The 'gratefulness' of the people of Grado to the Sisters of Providence

On Sunday, 2 February, the ecclesial community of Grado came together to wish the three Sisters who leave the city definitively and to thank all the sisters who, more than 100 years of presence on the island, have contributed to the good of the population.
The Dean, Msgr. Michele Centomo, in his homily invited those present, to meditate on the feast of the day, the feast of consecrated life. Then addressing the greetings to the sisters, he said:
“Thank you so much for your service in the social life of our island. The community has enjoyed this grace which for a hundred and twenty years has strengthened the human relations: the sick felt loved and less lonely in their old age home; children of kindergarten and catechism felt that they were guided and followed well; the inhabitants and tourists felt supported even without their knowledge. You have lived what is written in the Gospel of Luke «Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me "and in the words of your Holy Founder, St. Luigi Scrosoppi, " Charity, charity, save souls with charity”.
Touched by the words of greeting from the mayor, Mr. Dario Raugna, as he expressed this way:
“Every ship that passes, leaves a trace behind it and in the same way, what is left by the Sisters of Providence in our Island is a teaching of life that expresses a sense of responsibility, altruism and gratuitousness. … A path of spirituality that has gone deep in welcoming other sisters in need of care and rest, but also in teaching, in assisting the sick and in comforting the elderly of Casa Serena. ... Thank you above all for teaching us what modesty, restraint and discretion mean. … For the Testimony which is substance, consistency, concreteness, body, passion, essence; which remains there, indelible, step by step, brick by brick, and which contributes to the construction of the common house.
We make sure that their life teaching is not lost, and according to the law of nature, people pass away, but the works and the values ​​remain, they make up our identity, they must be collected and handed down. I believe that this commitment, on our part, more than any other, will be able to soothe the pain of distance from Grado and its inhabitants ".
Unanimous feelings in the hearts of the sisters: The good received finds a place in the loving hands of God; to Him be the glory and honour for the good done in His name by His grace and which will bear fruit according to His loving providence.

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Yes forever

Sister Angelina, Sister Rosaria, Sister Stella:
these are the three sisters who, on 19th March, consecrated themselves to the Lord forever, by pronouncing the perpetual vows according to the rule of life of our religious Family.


The Eucharistic Celebration, celebrated in the cathedral of Kyangtong (Myanmar), was presided over by His Eminence, Charles Bo, Cardinal Archbishop of Yangon, and attended by the sisters of the neighbouring communities, numerous priests and a good number of faithful as it was still allowed the community celebrations those days.

In the silence of the soul, in the offering of the heart and in the joy of singing, the three sisters lived an important moment of their consecrated life which is, even if not the goal but a fundamental stage in the journey of following Jesus, chosen as the ONLY NECESSARY in life to love and to serve with an unlimited trust and generous dedication.

We wish Sr. Angelina, Sr. Rosaria and Sr. Stella a joyful fidelity all throughout your lives!

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Consecrate to the Lord forever

10 June 2020, the date on which we remember the canonization of our Father, St. Luigi, was a day of grace for our religious Family and in particular, for the Province of India: in fact we rejoiced for the gift of our four Indian sisters, Sister Ansuma, Sister Goreti, Sister Sangita and Sister Usha who, in love with divine beauty, uttered their "yes" forever before the Church. The Eucharistic Celebration was presided over by His Excellency Mons. Thomas D' Souza, the Archbishop of Kolkata and three other priests. Because of the pandemic, it was a very simple celebration in the chapel of the provincial house, together with the sisters of the community and of the novitiate.
It was a day of thanksgiving to the Lord for their witness of life totally given to God, to serve the brothers and sisters. Mother Cecilia Piacentini, in one of her letters, wrote: "Remember that on the day of your profession you promised to give: LOVE FOR LOVE, BLOOD FOR BLOOD, LIFE FOR LIFE". 
In fact, the "yes" that our sisters have pronounced is based on the certainty of the gift of love that their Bridegroom Jesus has already made towards them.  

Filled with the love of Christ, the sisters wish to share with us the prayer of their heart:
"Here I am, I am your servant, Lord" (Lk 1: 38). Thank you, Jesus, for your call of love with which you want me to learn from you the art of free and joyful gift in order to be an instrument of love of your Love in the midst of brothers and sisters. (Sr. Ansuma Islary) 
"I will betroth you in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord" (Hosea 2: 20). In response to the Lord's faithfulness and His love for me, I would give myself completely, as He has given and constantly gives Himself and be immolated like Him, by Him and for Him. (Sr. Goreti Dung) 
"My soul gives thanks to the Lord that I am blessed by his holy Name and I never forget his blessings, because my Saviour chose me as His servant”. (Sr. Sangita Ekka)
 
"The heart of each sister is like an altar to God." I want to sing and thank God for His love and His tenderness towards me. I experienced the serenity of the heart, the grace and love of Christ. (Sr. Usha Rani Singh).


We, the family of Father Luigi, rejoice in the Lord for the precious gift of these sisters. We accompany them with our prayers to become the sign of God for all humanity.
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Novitiate: heart of the formative journey

The Novitiate is the beginning of religious life and is placed in the heart of the religious Family; in it the young woman is educated and formed progressively according to the charism.The novice becomes better aware of the divine vocation proper to the Institute and experiences its lifestyle in daily practice.
She forms mind and heart according to the spirit of the Religious Family through knowledge and cordial harmony with the charism of the Founder and, at the same time, she is verified in her intentions and in her suitability ".

This is how the GENERAL TRAINING PROJECT is expressed and this is what is being accomplished for six young people from Myanmar: Agnes, Angela, Christopher, Marta, Pasqualina and Veronica who on the 19th of July started this stage of their training path.

We rejoice with them and ask Maria Rosa Mistica and Father Luigi to accompany them and every day to hold them by the hand and lead them to Jesus.

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A new step in the Formative journey

Today, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary who marveled at the works of God, we too, the Sisters of Providence in India, are marveled at the wonderful works of God. The nativity of Mary our mother is a remarkable day for our Family. On this auspicious day, our postulants, Badashisha, Dimrella, Larisha, Salomi, Sunita and Sylvia and our candidates Anjeli, Jennifer, Kushbu, Shanjulo began their Novitiate and postulancy respectively .

We had beautiful moments of prayer in the formation community, together with our sisters from provincialate house. It was a very joyous day for our congregation especially for our province. We thank God for the gift of these sisters and we wish them that they may remain ever faithful to God’s call. We pray that this new and important step in their formative journey, may be a time to grow in personal and intimate relationship with Jesus through daily meditation of the Word of God and a life centered on Jesus in the Eucharist.

May Fr. Luigi be their model in following Christ and Mary, our Mother teach them to love her Son, Jesus with an undivided heart, and may they accompany them to help them to taste the joy of following Christ. It was indeed a memorable day to cherish, a moment of grace which filled the atmosphere with gratitude, praise and thanksgiving to God the Almighty. We too remember with gratitude, each and every sister of Providence, who accompanied us with their prayers.
Thank you!



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Enumerate all the graces that the Lord has given you

On 6 September, with great joy like Mary, I said my YES, trusting and abandoning myself completely in the hands of God.

For me, consecration means a loving response to a God who loved me first... therefore, I want to live my life for my brothers and sisters.

I want to bear witness to the power of the love of the Risen Christ wherever I am, where He himself leads me.

I thank all the sisters who have prayed for my perseverance and I ask that they continue to pray for my faithfulness.

I am happy to be of God and now I belong only to Him! Happy to be a sister of  Providence and a daughter of Father Luigi , remembering always his teaching: 
May everything in us be an act of love, from morning till evening!

                                                                          SISTER VERONCA

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Entrance to postulancy and novitiate

Entrance to postulancy

On 15th August, the date of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, our Province of Africa welcomed five new postulants into the novitiate: Bernice, Charlotte, Clementine, Felicia and Teresa. 
The ceremony began in the afternoon. It was highlighted with the liturgy of the Word, the awarding of the medal, thanksgiving and consecration to the Virgin Mary. In fact, the Provincial, Sister Anastasie , invited the young postulants to let themselves be led by the Virgin Mary towards her Son Jesus and also towards Saint Luigi, their Father, elder brother and friend, in other words to open themselves totally to him. Inebriated with joy, on the dance steps, the young postulants gave thanks to God by singing the Magnificat.  

Before concluding the ceremony, Bernice , Charlotte, Clementine, Felicia and Teresa were welcomed by the young women in formation, the novices, who offered them passion fruit as a symbol; with this gesture, the novices invited these postulants to extend their charity towards all without exception, especially in fraternal life, in the way in which the passion fruit tree embraces everything it finds on its way.




Entrance to novitiate

On 7th September 2020Martine Coulibaly and Nicole Ménam entered the novitiate. The celebration began at 11 am with the sign of the cross made by the Provincial, Sr. Anastasie MOKLI, followed by an opening prayer. The celebration continued normally with the rites of entrance to the novitiate, first of all with Psalm 62 and the Gospel according to St. John 3, 1-8 chosen by the pre-novices. The provincial asked future novices to freely express their wishes. They personally expressed the request to be admitted to the novitiate. The Provincial received and welcomed them, entrusting them to our Father Luigi and to the formator Sr. Germaine, exhorting them to allow themselves to be formed by her with the help of the Holy Spirit and through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and Fr Luigi. 

The novices, Martine and Nicole, presented the symbol of light that they chose as a model to follow and to imitate with its qualities during their journey of this new stage of the novitiate. They want to contaminate those around them with their human warmth, their joy and by the grace of God, they will try to give a good witness through their life. 

After the thanksgiving of the new novices, as usual, those of the 2nd year welcomed them with a symbol of vine and the branch, recommending them to try to remain in the Lord as the branches are united to the vine because without Jesus we can do nothing. This beautiful ceremony ended by singing Angelus and praising God as a sign of gratitude and thanksgiving for all His benefits in our Religious Family. 


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The gift and the joy of fidelity


There were 44 sisters from different countries like, Italy, Brazil, Uruguay, Togo, India, Romania and Myanmar, who in 2020 celebrated the anniversary of their first profession and still enthusiastic about their first 'Yes' that formed their whole life.        
- significant milestone of 25 years of religious life (16 sisters)
- extraordinary, that of 50 years (7 sisters)
- exceptional, that of 60 and 70 years (17 sisters)
- even rarer, that of 75 (4 sisters)  
     

A memory which, feeding on gratitude, chooses to 'remain' in God's love, offers and prays:
“Lord, my salvation comes from You, my hands are not empty, but full of your grace. My perseverance is a gift from you, from your fidelity and from your mercy. You have given me everything, in your immense gratuitousness. I joyfully repeat my daily yes to you. ".


The individual communities, on various date, gathered around the sisters to celebrate and, through the Eucharistic celebration, to praise the Lord for the wonders He has worked through them in the long years of life.

They also expressed the great affection that unites them and all the gratitude for the good that each one has sown with generous hands, by serving their brothers and sisters and by becoming a sign of God's providence which takes care of the little ones.

The gallery contains some photos of the individual celebrations, but wait to be enriched by many others...








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Your Word is a lamp for my steps - Psalm 119

This is the phrase that has accompanied our dear Sr. Dores in the celebration of her  50 years of consecratio . In fact, in simplicity and in the light of His Word, on Sunday, 11th September, together with some lay people, we gathered around Sr. Dores to celebrate and to give thanks to the Lord for these 50 years of graces and blessings.  

On Saturday evening we gathered for a moment of prayer during which Sr. Dores has given us a beautiful testimony of life.
Testimony made with such simplicity and naturalness that almost no longer needed words, the mere presence of Sr. Dores spoke about her great love for Christ and for the mission.

During the homily of the holy Mass, the celebrant, immediately noticed the simplicity of Sr. Dores , adding that, if the participation in this celebration were allowed free, the Lomé stadium could not even contain all the people: both lay people, priests, nuns, and children, young and old, all people to whom the Lord has made himself close and manifested through the love and donation of Sr . Dores during these 50 years of consecration.

Great was our joy in giving thanks to the Lord for having sent Sr. Dores, almost 50 years ago here in Africa, and for having made her such a humble instrument of his Providence for all of us.

To you, Lord, our praise and our gratitude for your strong and faithful love that accompanied Sr. Dores up to this point; we entrust her to you again, so that you may continue to be the light for her steps and the joy of her heart.







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A joyful providence

On Wednesday 30 September 2020, we, nine sisters who are in Rome for the preparation for the perpetual vows, went for the general audience of Pope Francis, with the thought of at least being able to greet him. On his arrival, we prepared ourselves with some words to communicate, but our emotion did not last long, because the Pope did not even greet us. We were really disappointed, but with some hope that at least at the end of the audience it would be possible. 

In fact, after having listened to his word and prayed together with all the faithful present, our wish was finally fulfilled ... and what a great joy it was, to be able to see him standing in front of the barrier where we were, and to hear his voice right next to us.
We were not only able to greet him, but we also spoke face to face with him, telling him who we were: the international group of the Sisters of Providence who are preparing for the perpetual vows and this has made us to have a blessing from him.

Some of us shook his hand; we also asked his blessing for our families; he even put his autograph on the first page of Father Luigi's book that one of us had with her; he greeted another in French; he blessed the rosary of each of us; to one of us he asked in English to pray for him with these simple words: “Please , pray for me”.
The greatest joy was when one of us gave him a small medal of Father Luigi and he asked us the name of the saint. The sister introduced to him our Founder and also told him that we celebrate his feast on 5 October and that in these days of novena, we offer especially our prayer for him and for his ministry as a pastor. And once again, he gave us the blessing. 

So the whole morning was truly full of emotion, joy, hope and providence. We thank our Religious Family for giving us this beautiful occasion, that will always remain as a joyful memory in our hearts. 








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