Subiaco (Italy). On 4 and 5 October 2019 the first formation meeting for the Temporary Professed of Mary Mother of the Church Preprovince took place in Subiaco.
We relate the lived experience of the young FMA.
“We went to a special place, welcomed by the community of San Biagio where we immediately breathed the atmosphere of silence, prayer, and fraternity characteristic of this place. As a group of Temporary Professed, we were accompanied by the Animator of the Preprovince, Sr. Maria del Carmen Canales and by the Animator of Mother Mazzarello Community, Sr. Giuseppina Teruggi
Together with them during these days, we reflected on the annual program. At the first meeting on Friday evening there was a sharing on the challenges of our time regarding the Church, society, young people, and religious life. It was a time of richness in diversity that characterizes us as a group and as a Preprovince. We all emphasized the gift that we were given to be able to learn about other realities to enrich ourselves and to become more aware of the needs of the whole world.
Then we prayed with the community and after dinner we listened to their testimony. We were very struck by the mission they carry out and the passion for young people we perceived in their stories, of the people met, and of the experience with the Word that changes the lives of these people. We remained listening for a long time, bringing in our hearts many ideas, desires, and dreams. This is how our reflection opened up to the whole Institute, to our call, and to our mission.
Saturday was intense and began with prayer together and a time of sharing the Word of God. We lived the experience of dialogued lectio in groups and then we had the opportunity to make proposals for the contents that we will consider this year. We concluded the morning with the testimony of Sister Maria Pia Giudici who told us the story of her vocation and courage and commitment as Daughter of Mary Help of Christians. She left us many valuable counsels including one that impressed most of us: to always be free and honest, able to show who we are without trying to prove something or seeking approval and confirmation from others.
This was followed by Holy Mass celebrated by a Benedictine monk from Subiaco who also told us about his experience with the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. After Mass we experienced a truly beautiful time of sisterly conviviality.
The fraternity that we breathed during this time lived in Subiaco really left us with so much joy and hope for the life that awaits us, for the dreams that we have, and to be able to live as Daughters of Mary Help of Christians as true sisters and missionaries among the people, especially the young people.
