My Faith My Life:A Place for Episcopal Teens and Their Mentors

Alicia Rivera belonged to the Order of St. Helena

Alicia "Cristina" Rivera, OSH, religious and pastor, was born Alicia Rivera in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She spent childhood and adolescence in Ponce, and trained there as a laboratory technician. Her family's religious background was Baptist; Alicia was received into the Episcopal Church in 1945.¹ When Rivera moved to New York City she worked at Memorial and Roosevelt hospitals as a laboratory technician and hematologist. She entered the Order of Saint Helena (OSH) as a Postulant in Sep­tember 1959, and was Life Professed in April of 1964.

"Sister Cristina" lived out her religious vocation—a life of prayer and service—in many corners of the world. Soon after her life pro­fession, she was sent for five years to the order's Holy Cross Mission in Bolahun, Liberia, West Africa, where she was involved in leader­ship training groups, among other ministries. "In Africa [Sister Alicia Cristina] began to understand the true nature of missionary service, not as someone sent to preach or bring Christ to others, but to listen and discover Christ in the life of the people. She was an example of humility, desirous of living a lifestyle similar to the persons whom she served." ²

Sister Cristina also lived in the convents of Saint Helena in August, Georgia, and Ghana, West Africa, before arriving at the convent in New York City, where she spent the last eighteen years of her life. A multi-talented woman, Rivera was accomplished in yoga, dance, and gardening. She was a founder and pastor of the San Juan Bautista Mission in the South Bronx.

Sister Alicia Cristina's ministry among Hispanic people in the South Bronx was recognized by the Diocese of New York when she was awarded the Bishop's Cross by the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, Jr. on October 21, 1986: "Nurtured by the Eucharistic, Prayer-Centered Life of her own community of the Order of St. Helena, she came to understand the significance of what could be derived by Hispanic Christians from congregational life under Hispanic leadership; from a Eucharistic assembly in their language, oriented to their culture and their special needs...." ³ The citation for the award goes on to laud Rivera's skill in using the learning of the base community experience, and her contribution to the development of a viable and vibrant team ministry in the South Bronx which supported the growth of other congregations. ⁴ In addition to her work at San Juan Bautista, Sister Cristina was active on the Hispanic Commission of the Diocese of New York, the National Hispanic Commission, the Episcopal Urban Caucus, and the Coalition of Human Needs.

In her funeral sermon—Sister Cristina died of cancer in 1996— she was praised as a woman "very aware of human suffering and of issues of justice. She fought courageously for what she believed in these areas, and sometimes had difficulty understanding those who were blind to suffering and injustice." ⁵ In her last letter to her community, Rivera wrote: "I know and sense that life and death are going on simultaneously and I want to have the strength to continue to give of myself." ⁶

Notes
1. Biographical information on Sister Cristina was provided by Sister Ruth, OSH, and includes a biographical entry written after her death, and a copy of the funeral sermon preached by the Rev. Canon Mary Michael Simpson, OSH. Also included with this documentation is a copy of the citation written when she was awarded the Bishop's Cross from the diocese of New York in October 1986.
2. Jaime Juan Forme, summarizing an article by Nina Olmedo in Anglicanos (April-June 1984).
3. Paul Moore, Jr., citation, Bishop's Cross Award, October 21, 1896.
4. Ibid.
5. The Rev. Canon Mary Michael Simpson, OSH, "Sermon, Funeral of the Sister Alicia Cristina Rivera, OSH, August 26, 1996, Chapel of St George's Church, New York City," Saint Helena, 17, no. 3 (Fall 1996): 1.
6. Ibid.