Died on August 10, 1981 at Bellefonte

The last of the pioneers of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to the North East India, Sr. Cecilia Da Roit, joined the glory of the Saints, from Bellefonte, Shillong, in the early hours of August 10, 1981, after 58 years of silent, dedicated service toGod, to the Church to the Institute and to the people of our region.

Cecilia’s life unfolds like the pages of a novel, pages full of adventures, full of acts of ‘dare and do’, interspersed with musical notes from ‘pianissimo’ to ‘fortissimo’. Born on August 31, 1887, her mother, the Parish Church organist and father, member of the Parish Choir, it was appropriate to name their eldest daughter after the Patroness of musicians, whose protégé at ten already played the harmonium.

Quite early in life Cecilia tried to help her mother in the household works and in the fields; but when she had a little time she would visit her father in his shop saying: “I came to help you.” The father though he had an assistant in his carpentry shop, always found something for her to do; providentially, as little Cecilia would grow up, become an FMA, a missionary in far away Jowai, where at the initial stage, sickly babies were dying and coffins were to be made.