Christmas Greetings from the Novices to Mother and the General Council

Castelgandolfo (Italy). On 18 December 2021, at Casa S. Rosa in Castelgandolfo, Rome, the Novices of the International Novitiates, Sr. Teresa Valsè Pantellini of Rome and Mary Help of Christians of Castelgandolfo, with their respective formation communities, expressed their Christmas wishes to Mother General, Sr. Chiara Cazzuola, and to the General Councilors of the FMA Institute present in Rome at this time: Sr. Runita Borja, Councilor for Youth Ministry; Sr. Maria Luisa Nicastro, General Secretary; Sr. Paola Battagliola and Sr. Chantal Mukase, Visiting Councilors.

Accepting Pope Francis’ invitation to the Chapter members on 22 October 2021, not to forget “the grace of the origins, the humility and smallness of the beginnings that made God’s action transparent in the life and message of many, filled with astonishment, they began this journey.”  In view of the 150^th  anniversary of the Foundation of the FMA Institute (1872-2022), the Novices retraced some moments of Christmas in Mornese, with texts from the sources interspersed with musical refrains of those times.

“You have given us the greetings  of the Novices from all over the world; we look to the future by looking at you,” said Mother Chiara after the young women, from different countries of Europe and the Middle East, wished them a Merry Christmas in their own languages. She thanked them for the reference to the origins, “Tracing the history of the origins and underlining what 150 years of life mean is important to measure ourselves against the starting ideal and find new ways to live it today.”

The greetings were followed by a time of dialogue with some questions posed to  Mother and to the Councilors, who gave the Novices some significant lights regarding the journey of formation, to be women of hope who live a spousal relationship with Jesus, and testify together with the Community to the  love of God the Father for the young and the poor. Mother and the Counselors encouraged them to be like the first sisters of Mornese, passionate about Jesus and souls, with trust in Providence.