Nizza Monferrato (Italy). On 19 October 2024, in Nizza Monferrato, Asti, a Micronido, “The treasures of Main” was inaugurated as a new educative work of the House of Our Lady of Graces of Mary Help of Christians Province (IPI).
If every inauguration is a cause for joy, this of the Micronido is a special event and really a sign of hope for parents with children from one to three years old. With the intuition of those who listen to the “signs of times and places”, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the Educating Community have tried to intercept the needs of the territory and families. With a strong work of synergy, today they can accommodate 24 children in a house rich with history and, due to their presence, rich with future.
As an Educating Community, there is the awareness of having to make the Salesian charism shine also with a special concern for the little ones, the beloved of Jesus. As Pope Francis says, “The children’s angels are a telescope of the love of the Father”. Their innocence, freshness, and transparency speak of the ever-new beauty of life and make us discover the infinite dignity of every human being, a luminous mirror of the Creator.
The inauguration was attended by parents with their children, teachers, educators, the school’s educational coordinator, some Council members of the school, the Director of Professional Courses, the Administrative Manager of the work. Among the many authorities present were: the Provincial of the IPI Province, Sister Emma Bergandi; the Provincial Treasurer, Sister Pina Molino; the Mayor, the Councilor for culture, the President of the Municipal Council, and other Municipal Councilors, the Engineer Giorgio Colletti, whose competence and passion provided from the beginning, security and serenity in realizing the project.
After the initial greeting, the Animator of the FMA Community, Sister Piera Cavaglià, explained the meaning of the name of the Micronido, “The treasures of Main”. Mary Domenica Mazzarello lived the last two years of her life in the House of Nizza. With Don Bosco, she founded the Institute for the education of children, girls, and young people. Her family called her Main. She was a woman of great educative talent, creative, patient, joyful, capable of involvement, and of broad vision. Thinking back to the love she had for the little ones, and recognizing that children are her dearest ‘treasures’, the name of the Micronido was born.
From the very beginning, the FMA Community of Nizza entrusted to Mary Domenica Mazzarello all the children, teachers, and parents, so that she could take care of everyone. Now she is invoked all the more to inspire that educative style of goodness, firmness, and wisdom which was characteristic of her. In fact, she believed in preventive education, the one that begins very early, when the person is just blossoming and opens to life with wonder.
First in Mornese and then in Nizza, Main welcomed many children and girls. As the Animator assured, “every morning, she is at the door of this house and awaits you with joy to make you feel her encouraging educative presence, to inspire you to seek the good of these little ones who are the most beautiful sign of hope for families and for the world. Silently, little by little, here in this Micronido, a new future is being prepared, full of hope for families, society, and the Church!”
The greeting of the Provincial was appreciated very much. She reminded us of the essential condition for a good education: the home climate that opens the heart to trust, gives serenity, multiplies resources, and stimulates co-responsibility.
The Coordinator reaffirmed, “This school is characterized not only by the strong and solid roots of its history, but also by the commitment to guarantee today, with creativity and daring, the charismatic vitality that generates cultural fecundity and faith.”
After the ribbon-cutting and the blessing of the premises given by the parish priest, Fr. Paolino Siri, everyone was able to visit the Micronido, appreciating the beauty of the environment with the drawings of the well-known Nizza painter, Massimo Ricci, the order, the richness of games, the functionality and brightness of the classrooms. It is an ideal environment where the children are welcomed and cared for with competence and love and where their growth is ensured in a network of relationships and values aimed at their maturation in “age, wisdom, and grace”.
The wish – and ardent desire – is that in this Micronido, as in the whole work, in continuity with the dream of Don Bosco and with the community of the origins led by Saint Mary D. Mazzarello, God’s dream of happiness and blessing for every person may be realized.
Bellissima iniziativa