“Irrevocably”: a song for Sister Teresa Valsé Pantellini

Rome (Italy). On the occasion of the 120^th anniversary of the profession of Venerable Sister Teresa Valsè Pantellini, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, which took place on 3 August  1903, Sr. Chiara Cannavacciuolo, a young FMA from St. John Bosco Province (IRO), recounts the experience of the “encounter” with her.

From the Venerable’s words, “I have irrevocably decided to enter the Sisters of Don Bosco as soon as possible where I undoubtedly know that God wants me,” the song Irrevocabilmente was born, which Sister Chiara wrote during her Novitiate, a sign that the testimony of life of the Saints is not only an example, but continues in the life of other young people.

“I first encountered the words that Teresa Valsé Pantellini addressed to her brother Italo in November 1900, while I was experiencing the Period of Assessment and Guidance at the Community of Rome, Cinecittà. On the advice of a Sister of the Community, I read the biography of this splendid figure and was deeply impressed by her. Like the young Teresa, I also carried in my heart the experience of the struggle of discernment that she wrote in the same letter:

“[…] then came the Lord’s call to religious life. They are not things that happen from one moment to the next. There is a need for reflection […] There is no need to describe here the indecisions, the struggles, the long reflections and finally the obedience to the will of the Lord”.

What struck me most was the love and dedication for the poorest young girls of Rome. Among them, the Lord had prepared a place for her, asking her to leave the comforts from which she came to transform her existence into a life totally given up to its end, to the young girls and the Sisters.

During my first year of Novitiate, I often returned to this figure and, in thinking about her and praying to her, I wrote a few lines. Little by little, what I put in ‘black and white’ became with the guitar in my hands, the text of a song. Encouraged by my Novitiate Formator, I decided with her to rearrange it, so that it could become a good way to make known the beauty and holiness of Sister Teresa Valsé Pantellini.

With the indispensable help of Sisters and companions, in the second year of the Novitiate Irrevocbilmente took its definitive form. We produced it in a recording studio and published it on the YouTube channel Madre Mazzarello in musica, managed by Mary Help of Christians Novitiate of Castel Gandolfo.

The song seeks to interpret the feelings and experience of Sister Teresa Valsé Pantellini who, at the time of her vocational choice, communicated to her brother Italo the “irrevocable decision” to enter the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. This will be expressed as a service to the poor young girls of Rome Trastevere, to whom Sister Teresa will dedicate her life of consecration and mission, making herself – despite coming from a wealthy family – the least of her Sisters in humility and tireless dedication to others.

The lyrics and the music want to recall Sister Teresa’s time of discernment, opening her gaze to her deepest desires for donation, characterized by dedication, joy, inner struggle, detachment, humility, and gratitude.

Today, one year after my first religious profession, I continue to praise the Lord for the gift of Sister Teresa Valsé Pantellini as a sister to look up to, to imitate, to pray to, so that I too can live my call with her resolution and mission as a life fully given”.