Nizza Monferrato (Italy). On 15 February 2025, on the eve of the 142nd anniversary of the birth of Blessed Maria Troncatti, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians who will soon be canonized, the two FMA communities, O. L. of Grace and Saint Mary Domenica Mazzarello of Nizza Monferrato (AT), of the Province of Mary Help of Christians (IPI), together with several people from Nizza Monferrato and surroundings, have gathered to give thanks for the life of this great missionary.
The event began with the prayer of the Rosary in the Shrine of O. L. of Grace. The Joyful mysteries – mysteries of hope – were contemplated in the light of the Word of God and the expressions of Sister Maria Troncatti, drawn from her letters. Along with the FMA, also present were the parish priest of Nizza, Fr. Paolino Siti; the President of the Past Pupils; Ms. Barbara Robuffo, the President of Don Bosco Choir, the former president of the Academy of Nicese Culture, “L’Erca” Onlus; Dr. Teresio Alberto, and other people who wanted to pray and intercede to God with graces and blessings.
After the prayer, in the former Sacred Heart Chapel inside the Institute, was inaugurated the Missionary Exhibition dedicated to Sister Maria Troncatti and all the Salesian missionaries who went to the five continents over a period of 150 years (1875-2025).
For the occasion, present was the great-great-nephew of the future Saint, Mr. Federico Troncatti, who donated to the FMA a large white stone rosary wreath that was found in the house where Maria Troncatti was born in Corteno Golgi, Brescia, on 16 February 1883.
The Exhibit – Is not an art exhibit, but of missionary life – it presents objects related to the various Countries where the missionaries worked, starting from Nizza over 50 years (1879-1929). When they returned home, the missionaries brought objects to show the Superiors some trace of the culture of the mission lands. It was a way of networking between peoples, bringing them closer together, making them feel the communion, even among such diversity of customs, habits, languages, and cultures.
This exhibit – truly international and intercontinental – brings the echo of cultures, peoples, ethnicities, different tribes that have been reached by missionaries in various places where they have proclaimed the joy of the Gospel. It began to be configured in the Motherhouse from the first years of FMA presence in Nizza Monferrato, then along time has found spaces, different environments and was finally set up to remember the 150 years since the first missionary expedition (14 November 1877), for which the celebratory Triennial has begun.
It is dedicated in particular to the great missionary Sister Maria Troncatti, who left this house in 1922, where she was a nurse, for the Amazon Forest of Ecuador, where she spent 46 years until her death on 25 August 1969. Sister Maria was a doctor of bodies and souls. Above all, she was a Mother for all; she became a ‘helper’ to the poor, the needy. She did everything with the sure guidance of Jesus and Mary Help of Christians.
The exhibit also preserves a copy of the missionary application of Sister Teresa Valsé Pantellini, written when she was ill in the infirmary of Turin, on 3 June 1907, in which she said she was ready to leave for China. After three months, she left for the great journey to the House of the Father at the age of 28.
Like Sister Maria Troncatti, Sister Teresa can also be considered an authentic missionary who offered her life like Jesus, to be a gift of love for the world.
