Peter Mais is not an angry man. In fact, the attorney, who will this morning bury his wife Vilma, will again pray for forgiveness for her killer and says he hopes that her death will move Jamaicans closer to God.

“I’d love if the country is ‘Vilma-nised’, that is, filled with Christ’s love, which was so much in Vilma,” Mais said as he reflected of his wife, sharing his thoughts with the Observer.

Vilma Mais was stabbed to death by a thief on the compound of the Stella Maris Catholic Church in St Andrew on March 8. She had gone there to pray.

She had spent most of her adult life doing charity work for the church and was a volunteer in its prison outreach programme. She also had a close association with Father Richard Ho Lung’s Missionaries of the Poor.

“The sentiment of forgiveness came to me quickly,” said Peter Mais in his reflection. “It’s our association with the Missionaries of the Poor, the death of brothers Suresh and Marco. It parallels Vilma’s death. It is the same source of strength, prayer and service of the poor.”

Brothers Marco Laspuna, 22, and Suresh Barwa, 31, were shot dead on October 27, 2005 while they washed dishes at Missionaries of the Poor’s Corpus Christi complex at 3 North Street, downtown Kingston after having supper with their brothers.

Police believe a single bullet killed both missionaries. Their deaths have not been solved and neither have the police been able to determine a motive.

In his reflection, Peter Mais noted that his wife was always with the brothers, the homeless and the destitute. “Our main work for the poor is with the Missionaries of the Poor,” he said after noting their joint contribution to the founding of the St Patrick’s Foundation and the building of a Peace Park at St Anne’s Church, downtown Kingston.

He said he teaches his family the concept of service to others, particularly the poor, and noted that that was what he admired most about his wife.

Despite his tragic loss, Mais said he does not intend to leave Jamaica. “I am a simple man, not a rich man,” he said. “All I want to do is make a contribution of my life. I thank the Lord for who I am. I want nothing more, though I have a few debts. Nor do I want to be anywhere else. Though Vilma died here, I accept that as a Jamaican and a Christian.”

Mais also spoke of the love he and his wife shared, saying “these days we even fall asleep holding hands. We were more in love than ever”.

But he revealed that recently she told him that she would die before him, mostly because she had had a life-long problem with asthma. However, he noted, “she never gave in, and recently she felt totally healed, having prayed with the Charismatic community.

Her painful death, though, is eased somewhat by the pregnancy of their daughter, Julie. Said Mais: “The day after Vilma died, Julie found out she was pregnant. From one generation to the next, death and then new life.”