Rome (Italy). On 13 April 2023, in live streaming on the YouTube Channel of the FMA Study Center, starting at 18:30 (Italian time), the 6th and last appointment of the “Salesian Thursdays at the Auxilium”,
will be held, on the theme: “Mother Catherine Daghero at Nizza, the center of diffusion of her government.”
Sr. Piera Cavaglià, former Secretary General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and Professor Emeritus of Pedagogical Methodology at the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences “Auxilium”, traces the biographical itinerary and some guidelines of government that characterize Mother Catherine Daghero, Superior General of the Institute of the FMA from 1881 to 1924, the first after the Foundress, St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello. A humble and wise woman who with her governance, acts as a bridge between the time of the Founders and the following generations.
“We are in the presence of one of the most significant figures of the origins and of the first 50 years of the history of the Institute, explains Sr. Piera. She was convinced that she had received a precious inheritance, but she was aware of living in a time of very delicate turning points, a crucial stage for the future. We know that managing the post-foundation historical phase is a difficult and risky process. Mother Catherine Daghero allowed the Charism to continue to flourish in time and space, indeed she developed it and extended it to four continents. She intuited unprecedented dimensions of the spirit of the Founders and allowed herself to be continually questioned by new situations, impelled to intervene with courage and wisdom.”
The live streaming will be broadcast from Nizza Monferrato, from what was the Motherhouse of the FMA Institute, to underline the imprint she left in history, also in view of the celebration of the centenary of her birth, on 26 February 2024.
From this House, from her office, Mother Catherine Daghero reached her sisters in various parts of the world with letters and, every month starting from 24 November 1914, with the monthly Circular. She also joined them physically, undertaking long journeys that number about 400. She went to France thirty times. Her longest journey lasted two years (1895-1897). She wanted to visit all the houses that were opened in America at that time. The Diary of Sr. Felicina Fauda, who accompanied her, was published on this trip.
She emphasizes that, “As a person, she was the faithful woman, unconditionally faithful to St. John Bosco, as she had been to St. Mary D. Mazzarello, but she understood that fidelity to the Founders meant not only preserving and guarding, but opening up to an unprecedented future because the Charism, a gift of the Holy Spirit, is full of potential yet to be developed. For her, the Charism was not a relic to be preserved with jealous care, but was a source of inspiration, a seed of the future, and therefore, it was a gift that was not only in the past, but was in front of her and opened up new horizons unknown to the Founders. Mother Catherine understood and welcomed the vital power of the roots and allowed the Institute to grow in depth and to develop in universal dimensions while preserving the freshness of an unmistakable charismatic identity”.
Source: pfse-auxilium.org
