“We thank you, we salute you and we will continue
celebrating life the way you did. And may your wish be granted to give your
life to follow the Good Shepherd, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila attributed those
words to +Sr. Mary Pilar Verzosa RGS, during the Mass of the Resurrection held
on September 12, 2012.

Sr. Pilar passed away at 4:44a.m. on September 9 of
herniation syndrome secondary to cerebellar bleeding (bleeding of the brain
stem) at the De La Salle University Medical Center (DLSUMC). She was 67.

Sr. Pilar was at the DLSUMC on Thursday, September 6 as
guest speaker of the nurses, medical personnel and staff who listened to her
explain “Body-talk,” a consciousness-based, nondiagnostic therapy that works
with the body in its healing process. Though her talk finished in the morning,
Sr. Pilar, stayed on till the afternoon session as Ms. Marita Wasan, the
national coordinator of Pro-Life Philippines, gave talk on Pro-life’s advocacy
against RH Bill. Sr. Pilar while doing a summary of the afternoon talk informed
the audience that she was feeling dizzy. She was immediately brought to the
hospital’s emergency room.

While confined at the hospital, Sr. Pilar was visited and attended to by her family,
members of the Religious of the Good Shepherd, fellow advocates from Pro-Life
Philippines, and friends. After her death, Sr. Pilar’s remains were brought to
the Arlington Memorial Chapels and crematory in Quezon City. A Funeral Mass and
ritual preceded the cremation, a wish Sr. Pilar clearly wrote in her Affirmation of Life.

Hundreds of families and friends, people touched by her
advocacy and concern to help women and children paid their last respects to Sr.
Pilar. The Good Shepherd Congregation paid tribute to Sr. Pilar for the gift
that she was to the Philippine Province for 45 years as religious.

Please read related articles:

Tribute to Sr. Pilar by Sr. M. Patricia Perez RGS

Homily by Most Rev. Luis Antonio Tagle DD, Archbishop of Manila

My Vocation Story by Sr. M. Pilar Verzosa RGS