Monday – July 22, 2024

1. UNITED TO THE VINEYARD

As the “Women of Dawn”, we have begun the journey with morning prayers and the Eucharist. The liturgy team motivated us to pray in Italian, which put us in tune with our roots.

The president of the Eucharist, Fr. Gilson da Silva Pereira, parish priest of Nova Veneza, said:

“Mary Magdalene was one of the people who loved the most, and she had such a strong experience of meeting Jesus that made her remain faithful until the feet of the cross. We also need to have this experience of encountering Jesus and seek to carry out God’s will, as she sought to do in her life, being a witness to this experience, we must seek to carry out God’s will and transmit this experience in our mission with children, teenagers, and young people and with all the beneficiaries of our mission.”

2. STEPPING ON THE GRAPE

The first activity in the Chapter Room was the presentation of the Report on the Personal, Disciplinary and Apostolic State of the Congregation from 2018 to 2024, carried out by Mother Lina Maria Girotto.

In the introduction to the presentation, Mother Lina highlighted three events that marked the life of the Congregation: the Congregation’s Vocation Year, the construction of the Protection Policy for Children, Adolescents and Adults in vulnerable conditions and, finally, the Covid-19 pandemic. Faced with these three realities, Mother Lina assured us: “We had to look for solutions, join forces and grit our teeth, but we kept intact our unshakable trust in Divine Providence that never abandoned us along the way.”

After stopping for lunch, we returned to the Chapter Room for the presentation of the new book about our Foundresses, entitled: “Venerabili Maria e Giustina Schiapparoli – La Santità dell’Accoglienza”, by the author Giovanni Veggiotti.

He is a young Italian Journalist who presented his book through an online contact. Each chapter member received a copy of the book in Italian and accompanied the writer, who spoke to us with great enthusiasm from Italy about the sanctity of our Foundresses, Mother Maria and Mother Giustina.

Giovanni said: “I was touched by the story of Maria and Giustina and I sought to convey this in the book”, and assured us that their lives are a great example of holiness for our days. “The secret of Maria and Giustina holiness was to know how to listen to the surrounding reality.” At another point, he highlighted the humility of the Foundresses, and their ordinary holiness, saying that the ordinariness of their lives was not a banality, but rather that they were attentive to the needs of their people and “attentive observers of the reality”.

He highlighted two important aspects for us, following the example of the Foundresses: on the one hand, the vitality of our Charism, so necessary in our days, with the holiness of the welcoming; on the other hand, the spirit of collaboration with the priests, lay authorities and all those who are part of our life.

In the second part of the afternoon, Mother Lina continued with the Report on the Personal, Disciplinary and Apostolic Status of the Congregation, which, to facilitate the understanding of the chapter members, was printed in both languages: Italian and Portuguese, in addition to being presented on the screen with a great layout and appropriate photographs.

Following, Sr. Maria das Dores Paz read the Minutes from the previous day, which after some interventions was approved.

Continuing the day’s agenda, the Deliberations and Proposals of the XXV General Chapter were reviewed to analyse how much was accomplished or not in the six-year period.

Nova Veneza / Brazil, July 22^nd, 2024

Communication Team