March 29, 2024

Good Shepherd Sister Fidelis Atienza, who introduced the famous ube jam and other delicacies of Baguio, passed away on March 22 at the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) Community in Quezon City. She was 102 years old.
In the announcement posted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in its website, the RGS said Sr. Fidelis passed away after 66 years of religious life.
She was credited for starting the Marian Bakery in the 1960s, and in 1976, she introduced the ube jam, which has become the convent’s bestseller and a famous Baguio pasalubong item among tourists.
The RGS said Sr. Fidelis entered the Noviciate of the Good Shepherd in Los Angeles, California in 1951, made her first profession in 1954, and her final profession in 1957.
Aside from Baguio, her various ministries included dozens of community apostolate in Cebu, Quezon City, and Tagaytay; and in Hong Kong, France, and Rome.
She spent most of her long life in Maryridge in Tagaytay, accompanying in prayer and counselling the thousands of people who come to the retreat house.
In 2020, she was transferred to the Good Shepherd Community in Quezon City.
“She dedicated each moment of her day praying for the needs of the Church and the Congregation,” the RGS said.
“She would ask her caregivers to bring her to the oratory day in and day out, spending most of her hours in quiet communion with the Good Shepherd whom she adored all her life.”
“The children in the compound were very fond of their oldest playmate; she was a delight and a source of joy to everyone whom she met,” it said.
Sr. Fidelis, her congregation added, never considered herself ill or infirmed towards the last years of her life.
“Her hands were never weary, she would be seen cutting and collecting plastic wastes and turning them into eco-bricks until her shoulders ache from using scissors,” the RGS added. – Hanna C. Lacsamana