July 31, 1924 – January 21, 2023

Dorothy Grace DaCosta was born in Attleboro, MA on July 31, 1924 to Gabriel and Mary DaCosta. Both parents were immigrants from Portugal. She was baptized in Holy Ghost Parish in Attleboro. She had two brothers Gilbert and Gabriel.

When she was a freshman in high school, her brothers told her she was invited to help out the Trinitarian Sisters (Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity) who had come to serve in Holy Ghost Parish. Although her mother urged her to help, she said “I don’t want to go. I don’t want to be bothered with them.” However, Dorothy soon became part of the lay group with whom the sisters were associated, the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate.

After high school, she attended Fannie Farmer Cooking School and worked in a bakery. In June of 1946 she wrote to Mother Mary Francis Taylor, “For five years I have thought of entering the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity. I finally made a decision to enter in February if I am accepted.” Dorothy was following her mother’s wish that she wait until she was 21 to enter.

She entered in February and when she became a Novice she took the name Sister Anita Marie of the Holy Family. After first vows, Sister was missioned to Uniontown, PA where she worked in the coal patches with the families who worked the mines. While missioned to Uniontown, Anita Marie professed her Final Vows on March 25, 1952.

Her Sister’s Questionnaire, (evaluation) was full of yeses, good and always as in “Is she present in Chapel every morning when prayers begin?” Always. Only for the answer to “Does she argue?” The response was sometimes, not often. On the top was a big “Yes” indicating that the evaluator thought Anita Marie ready for Perpetual Vows.

Sr. Anita described the work with the families in the patches. “The people lived in little duplexes with an outhouse in back. The homes and stores belonged to the coal company and the people could barely pay their bills. Strikes were frequent. We would go from house to house offering encouragement and inviting the Catholics who no longer went to Church to come back. They just needed that visit and someone to invite them back. So many returned to the Sacraments, just from a visit.”

In 1958 she was missioned to Norwood, MA and entered into the ministry of Religious Education. She served in a series of parishes in New England including Blessed Sacrament Parish in Walpole, St. Francis Xavier in Hyannis, St. Thomas in Southington, CT and St. Susannah’s in Dedham. Being in New England gave Sr. Anita Marie the special bonus of being geographically close to her family whom loved very much! She returned to St. Francis Xavier in Hyannis, served for 15 years then was missioned to Holy Family Parish in East Taunton in 1990, where she served for 17 years.

These Religious Education programs were very large with lots of classes for kids, teachers and parents. Regular visits to the families were part of her ministry. In addition, Sr. Anita Marie learned to play the guitar and worked with music groups for the Sunday folk Mass. Summers she had time for visits to her family and classes and workshops. Sr. Anita Marie enjoyed working with the priests and people of each of the parishes where she was missioned. She felt blessed by the friendship that she experienced.

Her mother’s death in July of 1998 had a big impact on Sr. Anita Marie. By October, she expressed in her Ministry Planning form, “it’s (the Coordination of the Religious Education Program) too much for me, I’ll be 75 next July”. Sister continued serving Holy Family Parish visiting the parishoners in their homes and bringing the Eucharist to the homebound until January 2008.

Leaving her little house in East Taunton, MA and coming to the Motherhouse was difficult. She knew and accepted that it was time but… the change was a great loss. When asked about her time at Holy Family Parish she said, “I loved it. I’ve loved every place I went.”

At the Motherhouse Anita Marie got involved in life and participated in the Ministry of Prayer. In 2014, she was missioned to Mother Boniface Cenacle at Wesley where she continued in the ministry of prayer. In a letter to a General Councilor during a transition to a new ministry Sister Anita Marie wrote, “God is very good to me. He gave me a very heavy cross on my first mission. I accepted it and he pulled me through… Look what he has done for me since… so I must continue to do His work. Now I cannot be in CCD, He is using me to help His sick and suffering until He calls them home to him.”

“Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” (Mt. 25:21)