In tribute to Fella Piccolomini

God has called home our dear Fella Piccolomini on 17 th August 2018 who was the organizer of our Retreats in Europe for the past eighteen years. Even though she was quite busy with her work of translation, as she was a simultaneous translator to different languages like English, German, French, Spanish and Italian, she always made use of her talent and the opportunity to translate in different places. Based on our retreats she has written small booklets on various topics which are found very useful for people. A voracious reader that she was, she had an in depth knowledge of Church history and
Theology.
In 1999, she accompanied a group of 45 Germans who came to India to attend our retreat in Kerala, brought by Sr. Margareta Valapila, and she was one of the translators. Thereafter she said: “I want my German-speaking people to experience this retreat”. So very enthusiastically she took up the work of organizing our retreats from the hands of Sr. Margareta Valapila, who had organized our retreats for the first three years. She was very patient and compassionate with the counselees who sought our help and was ever ready to sacrifice her time to bring people to the healing love of the Lord.
I can only thank the Lord for the gift of Fella for our ministry in Europe. Her house was a second home for us in Europe. She was seeing to all our travel details, within and outside Germany, booking our tickets and making sure that we are safe and sound. Even though her physical health was deteriorating since few months, she was very alert in her brain and mind and undertook all arrangements of our retreats till the last moment.
May her soul rest in peace and may she intercede for our ministry sitting in the glorious Presence of the Lord.
The funeral of the dear departed will be on the 27th of August at 11 at Sandkirche statt, Schlitz, Grabenberg.

Father James Mariakumar