In the evening of the 21st May 2008, our dear sister Gregoria Gracia Roche returned to the Father’s house. Throughout her long life she waited for this moment with great love, trust and pacience, especially during many years of sickness.
Gregoria was born in Azuaga, a province of Zaragoza in 1915 to a deeply christian family whom she loved dearly and liked to talk about with admiration and thankfulness.
She knew the Congregation and decided to enter, drawn above all by adoration. She made her Novitiate in France, she made profession in Saint Servan on the 5-8-1940 and made her final vows in Paris on the 6-8-1946. She spent most of her life in France. She lived there through the Second World War, the memory of which was very alive in her. In a special way she remembered the bombing of Rennes where the sisters died, buried beneath rubble when the chapel collapsed while they were at adoration. She liked to remember the sisters with whom she had lived. She remembered with special affection the community of Laval from where she returned to Spain after 47 years in that province.
The years she lived in Spain were spent in the communities of Romero Girón, Salamanca and El Escorial. When she was active she continued to work in the kitchen making sure with great delicacy that each sister had what she needed.
At the end of 2005 her health deteriorated and she went to the infirmary. While she could still look after herself, she actively participated in community life. In the last three years of life, she was in a wheelchair, unable to move by herself, depending on others for everything. She did not want to bother anyone. She spent her day praying. She read the newspaper with great interest and prayed without tiring for the world, for the Congregation, for her family, for her community. She was grateful for the least help given her. She liked to receive visits, but never demanded them or complained. She was interested in everything and in everyone.
From her sick room, she radiated peace and serenity. She left us the memory of a sister who understood and lived with great generosity and honesty our ss.cc. vocation and mission.
While we are confident that Gregoria is already with the Father, we ask your prayers that she will enjoy the happiness and peace that has no end.
The community of El Escorial thank you and remain united. We say this in her name.
María Paloma Aguirre, ss.cc.
San Lorenzo de El Escorial
05/21/2008