Venerated in Roman Catholic Church | Feast 30 January | |
Died 30 January 1971, Manila, Philippines | ||
Dalisay Lazaga (17 March 1940 - 30 January 1971) was a Filipino Catholic Nun of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, who is being designated by the Roman Catholic Church as a candidate for sainthood. Her current title for sainthood is Servant of God.
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Biography
Dalisay Lazaga was born in Santa Rosa, Laguna in the then Philippine Commonwealth, on March 17, 1940. At eight years of age she loses both parents. The eldest sister takes care of her. Consequently from her early childhood she knows the suffering of a motherless child. She grows up to be a good and virtuous girl and is loved by everybody.
At twenty years of age she obtains her degree and takes up the teaching profession with love and enthusiasm. In a short time she makes a name for herself as a teacher. She is an attractive girl and does not lack admirers, but she firmly refuses any proposal and opts for the consecrated life to which she has felt drawn since a tender age. Her choice does not please her family, who have cherished the idea of another kind of life for her. She wishes to follow the Charism of St. Magdalene of Canossa and on February 2, 1966 she makes her first religious Profession in the Novitiate House of Oxley in Australia. On her home-coming she takes up again the demanding task of teaching and realizes an enviable, if short, earthly and spiritual career, carrying out her mission among the youth of the Canossian schools.
During November 1970, Sr. Dalisay’s health shows serious symptoms; she has to undergo an exploratory operation.
The diagnosis is unmistakably fatal, giving her only three months of life; in fact she dies on January 30, 1971. She does not know the whole truth. With a great longing for life in her heart, she moves unaware towards death dreaming about the beauty of a life spent in bringing many souls to Christ. When she finds out the harsh reality, with an inspiring gentleness of spirit, she surrenders to God’s will, and, Our Lady dressed as a Queen, comes to welcome her.
Beatification
On June 28, 2012, Sr. Dalisay's cause for beatification was opened by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, under the efforts of the Canossians. Her current title is Servant of God.