Turin (Italy). On October 13, 2018, at the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, Sr. Anna Bailo and Sr. Silvia Rubatto made their Perpetual Profession in the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
The two FMA waited for this moment in prayer to be able to joyfully express their belonging to God in religious consecration.
The Basilica was packed with FMA, friends, relatives, and priests who concelebrated. The rite was presided by the Provincial of the Salesians of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta, Fr. Enrico Stasi; the vows were received by the Provincial, Sr. Elide Degiovanni, representing Mother General, M. Yvonne Reungoat.
“Forever,” said Sister Silvia, “is always a little scary, especially for young people today. With perpetual vows, in a world of ‘use and throwaway’, we want to testify that love can last over time. We have entrusted ourselves to God, so that He may support us and accompany us even when we feel more fragile”.
“The Lord asks everything – added Sister Anna – but the happiness that He gives is full and total. In his homily Fr. Enrico Stasi said that one is able to say forever through grace and love. If we were to count only on our strength we would not have the courage or even the loyalty to get to the end. It is the love we have received that allows us to give it. Forever always rests on our choice of life, and above all on the fidelity of God and on the accompaniment of those who love us, through prayer, affection, and closeness. In particular, it is the presence of young people that impels us to always be in search of what the Lord wants from us”.
This step, done in a public way before the assembly gathered in prayer, was a moment of grace for all those who participated in the celebration. At the end of the Eucharist, with the procession and the prayer at the altars of San Giovanni Bosco and Santa Maria Mazzarello, the two young professed entrusted themselves to the Founders to ask for fidelity to the charism in the Institute in which God has consecrated them forever.
