On the afternoon of July 24, 2026, the Lord Jesus unexpectedly called to Himself, Sister Nivia Roberta Arias, FMA. Born to Cuban immigrants, who had come to the United States in 1956, bringing Nivia's older brother Carlos with them as a small child, Nivia grew up in a household full of faith. Her parents sent her to Villa Madonna, a Catholic school run by the Salesian Sisters in Tampa, FL.
The first stirrings of her vocation went further back than she could remember: she spoke of it at the age of three, then again at her first Communion, and later, in the fifth grade. In junior high, she pushed the thought of religious life away. After attending Tampa Catholic High School, she went on to the University of South Florida, working to pay her own tuition. It was the need for a summer job that brought Nivia back to the Sisters and back to the call Jesus had put on her heart.
About a week into working at Camp Auxilium in Newton, NJ, she made the decision to stay rather than return for her second year of college. She made a deal with God: six months, she said, to find out if this was truly for her. As her father said, she would stay, “if God wills…” and God did will it! She went on to live over forty years as a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians.
Her ministry carried her across the Salesian family's schools and centers: Christ the King, St. Joseph's School and Villa Madonna School in Tampa; Immaculata High School in Marrero, LA; St. Anthony School and St. John's Cathedral School in Paterson, NJ; and finally Sacred Heart Spirituality Center in Newton, NJ, where she was serving at the time of her passing. Wherever she was sent, she taught children from Pre-K through eighth grade, animated liturgies with music, and led faith formation programs and retreats. She always had a particular love for catechizing the young.
Sister Nivia had many creative gifts, and a heart for the least. Whoever stood before her received her full and immediate attention. Her creative gifts extended well beyond the classroom: she never stopped loving to dance, salsa and Latin rhythm most of all. She loved animals, and long before "Laudato Si'" gave the whole Church language for it, she was already seeing God in creation and finding ways to use and re-use the gifts which God provided. She frequently prayed for peace and reconciliation, especially in the hearts of each person. Sister Nivia is remembered by the wide circle of friends and young people who came to know, because of her, that they were loved by an unseen God. Rest in peace, Sister Nivia.