San Juan City – December 16, 2025 — Newly elected Superior General Sr. Oddysa D. Estor, OSA, called on the Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation (ASOLC) to remain rooted in gratitude, love, and a clear sense of spiritual direction as the congregation concluded its 24th General Chapter.
In her inaugural address, delivered before Augustinian clergy, sisters, lay associates, mission partners, and guests, Sr. Estor reflected on the congregation’s 142-year journey, describing it as one continuously guided by God’s grace and sustained by the fidelity of generations of sisters.
“Looking back, we see how the hand of God has always been at work in our congregation—through courageous women, from our venerable foundress to our pioneering Filipino sisters, and through leaders and sisters who faithfully lived our charism, vision, and mission,” she said.
Sr. Estor expressed deep gratitude to past leaders whose service helped shape the congregation as it is today, acknowledging their wisdom, patience, courage, and love. She emphasized that the success of the 24th General Chapter was built on this legacy of faithful leadership and collective discernment.
The Superior General identified love as the second defining theme of her message, sharing that her 21 years as a professed sister deepened her understanding of God’s love and her love for the congregation. She said it was this same love that moved her to accept the call to leadership.
“When the love of God dwells in our hearts, it will always find its way to do good for others,” she said. “Love does not seek its own good. It moves us to become instruments of compassion and consolation, especially amid difficulties and uncertainties.”
Quoting St. Augustine, she reminded the sisters that charity places a person at the service of all, and that love has the power to overcome fear, doubt, and anxiety—sentiments she acknowledged feeling herself during the election.
The third focus of Sr. Estor’s address centered on journeying toward what she described as the congregation’s true destination: integral transformation in Christ. She cautioned against becoming overly preoccupied with ministries, structures, or worldly values at the expense of spiritual direction.
“Our journey may be challenged by present realities that are brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible,” she said. “But we must not lose sight of our real destination—to be transformed into the values of Christ, not the values of the world.”
Drawing from St. Augustine’s concept of peregrinatio, Sr. Estor emphasized that Christ is both the way and the homeland, reminding the sisters that they are pilgrims “in the world but not of the world.”
She also cited a 1936 letter of Venerable Mother Consuelo, urging the sisters to remain courageous and joyful in belonging wholly to God, and to use the time given to them to grow in holiness.
Despite contemporary challenges, Sr. Estor encouraged the congregation to persist in the “good fight of faith” for peace, reconciliation, integrity, compassion, and a future better than the present. She called on the sisters to live as countercultural witnesses through concrete expressions of faith, hope, and love in their life, mission, and structures.
Quoting St. Augustine once more, she urged the sisters to keep moving forward. “If you say it is enough, you are lost,” she said. “Keep on walking, moving forward, striving for the goal.”
Sr. Estor concluded her address by formally presenting the newly elected ASOLC leadership council and asking the community for continued prayers, expressing confidence that, with God accompanying them on the journey, the congregation would reach its true destination.
“May we all be one in mind and heart on the way to God,” she said.