Stephen Axisa, National director – ACN Malta, Attard, writes:

Madeleine Attard Montaldo went to meet the Risen Lord on October 12.

I got to know Madeleine almost two years ago, a short while before the Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) office in Malta opened. She was a benefactor of ACN in the UK and had a particular interest in helping persecuted Christians.

I visited her home a few times with Neville Kyrke-Smith, director of ACN in the UK. Like all those who knew Madeleine, I was impressed by her faith in God. As Madeleine was a convert to Catholicism, one could say she was chosen by God to serve as encouragement and inspiration to everyone.

Prayer and love for mankind were the basis of her life. She was active in the English-speaking prayer meetings with Mgr Maurice Grech and was a eucharistic minister at her local parish in St Paul’s Bay.

Madeleine placed great emphasis on moral values, which she instilled not only in her children but in everyone else who knew her. Her actions and good works were reflected in the way she lived her life. She always carried out her duties as a mother in an exemplary way.

As Fr Denis Touw stated in his homily at her funeral, Madeleine was “a wonderful and outstanding woman”. Fr Touw met Madeleine many years ago when she was a young actress on the London stage, before she married and moved to Malta where she was a leading performer with MADS for many years.

Madeleine spent her last months in Live Life Rehabilitation Centre, Sliema, where she was popular with fellow residents and staff alike.

To the end her faith, kindness and love remained undiminished.

I thank God that I had the fortune to get to know this warm, generous woman who was held in such high esteem by everyone. Fr Werenfried van Straaten, founder of ACN, said of persecuted Christians: “They are being tested in faith. We are being tested in love.” Well, Madeleine, who cared so much for mankind and especially persecuted Christians, certainly passed that test of love.

I wish to send my condolences to all the members of Madeleine’s family.

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