Nizza Monferrato (Italy). On 31 January 2025, in the Solemnity of St. John Bosco, the Bishop of the Diocese of Acqui, Msgr. Luigi Testore, inaugurated the Jubilee of Hope in O. L. of Graces Sanctuary of Nizza Monferrato (AL), designated by decree of the Bishop Curia, on 8 December 2024, as a Jubilee Church.
Numerous faithful and all the pupils of the O. L. Institute of Graces of the Daughters of Mary Help of Mary Help of Christians Province (IPI) – from the children of the Nursery to the students of the first level secondary school, to the young people of the vocational courses accompanied by their teachers and trainers, singing and praying reached the church in pilgrimage. The mayor of Nizza Monferrato, Simone Nosenzo, and the deputy mayor of the city, Ausilia Quaglia were also present.
On this day, in addition to the grace of the Eucharist, everyone was aware of receiving an extraordinary gift: right in O. L. of Graces Sanctuary, with the Bishop of the Diocese, the parish priest of the city and many priests and many faithful, The Jubilee of Hope opened in Nizza, Monferrato. Willing to receive the gift of the Father’s mercy, many people celebrated the Sacrament of Confession, trusting encounter with the love of the Father who forgives and renews the heart.
The homily of Mons. Testore helped the Assembly to grasp the meaning of the Jubilee which has roots far in time, but an ever-present message: God wants to renew each one in depth, for this He offers times and possibilities of conversion and grace.
The celebration was animated by the festive songs of children and young people of the school and cheered by the presence of the little ones of the kindergarten and Micronido who, at the time of the Lord’s Prayer, made their solemn entrance into the Sanctuary and were arranged around the altar, they too, little pilgrims of hope. One of them showed the pilgrim’s saddlebag, remembering Don Bosco, a friend of young people, always ready to leave, to travel, but also to fill with life and hope the saddlebag of his young people.
The hope is that the Sanctuary of Nizza Monferrato be a holy place of welcome and privileged space to generate hope in all those who visit it, in the certainty that hope does not disappoint, because founded on Jesus Risen and, in this Marian Shrine, also on Mary – a sign of sure hope and consolation – whom Don Bosco saw “walking” in this house and covering it with her mantle of protection.
This Shrine is a place not to be forgotten, indeed to be valued as a space of history, spirituality and hope. For this reason we invite you to respond to the initiative “I Luoghi del Cuore” (Places of the heart) of the FAI (Italian Environmental Fund ETS) by giving your vote to the Sanctuary of O. L. Of Graces to carry out projects for restoration and valorization, through the website of FAI or through QR Code.
