Rome (Italy). On 24 December 2025, in the theater hall of the headquarters of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Communities of Mary Help of Christians of the General House (RCG) and Sacred Heart of the Roman Province Saint John Bosco (IRO) met to express their Christmas greetings to Mother, Sister Chiara Cazzuola, and the General Councilors.
“We are constellations of hope” the Animators of the two Communities – Sister Carla Castellino and Sister Antonella Cangiano – invited the sisters present in the room to be enchanted by the wonder of creation and to take “a journey” through distant galaxies, colorful nebulae, and fascinating star systems.
The presentation was divided into three moments. The first titled, If I Look at the Sky, referred to the explosion of joy of all creation when it received the invitation to exist and responded, “You called me, here I am!” With a beautiful interweaving between the poetic narration of the succession of creation, the brief songs of two FMA soloists, the voices of the French song, and the dance movements, gave life to the gravitational attraction of the stars.
We “stars” of God, is the title of the second moment, by which the similarity of humans to stars was described. The elements of star dust are present in different ways in man and woman. On stage, the delicate movements of a group of Vietnamese sisters highlighted the psalmist’s sentiment of honoring and praising God for His love.
The third moment, Eyes raised to Heaven, was interpreted by the three Kings on their way from Persia, who studied the sky and “when they saw the Star, they felt great joy.” (Mt 2: 10). The light of joy, “Light has come, rejoice!” was sung in English by a group of Sisters from different backgrounds.
Jesus is “the radiant star of morning” (Rev 22:16) who supports the Hope of living today and always as stars shining on high, showing the good works done for the benefit of the smallest and most fragile, with the charismatic energy that grafts each into the long trail of Sisters who, with their holiness, continue to attract towards true communion, fruit of a Trinitarian cohesion that goes beyond the milky way desired by the Creator.
The final song, “He is born”, performed together by the approximately 120 voices of the Sisters of the two Communities, prepared for listening to Mother’s words.
Mother Chiara thanked for the “very rich” moment, which made them meditate and also praise the Lord because, “it is true that we are made of stardust. We never think about it, but this is how it is!”
She then left a brief message drawing on the liturgy of the day, from the 2nd book of Samuel, in which David thinks of building a house for God. “He was sincere, but he wanted to make God’s house in his own house.” Thus God, through the prophet Nathan, reminds him that He was the first to take him from the pasture. “It is also a vocational invitation, to remember where we started from. The initiative is not ours, but God’s. It is as if God were saying, ‘I am the one who will make the house for you’.”
Mother continued, “This is the promise that is fulfilled in Christmas, a safe house. And the mystery of Christmas fulfills this promise. Jesus is home to all; He is the one who welcomes. It is the Lord who makes himself small, a child.
A child is a child; he has no strength or energy; he depends on others; he has no voice. Thus, this is the message of Christmas. God sends a child and secures for us His home forever. At the same time, He invites us to be His home, which must be home for all, to come to meet Him and open our hearts, our lives.”
The Animators then gave their gifts to Mother and the Councilors:
“To Mother we give this Christmas of Light with a great thank you, because Mother’s word is truly a light for us, but even more so her life, like the life of all of you,” Sister Carla Castellino thus explained the motivation for the gift.
Sister Antonella Cangiano instead offered the gifts of her Community looking at the paths of peace started with the Educating Community to prepare for Christmas. “The Star that indicates the Prince of Peace helps us to welcome the peace that we have understood with the children, which begins every day with ourselves. Best wishes for peace!”
