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SR PATRICIA SANIEL MCM 
ARCHBISHOP SANTIAGO TG HAYES SJ AWARD FOR SERVICE OF THE CHURCH IN MINDANAO
Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan 
79th Commencement Exercises
22 March 2018

A faithful disciple of Jesus who lived a life of dedication, faith, and service, Sr Patricia C Saniel MCM showed exemplary cura personalis for the least, the lost, and the last.

Known as “Sr Pat” to her colleagues, family, and friends, she devoted much of her life to caring for disabled members of the community, particularly those who were mentally and physically challenged.

Born on January 21, 1938, in Maganay, Bulawan, Cotabato, she was the eighth child of Patricio Saniel and Victoriana Cedeňo. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Religious Education from San Isidro College in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, she found her calling as a nun in 1962 when she entered the Congregation of Daughters of Mary of the Assumption in Davao. But she had to leave four years later when she became sick and was advised to rest.

Upon her eventual recovery, she entered The Daughters of Saint Teresa in Malaybalay in 1968 and became one of the pioneering sisters of the Missionary Congregation of Mary (MCM) established in the Spirit of Vatican II on January 1, 1970, when the Church encouraged the renewal of religious life.

For Sr Pat, consecrated life was her chosen way to realize her aspiration to serve.

Sr Pat was known and loved for her unyielding passion, her deep-rooted relationship with God, and her cheery, infectious personality. Those who knew her fondly remember her as someone who always had a smile to share and an indomitable spirit. She touched the lives of the stigmatized and marginalized by caring for the "bungi, bakol, buta, bungol, buang" (harelip, polio, blind, deaf, and mentally-challenged people). In her lifetime, she was responsible for the founding of two mental health institutions: the House of Hope in Lumbia, Cagayan de Oro City and the House of Happiness in Maramag, Bukidnon. She was also the first administrator of the St Joseph Golden Home for the elderly from 2003 to 2005.

Sr Pat’s journey with the House of Hope was fraught with adversity. The first mental health facility in Cagayan de Oro, the House of Hope was then situated in a dilapidated warehouse run by volunteers who were laypeople. Sr Pat stayed with the patients despite their living conditions. She was responsible for the patients and maintenance of the center. She would tend to the residents, keep the hallways clean, do the marketing for the center, and buy food and groceries. She persevered through many logistical challenges facing the center, with donations from locals barely keeping it afloat. Eventually, the city government and other benefactors supported the center with regular funding.

Sr Pat drew strength from prayer and genuine compassion for the poor. Even as the center was going through difficult financial straits, when asked how she got rice for the patients, she would joke, “I don’t know, I just prayed.” It was easy for her to win people over with her sharp wit and joyful disposition, and this helped her earn the support of the government and residents within Cagayan de Oro.

The House of Hope has come a long way, now known as the primary mental health facility in the city. Today, it enjoys regular funding from the city government and other benefactors, and conditions have improved significantly.

In August 2011, after a struggle with cancer, Sr Pat returned home to the Lord after living a life filled with her works of love and ardent desires to glorify God through helping the needy.

In recognition of her genuine compassion for the poor, the stigmatized, and the marginalized, as well as her unyielding service to glorify God by manifesting immeasurable care for those who were ill and indigent, Xavier Ateneo is pleased and honored to confer posthumously the Archbishop Santiago TG Hayes SJ Award to Sr Patricia C Saniel of the Missionary Congregation of Mary.