought me beyond the Archbishop’s office and Diocesan House when I was called to journey with a migrant lady who was trapped into a modern-day slavery. The journey was long, conflicting and even frustrating but ended peacefully.
The last year of my mission was in the community in Ain Draham, north Tunisia that has a kindergarten school. This community is inserted in the life of the inhabitants of the said village and its neighbours. The sisters have a long relationship with its people and participate in their life’s events. It was living inter-religious dialogue in day-to-day life. Just in time for the transformation of the school building, I received a new call to serve at the center of the Institute, that is, in the General Treasurer’s Office. Mission is everywhere: among the people, among the sisters in the community, among the sisters who come to live for a time in the house of Mother Foundress and in the General Services. This service becomes meaningful for me when I live this as a missionary who sees something beyond the figures: there is life, there is a human face, there is a story and there is God who journeys with his children.
I thank God for the grace of my 25 years of FMM consecrated life which I celebrated in the Generalate House even in the time of pandemic in 2020. I thank the Institute for this opportunity to serve at its heart and to welcome the sisters from different parts of the world. Everything happens in harmony with God’s will if one remains in his love.
Sr. Maria Elena Dioneda, FMM