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It is really an original gift. Everyone appreciates the Mother House’s preparation of this gift, these plaques with pictures of saints who are particularly meaningful to our Community. On the back of every plaque is a prayer that will be prayed daily in each house at the end of a specific time of Community prayer. On her birthday Mother Elvira randomly drew a Saint for e ach house, who is now the patron and the true friend of that house for the year.
When Father Stefano was explaining the gift he said, “In
our past, we have known many ugly faces, evil faces, sad faces,
dark and angry faces… Now, instead, we are part of the family of the Church family who has shown us another side to humanity. We have met many luminous, joyful faces, and many beautiful, clean, and truthful hearts, the faces of men and women who have fought
their whole lives for purity, joy, freedom, faith, and for the
poor… and they persevered to the end!
The saints are witnesses to the value of fighting for the Lord, and how rewarding it is to give your life for Him! These Saints and Blessed of the Church come from all over the world, from every walk of life, saints who were rich, kings and princes,
saints who had a Christian education… but also saints who fought against Christ and were far away from the faith in their past as we, ourselves, were. There are still other saints who walked great distances and tirelessly announced the Gospel in far away countries, and others that chose the prayer of silence, yet their lives continue speaking even today… These are men and women that we already know, and still others that we are not familiar with and we will come to know this year. Every year, on her birthday, Mother Elvira will reassign ‘our’ saint, which in turn, will
‘pack up’ and head to another house! This is an occasion to become acquainted with many different Saints. Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have canonized many Saints during their papacies; meaning they are aware of humanity’s need to see God’s light in action and in the lives of men and women like ourselves, wives and mother of families, priests, bishops, regular teenagers, consecrated lay people, professors at universities, doctors… Saints of all types! It is truly beautiful that the Church tells us that every life is holy and that your life too must be holy. That is why it is so beautiful to come to know these patron Saints of our houses and to become friends of that grand and luminous family in Heaven that makes itself present with us on earth, as well. We will encounter their faith, and they will help us. We will entrust all the youth that will enter in our houses and we will ask our Saints to pray for faith and fidelity in our walk of holiness.”
You can meet the “patron” saint of the houses and download the prayer that the girls and boys are praying, both in Italy and in the many countries across the world.
If you wish, please click on the links below and pray the prayers with and for us!
HOUSES in ITALY...
HOUSES in OTHER COUNTRIES...
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