Nizza Monferrato (Italy) This period in which activities slowed down due to Covid-19, leaves room for an initiative: to set a small space daily to make known or rediscover the figure of Mary Domenica Mazzarello and share the joy of belonging to the Salesian Family.
“A letter a day” is the proposal of the Historical Archive of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Nizza Monferrato (AT) of the Piedmont Province of Mary Help of Christians (IPI) to offer a sign of hope, to study the richness of the interior life and spirituality of Mother Mazzarello.
In Nizza Monferrato, in 1877, Don Bosco purchased the convent and the adjoining sanctuary of “Our Lady of Grace” from the Franciscan friars, who had been expelled from the city due to the laws of suppression of religious orders, to make it the mother-house of the FMA. To the “Madonna”, as the complex is called by the inhabitants of Nizza, still today the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians accompany young people on their journey of growth by forming, at the school of the Founder, “good Christians and honest citizens”.
In the House of Nizza Monferrato, in the bedroom where the Cofounder of the FMA Institute lived from 4 February 1879 to 14 May 1881, the desk on which the 43 Nizza letters that are conserved were written, as many as the days which, from April 1, 2020, lead to her feast, which is celebrated on May 13. This desk is a precious relic that recalls her teachings, the gold thread that connects Mother to her Daughters, the witness of a simple and immediate transmission of her teachings, her gratitude, her faith.
From here came the idea to start from this room, were Mother General, Sr. Yvonne Reungoat on August 5, 2019 officially opened the Triennial of preparation of the 150th anniversary of the Foundation of the FMA Institute (1872-2022), to give voice each day to one of these letters written by Mother Mazzarello through a short video.
The videos will be available on the homepage of the Web Site of the Historical Archive and will be accessible on the page Testimonies – Mother Mazzarello.
The first video: L 21 to the Director of the House of Mornese Fr. G.B. Lemoyne
