Spain. On 12 May  2021, the eve of the Solemnity of St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello, Co-founder of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, FMA and educators of  Mary Help of Christians Province (SPA) participated in the Webinar A generous, big, and fearless heart” on the pedagogical and educational aspects of the life of Mother Mazzarello.

Sr. María del Rosario Ten Soriano, Provincial Coordinator of Youth Ministry, presented the speakers: Sr. Carmen Víllora, FMA, Coordinator and Professor of Salesian Formation Courses for Educators, and Antonio Rodríguez López, Professor at the Salesian University CES Don Bosco in Madrid and Coordinator of the Courses for educators on the Salesian Preventive System.

The moderator, Enrico Jimenéz, Dean of the Our Lady School of Bagoña in Baracaldo (Bilbao), Professor of long experience in the FMA Schools, presented the structure of the relationship divided into four moments: the relationship with God and spirituality; the family spirit; the “I entrust them to you” and the pedagogy of encouragement.

Prof. Antonio Rodríguez López began his presentation by commenting on the title of the Webinar: “Living with a big, generous, and fearless heart, as Mother Mazzarello invites us to do in this time when fear is not lacking, means really going against current.” Mother Mazzarello is a deeply humble woman of great charity, she gives herself to everyone. Her educational mission consists in bringing the girls to an encounter with Jesus.  From the window of the Valponasca, Maín manifests her desire for contact with the Beloved, to contemplate and pray in her ordinary everyday life.

Sr. Carmen Víllora describes the environment of the first FMA community as a Paradise, surrounded by a Pentecostal climate. In 1873, Don Bosco spent a few days in Mornese and wrote to Fr. Rua: “Here you can enjoy a cool climate, even if the fire of God’s love is very great.” To speak of the “Spirit of Mornese” is to speak of joy, of a life lived in simplicity, of an ordinary lived in an extraordinary way. In the years spent in the community of the origins, Mother Mazzarello works, encourages, and generates life. She feels that God is counting on her to express His Love  to her sisters and the young women. She accepts the challenge of winning the trust of the Mornese population and, despite the difficulties, she discovers the importance of a qualified formation. Mornese becomes a ‘house of education’ and her proposal is made up of great ideals, shared with the first FMA, with young women, and lay educators: a common dream.

The “I entrust them to you” is a commitment that goes beyond time and space: in the shared mission of the whole community. Loving is serving, placing the person at the center, developing their potential, thinking that everything is possible, and loving what the young people love. Joy rooted in the certainty of God’s presence and  care for the integral growth of the person are fundamental.

“I entrust them to you” is Mother Mazzarello’s proposal for Salesian holiness. “Today what does God entrust to each one, and what availability do we give?”, are the questions of Prof. Rodríguez López to the participants.

Sr. Carmen speaks of Maín’s educational relationship based on realism, on unconditional dedication to the sisters and girls, on a profound gaze towards each one, which instills courage and trust, creating bonds for authentic educational harmony. Mother Mazzarello’s “pedagogy of encouragement” consists in ACTIVATE, making the subjects participate in the educational task and promoting their autonomy; UNDERSTAND everyone’s state, fears and aspirations; DE-DRAMATIZE, giving things their right value; RESPONSIBILITY, helping to manage common situations and commitments.

The challenge is to welcome, take on, and enrich the charism through what is lived daily, in order to be signs and bearers of God’s love for young people, in fidelity to the charism and educational pedagogy, with “a generous, big heart, and fewer fears “(L27).

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