Łomianki (Poland). From 2 to 9 October 2024, Sister Leslie Sandigo, General Councilor for the Salesian Family, and Sister Lucrecia Uribe, World Delegate of the Association of Salesian Cooperators (ASSCC) and World Animator of the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA), made an Animation Visit to Our Lady of Jasna Góra Province (PLJ).
With this visit, they had the opportunity to know the reality of the Educating Communities of the Province, the different forms of apostolate carried out and, above all, the collaboration of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians with the laity and with the Salesian Family Groups.
The central moment of the visit was the Provincial Assembly, which took place in Zduńska Wola from 4 to 6 October. The meeting brought together 73 participants, including FMA and lay people. It was an opportunity to renew the passion for the shared mission and to rediscover the beauty and richness of the diversity of the Salesian Family Groups, as well as to take responsibility again for the gift of the Charism received.
The Assembly was centered on four themes – “Charismatic Family”, “Synodality”, “Shared Mission”, and “Associations in the Salesian Family” – which the participants were able to study in the workshops. The moments of encounter were fraternal and rich in prayer, with praise for creation on the occasion of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, sharing the Word of God (Acts 15), and the prayer of the rosary. The event ended with a final celebration during which, through the symbol of the network created together – sign of unity and diversity of the Salesian Family – all were sent and invited to consolidate their place in the Salesian Family.
During their stay, Sister Leslie and Sister Lucrecia met Sisters, children, young people, families, and collaborators in different Educative Communities: Łomianki (two communities), Warsaw (two communities), Łódź, Sokołów Podlaski, Piotrków Trybunalski, Jastrzębie-Zdrój and Pogrzebień. They “sowed” the seeds of the Salesian charism everywhere and encouraged living the newness of relations between consecrated and lay people, inviting them to co-create groups of the Salesian Family.
They also met the Provincial Council and the Provincial delegates for the Salesian Family, encouraging them to share the mission more and more boldly in a charismatic key and help to identify the processes already underway in the Province. Due to time constraints, it was not possible to meet all the ECs. Therefore, on the evening of October 8, an online link was made to the entire Province, during which Sister Leslie expressed her joy and gratitude for the opportunity to meet the FMA and the people with whom they share their mission, underlining the vitality of the EC. She then referred to some articles of the Constitutions, advocating greater collaboration with the Salesian Family Groups present in the area as a witness of communion for more effective action at the service of the Kingdom (C 61).
Sister Leslie and Sister Lucrecia also had the opportunity to go on pilgrimage to Pogrzebień, a place of worship of the Venerable Servant of God Mother Laura Meozzi, where her remains are, in order to entrust the Salesian Family to her intercession. From there, they left for Mary Help of Christians Province (PLA) in Wrocław, to light the fire of the Salesian Charism in the western part of Poland.
