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A missionary nun from Northern Ireland and five young postulants were among those killed in the earthquake that struck Equador on April 16.
Sr Clare Maria Crockett, 33, from Derry, worked at a school in Playa Prieta, where she taught alongside other sisters of the Home of the Mother order.
The missionary was teaching young children to play the guitar when the earthquake struck.
She tried to lead the children to safety, but died following the collapse of a stair-well.
Her body was discovered under the rubble on Monday by rescue teams.
The bodies of postulants identified by the order as Jazmina, Mayra, Maria Augusta, Valeria, and Catalina were also found.
Sr Clare had been a missionary for 15 years and had arrived in Ecuador in 2012.
She took her perpetual vows in 2010.
Sr Clare had been the voice of “Lucy” in the children’s series “Hi Lucy” that screened on EWTN for many years.
The statement from her order noted: “As sisters who sincerely love each other in the Lord, we mourn the loss of our sisters. However, our faith assures us that ‘death is not the end of the path’.
“Sr Clare had spent nearly 15 years of her life in consecration to the Lord.
“She was a generous sister with a special gift for reaching out to children and young people.
“The postulants had entered the order just a year ago and were generously preparing themselves to become Servant Sisters. And the Lord found them all prepared.”
The order stated that when the earthquake started, the superior of the community, Sr Estela, rushed to the chapel to retrieve the Blessed Sacrament.
As soon as she did so “everything around her collapsed and fell to the ground floor”. She was later found alive but with injuries.
As of Wednesday, the death toll from the quake stood at 525 and this number was expected to rise with 200 people still missing.
Sources
- Catholic Herald
- EWTN Facebook
- Statement from the Home of the Mother order
- The Guardian
- Image: News4jax.com
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