Fr Geoffrey Attard writes:

After a long life spanning 86 years, Katerina Cefai of Żebbuġ, Gozo, passed away on August 17. I knew her quite well since I used to distribute Holy Communion to her every fortnight for the past couple of years.

Katerina was a dedicated mother of 14 children. Among them are two priests, Fr Ġiovanni Cefai MSSP, regional superior of his congregation in Peru, and Mgr Joseph Cefai, vicar general for the diocese of Menevia in Wales.

Carmel Cefai, director of the European Centre for Educational Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health, and senior lecturer in Psychology at the University of Malta, is also one of her sons.

Katerina, who was known simply as Nina, was loved by one and all. She was benefactor to St Mary’s church in Żebbuġ and had a special love for priests, as one can understand, being the mother of two.

I admired her sense of resilience and courage in the face of suffering and old age; I never heard her complain or pass negative comments about anyone.

Having had such a numerous family she must have been familiar with the ups and downs of life but she was not one to be easily discouraged.

Kindness was also one of her characteristics, out of which I benefited myself.

Her funeral, which featured the playing of a local orchestra directed by her grandson Franco Cefai, and which took place in her native Żebbuġ, was more of a feast than an occasion for mourning.

She will be deeply missed.

Dear Nina, may the good Lord in whom you anchored your hope, grant you eternal rest.