By: Mark Ivan T. Merilo

Mark Ivan Merilo is a student of Sacred Heart Seminary in Palo, Leyte. Below he shares about a Sister who inspired him to become a priest. He wrote this simple tribute as a surprise for her Silver Jubilee Celebration.

This is the story of a woman who gave me the inspiration to enter the seminary and to be like her, working in the Vineyard of the Lord. She is a woman serving the Lord unconditionally. 

Sr Alicia A. Amparo OND is a member of the Society of the Oblates of Notre Dame (www.omiphil.org/ond_sisters.htm), founded in 1956 in Cotabato by then Bishop, later Archbishop, Gérard Mongeau OMI and Father, later Bishop, George E. Dion OMI. She is currently assigned to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Barrio Obrero, Davao City. Her work there is very different from that of her previous assignment when she was a teacher in Notre Dame of Abuyog in Leyte.

Humble beginnings

This beautiful and fair-skinned lady was born in Iloilo to a musically-inclined and disciplined family. She, her brothers and sisters, with their father as conductor, would perform in theaters, in fiesta parades and at parties. She was a good organist.

She was able to pursue her studies in high school and college through a scholarship program. She finished her college through her own efforts. She became a teacher in a public school and was able to support the studies of her brothers and sisters. With the help of God all her siblings were scholars too. She never abandoned her family until she ensured that her younger siblings finished their studies as her parents were unable to do so.

All those years, young Alice planned to become a nun one day. She was a scoutmaster and, as a teacher, was known as a disciplinarian so that some students were scared of her. They didn’t know that Alice had a purpose and noble intention for her disciplinary actions.

In pursuit of a dream 

She was 36 when her brothers and sisters finally finished their studies and became professionals themselves. This was when she decided to become a nun and planned to join the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM), but the Blessed Virgin Mary had another plan.

Alice never gave up. She sent a letter to the Society of the Oblates of Notre Dame (OND), A Marian religious congregation in Cotabato City. When the novice mistress invited her to join the novitiate she didn’t hesitate and immediately prepared her bags. She entered the three-to-four years of formation and in 1982 at the age 43 she took her perpetual vows, leaving her family and committing herself to a new and challenging world – the world of Religious Life.

Sister Alicia became the principal of Notre Dame of Bongao in Tawi-Tawi. Later she was assigned to Notre Dame of Pikit, Cotabato, and to retreat houses and parishes, mainly in the Cotabato area. After her apostolate in the difficult and risky ministries in Mindanao she was transferred to a school in Cebu and later to Notre Dame of Abuyog in Leyte where she worked from 2004 till 2006.

Working with zeal 

When she arrived in Abuyog, her first mission in Eastern Visayas, she was in charge of the canteen and handled one subject in three classes. With her two helpers, she would cook and bake the snacks for the 700 students in the morning. She would teach two classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and one on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She always budgeted her time for prayer, study, work and rest.

This 68-year-old nun was unusual. She could be seen always early in the morning, crossing the plaza from the convent to the canteen. She came in very early and always went home late, around 7 to 8:30 in the evening. She would prepare the ice-water, pack the juice, wash the dishes and sweep the floor, all by herself. She would ask her helpers to go home ahead because they had children waiting for them.

Students always saw her in a hurry, rushing to cross the plaza and walking fast carrying the boxes of bread and casseroles at night or under the heat of the sun. Although she would be in a hurry we could see her smiling all the time, her face showing the joy, contentment and fulfillment of her life. Even if busy, she could laugh and have fun. I saw Jesus in her serving the people in every situation and condition.

Learning wisdom

One afternoon, when I was in fourth year, it was her time to teach us in Religious Education. I noticed a crowd of students in the canteen. Sister Alice had collapsed because of overwork and her heart problem. She was asked to rest. The following day she was back at work.

This November Sister Alicia will celebrate the Silver Jubilee of her perpetual vows. This ‘late vocation’ nun strives to live out the motto of her congregation, ‘That which pleases God I strive to do always’ (John 8:29).

I see in her the sincerity of her vows, most especially of the vow of poverty, in the simplicity of her life. She is very true to herself – she has the love and passion to do her work and fulfill the obligations given to her. She also observes the life of a religious nun in a life of sacrifice detached from the world and steeped in prayer. Even if she is busy I know she is praying deep in her heart while working. I can see in her eyes the wisdom, the knowledge of life. In her hands can be seen her sacrifices for her brothers and sisters, the sacrifices for the forsaken Jesus and for the People of God whom she has been serving through her 25 years of ministry. Her feet are the feet of a missionary – reaching the people in her service of the Church. Her heart is full of eagerness and joy and the fulfillment of life. Her face reflects the joy and fulfillment of her chosen vocation. I see in her the simplicity of a person very like the simple Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. 

You may write the author at: Sacred Heart Seminary, PALO, 6501 Leyte