The PEM online pilgrimage begins

Rome (Italy). On Sunday, 1 March  2026, the PEM online pilgrimage officially opened. The PEM is organized by the Missions Sector of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in collaboration with the Missionary Spirituality Project (PEM) team. The pilgrimage will take you to the places in the Americas where the first FMA arrived in 1877.

The journey, consisting of eight stages, is part of the three-year preparation for the 150^th anniversary of the First Missionary Expedition (2024-2027) on the theme, “Now is the time to rekindle the fire – 150^th anniversary of the FMA missions” with the aim of “celebrating with a grateful heart the missionary ardor of the Institute to revive in today’s contemporary world the prophetic impetus of our charism as a gift to the Church and to humanity” (Circular no. 1038).

The first stage explored the places where the first sisters arrived—Villa Colón and Las Piedras in Uruguay—to highlight the missionary zeal of Mornese in America. This missionary zeal filled the hearts of the first young FMA, who dared to “go beyond,” with the strength of their passion for Jesus and the Kingdom, so that the Word and the maternal care of Mary Help of Christians could reach everyone, without distinction.

The event—led by the Sisters of the Missions Sector, members of the Global Mission Team, and the PEM Team—enjoyed the lively and interested participation of many Educating Communities from every continent, who chose this moment of animation to rekindle their hearts with the missionary passion of their origins.

Sister Ruth del Pilar Mora, General Councilor for the Missions, in her opening greeting, urged all pilgrimage participants to journey “to our missionary roots, through faces and places steeped in memory, but also prophecy for our present and future. I would like each of us to experience this, not as a simple online meeting, but as a true spiritual pilgrimage, moved by faith and gratitude to the Lord for the gift of the Salesian Charism, profoundly missionary from its very beginnings.

This pilgrimage is the Institute’s central proposal in the second year of preparation for the 150^th anniversary of the first missionary departure of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to America. “A journey designed to touch lives and awaken in us a new missionary calling,” she explained.

“We begin this pilgrimage,” Sister Ruth continued, “with a very significant word for those who live permanently as missionary disciples: Ardore Missionario/Missionary Ardor/Ardor misionero. Ardor recalls the image of fire, a fire that does not destroy, but illuminates; that does not consume, but warms; a fire that must be protected and nourished. This missionary fire is not born of human effort, but from the encounter with Christ, Word and Bread, with Him who is the revelation of God’s passionate love for every person, every people and nation, in every age.

It is the same fire that inhabited the hearts of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello and that they were able to transmit to the first Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, to the point of making themselves available to set out for America, animated by their passion for Jesus and His Kingdom, with a single desire: that many young people could encounter the Lord of life and experience, through them, the maternal care of Mary Help of Christians.”

The meeting, which lasted an hour and a half, took place via Zoom—with translations into Korean, French, English, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Czech, and Vietnamese, thanks to the collaboration of several translator Sisters—at different times depending on the continent: Asia (9:00–10:30 a.m.); Europe and Africa (3:00–4:30 p.m. Rome time); America (8:00–9:30 p.m. Rome time).

The pilgrimage continues with the next stage, Sunday, 22 March  2026.

Materials

Video Asia

Video Europe-Africa

Video America

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