Brief visit of Mother Chiara to ILS Province

La Spezia (Italy). From 9 to 14 October 2024, Mother Chiara Cazzuola made a short visit of animation to the Province of Our Lady of the Cenacle (ILS) in Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, and Liguria, her Province of origin.

The account of the Sisters of the Province:

Mother Chiara travelled many kilometers in this short visit to reach the communities of the three regions. A visit that has strengthened the roots of our Mother, from Campiglia Marittima, in the province of Livorno, and from this Province, to be “pilgrim of hope” all over the world.

The various stages favored a familiar and simple encounter with the diverse realities. On 9 October, Mother arrived in Florence, Community of St. Mary D. Mazzarello. The spontaneous greeting of the young people of the high school in the courtyard and the friendly dialogue with the Principal Federica Zuccoli made it possible to know concretely the path of co-responsibility in the mission of the two communities: Salesians of Don Bosco and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. The greeting of the Provincial, Sister Elide Degiovanni, and the Provincial of the Central District of the Sacred Heart (ICC), Fr. Roberto Colameo, confirmed what Mother had sensed on her arrival:

“You welcomed me in the courtyard and the young people gave me the confirmation of this experience: with their joy, familiarity, serenity, they make feel the climate and pulse of this reality… The young people are happy that we work together for them; they do not confuse roles… it is not the necessity that guides us but it is fidelity to the charism of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello. Together we are a beautiful witness.” With these words, she greeted the communities gathered to present the new community plan to her.

In every community that she visited, the reception was characterized by affection, careful preparation, tasting local food, prayer, and sharing of daily life, all dedicated to the mission among children, young people, and youth. It was unthinkable to reach all the communities in just a few days, therefore the Provincial and the Council thought of zonal meetings to encourage the participation of Sisters from all the realities of the Province.

In Livorno Holy Spirit, on the afternoon of 9 October 2024, the Tuscan communities gathered and Mother was able to greet various lay people from the Educating Communities and the Salesian Family. Together they prayed Vespers that the Oratory Youth Center YoungWorld, the educative reality of Holy Spirit Institute, accompanied with the story of a gray city, where one day a colorful character starts drawing with colored chalks and offers them to passers-by. It is almost a representation of what Mother Chiara is doing in this visit and in the world!

The next day, 10 October, the journey continued to Emilia Romagna and the metropolitan city of Bologna, where Mother met the Sisters and communities of Bologna Corticella and of Bologna Mary Help of Christians.

In the encounter with the different realities of Emilia Romagna, Mother expressed her joy “to be here today, a day of activity!” and recognition “for what you do and above all for what you are. In the patrimony of the Institute, the priority goods are not the structures but the people, the Sisters of the community. Visiting the world, she recognizes a strong capacity for resilience.” She also presented with emotion, the situation of FMA communities in places of war and poverty.

Mother Chiara offered her word to the Sisters with simplicity, reflecting on the theme of generativity for vocational renewal. “Joy and hope in the vocational journey of our religious communities are the keys from which to start.” She invited them, “To take care of the dimension of spirituality, which draws on the essential values of being Christians, followers of Jesus, in a Salesian spirituality. Rediscover fascination for the Lord, re-center life in Him. Live our vocation with enthusiasm, in a visible way, bearing witness to joy, a Christian and Salesian value, lived in the Easter dimension.”

The community of “brothers next door” – the Salesians of the Blessed Virgin of St. Luke, also wanted to meet her and listen to her special “Good Night”. Mother Chiara left them some words: “Thank you for the ministry that you offer to our Sisters every morning” and “Together continue to bring the Salesian proposal in this city in the support and on the path of unity.” She then recalled the steps of Don Bosco in his choice to take care of the girls as he did with the boys from Valdocco. The meeting in Mornese with the Daughters of the Immaculate was the sign to start taking care of them. A call for today to live co-responsibility in mission, each bringing their own “color”.

On the morning of 11 October, before leaving, Mother greeted the classes of the pupils of the Kindergarten, Primary, and Secondary of the first year, appreciating their composure and diligence. While someone timidly said “Welcome”, in the fifth grade it was an explosion of joy with the singing of The Sun Choir: “a good reason to live!”

The pilgrimage continued then in Holy Family Community of Lugagnano d’Arda (PC), welcomed by a good number of Sisters who, although elderly and sick, expressed with affection the joy of seeing her again. Mother Chiara responded by saying to them, “I am here because I owe a debt to you. How well you do and continue to do with the offering of your life and all the unknowns of your age, the afflictions that each one experiences. Don Bosco lived as a consumed person ‘until his last breath’…

The second is thank you for each of you and for the Sisters who preceded us and for the good that has been sown… No matter the age, our yes is not said once and for all, but must be renewed every day and in time. Let us help each other to be vocational communities; it is a responsibility towards each other.”

Until the 14^th of October, she was in the Liguria region to meet the young Sisters of the Province and to participate in Genoa Sanpierdarena at the Perpetual Profession of one of them. Saturday morning, 12 October, she offered a brief greeting to the former students of the Mornese Association and members of the Educating Community Mary Help of Christians of Genoa.

In the afternoon,  she arrived at Mary Help of Christians Community of Alassio that presented itself as follows through the words of the Animator, Sr. Alba Vernazza, “Now, after having lived in fullness and with love the mission among the young, we are here at rest, but at the foot of our tree, here in our horizontal dimension to live the verticality of our days, our spiritual asceticism made of the prayer proper to those who have their eyes directed towards the Institute, the tree, where our Sisters are carrying out the charism which gives meaning to our being FMA.”

The greeting, accompanied by signs taken from nature, was prolonged in listening and sharing of memories! Time was short and Mother Chiara had to leave again to return to Genoa and participate in the Vigil in preparation for the Perpetual Profession of Sister Giorgia Mucedero, who on Sunday 13, pronounced her “yes forever” to God, in the hands of Mother.

We are firmly convinced that in our Province, Mother has made, “A pilgrimage of hope,” which:

• has touched with tenderness the three houses of the elderly and sick sisters of Livorno Santo Spirito, Lugagnano, and Alassio;
• has encouraged sharing and dialogue with the Sisters of the Communities in three places of the Provinces: Livorno, Bologna, and Genoa;
• has strengthened family ties with our Salesian confreres in Florence, Livorno, Bologna, Parma, Genoa, and La Spezia;
• has strengthened the affection and sharing in Salesian style with formators, teachers, and lay people of the CFP, the School, and the Salesian Family;
• has celebrated the joy of Sister Giorgia’s ‘Yes’ forever!

THANK YOU, Mother Chiara, for your visit! We have felt you as a woman of hope, who can offer confidence, serenity, and guidance to continue on the path of renewal that opens us to vocational animation for each Sister, lay person, and young person we meet!  

Photos: Flickr FMA