Rome (Italy). At the opening of Circular No. 1049, the Superior General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Mother Chiara Cazzuola, renews her thanks to the Provincial, Sister Maria Hoang Thi Thu Ha, and the Sisters of Mary Help of Christians Province of Vietnam “for their strong and passionate commitment in the realization of the World Feast of Gratitude”.
Mother particularly appreciated the capacity for involvement, both in the preparation and implementation of the event, of Past Pupils, benefactors, parents, priests, and many other people, the sign of an FMA presence “open to the ecclesial and social levels, fruitful with Salesianity, and capable of opening the hearts of young people to a motivated, joyful, evangelical hope.”
In Vietnam, she also experienced the affection and the lively sense of belonging and communion that characterizes the Sisters who, “through the delicacy, the propriety of gestures, and the liveliness typical of that land, had the opportunity to make known to our realities present in every part of the world the typical expressions of Vietnamese culture.”
In memory of Pope Francis
The unexpected death of Pope Francis occurred while Mother Chiara was traveling to Vietnam, and marked the climate in which the Feast of Gratitude took place, leaving everyone “surprised and sorrowfully stunned.”
Mother observed, “No one was able to remain indifferent. We all felt a little orphaned. Francis was a Pope who incarnated the traits of the Good Shepherd – father for all – and, among the many gifts he left us, there is the grace of the Jubilee that asks us to be ‘Pilgrims of hope’.
It is the theme that best responds, at this moment, to the needs of a lost and wounded humanity that often lives without hope. Hope makes us dream of a new humanity, makes us courageous, helps us to know how to wait for the times of God, to have His patience.”
Thanking the Lord “for having given him to us as Father and Pastor for twelve years and for his pontificate, lived intensely at the service of the Church and of all humanity,” Mother Chiara recalled the “surprise visit” of Pope Francis in the Generalate on the occasion of the XXIV General Chapter, on the 22 October 2021. Unforgettable was his attention to each person present in the house, “For everyone he had a smile, a gaze, a word, a blessing.
We are left with the nostalgia of his paternal presence, simple and original at the same time, and the great desire not to betray his heritage, continuing the path in the direction that he himself has shown us. For this reason, we do not feel like orphans, but as heirs of a precious life full of timeless values, rich in light and hope.”
You are Peter
The primacy of Peter, his participation in the power of Jesus, and its continuity through time are explained by Pope Saint Leo the Great in a comment to the gospel passage from Matthew 16:13-20 – “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” – quoted by Mother, who emphasizes:
“It is the miracle of the encounter with Jesus and accepting a unique mission. To this mandate must be added the gift of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. They have a positive function: bind and unbind. Bind what is important and unbind from what does not allow us to live in fullness. It is the grace of belonging to a living Church, founded on the rock of Peter. (…) Peter is the Rock that gives solidity to all the other stones of the great building which is the Church: living stones that even today choose with determination and perseverance to follow the Master.”
Love for the Pope in Salesian spirituality
In the Salesian Family, and in the FMA Institute, “love for the Pope is sincere love for Peter as Vicar of Christ, head of the Church his Bride.”
In this regard, Mother Chiara recalls the Constitutions of the Institute, particularly art. 109, which encourages the FMA to recognize the Pope as “first Superior” in religious life, to profess “the love that characterized Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello”, to give “accepting his teaching, in filial loyalty, obeying him also by virtue of the vow” and to educate the young people “to accept his word and bear witness to it with faith and courage.”
“Love and fidelity to the Pope are indispensable aspects of our charism and, therefore, dimensions deeply rooted in our spirituality. Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello were the first to give us the example of filial love for the Pope, of obedience and docility to his Magisterium. They knew that this is a guarantee of communion in the Church. In fact, the Institute is at the service of the ecclesial community in any part of the world where it lives and works.”
The total and “filial” adherence to the Pope and his Magisterium, required of every FMA, is also expressed in the Regulations, which invite fidelity to this aspect of the Salesian tradition through some modalities, such as daily prayer for the Holy Father, the annual celebration of the “Pope’s Day”, and the valuing and deepening of the documents of his Magisterium.
Love for the Pope is one of the “three loves” of Don Bosco – besides the Eucharist and Mary – known to the Salesian tradition, also highlighted by Pope Francis in his visit to the city of Turin on 21 June 2015, a love and dedication constantly reciprocated by the trust of the Popes of his time, Pius IX and Leo XIII.
Various episodes in the life of Mother Mazzarello and the first FMA communities also testify to this dedication shared with Don Bosco. In particular, the Cronistoria recounts the meeting of Mother Mazzarello with Pius IX, who congratulated her and the missionaries leaving for America, blessing them.
Our best wishes to Pope Leo XIV
Mother Chiara concludes the Circular expressing, on behalf of all the FMA, gratitude to Pope Leo XIV “for having accepted the call to be Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Rome, Pastor and Guide of the people of God” and invoking upon him and his Petrine Ministry “the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that it may illuminate and sustain him.” She renews the “full availability and fidelity to his Magisterium, as our founders have taught us and our heart of Daughters of Mary Help of Christians desires.”
In concluding, she wishes a good Feast of Mary Help of Christians to the FMA, their families and Educating Communities, assuring that on 24 May, from the Basilica of Turin, she will entrust to the Help of Christians – Mother of the Church and Our Lady of difficult times – Pope Leo XIV, “so that God and Mary may be of help and comfort to him at this moment and always.” She will also entrust “peace among peoples, our communities living in suffering and difficulties, the young people we love with special charismatic predilection.”
Sempre grazie di cuore, Madre Chiara, per la tua parola sempre tanto calda, illuminante e nutriente buon pane di casa per il nostro crescere come FMA felici!!!