Recife (Brazil). On 7 March 2021, ended the year of celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Brazilian Province of Mary Help of Christians of Recife (BRE), canonically erected on 7 March 1941.
On the occasion of the opening of the celebrations on 24 August 2020, the Mother General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sister Yvonne Reungoat, reached the FMA and the Educating Communities of the Province with a message: “This time of celebration will not be just a ‘remembrance’, but also an experience of revitalization of the charism and of renewed passion on the part of the Educating Communities in welcoming with a synodal spirit, the mandate ‘I entrust them to you’. Your attention, especially for young people in situations of need, makes me think that you are today, the ‘luminous mirror’ of the Salesian spirit which finds its origins in Mornese, Turin, and Valdocco, and that, in the name of Mother Mazzarello and Don Bosco, you keep alive with a gaze towards the future”.
“80 years remembering and exercising prophecy” (80 anos fazendo memória and exercendo a profecia) is the slogan that accompanied the Jubilee. A common intention of prayer united the Educating Communities every 24th of the month to express gratitude and to entrust the mission to Mary.
From 4 to 6 March 2021, a triduum on the words Memory, Mysticism, and Prophecy preceded the Holy Mass, celebrated on 7 March in the chapel of the Provincial House of Mary Help of Christians in Recife and presided over by Fr. Nivaldo Pessinatti, Provincial of the Salesian Province of St. Louis Gonzaga, in the presence of the Provincial Community and a small representation of Mary Help of Christians House of Formation in Recife. The celebration was broadcast online on the Province YouTube Channel, so that everyone could participate in the event.
In his homily, the Provincial wished to “Make memory a springboard for the future. (…) With realism that draws beauty from the past to illuminate the future. Thanksgiving, enthusiasm, and hope: thanks for the past, enthusiasm for future projects, which will surely come about through hope”.
The Provincial, Sr. Maria Adriana Gomes da Silva, expressed her thanks to all the FMA who, with commitment, enthusiasm, and joy, wove and enriched over time the charismatic history of the Province, and to the collaborators and Groups of the Salesian Family, who shared the challenges of the mission in the land of the Northeast of Brazil, bringing the message of hope and encouragement to every reality in which the FMA are engaged in the service of the young, especially the poorest.
Again, gratitude and entrustment to Mary for the continuation of a fruitful journey of good under Her guidance: “Our gratitude goes to our Mother and Teacher, Our Lady Help of Christians, who did everything for our Institute and who guides our Province . May she, covering us with her holy hand, guide our steps and the mission entrusted to each of us Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in the land of the Northeast.”
The Visiting Councilors who visited the BRE Province, Sr. Silvia Boullosa, in the 2008-2014 term, and Sr. Paola Battagliola, in the 2014-2020 term, were present with a video message of best wishes for the Province.
