Hello! This is Dina speaking!
But who is Dina?
I will tell you by means of this Blog.
Are you interested? If so read on and you won’t regret it.
Dina Belanger
was born in Quebec, Canada on the 30th April 1897; she lived for 32
years and died in 1929. Perhaps she
seems to you to be someone far away in time? Wait, I’ll tell you more and
you’ll see. Time is not important when speaking of those who influence the
lives of others – even though their life was short and apparently as ordinary
as yours and mine.
Imagine to
yourself a married couple who, loving but anxious, are expecting their first
baby for whom they have dreamed great things. It is said that during her
pregnancy Dina’s mother often asked God that the son or daughter, soon to be
born, would achieve something good and worthwhile and that, if it was God’s
will, he/she would, become a monk or
religious sister … and so it happened!
At last the longed-for child arrived and her parents Séraphia Matte and
Octave Bélanger, both of whom were deeply Christian, arranged to baptise her on
the very day of her birth; and so she
was named Maria, Margaret, Dina, Adelaide. Why so many names? It was the custom
at the time – but don’t be alarmed, they always called her just Dina.
Time passed by
and 17 months later a little brother was born but, sadly, only to die after
three months, leaving Dina once again alone.
Well, not entirely alone, for she had her adoring parents. But
nevertheless they did not allow her to become a selfish, spoilt and capricious
child; on the contrary they gave her a solid roots so that later on she would
be able to fly. They educated her strictly, forming her character, because, do
you know although Dina was shy, discreet, cheerful, precise, orderly and
capable of forgetting herself, in order to be able to put others first, she
also had a tenacious and strong willed personality,
which enabled her to persevere until she achieved the goals she had set
herself. She certainly inherited this
from her parents. Her father was an
accountant of upright nature, tenacious, fond of detail and a lover of order.
Her mother was pious, gentle and loving, simple.
Sometimes, however,
in the face of contradictions, Dina’s wilfulness got the better of her, even
manifesting itself physically by tantrums.
I’ll tell you about this next time.
