Rome (Italy). On the evening of 19 October 2025, after experiencing the extraordinary event of the Canonization of Sister Maria Troncatti and six other new Saints in St. Peter’s Square, around 800 people gathered in the “natural setting” garden of the General House of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to celebrate Vespers presided over by the Rector Major, Fr. Fabio Attard, and experience a moment of celebration in honor of the new Saint.
Filling the area in front of the altar were Mother Chiara Cazzuola and the General Council; the Postulator, Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni; the Mother General Emerita, Sister Yvonne Reungoat; the Provincials; the members of the Salesian Family and the benefactors; the young people of the SYM; the missionaries; the FMA of the Communities of Rome, Ecuador, and, representing the Provinces of Italy and the world, the miraculously healed, Juwa Bosco, with his family; Sister Maria Troncatti’s relatives, and the citizens of Corteno Golgi and Brescia.
During Vespers, an icon depicting Saint Maria Troncatti, written in prayer by Sister Randa Kortas, FMA of the Community of the Generalate, originally from Syria, was uncovered by Mother and blessed by the Rector Major with nard oil. “Through the image of her who, transformed by the Holy Spirit, followed Jesus in life and death, we see the way in which to reach perfect union with Christ,” are the words that accompanied the gesture.
The prayer, enriched by some texts with the words of the missionary, ended with the blessing through the intercession of Saint Maria Troncatti and with the hymn, “Artisan of Peace”, followed by the greeting of Mother Chiara. “Today we lived together from dawn to dusk. We arrived at St. Peter’s in the dark and, in the dark, we find ourselves here again!”
Mother first thanked the Rector Major for his constant accompaniment, and Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni for the work of these years. She gave each one a relic of Saint Maria Troncatti. She also thanked Mother Yvonne for her presence, recalling that in 2008, as soon as she was elected, she had signed the decree of Venerability and then accompanied the Beatification process, up to the joy of this moment. Furthermore, she expressed gratitude to all those who collaborated in different ways for the realization of these days of celebrations and festivities: benefactors, suppliers, companies, the closest collaborators, the Animator and the Community of the Generalate, the Sector collaborators, and all those who participated, even by coming from afar, a sign of belonging to the Institute and the Salesian Family, to celebrate a feast “that does not end here.”
In fact, she continued, “This celebration opens onto the future and it will be up to us to continue to carry forward the reflection on this great Saint that the Lord has given us.”
Mother Chiara concluded by thanking, in representation of all 73 Provinces and Preprovinces of the world, the 38 Provincials and Superiors of Preprovinces present, and also giving them a relic of the Saint.
Mother Yvonne also wanted to express her joy at the Canonization and said, “I wish and pray to Sister Maria Troncatti to help us find this path to Holiness, cheerful, enthusiastic, full of apostolic and missionary passion, and to awaken our missionary passion for the whole world, to arrive where we haven’t yet arrived.”
The evening continued with the buffet dinner and the cutting of the cake with the image of Sister Maria together with an indigenous girl. After that, we moved to the courtyard for a short moment of celebration in “Oratorian style”, with music and games together with the young people, divided into three large groups.
As a surprise, dozens of colored balloons then arrived, brought by the Councilors and other FMA, to which everyone was invited to tie a note and write a peace intention with a pencil of Saint Maria Troncatti received as a gift. The balloons were then released towards the sky in a celebration of colors in the simple and spontaneous joy of a family gathering to celebrate something truly great like Holiness.
And precisely for peace was the last thought of Mother, in rethinking the words of Pope Leo at the Angelus who, remembering Myanmar, Ukraine, the Holy Land, and other countries at war, entrusted “to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and the new Saints, our continuous prayer for peace.”
Photos: Flickr FMA
