Retirement Fund for Religious

“Elderly is dynamic,” says Sister Aida Sansor. And she means it. The 87-year-old member of the Missionary Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit shares, “Growing older has not been a negative experience for me. It has been one of the richest seasons of my life. I am still learning, still growing, and still discovering new meaning in this time.”

Born on December 6, 1938, in Espita, Yucatán, Mexico, Sister Aida grew up the youngest of six children—five girls and one boy—in a family that knew both joy and loss.

Sister Aida attended public schools in her hometown, continuing her studies through high school. Though her formal education was not rooted in Catholic classrooms, her faith was nurtured from within by the people who surrounded her—most profoundly by Father Carlos Rosado, a diocesan priest who served as her spiritual director for four years before she entered religious life. His quiet witness and guidance left a lasting imprint on her.

Around 1965, Sister Aida met the woman who would inspire her vocation: Sister Margarita of the Guadalupanas. “She had the fire of the Holy Spirit,” Sister Aida recalls. It was Sister Margarita’s passion, her love for her work, and her unmistakable dedication that drew Sister Aida toward religious life. In January 1967, she entered the Missionary Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit, beginning a journey of service that would carry her far beyond the city of her birth.

Sister Aida’s ministry unfolded largely among Spanish-speaking Catholic communities in the United States, where she became a steady advocate for pastoral care in people’s own language. In Massachusetts, she took part in the encuentros de pastoral hispana in New Bedford, gatherings that raised awareness among priests, bishops, and the wider institutional Church about the growing number of Spanish-speaking Catholics who lacked access to Mass, the sacraments, and pastoral care in Spanish. “When I arrived, there were no Spanish services, no sacraments in Spanish,” she remembers. The experience, she says, was profoundly educational—both for her and for the community she served.

She spent eleven years in ministry in Rochester, New York, helping Spanish-speaking Catholics access services and fostering bilingual outreach, often in the face of institutional resistance. Her work extended to Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban communities, among many others. “We were dedicated to service,” she reflects. Later, she served in San Martín before retiring, still concerned about the need for Spanish religious instruction for bilingual families and the continued support of sisters in that work.

Sister Aida’s spirituality is grounded not in popular devotions but in the Holy Scriptures. “My whole spirituality is based on the Holy Scriptures,” she says. “I love the study of the Bible. That’s the foundation of my faith—knowing Jesus through the Gospels.” Alongside her love of Scripture, she carries a deep devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose presence, she notes, has shaped the Church throughout Latin America.

Now in retirement, Sister Aida remains, by her own description, “always a very happy person.” She has little patience for sadness and speaks of the joy of discovery. “I’m still learning. I was never elderly before,” she laughs. “Elderly is dynamic.”

To the donors of the Retirement Fund for Religious, Sister Aida offers heartfelt thanks. “I am very grateful for the support that helps our congregation, and so many institutions, care for us,” she says. After a lifetime of walking alongside others—teaching them to meet Jesus in the Gospels, to pray in their own language, and to trust in the fire of the Holy Spirit—she now receives, with gratitude, the care and generosity of those who make her community’s life of prayer and service possible.