Vanessa Sequeira's net

Words for Vanessa

Joana shared these words at the mass held for her funeral and at the missa do sétimo dia in Estoril

"We have to tropicalise the situation" were words that Vanessa told me a few times. So in order to do that, I wanted to come and deliver a few words that might help us all to remember the warmth of her life. Although I am struggling for words, I want to try and express the inspiration that so naturally emanated from Vanessa: A woman who was strong, determined, stubborn... correct, joyful, deep, mysterious, friendly, relentless, unforgettable. In life as in death, Vanessa represented the pure essence of the feminine: the magic, the mystery and the ingratitude of being a woman...

... and what a woman. Despite not having known Vanessa for a long time, we had surreal things that brought us together. Amongst them was the cultural mix in our lives and all that represented for our sense of identity. In that spirit, I am going to read to you a prayer that is very dear to me. Vanessa, like me, was not a particularly religious person, but I think we can all understand in the words of the prayer the sense of what she chose to be her life.

St. Frances' Prayer

Lord! Allow me to be an instrument of thy peace...
Where there be hatred may I bring love,
Where there be offense, may I bring pardon,
Where there be discord, may I bring union,
Where there be doubts, may I bring faith,
Where there is mistake, may I bring truth,
Where there is dispair, may I bring hope,
Where there is darkness, may I bring light.

Lord! See to it that I may seek more
To console than to be consoled,
To understand than to be understood,
To love than to be loved...
For it is in giving that we receive
It is in forgiving that we are forgiven
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

the poem in portuguese

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