Sister M. Annunciation – Angelina Ballesteros Gutiérrez Ya Nuncia
Angelina Ballesteros Gutiérrez was born on July 7, 1942, in Irámuco Guanajuato, Mexico. She was the fourth of seven children and was baptized on July 24 of the same year in the hometown parish of Saint Jerome. On October 21, 1957, she joined the Congregation of the Community of the Divine Master in Mexico. A few years later, Angelina entered the novitiate and made her first profession on December 8, 1960, and perpetual profession on December 8, 1965. Following the tradition of the Congregation, she took the name Sister Maria of the Annunciation, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1964, seven years after entering the convent, one of her sisters, Sister María Elena Ballesteros, followed her example and joined her in the Congregation. Sister Marie of the Annunciation was a responsible, humble, charitable, and open person. She was also known for her sense of humor and her deep love for God and others.
Missionary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Ya Nuncia arrived in Kinshasa in 1985, where she spent 29 years of missionary life. She joined the community of the Sister Disciples of USUMA, where she found other sisters committed to the mission. Her presence was significant. It was a presence that made us understand that the mission is a place of revealing hope, love, and joy leading to encounters with others as an essential aspect of her consecration. Always ready to serve, Ya Nuncia soon found herself working in the sewing workshop in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. In the same year, the sisters opened the first community of the Congregation on number 308, Petit Boulevard, in the industrial district of the Limete municipality, in Kinshasa. She was part of the founding team.
Superior of the Ya Nuncia Community In 1988, she became the leader of the Divine Master community in Lubumbashi and a councillor of the Delegation. She accompanied the community with simplicity, joy, patience, and a lot of humor, respecting each sister in her diversity, her growth, her commitment to the community, and her apostolate. The chapel was open to all who came to the community, and it was open all day for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and for our apostolate. In her ministry, she lent herself to all kinds of necessary services. It can be said that she not only had a heart, but she gave her heart to the Divine Master and to others. The love that animated her relationships and her apostolate was evident. She truly sought to conform herself in all things to Jesus, the Divine Master, in the spirit of Mary, Queen of the Apostles.
Formator of future disciples of the Divine Master and to make our charism known and to develop in our Delegation, Ya Nuncia engaged in vocational pastoral care. She took the initiative to leave our urban centers and reached out to young people in the most remote areas, sometimes traveling in challenging conditions. She was a formator for pre-postulants, postulants, and junior sisters. To integrate the formative reality and better accompany the youth, she knew how to become the elder sister who, with discernment and trust, leads us to the Divine Master, the way, the truth, and the life, which is the essential reason for our being disciples. She used to say, “I ask the young ones to do everything with much love and to love the Congregation very much.”
With her sense of humor Ya Nuncia joked with everyone, regardless of age or status. With her humor, she carried out her mission in all its diversity. One day she met a new bishop who had come to buy vestments for his episcopal ordination. After purchasing, she invited the bishop to a practice session on how to hold the pastoral staff and walk with it. The bishop immediately agreed and followed her into the community room. There, she offered him a drink first and then thought for a moment about how to proceed. Then she took the broom and used it as a pastoral staff, explaining to the bishop how to hold the staff with the left hand and raise the right hand for blessings. After three steps, the training continued. She added that the bishop should not stop for anyone, not even a long-time acquaintance, for fear of being distracted and distracting the congregation. Some months later, two other new bishops came to the Ya Nuncia school to learn how to hold the pastoral staff, walk with it, and bless others. The news spread by word of mouth to the bishops. That’s how this dimension of our apostolate was born. The sister was also known as “the sister who teaches new bishops.”
We also recognize in her a soul sensitive to the suffering of others. She had a special concern for the sick and was always ready to suggest natural products to alleviate their suffering. Can we say that she was an herbalist or an herbal therapist? Yes, experience clearly shows it.
Here’s what she wrote to our sisters in Mexico about her missionary experience: “The most beautiful and richest experience of my life was the years spent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s clear that there were difficulties, my personal poverty, collaboration in starting the mission, but the strength of community life united us and gave us much courage. The charismatic phrase: ‘Do not be afraid’ was a great source of strength for me, especially in times of war and looting, which made us tremble.”
After 29 years of missionary life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, due to health reasons, Ya Nuncia returned definitively to Mexico in 2018 with memories of the Congo that she preserved in her heart. Like a true disciple, she returned to her Divine Master on October 9, 2022, the missionary month. Ya Nuncia, we thank you so much for the witness of your life. In heaven, greetings to all our sisters, especially those who passed through the Congo.