Rome (Italy) The banner of the Circular is Gratitude which bears what Mother Yvonne Reungoat defines as an ‘exceptional milestone’: the number 1000. The theme is that of the monthly circular letter, which since the one of 24 November 1914 of Mother Caterina Daghero reaches all the communities of the world at explicit request of the sisters. “Since then until today, this channel of communion has not been interrupted, and has increasingly strengthened the sense of being part of a Religious Family that belongs entirely to Mary and owes everything to her.”
With the circular letter, in fact, Mother General enters the nearby and distant communities every month, creating a privileged space “of encounter, sharing, openness to the signs of the times, and opportunities to confirm ourselves in the gift of fidelity to a call that unites us as Salesian Family around a wonderful charism, so that young people may have life and life in abundance.”
Mother Yvonne invites to study deeply the spiritual patrimony of the letters of Mother Mazzarello, who felt the need to reach her daughters and to show her closeness and motherhood “speaking ‘heart to heart’ so that everyone would feel remembered, supported, encouraged, and above all, loved!”
This ‘historical’ circular traces the evolution of the circulars, underlining that the wealth of this heritage is not only linked to the words of Mother, but to the openness of mind and heart of each FMA in welcoming them and letting the message resonate in her own life and in the Educating Communities.
The circulars bring “the echo of the suffering, the labors, the concerns of the Institute, of the challenges it faces in the various historical periods”, such as the current situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has involved the human community and the FMA communities worldwide. “The circular communicated hope, rekindled trust in the presence of Jesus who is with us until the end of time, and in the vigilant presence of Mary Help of Christians: Our Lady of difficult times.”
Circular 1000 also brings the announcement of the opening of the second year in preparation for the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute, which for 2020-2021 invites all the FMA and the Educating Communities of the world to welcome ‘I entrust them to you’, the first mandate for Mary Domenica Mazzarello, with whom God’s dream of the Institute began to take shape:
“The purpose of the 150th celebration is not only to evoke a past, but to celebrate the present by giving new brightness to a mandate that goes beyond time and space and that brings into play all our resources, our evangelizing educational passion, our desire to look to the future with the daring of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello. This is why I invite you to approach her figure with new depth to penetrate more into that “I entrust them to you” which was the guiding thread of her life and which also challenges our own.”
Mother Yvonne Reungoat concludes this ‘special’ circular with the words of Saint Paul: “You are our letter, a letter written in our hearts […]. You are a letter of Christ […], written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets, but on tables of human flesh” (2 Cor 3: 3), reminding the FMA that “each one is a living letter of Christ written for the sisters, for the young people, for all the people you meet”.
Gracias, Madre Yvonne. Qué hermosa e ininterrumpida cadena que nos hace vivir el espíritu de familia
Thank you dear Mother Yvonne for this continuous chain of words of wisdom that come from the heart of a Mother. Feel privilege to be connected with you and the whole FMA world. May God continue to bless you Mother. Thank you Lord for the gift of our Institute!