Piedmonte (Italy). On 23 September 2025, the Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Fr. Fabio Attard, with Fr. Stefano Martoglio, his Vicar, and twelve Provincials from different parts of the world in the third year of their six-year service, who are experiencing a formative time in Turin-Valdocco and on Salesian sites, visited the charismatic “female” places in Mary Help of Christians Province (IPI).
Together with the Community of Mornese, the native land of Saint Mary Domenica Mazzarello and the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, they recalled Don Bosco’s autumn walks with his boys through the towns of Monferrato.
The Animator, Sister Blanca Sánchez, accompanied the group on a visit to the places where Mary Domenica lived her spiritual journey as a young woman deeply rooted in her land and in the culture of the time, allowing herself to be shaped by the Spirit to be the Mother of a religious family that crossed the hills of Monferrato, until reaching the ends of the world.
The splendid day was the setting for a small itinerary which, starting from the Mazzarelli birthplace, contemplating nature in Valponasca, and walking through the streets of the town, ended with the foundation of the Institute at the Collegio, where all the FMA were born.
In the Sanctuary together with the whole community, the Eucharist was celebrated, presided over by Fr. Stefano Martoglio. In a climate of simplicity and fraternity, the table was then shared and at the end, the Rector Major addressed the Sisters as follows, “In different parts of the world I have experienced welcoming Sisters. It is a joy to come here to this place of holiness and to be welcomed by Sisters from many parts of the world. Hospitality sets you apart. The experience of visiting places with an explanation will be what the Provincials will bring to the Sisters of your Provinces. It’s very beautiful to be together.”
The confreres then reached Nizza Monferrato, welcomed with joy by the Animator, Sister Piera Cavaglià, and by Our Lady of Grace Community. The group stopped at the Sanctuary for a brief moment of prayer, then Sister Paola Cuccioli, in charge of the Historical Archives, offered them a guided tour of the main places of the Mother House.
It was an immersion in the history of the origins, starting with Don Bosco’s visits to the city long before the FMA community was there. In fact, it can be said that the Saint of young people “was at home” in Nizza, thanks to his friendship with Countess Gabriella Corsi, his benefactress, whom he called “dearest mother” when addressing letters to her.
The visit of the Rector Major brought the Sisters back to the last visit of Don Bosco – 140 years ago – to the Mother House. It was 23 August 1885, an unforgettable date for the FMA and for many visitors who recall his words. “Mary Help of Christians walks in this house and covers it with her mantle.” It is a great message of hope also for the Rector Major and for the Salesian Provincials.
The Superiors also had the opportunity to visit the aeroponic greenhouse and the new formation areas of theCIOFS/FP, recently inaugurated and dedicated to the first missionary FMAs who left Mornese in 1877, led by Sister Angela Vallese, from Lu Monferrato. Sister Giuseppina Rescia showed them the new didactic brewery, a place for practical formation in the beer production sector, and the sensory laboratories, dedicated to tasting and analyzing the characteristics of the products connected to the oenological and cosmetic excellence of the territory.
After a convivial and fraternal moment, the Rector Major thanked the Community for the possibility of his first visit to Mother Mazzarello’s house. Unforgettable for the elderly and sick sisters of the nearby retirement home St. Mary D. Mazzarello, will be his brief visit, welcomed in the chapel to the song, Don Bosco returns among the young people again!
The message left by the Rector Major touched everyone’s heart. He shared that he experiences the power of prayer every day, without which it would be impossible for him to effectively live his mission of animation and government of the Salesian Family, also thanks to the prayerful support of 15 cloistered monasteries. Thanking the Sisters for their presence and the offering of prayer, he urged them to live the Salesian mission every day with joy and apostolic ardor, without regrets for no longer being able to work among young people.
On the pages of the Notebook of illustrious visitors, the Rector Major left a last significant message. “The testimony of Mother Mazzarello, of a strong woman, despite her physical fragility, communicates courage to us and is a beautiful lesson for everyone so that we may imitate ‘the Mother’ in her evangelical radicality with a maternal heart that never stops loving.”
