Doctors declared Susan Michelle Rollin Torres brain-dead and kept her on life support until her baby could be born, but, said Father Paul Scalia, she was still present, "determined" and "fighting" for her child.

The priest, parochial vicar of St. Rita Parish in Alexandria, Va., made the comments in his homily at a funeral Mass Aug. 6 at St. Rita Church for Susan Torres, who was 26.

She was taken off life support after her baby, Susan Anne Catherine, was delivered at 8:18 a.m. Aug. 2 at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington.

More than 100 people attended the funeral Mass, which was concelebrated by Father Scalia and Father Jerry Wooton, parochial vicar of St. Michael Parish in Annandale. The two priests often visited Susan Torres after she was hospitalized in early May.

Christ identified himself with the least in society, including children, said Father Scalia. "That is the reason for the struggle of the last three months," he said. "Every human life is sacred."

For those three months, Susan Torres seemed to be dead, but the human body cannot function without the soul, the priest said.

"She didn't die three months ago," he said, but died when she was taken off life support. While on the machines, "she was fully present there. Somehow, she was determined, and she was fighting," Father Scalia said.

While many people, including doctors and nurses, were astonished Susan Torres brought a new life into the world before she left it, the priest said, "We're not surprised that she made it as well as she did. We can find a hint of that determination in the eyes of her son and in the determined spirit of her daughter."

Father Scalia said there is a certain parallel between the Eucharist and motherhood. During the Mass, the priest says, "This is my body, offered up to you." The same can be said of a mother, he noted.

"When a woman receives new life in her womb, she says this is my body, given up for you," he said. "She gives her body to the child for new life. Susan spoke these words for three months, without speaking."

In statues and paintings, the martyrs are pictured with the instrument of their martyrdom. They display what sacrifices and sufferings they endured for Christ.

"Susan can do the same," Father Scalia said. "She can show him her wounds. She suffered as he suffered."

Trusting in God's mercy, there is hope that Susan Torres is on her way to heaven, Father Scalia said.

"As the incense rises, so should our prayers rise up for Susan," he said. "She will hear the words promised. 'Come inherit the kingdom promised to you at the beginning of the world.'

"We have prayed together for our sister Susan," Father Scalia said. "In this last farewell, there is sadness, but we take comfort in the hope that we will see Susan again."

Susan Torres was rushed to the hospital after she lost consciousness May 7. Doctors determined she had suffered a stroke caused by melanoma that spread to her brain. She was put on life support. Because she was pregnant, her husband, Jason, decided to keep her alive so her baby could be delivered.

After 27 weeks of gestation, the baby was born weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces and measuring 13 and a half inches.

She also is survived by her husband and the couple's 2-year-old son, Peter, as well as several other family members.

---CNS