Sister María del Rosario’s life and ministry, from Mexico to San José, are chronicled in her 100th birthday commemorative newspaper compiled by her MESST sisters (Misioneras Eucarísticas de la Santísima Trinidad or Eucharistic Missionaries of the Most Holy Trinity).

Spanning more than a hundred years of faith, both centenarians’ stories reveal that holiness often perseveres quietly, through love for Christ and humble service, inspiring admiration in the community.

Joseph Aboussleman

One hundred years ago, Joseph Aboussleman was born in Brooklyn, New York, the fifth of six boys and one sister. His biological father, who made cameras in the 1920s, passed away during the Great Depression when Joseph was only four years old. His mother eventually remarried and had his sister. His mother is his enduring model of faith. Through every hardship, Joseph recalls, she “made sure her children went to church every Sunday.”

Of his faith, Joseph stated, “My faith has always been there. When World War II came, my mother saw her six sons go to war. We all fought on the front line. Here I was, a 17-year-old boy, in the South Pacific getting shot at.” He reminisced about those times, and about his mother, “Nobody can imagine how a mother feels seeing her six sons fighting. We all came back.”

Joseph’s naval career spanned two decades. Fifteen years into his service, he married his wife, Julie. After retiring from the military, he built a life in Silicon Valley, working as a maintenance mechanic for Fairchild Semiconductor, while raising his family at Saint Lawrence Parish.

The Work of His Hands

Joseph is a “fixture in the Santa Clara Senior Center woodshop,” as his commendation from the city of Santa Clara also reads. He continues to do carpentry projects in his parish, as he has always done. Two examples of his work inside the church include the large wooden tree with lights and the frame for the parish’s Divine Mercy image.

He is humble about his contributions to his parish. Pastor Father Mark Arnzen readily testified to Joseph’s work: “Joe is very modest, but at 100, he still does a lot of woodworking for the church. He fixes things around the church that become a little wobbly.”

Beyond what he builds with his hands, Joseph’s presence is felt and enjoyed by all. One young couple used to sit behind Joseph at Mass and eventually, in his words, ‘sort of adopted’ him. Joseph related, “They came up to me last Saturday and asked to be at the baptism of their first child.” Another parishioner came up to him recently to ask him for the secret to his longevity.

Joseph gave her guidance that comes with true, time-tested wisdom: “I looked at her and said, ‘Give me your hands.’ She put her hands in mine, and I folded them to pray.” He continued, “Then I told her, ‘Now go ask God.’ That made me feel good because it felt like something important went through my hands to hers.”

This simple faith typifies Joseph, according to Father Mark. “Joseph is like a teddy bear you want to hug. He takes others under his wing. His faith is simple. He does not make a big thing about it. Parishioners wait to talk to him. He is just such a wonderful gift. They and I are drawn to Jesus just by being near him.”

Strawberry Candies

After 100 years of faith, Joseph speaks of Jesus with familiarity. “I ask Jesus to take care of me, and I ask Blessed Mother to take care of me. I have said to Jesus, ‘After I become 100 years old, you can take me anytime you want to but give me an extra year for you [meaning that I am asking to live another year or more]. I want to live to 105!”

When asked if he would call Jesus his friend, he replied confidently, “In fact, I call Jesus my brother.” Joseph’s own century-old, down-to-earth faith is one that all can learn from. It is filled with a deep devotion to Our Lady. “All I can say is that I have had a good life. The other day, I was in bed saying my rosary. Every night I say a decade of the rosary.”

“And pretty soon I'll be 101 years old. Like the highway.” He laughed, referring to the Bay Area’s major thoroughfare.  At the time of writing this, Joseph had just turned 101.  He still gives out strawberry candies at Mass. About this well-known practice of his, he mused, “It's amazing how a little piece of candy, when you hand it to somebody, how it makes them glow.”

He recalled, “Maybe eight months ago, there was a mother who came on her own with 4 girls to Mass. I gave her four candies for them. The next weekend, she was by herself again with her daughters. I brought five candies so she could have one too.” After Mass, he went up to her, strawberry candies in hand.

“I said, there are five candies now instead of four. One for you. The girls’ eyes lit up, and the first thing I heard one of the girls say was, ‘It’s the candy!’ They remembered.”

Sister María del Rosario MESST: ¡Adelante y Arriba!

One hundred years ago, Sister María del Rosario, the second of 7 children, was born in Mexico City. Her father worked near the apparition site of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Cuauhtitlán.

When the family later moved to Mexicali, young María Del Rosario became involved in a Catholic Women’s Action group. At a meeting, she met the Eucharistic Missionaries of the Most Holy Trinity (MESST), and after less than a month of knowing them, she decided to join their young order.  She also met the order’s founders, Father Pablo María Guzmán Figueroa (declared Venerable by Pope Francis in 2016) and Mother Enriqueta Rodriguez Noriega.

Within her order, she is known fully as Sister María of the Holy Trinity, and her motto is “Adelante y Arriba!” or “Go forth and upwards!” The sentiments characterized her ministry as a young sister: she taught kindergarten in South America and, on weekends, served the poor.  Sister shared that one of her favorite activities was journeying deep into the jungle to her order’s mission, which she did for almost three decades until 1988.

Mission in San José, California

A drastic change came for Sister María when she was sent to the Diocese of San José. She shared that her thoughts at that time were, “Now they’ve sent me to a concrete jungle!”  Her mission continued in new ways, first at Saint Clare parish and by visiting prisoners in the Milpitas jails.  After returning to Mexico to help in the novitiate and a brief stay in Orange County, Sister María returned to San José in 2018, where she has resided since.

Now, at one hundred years old, her ministry has shifted from going forth and upwards to a quiet, interior stillness that looks downwards to the rich soil of her convent’s grounds. Sister shared, “I take care of the garden, which I love. I know how to dig, plant, and fertilize the soil, and the roses bloom abundantly, always yielding a bountiful harvest.”

Roses of Faith

Her care for the garden symbolizes her lifelong nurturing of faith and community, which has touched many beyond her garden's borders. The MESST order continues to celebrate Sister María’s life and ministry while being devoted to her. In their final message in the pages of her 100th birthday periodical, the sisters remarked on her devotion to Christ in the Eucharist:

Although she has been very active in so many different ministries, the center of her life has been the Holy Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. She has made her life a Mass and the Mass her life. She also prays the Rosary daily, asking for all the intentions she offers or is asked to pray for, and admirably, at 100 years old, she still prays on her knees!

And finally, a message from Sister María to all: “Thank you for walking with me!”