Sucúa (Ecuador). On 16 February 2025, many faithful, with the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of St. Dominic Savio Community of Sacred Heart Province (ECU) met in the parish church of Mary Help of Christians of Sucúa to celebrate the life of Sister Maria Troncatti, missionary in Ecuador, on the day of her 142nd birthday and to thank God for the gift of her Holiness, at the approach of her Canonization.
During the Sunday Eucharist, the parish priest, Father Ruperto Patiño, invited the faithful to join the whole Salesian Family to celebrate her anniversary and to pray, through her intercession, for the needs of the world.
The image of the Blessed was displayed in the center of the church, decorated with flowers from the forest. At the end of the Celebration, the children and young people sang “Happy Birthday” to the “Madrecita buena”, as she was called by the people, who saw in her the manifestation of the tenderness and merciful love of God. As a sign of celebration, sweets and cookies were distributed, while everyone applauded with gratitude.
Sister Maria Troncatti was a woman with a passion for Jesus in the poor and sick. Many people still living in Sucúa and throughout the province of Morona Santiago, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, testify that she was a woman of God, a woman who truly loved, a religious through whom God brought life, health, peace, and reconciliation to every family, to every Shuar or settler who lived in this forest.
“When we saw her, we were full of joy and devotion, seeing her always in dialogue with Jesus and Mary (…). She was our physician in both material and spiritual matters”, testified Ms. Zoila Felicia Calle Palacios at the diocesan process for her Beatification.
Before the plane crash in Sucúa on 25 August 1969, after offering her life for peace between settlers and Shuar, she said, “Children, do not cry, I will be back soon.” Madrecita is back and continues to give strength and courage to her people, helping them to be better persons. She has returned with the holiness of which God has enriched her, to be an example for all her children still on pilgrimage in this land that she loved so much.
