Piedmont (Italy). From 1 to 28 July 2021, in Turin, Mornese (AL) and then in Nizza Monferrato (AT), 22 FMA Temporary Professed Sisters from Europe, Asia, and Africa lived the experience of the Second Month of the Second Novitiate in preparation for Perpetual Vows, accompanied by Sr. Paola Casalis, from the Province of Mary Help of Christians (IPI), and by Sr. Cristina Festa, from the Province of Our Lady of the Cenacle (ILS).
The Icon of the Visitation – “My spirit rejoices in God” – was the red thread of the experience, which took place in four stages:
Turin and surroundings: Fr. Enrico Lupano, SDB, guided the group to the Salesian places, revisited in the light of Don Bosco’s vocational journey, where each Sister was able to reread her own. The journey began from the top of the dome of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, from Don Bosco’s awareness that “Mary did everything“, a key to reading personal and charismatic history. Fr. Cristian Besso, SDB, offered a Lectio Divina on the passage from the Magnificat. The first stage ended with Holy Mass celebrated at the presbytery of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians.
Mornese and surroundings: the Temporary Professed were guided by Fr. Carlo Maria Zanotti, SDB, for the biblical-spiritual insights, by Sr. Leslye Sandigo, Coordinator of the Mornese Project, and by Sr. Maria Vanda Penna, Animator of the Community of St. Mary D. Mazzarello of Mornese, for the visit to the Mornese places and the deepening of the missionary dimension of the FMA Institute. The visit to the Sanctuary of Gavi (AL), the Salesian House of Sampierdarena, the Lanterna, and the Port of Genoa, from where the first missionaries left, the stop at the Valponasca and Roverno, the in-depth study of the formula of perpetual vows offered online by Sr. Elena Massimi, FMA enriched the days, helping the FMA to recognize themselves in the experience of the entrustment of Mother Mazzarello.
The third stage consisted of the Spiritual Exercises lived in Mornese in an atmosphere of silence and recollection, led by Fr. Cristian Besso, SDB who proposed meditations on some female figures of the Bible and on the texts of Pope Francis. The General Councilor for Formation, Sr. Nieves Reboso, shared a part of the journey with personal encounters and the Good Night.
The Spiritual Exercises ended with the Celebration of the renewal of vows by 14 Temporary Professed in the hands of Sr. Nieves Reboso, Delegate of the Mother General, and with the evaluation, which brought out the richness experienced in this significant month.
Nizza Monferrato: the Temporary Professed were led by Sr. Paola Cuccioli, head of the Historical Archive of Nizza, in the meeting with Mother Mazzarello in the places where she spent the last part of her life, to experience first-hand the expansion of the Institute that began from there.
Each stage, marked by visits, reflections, silence, personal prayer, and moments of fraternity, was marked by significant encounters: Communities and people who made them live the family spirit.
