“Pray, and God will take care of us”
This simple sentence was not merely a phrase Sr. Lucy D’Souza often repeated — it was a concrete orientation in the face of daily difficulties. Those who knew her say that in those words one could sense something solid: not naivety, but a trust matured over time, tested through experience.
Sr. Lucy D’Souza, Missionary Sister of the Immaculate, has passed away, leaving behind a quiet network of relationships — families she accompanied, young women who found in her a point of reference. One of those lives that do not make headlines, but that change things from within.
Her Roots
She was born in Nandanwadi, in the Archdiocese of Bombay, in a Christian family where faith was a living habit — daily prayer, care for others, simplicity. An upbringing rooted in concreteness that would mark her entire style of service. Her vocation came without drama, quietly, and she chose to join the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate in Mumbai. Her formation years in Andhra Pradesh prepared her through studies in social work and theology, but beyond academic preparation, those years brought to light a quality that would define all her work: the ability to listen without judging.
Papua New Guinea — The Land That Became Home
When she was sent to Papua New Guinea, it was a distant destination in every sense. Yet Sr. Lucy remained there for many years, and that land soon became home. In Vanimo, her work centred on accompanying families and the local Christian community — through counselling, formation programmes, and a quiet but constant presence.
Her conviction was simple: when families are strengthened, the entire community grows stronger. Couples facing difficulties, young people navigating important choices, women students staying in the hostels of Port Moresby — each one found in her someone willing to stop and truly listen. Music was another channel: she loved singing, participated joyfully in liturgical celebrations, and understood instinctively that faith is also communicated through beauty.
Over the years, the congregation entrusted her with greater responsibilities: first as Administrator of the Papua New Guinea Delegation, then in a broader service for family life ministry at the national level, extending also to the Solomon Islands. She collaborated with priests, religious, and lay leaders on themes such as the dignity of marriage, responsible parenthood, and the spiritual life of families.
Her way of leading was that of someone who walks alongside others. The sisters who worked with her remember her simplicity, her availability, and the fact that she never stood apart from the common difficulties. And when someone would worry about her — even in her final period, when her health began to decline — she would respond with the words that had become the rhythm of her life: “Pray, and God will take care of us.” It was the deep conviction that true surrender frees energies that would otherwise remain trapped in fear.
What Remains
Sr. Lucy did not seek recognition. She simply did what she was asked, day after day, with the people entrusted to her. And in that daily faithfulness — in the families restored, in the young women accompanied, in the moments when someone felt a little less alone — something changed in a lasting way. She is now entrusted to the God in whom she so completely trusted. And her story continues to speak, quietly, to all who are willing to listen.
