ICONOGRAPHIE CHRÉTIENNE: Sainte MARIA DOMENICA MAZZARELLO, vierge religieuse et fondatrice de la Congrégation des Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice (Salésiennes de Don Bosco)

Sainte Marie-Dominique Mazzarello

Fondatrice de l'Institut de Marie-Auxiliatrice (+ 1881)

Elle réunit d'abord des jeunes filles pour les instruire et leur enseigner le catéchisme. Selon le désir de saint Jean Bosco, son œuvre prit le nom de Congrégation de Marie-Auxiliatrice. Elle essaima ses religieuses du Piémont jusqu'aux cinq continents.

"Si Don Bosco a reçu l'inspiration de l'Institut des Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice et créa leur formule de vie en suscitant et en organisant les premières communautés, il n'en a pas pour autant fait l'expérience de la vie salésienne au féminin. Cette expérience revint à Marie Dominique Mazzarello et aux sœurs salésiennes... Quoique ayant une vie courte, Marie Dominique a pu voir fleurir et répandre son œuvre en d'autres points d'Italie, en France et s'établir en Amérique du Sud. Elle a été béatifiée le 20 Novembre 1938 et proclamée sainte le 24 Juin 1951." (Salésiennes de Don Bosco - fondateurs)

À Nizza Monferrato dans le Piémont, en 1881, sainte Marie-Dominique Mazzarello, vierge. Avec saint Jean Bosco, elle fonda l’Institut des Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice pour l’éducation des jeunes filles pauvres, qu’elle dirigea avec humilité, prudence et charité.

Martyrologe romain

SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1153/Sainte-Marie-Dominique-Mazzarello.html

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, a Roma, nel quartiere Don Bosco. Statua della santa.

DISCOURS DU PAPE PIE XII

AUX PÈLERINS VENUS À ROME POUR LA CANONISATION
DES BIENHEUREUSES ÉMILIE DE VIALAR
ET MARIA DOMENICA MAZZARELLO*

Mercredi 27 juin 1951

[Homélie en italien et français]

Congiungete in un solo e medesimo inno di azioni di grazia la vostra gioia e la vostra riconoscenza, dilette figlie delle due grandi Sante, di cui celebrate insieme la suprema glorificazione. Secondo che si considerano l'una e l'altra dal lato mondano e superficiale, o invece da quello serio e cristiano, esse appariscono, a volta a volta, dissimili fino al contrasto, simili fino alla fraternità di spirito e di opere.

De condition fortunée quant aux biens de la terre, de naissance aristocratique, d'une instruction et d'une éducation raffinées, malgré les péripéties de son enfance, Émilie de Vialar, obéissant à une irrésistible impulsion de la grâce, pratique, dès la jeunesse, à un degré héroïque, toutes les œuvres de la piété et de la charité. Malgré cela, dans une lumière lentement croissante, elle comprend, petit à petit, que Dieu l'appelle à une vie religieuse proprement dite. Mais où ? et sous quelle forme précise ? Elle ne le voit pas encore. Après les crises traversées, après celle de la Révolution française, il était difficile, surtout dans des cas comme le sien, de trouver aussitôt un guide tel qu'elle en ressentait le besoin. Elle marche à tâtons.

En dépit de tous les obstacles, de toutes les oppositions, elle avance pas à pas, menant étrangement comme une double vie, joignant les devoirs et les convenances de la vie du monde avec les exigences d'une vie religieuse hautement contemplative et prodigieusement active à la fois. Tour à tour, au cours de ses journées, elle passe des salons où on l'aime et l'apprécie, aux taudis que sa visite illumine et console. C'est même dans une de ces charitables tournées, en traînant toute seule, sur de mauvais chemins, un sac de blé trop lourd pour ses forces, qu'elle contracte l'infirmité douloureuse dont, au bout de quarante années de souffrances, elle mourra sans que personne m'en ait rien su.

Elle a atteint ses trente-cinq ans, lorsqu'elle peut commencer à réaliser son désir. Elle n'est pourtant pas au terme de ses tribulations. Aucune difficulté, aucune contradiction ne lui est épargnée ; humiliantes à sa fierté naturelle, de la part de son milieu de famille et de société ; crucifiantes à son cœur, de la part de son père tant aimé ; paralysantes, de la part d'autorités, envers lesquelles elle n'éprouve qu'amour et respect ; soutenue seulement, non par sa seule conviction personnelle, dont elle eût fait bon marché, mais par les encouragements et la volonté d'une autorité plus haute encore, de l'Autorité suprême sur la terre, par le secours d'en haut, qui la console en ses angoisses, comme il avait, par l'ange, consolé saint Joseph dans les siennes. C'est ainsi qu'elle avance, pas à pas ; elle avance quand même, mais sur quel chemin ! sur la montée de quel Calvaire !

Nel tempo in cui Emilia de Vialar redigeva le sue Costituzioni, nasceva da semplici campagnuoli Maria Mazzarello. Ella cresce piamente, placidamente, nei lavori della casa e dei campi. In materia di scienze e di lettere umane, ella è e rimarrà sempre — e si compiacerà di proclamarlo altamente — poco istruita. Ben lontana dal doversi imporre per rispondere a una vocazione chiaramente conosciuta di fondatrice, ella, al contrario, avrà da lottare invano per schermirsene. Quasi per ispirazione divina, è creata Superiora, anche prima che ella stessa e le sue compagne avessero una idea precisa di ciò che è la vita religiosa. Eccetto qualche nube passeggiera, ella cammina nella luce. A lei non mancano nè gli appoggi nè i consigli ; sostenuta e guidata da uomini eminenti per santità e qualificati, oggetto delle cure di direttori spirituali attenti e solleciti, sembrerebbe che non abbia avuto che a lasciarsi condurre, e che il suo Istituto, all'ombra di quello del santo Don Bosco, si sia fondato, stabilito, consolidato, quasi da sè stesso. Senza dubbio le tribolazioni non sono mancate a Maria, come le gioie a Emilia, ma esse sono di carattere ben differente.

Come diversi sono i due campi in cui si svolge la vita delle due Sante, altrettanto considerevoli sono per la loro conformità lo spirito, l'oggetto, lo sviluppo dei loro Istituti.

Lo spirito dell'uno e dell'altro è di soccorrere in tutti i modi più atti le necessità e le miserie, volgendosi con preferenza alle più urgenti e alle più pietose. Quindi l'oggetto dell'uno e del'altro è assai vario e molteplice, e abbraccia, si può dire, tutti i rami e le forme dell'insegnamento e dell'assistenza: la visita agl'indigenti, la sollecitudine per i prigionieri, la cura dei malati, la veglia dei moribondi a domicilio e negli ospedali, i dispensari, l'insegnamento gratuito ai poveri, reso possibile con quello dei fanciulli delle famiglie agiate. In questa enumerazione sommaria è l'attività delle Suore di S. Giuseppe dell'apparizione: vi sarebbe molto da modificare per indicare quella delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice? Alcune incisive parole di Don Bosco rispondono sufficientemente a questa interrogazione : « La loro Congregazione è pari alla nostra; ha lo stesso fine e gli stessi mezzi ».

Dès sa jeunesse, Émilie de Vialar s'était senti un grand attrait pour les missions et, petit à petit, elle entrevoyait que sa Congrégation serait une Congrégation missionnaire. Et voilà que, en peu d'années, dans les immenses régions de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie, de la Syrie, de la Terre Sainte, des îles du Levant et jusqu'en Birmanie, elle envoie ou même conduit ses filles, pour s'y dévouer en toutes sortes d'œuvres spirituelles et corporelles de miséricorde au service des populations juives et musulmanes. Comment expliquer une telle conformité dans une diversité si frappante, sinon par l'identité de l'esprit, qui animait vos deux Mères ? Il faudrait pouvoir étudier les vertus, que cet esprit faisait fleurir en elles. Qu'il suffise de souligner le degré d'excellence, où s'était élevé leur amour de la pauvreté, du sacrifice, la charité inépuisable envers Dieu et envers le prochain, la force et la tendresse maternelle. N'est-il pas touchant de les voir, unies dans la gloire, sourire à l'union entre vos familles religieuses ? Unissez-vous pour les prier d'attirer sur vous l'abondance des faveurs divines, en gage desquelles Nous vous donnons de grand cœur Notre Bénédiction apostolique.

* Discours et messages-radio de S.S. Pie XII, XIII,

Treizième année de Pontificat, 2 mars 1951 - 1er mars 1952, pp. 223 - 227

Typographie Polyglotte Vaticane

SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/fr/speeches/1951/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19510627_beate-de-vialar-mazzarello.html

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

St Mary Mazzarello with missionaries, prima del 1881

Sainte Marie Dominique Mazzarello

Marie Dominique Mazzarello naît près de Mornèse, au Piémont, le 9 mai 1837. Elle aura 6 frères et sœurs. Il n'y a pas d'école au village. Son père lui apprend un peu à lire et à compter. Très tôt, elle s’adonne au travail des champs. A partir de 1849, elle prend comme directeur spirituel le vicaire de Mornèse, don Pestarino.

Un premier engagement

Or en 1852, une fille de 22 ans, Angela Maccagno, crée à Mornèse une association de jeunes filles consacrées à Dieu dans le monde, et vouées à l'apostolat paroissial. Marie Dominique s'y inscrit. Et le 9 décembre 1855, les 5 jeunes du premier groupe des Filles de L'Immaculée consacrent leur vie à Dieu en présence de don Pestarino. Durant l'été 1860, Marie Dominique se dévoue pour soigner les gens du village atteint du typhus. Elle contracte à son tour la maladie. Elle arrive cependant à se rétablir, mais elle a définitivement perdu sa vigueur physique d'antan. Elle décide avec une amie, Petronilla, d'apprendre la couture auprès du tailleur du village afin d'ouvrir un atelier-école pour les adolescentes. Elles lancent un patronage du dimanche.

Une rencontre providentielle

Le 7 octobre 1864, Don Bosco passe à Mornèse. Marie-Dominique est comme transportée par cette rencontre. Ses paroles expriment ce qu'elle avait au fond d'elle même et ne savait dire. A l'automne 1867, don Pestarino déménage dans les locaux d'un collège pour garçons qu'il vient de faire construire. Il offre son presbytère aux Filles de l'Immaculée. Marie Dominique vient y habiter avec trois de ses compagnes. Le groupe y mène vie commune, et la "Maison de l'Immaculée" est atelier de couture, orphelinat et patronage. Marie Dominique est la responsable du petit groupe.  Sur proposition de Don Bosco, elles acceptent de devenir religieuses, et le 29 janvier 1872, en présence de don Pestarino, l'assemblée fondatrice des "Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice" se réunit, adoptant la règle proposée par Don Bosco. Marie Dominique est élue "supérieure ». La communauté de Mornèse, tient alors don Bosco pour le "supérieur général" de leur congrégation. Un vrai souffle emplit la communauté, attirant des vocations : fondations de nouvelles communautés, en Italie, en mission (Amérique Latine), en France (Nice, Marseille, Saint-Cyr, La Navarre)...

En 1879, la maison-mère s'installe à Nizza-Montferrato. Marie Dominique contracte une pneumonie au début de 1881. Elle vient en France pour accompagner les missionnaires qui prennent le bateau à Marseille. Tombée malade à Saint-Cyr-sur-mer, elle peut rentrer à Nizza, mais meurt le 14 mai 1881, à 44 ans.

Neuf ans après sa création, l'Institut des Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice compte déjà 139 religieuses, et 50 novices, réparties dans 26 communautés. Déclarée bienheureuse par Pie XI en 1938, Marie-Dominique Mazzarello est proclamée sainte par Pie XII le 24 juin 1951. Sa fête se célèbre le 14 mai.

SOURCE : http://www.don-bosco.net/index.php/qui-est-don-bosco/biographie-de-marie-dominique-mazzarello.html

Sainte Marie-Dominique Mazzarello (1837-1881)

Co-Fondatrice de l’Institut des Filles de Marie-Auxiliatrice

Béatifiée le 20-11-1938

Canonisée le 24-6-1951

L’histoire de la vie terrestre de Sainte Marie-Dominique est relativement brève (44 ans) et on peut la diviser en quatre parties, comme autant d’étapes de maturité dans sa vie de chrétienne et de consacrée.

La première étape dure 13 ans, de sa naissance à Mornèse dans le Haut Monferrat (1837) à sa première communion (1850). Ces années se passèrent dans une ambiance familiale caractérisée par une solide vie chrétienne et par le lourd travail des champs.

Intelligente et volontaire, douée d'une riche sensibilité, Marie-Dominique s'ouvrit à la foi, accompagnée par ses parents et par Don Pestarino, son directeur spirituel.

Au cours de la seconde étape (1850-1860) on remarque un approfondissement de sa foi à partir de sa rencontre avec Jésus-Eucharistie qui la porte à donner sa jeunesse au Seigneur par le voeu de virginité et à participer intensément à la vie paroissiale, surtout en adhérant à l’Union des Filles de Marie-Immaculée. À 23 ans elle tomba gravement malade, contractant le typhus, ce qui ne fut pas sans conséquence pour sa vie. Elle abandonna alors le travail des champs, non seulement parce qu’elle n’avait plus la force physique nécessaire mais parce qu’elle avait l’intuition qu'une mission éducative l'attendait. C’est ainsi qu’elle se consacra à l’éducation des enfants du pays en les accueillant dans un atelier de couture, un patronage du dimanche et une maison de famille pour les petites filles orphelines.

Pendant la troisième étape, (1860-1872) elle s’ouvre toujours davantage au projet de Dieu sur sa vie et elle trouve dans sa rencontre avec Saint Jean Bosco (1864) une réponse plus complète à son désir apostolique. Ensemble ils fondèrent le 5 août 1872 une nouvelle famille religieuse dans l’Eglise au service de la jeunesse; Don Bosco en est donc le Fondateur et Marie-Dominique la co-Fondatrice.

Enfin, pendant la quatrième et dernière étape de sa vie (1872-1881) Marie-Dominique Mazzarello exerce sa maternité spirituelle, s'occupant de la formation de ses soeurs, voyageant souvent pour visiter les nouvelles fondations, accueillant les nouvelles vocations toujours plus nombreuses. Cette période est caractérisée par l’expansion missionnaire de l'Institut: Mère Mazzarello rejoint ses filles, désormais loin de Mornèse, par la parole écrite. Ces dernières années sont marquées par le don quotidien de sa vie dans l’exercice de la « charité patiente et bienveillante ».

Elle mourut à Nice Monferrat le 14 mai 1881, laissant à ses filles une solide tradition éducative. La fête liturgique de cette femme, simple et sage qui reçut le don de discernement, se célèbre le 13 mai.

SOURCE : http://www.cgfmanet.org/1.aspx?lingua=4&sez=1&sotsez=1

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Torino - Altare con la tomba di S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello all'interno del Santuario di S. Maria Ausiliatrice

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Torino - Altare con la tomba di S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello all'interno del Santuario di S. Maria Ausiliatrice

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Torino - Altare con la tomba di S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello all'interno del Santuario di S. Maria Ausiliatrice

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Torino - Altare con la tomba di S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello all'interno del Santuario di S. Maria Ausiliatrice

Sainte Marie-Dominique MAZARELLO

Nom: MAZARELLO

Prénom: Marie-Dominique

Nom de religion: Marie-Dominique

Pays: Italie

Naissance: 09.05.1837 à Mornèse Montferrato (Piémont)

Mort: 14.05.1881 à Nice

État: Religieuse - Fondatrice

Note: Paysanne fervente, infirmière bénévole, elle forme l'association des "Filles de Marie Immaculée" (cours professionnels aux jeunes filles). Don Bosco en fait la Congrégation des "Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice".

Béatification: 20.11.1938 à Rome par Pie XI

Canonisation: 24.06.1951 à Rome par Pie XII

Fête: 14 mai

Réf. dans l’Osservatore Romano:

Réf. dans la Documentation Catholique: 1951 col.833-840

Notice

Marie-Dominique Mazarello naît en 1837, à Mornese-Montferrato en Piémont. Ses parents sont cultivateurs et Marie-Dominique ne recevra que peu d'instruction scolaire. Avec d'autres jeunes filles de la paroisse, groupées en Congrégation, elle enseigne le catéchisme et donne des soins gratuits. Son curé, entré chez les Salésiens, revient pour lui demander de fonder une école de filles et, selon le désir de Don Bosco, la Congrégation prendra le nom de "Marie-Auxiliatrice". Le saint espérait qu'elle deviendrait le pendant de son œuvre pour les garçons. De fait, quand sainte Marie-Dominique meurt en 1887, à 44 ans, sa Congrégation comptait déjà 250 religieuses avec des fondations en France, en Uruguay et jusque chez les Indiens de Patagonie.

SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/hagiographie/fiches/f0071.htm

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Interior of Sacro Cuore di Gesù (Rome)

Sainte Marie-Dominique Mazzarello

Co-fondatrice avec Don Bosco des « Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice »

Maria Domenica Mazzarello naît près de Mornèse, au Piémont, le 9 mai 1837, de Giuseppe et Maddalena Calcagno, un couple de cultivateurs. Elle aura 6 frères et sœurs. Il n'y a pas d'école au village et son père lui apprend un peu à lire et à compter.

Très tôt, elle s’adonne au travail des champs.

A partir de 1849, elle prend comme directeur spirituel le vicaire de Mornèse, don Pestarino.

Or en 1852, une fille de 22 ans, Angela Maccagno, crée à Mornèse une association de jeunes filles consacrées à Dieu dans le monde, et vouées à l'apostolat paroissial.

Marie Dominique s'y inscrit. Et le 9 décembre 1855, les 5 jeunes du premier groupe des Filles de L'Immaculée consacrent leur vie à Dieu en présence de don Pestarino.

Durant l'été 1860, Marie Dominique se dévoue pour soigner les gens du village atteint du typhus. Elle contracte à son tour la maladie. Elle arrive cependant à se rétablir, mais elle a définitivement perdu sa vigueur physique d'antan. Elle décide avec une amie, Petronilla, d'apprendre la couture auprès du tailleur du village afin d'ouvrir un atelier-école pour les adolescentes. Elles lancent un patronage du dimanche.

Le 7 octobre 1864, don Bosco passe à Mornèse. Marie-Dominique est comme transportée par cette rencontre. Ses paroles expriment ce qu'elle avait au fond d'elle même et ne savait dire.

A l'automne 1867, don Pestarino déménage dans les locaux d'un collège pour garçons qu'il vient de faire construire. Il offre son presbytère aux Filles de l'Immaculée. Marie Dominique vient y habiter avec trois de ses compagnes. Le groupe y mène vie commune, et la « Maison de l'Immaculée » est atelier de couture, orphelinat et patronage. Marie Dominique est la responsable du petit groupe.

Sur proposition de Don Bosco, elles acceptent de devenir religieuses, et le 29 janvier 1872, en présence de don Pestarino, l'assemblée fondatrice des « Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice » se réunit, adoptant la règle proposée par Don Bosco. Marie Dominique est élue supérieure ; la communauté de Mornèse, tient alors don Bosco pour le « supérieur général » de leur congrégation. Un vrai souffle emplit la communauté, attirant des vocations : fondations de nouvelles communautés, en Italie, en mission (Amérique Latine), en France (Nice, Marseille, Saint-Cyr, La Navarre)...

Neuf ans après sa création, l'Institut des « Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice » compte déjà 139 religieuses et 50 novices, réparties dans 26 communautés.

Déclarée bienheureuse par Pie XI (Ambrogio Damiano Ratti, 1922-1939) le 20 novembre 1938, Maria Domenica Mazzarello est proclamée sainte le 24 juin 1951, par le Vénérable Pie XII (Eugenio Pacelli, 1939-1958).

Source principale : don-bosco.net (« Rév. x gpm »).

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015

SOURCE : http://levangileauquotidien.org/main.php?language=FR&module=saintfeast&id=4074&fd=0

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello Vetrata Basilica di Sant'Agostino Milano

Saint Maria Mazzarello

Also known as

Mary Dominic Mazzarello

Memorial

14 May

Profile

Daughter of Giuseppe and Maddalena Mazzarello, the eldest of ten children born to a farm family in the mountains; seven of the children survived, and Maria learned the lessons typical of a big sister. Field worker. Member of the Pious Union of Mary Immaculate. Assisted at her parish, teaching catechism to younger children, helping the sick. She nearly died of typhus at age 23, and she never really recovered her strength or health again.

She and her friend Petronilla began working as dressmakers. They discovered a joint interest in working with children, and started a school for girls that soon turned into a boarding school. Each Sunday they offered the local girls, whether students or not, the chance to come to the school for games and prayers. Maria cofounded the Daughters of Mary Auxiliatrix, which was under the spritual direction of Saint John Bosco. She was the first Salesian Sister, and served as superior of the order, founding houses in Italy and France.

Born

9 May 1837 at Mornese, Acqui, Italy

Died

14 May 1881 in Nizza Monferrato, Asti Italy of natural causes

Venerated

3 May 1936 by Pope Pius XI (decree of heroic virtues)

Beatified

20 November 1938 by Pope Pius XI

Canonized

24 June 1951 by Pope Pius XII

Colegio Santa María Mazzarello, Canaguaro, Colombia

Additional Information

Saint Mary Mazzarello, by P Swain, SDB

Saints of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein

books

Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

other sites in english

images

video

sitios en español

Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición

fonti in italiano

Cathopedia

Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi

Santi e Beati

nettsteder i norsk

Den katolske kirke

MLA Citation

“Saint Maria Mazzarello“. CatholicSaints.Info. 14 May 2024. Web. 8 May 2025. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-maria-mazzarello/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-maria-mazzarello/

St. Maria Dominic Mazzarello

Feastday: May 14

Birth: 1837

Death: 1881

Co-foundress of the Daughters of Mary Auxiliatrix or Our Lady Help of Christians and a disciple of St. John Bosco. She was born near Genoa, Italy, and joined the Pious Union of Mary Immaculate while young. Her institute formed slowly, aided by St. John Bosco, despite her bout with typhoid. She was the first superior general in 1872 when St. John Bosco received approval from Pope Pius IX. The Salesian Sisters, as they are called, spread rapidly. By 1900, there were nearly eight hundred foundations. She died on April 27 at Nizza Monferrato and was canonized in 1951 by Pope Pius XII.

SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4479

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Cappella di Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, dipinto raffigurante Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, opera di Paolo Giovanni Crida, Concattedrale del Santissimo Salvatore, Messina.

Maria-Domenica Mazzarello V (AC)

(also known as Mary Dominic)

Born at Mornese near Genoa, Piedmont, Italy, 1837; died at Nizza Monferrato, Italy, on April 27, 1881; canonized in 1951 by Pope Pius XII. Maria-Domenica was the daughter of a peasant. She worked in the fields as a child, and when 17 joined the sodality of Daughters of Mary Immaculate founded at the inspiration of Saint John Bosco. In 1860, she contracted typhoid while nursing her sick relatives. Thereafter, unable to work in the fields, she started a dressmaking business with a friend, Petronilla.

A brush with death often teaches us to order our priorities aright. Thus it was with Maria-Domenica. The young woman became devout and joined the parish sodality. In 1864, Don Bosco visited Mornese hoping to found a boys' school. While he was unable to see his hope become a reality there, he managed to interest Maria-Domenica and Petronilla in working with girls, as he had been with boys. First one and then other companions joined her in a life of regular piety, and so her institute, Daughters of Our Lady Help of Christians, came into being with eleven sisters professing themselves that same year (1864) and fifteen more receiving the habit under the governance of Maria-Domenica.

Although she was uneducated, Maria-Domenica was an outstanding leader. The sisters used John Bosco's model for teaching through encouragement, charity, and joy. In 1872, Don Bosco received permission from Pope Pius IX to canonically found the congregation of nuns for teaching girls. In 1874, Maria-Domenica was elected superior-general of the Daughters of Our Lady Help of Christians, popularly known as the Salesian Sisters with the mother-house at Nizza Monferrato.

The congregation grew rapidly. In 1876, she sent six nuns to found a house in Argentina to which many Italians emigrated. By 1900 there were nearly 800 foundations in existence and activities expanded to charitable works as well as teaching. Today the congregation has 1,400 houses in 54 countries.

In 1881, she had to return suddenly from Marseilles due to illness. John Bosco met and comforted her, but she said that it was time for her to leave because she now had her passport. She died soon after at the age of 44. Her body is enshrined beside that of John Bosco in Turin (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer).

SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0514.shtml

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Krzeczyn Wielki, Kościół filialny św. Marii Dominiki Mazzarello

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Krzeczyn Wielki, Kościół filialny św. Marii Dominiki Mazzarello

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Krzeczyn Wielki, Kościół filialny św. Marii Dominiki Mazzarello

Mary Domenica Mazzarello

St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello born May 9, 1837 in Mornese (Italy) and died May 14, 1881 in Nizza Monferrato (Italy). Co-founder, together with Don Bosco, of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Beatified November 20, 1938; Canonized June 24, 1951.

Mary Domenica was born into a large peasant family. Equipped with uncommon physical strength, as a girl she worked in the fields with her father Joseph. In the family she is formed to a profound sense of God, tireless industriousness, and in that marked practical sense and depth of judgment which she later manifested also as Superior. In 1855 she enrolled in the Association of the Daughters of the Immaculate, cultivating a profound apostolic spirituality.In 1860 the town of Mornese is struck by typhus. Her confessor, Fr. Domenico Pestarino, suggests that she go to take care of some relatives in need of assistance. Mary accepts, although she is aware of catching the infection, and in fact, she becomes ill. She recovered, however, she is forced to leave her farm work, not only due to the loss of the physical strength that she enjoyed before, but also because a clear intuition arises in her that she considers a call from God. She dedicates herself to the education of the girls of the town by opening a sewing workshop, a festive oratory, and then a home for girls without a family. She involves her friend Petronilla in her project and learns the skill of a seamstress to teach poor girls not only to sew, but above all to know how to love God. Later, in a mysterious vision, she sees a large building with lots of girls running around a courtyard, and hears a voice: “I entrust them to you.”

She then welcomed the first orphans whom she cares for tenderly like a mother, assisted in this mission by some other young women belonging to the Daughters of the Immaculate. In 1864 Don Bosco from Turin arrived in Mornese with his young people on the occasion of an autumn walk and, meeting Fr. Pestarino who had become Salesian the year before, felt the need to support his desire to open a school for the boys of the town and of the surrounding areas. On that occasion, Mary Domenica perceived that she was in the presence of a saint and said: “Don Bosco is a saint, and I feel it.”

Pope Pius IX encourages Don Bosco, who for years has cultivated in his heart the project of founding a female institute, to decide to do for the girls what he is doing for the boys. With the wise collaboration of Fr. Pestarino, he chose the first fundamental stones of the future Institute from among the Daughters of the Immaculate. They will live in the newly built school in Mornese, which becomes the home of the new foundation.On 5 August 1872 the first eleven young women made their religious profession in the hands of the Bishop of Acqui, Monsignor Giuseppe Sciadra, in the presence of Don Bosco. The Institute called Daughters of Mary Help of Christians grows rapidly and Sister Mary Mazzarello as the Superior proves to be a skilled formator and teacher of the spiritual life. Between her and Don Bosco there is a profound harmony on a charismatic level. Mary Domenica has a strong educational ability, the gift of serene and reassuring cheerfulness, and the art of involving other young women in the commitment to dedicate themselves to the promotion of women so that they can be in the family, in the Church, and in society good Christians and honest citizens.

In 1877, sharing the missionary ardor of the Salesian confreres, the first six FMA left for missions and founded the first community in Uruguay, which was followed by houses in Argentina after a year.

Sr. Mary Domenica, at 44 years of age contracted a severe form of pleurisy, and died on May 14, 1881 in Nizza Monferrato, where the first FMA community had been transferred two years earlier, from then it is called the Motherhouse.

To her Daughters, she left behind an educational tradition imbued with Gospel values: the search for God known through enlightened catechesis, ardent love for Jesus in the Eucharist, and filial trust in Mary Help of Christians, sense of responsibility in work, honesty, humility, joy, moderate lifestyle, and total self-giving in the search for the true good of the girls, especially the poor and needy both at home and in the various mission countries .

SOURCE : https://www.cgfmanet.org/en/mary-domenica-mazzarello/

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

St Mary Domenica Mazzarello

St Mary Domenica Mazzarello was born in Mornese, Alessandria, Italy on May 9, 1837 to hardworking parents.

Her family was not of abundant means, so each day brought with it long days in the vineyards, carefully tending to the delicate vines in the glaring sun.

Mary Mazzarello was know for her cheerful spirit and willingness to help others, even at a cost to herself. She was not without a temper, though! Her quick wit could often turn sour when vexed, and controlling her temper was something, like Don Bosco, she would have to work at all of her life.

When she was fifteen she the Association of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, run by her parish priest, Father Pestarino; it was a precursor to the founding of the Salesian Sisters.

The Daughters were known for their charitable works and Mary soon set herself apart for her sound judgment, dedication, joy, and love of the young. Wherever she want the village children were drawn to her like a magnet, eager to hear her jokes and stories, or to ask her a multitude of questions.

When she was 23 a typhoid epidemic hit Morenese and villagers started rapidly dying. Soon her uncle and aunt were taken ill and Mary, typical of her generous nature, volunteered to care for them and their many children.

After a week under her loving care they were healed, but when she returned home Mary became ill with the very sickness that she healed and was brought to the brink of death. She received the last rites of the Church and recovered, but the illness left her weak. The strength which had formerly sustained her in the fields was no more. Mary was now thin and frail; a shell of her formerly robust self.

Her practicality leads her to find other means to sustain herself, so she took an apprenticeship with the town seamstress and worked diligently at the craft. Like Don Bosco, the skills which she learned in her youth she was later able to pass onto those who would come after her. Unbeknownst to Mary, God setting the groundwork for the foundation of a new religious community with her as its co-foundress.

After she recovered from her illness, in the month of October, Mary was walking in her village and was suddenly astounded to see before her a large building with a courtyard and many girls playing and laughing. A voice, immeasurably majestic and kind said to her, “I entrust them to you.”

At the same time St John Bosco had a similar experience where he was shown a group of girls abandoned in a courtyard. The same voice said to him, “These are my daughters; take care of them.”

The Holy Spirit was preparing St Mary Mazzarello and St John Bosco’s hearts to act upon their inspiration to found a society to care for young girls, just as the Salesian priest and brothers cared for young boys.

Fifteen young women now comprised the Daughters of Mary Immaculate. Fr Pestarino had busied himself with training them in the spiritual life and managed to secure a place for some of them to live in community, thus was the beginning of religious life in Mornese.

The Daughters took in a few young girls and housed them, schooling them in the faith and handing down to them their knowledge of dress making. Their work was in high demand because of the great attention which Mary paid to detail, insisting that nothing be done half heartedly, and she was always perfectly just, returning all of the unused materials to their customers.

Life was difficult and full of sacrifices; they would often have to beg for food and scrounge for wood and sticks for the fire. They were cold in the winter, and often hungry, yet they all accepted it with a cheerful spirit, sharing what they could with the young girls who would come to them for aid.

Don Bosco was told of the Daughters by Fr Pestarino, who himself was training as a Salesian under the saint. Considering his vision of the young girls, Don Bosco felt an interior impulse to meet with them. He went to Mornese with his boy band under the guise of raising funds for his Oratory, but his true intention was to investigate the possibility of founding a female counterpart of the Salesian Sisters from the Daughters of Mary Immaculate.

In 1867, after meeting with them and receiving the Daughter’s enthusiastic response to his proposal, Don Bosco drew up their first rule of life. A source of the community’s good spirit, sense of humor, optimism and charity, Mary Mazzarello was a natural choice as the first superior, although she did all that she could to not accept the title. Eventually obedience won out and she was the first Mother of the young community at age thirty, albeit in an informal sense.

After much formation, struggles, the well-intentioned but misdirected advice of others, and difficulties with the townspeople (whose school for boys which they had raised money for and built was turned over to the Daughters for their work by Don Bosco), the day of their profession arrived. The fifteen young women, lead by Mary Mazzarello, knelt on the cold floor of the chapel of the new school and professed their vows as religious women in the presence of the Bishop of Acqui, their spiritual father Don Bosco, and Fr Pestarino, their immutable guide. July 31, 1872 was the birthday of the new religious family.

At age thirty-five, donned in a habit which she herself had designed, she was now Sister Mary Mazzarello. She and the fourteen other newly professed brides of Christ that were the founding community beamed with joy, and a sense of relief that their sentiment that God had called them into his vineyard was correct. Don Bosco looked on his new daughters as a happy father; indeed the mutual visions of the founders had come to pass.

The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians were officially founded.

Mary was asked by Don Bosco to temporarily fulfill the role of superior until he could call together a council of the sisters to for an election. At first she did not want the role, feeling that she was too ignorant and poorly educated to guide a newly founded religious congregation, but she yielded to Don Bosco’s pleas (and few people found it easy to resist him). For two years she was the “temporary” superior until the election took place in which she was permanently elected, much to her chagrin. “So the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” (Matthew 20:16)

As the feminine branch of the Salesian religious family, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians sought to do for girls what the priests and brothers were doing in Turin for boys. They brought to their ministry the particular feminine genius which lends itself so well to nurturing, teaching, and encouraging the young along the way of salvation and personal growth; they became well-loved by the townsfolk.

After being elected Mother General of the Salesian Sisters, Mary Mazzarello felt that it was important that she and the other sisters have a good understanding of how to read and write; it was a skill which many of them had never had the opportunity to acquire. Mother Mazzarello would sit along side all of the other Sisters and learn with them – an example of humility and dedication, as well as an encouragement to the others in their struggles.

Her dedication to her sisters was not limited to their intellectual development alone. In every way she was an attentive mother, which is why to this day she is still fondly called “Mother Mazzarello”. When several of the sisters were headed to the South American missions, she accompanied them to their port of call in Genoa, Italy, and then took a boat to France so that she could visit the sisters there.

In Marseilles their ship broke down and had to be repaired. All of the passengers were forced to disembark while it was dry docked. Although the Sisters had been told that lodging had been prepared for them, there was a mix-up and they were left without beds to sleep on.

Mother Mazzarello was not one to let events such as that discourage her; eminently practical, she took the sheets that they brought with them stuffed them with straw, and made makeshift beds for all of them.

After a miserable night of sleep they all awoke, but Mother Mazzarello could not get up. A fever was ravaging her body and she was in terrible pain. The next morning, more out of a concern for worrying her already exhausted companions, she was able to get up, see the missionaries off, and then journey with her remaining Sisters to their house and orphanage in St. Cyr.

Once in St. Cyr she collapsed and was in bed for forty days; the diagnosis was pleurisy. Although she felt very ill, Mother Mazzarello did all that she could to be cheerful and alleviate the worry of her Sisters. Eventually she returned to Italy, even though the doctor advised against it. She said that she wanted to die in her own community.

She made her return journey in stages, as she did not want to push herself too much; she was painfully aware of her delicate condtion. Fortunately on one of her stops Don Bosco was near and they were able to meet for the last time.

As soon as Mother Mazzarello saw Don Bosco she smiled even more than she normally did; when she asked Don Bosco if she was going to die and he replied in the affirmative, her smile did not cease – here was a strong woman’s whose greatest consolation came from knowing that she was doing the Lord’s will.

Mother Mazzarello knew that after her death there would be another sister to replace her and that God would carry on the great Salesian work, as it was the work of Mary, the Help of Christians. As her daughter she had nothing to fear.

In early April Mary returned to Mornese. Her native air strengthened her and since she felt stronger she insisted on keeping the community schedule and doing her usual work. Unfortunately it was too much for her and she relapsed.

Near the end of April it seemed that death was coming for her and ever the caring and concerned mother, she was able to force out a few painful words, “I am afraid jealousies will crop up among you after my death, envy of a younger Sister who may be placed as Superior. Remember that Our Lady is Superior of this Congregation. Always obey the one who receives the task of leading. And, secondly, always help each other, but let your spiritual guidance be in the hands of the one appointed for that purpose.”

Regarding those who would enter the religious life she said, “The Sisters must not leave the world only to build up a new one of their own in the Congregation! And then they say they desire Christ! Dear Lord, if they only knew You as I know You now!”

Finally, in the pre-dawn hours of May 14th, 1881, Mother Mazzarello began her death agony. It was a terrible thing to witness, but ever resolute to praise God for all that he sent her, she began to force out a weak, yet sincere hymn to the Blessed Mother. It exhausted her and she fell into a deep sleep.

After receiving the last rites she turned her attention to those around her and weakly whispered, “Good-bye. I am going now. I will see you in heaven.” Shortly after she died at the age of forty-four.

She was beatified on November 20, 1938 and canonized on June 24, 1951. A life of utter devotion to the will of God and love for others, Mary Mazzarello continues to serve as an example of dedication and holiness, a true mother in every way.

SOURCE : https://salesiansisters.wordpress.com/mary-mazzarello/

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Cerimonia di vestizione davanti a Don Bosco e al vescovo di Acqui

Saint Mary Mazzarello, by P Swain, SDB

Mary Dominica Mazzarello, the eldest of the seven children of Joseph Mazzarello and Mary Calcagno, was born at Mornese, a small town in Piedmont, Italy, on May 9, 1837, and she was baptized in the parish church on the same day. Little is known of her first six years, but the Mazzarello family was ruled on sound Christian principles, and it is certain that Mary received a truly Christian upbringing from her infancy. It is interesting to note that this child who was destined to become the co-foundress of the daughters of Mary, Help of Christians, was born in the month of May, Our Lady’s month, that she died in the month of May 44 years later, and that she spent her first years under the shadow of a shrine which was vowed by the inhabitants of Mornese to Mary, Help of Christians, for protection during the cholera epidemic in 1836, and was blessed in 1845.

There were no schools in many Italian towns and villages in the early nineteenth century, and Mary had to rely on her parents for any instruction she received. She was given none of the book-learning common in our own schools, but her parents more than made up for this by thoroughly grounding their daughter in the Christian virtues which she was later to practise so heroically. Her mother and father concentrated on providing their daughter with a deep religious spirit, with a generous heart and with a strong character. They succeeded to such an extent that Mary became the model of all the girls in the district. Her father took care to shield his daughter from many worldly sights and amusements, which he considered detrimental to her Christian formation, and it was only with deep reluctance that he took her with him on rare occasions to the village fairs. This is all the more important when it is considered that a spirit of impiety was prevalent in Mornese and the surrounding district at the time, and it was quite easy for young people to be led astray; in fact it was difficult for them to remain good.

On her mother’s knee, Mary learnt of the goodness of God and of His holy Mother, and lisped her first prayers; by means of the wonderful things of creation surrounding them, Mrs. Mazzarello also taught her to love and respect the great virtue of purity. It is indeed a pity that not all children are given such a truly Christian education in the home. The number of ruined lives that would be saved is incalculable.

First Communion And Confirmation

Mary was admitted to her first Communion at the age of ten, quite early in those days, and in one of her early Communions, she made a vow of virginity which she did not reveal to anyone until many years later.

Certainly, her mother’s instructions in the matter of purity were bearing fruit. Mary was confirmed two years later on September 30, 1849.

In 1849 a new curate came to Mornese — Father Dominic Pestarino. A young man of thirty-two, he was a native of Mornese and he immediately set himself to root out evil influences and bring his lukewarm flock to a fervent state. Mary attended his catechism classes in the parish church and Father Pestarino, a zealous and holy man, was destined by God to shape the whole fabric of her life. Although she could barely read and write, Mary possessed a most retentive memory, and with intense application, she soon reached the top of the class, so that Father Pestarino could uphold her as an example to his other pupils. “I don’t want to be second to anyone,” Mary would say, “I’m not afraid of the boys and I’m going to beat them all.” And she did! But in it all Father Pestarino detected the seeds of self-love, which he set himself to root out before they became too strong. Mary showed herself rather stubborn by nature, but aided by prayer and grace and the wholesome advice of Father Pestarino in her weekly confession she was able to overcome these faults. Mary was already treading the way of perfection. Father Pestarino allowed her to go to Communion daily, another rare occurrence in those days, and with the fervent reception of the Sacraments as its basis, her life became one intense striving after perfection.

Mary’s time was now spent between the church and her home, where she worked in the fields and vineyards with her father and assisted her mother with the many household tasks and the education of her younger brothers and sisters. In the fields, she worked harder than her father’s hired labourers, and as they did not like being beaten by a girl, it was at times difficult for her father to obtain labour. “That girl is made of iron; it’s all we can do to keep up with her,” they would complain.

It took an hour to walk from the Mazzarello homestead to the church, and her parents often tried to dissuade her from going to daily Mass, particularly in the winter time when roads were muddy and colds were rife, as the long walk without breaking her fast, coupled with the hard work in the fields, threatened to undermine her strength, but Mary pointed to her extremely robust body and won her point. One morning her father was awakened by a noise at 2 a.m., and on investigating found that Mary and a younger sister were preparing to go to Mass. She had no clock, and fearing to miss Mass had got out of bed. “But it is only two o’clock,” remonstrated her father. “Good!” answered Mary, “We shall have more time to pray before Mass begins,” and off to Church went the two girls. If Mary arrived before the doors were open, she would kneel in prayer on the steps or, if others came early also, she would begin talking of religious things to prevent distractions.

On another occasion Mary was considerably delayed at church at a time when there was extra work to be done at home. Her mother chided her on her return, and suggested that on such occasions it might be better to stay away from Mass, so that the work could be done. “Do not worry, mother,” replied Mary, “I shall work twice as hard and the work will be completed by evening.” And she did set herself to work twice as hard as usual, and the work was completed before nightfall.

Growing up in an atmosphere of intense piety and hard work, Mary learnt to become mistress of herself. She mortified herself in eating and drinking, she controlled her curiosity, she checked moments of impatience, she practised prompt obedience, she observed modesty in dress and speech and she sacrificed all vanity, to which she was strongly subject. She was impelled and strengthened in all these things by a great spirit of prayer, by the continual thought of the presence of God and by her well-performed practices of piety. She had a great natural dislike for confession, but she overcame her repugnances and was most candid with her confessor, with the result that she drew great strength from this Sacrament.

Child Of Mary

When Mary was eighteen, in 1855 to be precise, Father Pestarino, at the request of some of the girls of the parish and after mature consideration with learned theologians set up the Pious Union of the Children of Mary in his parish, and so started a movement that was soon to spread throughout Italy. As may be expected, Mary was one of the first to join this union. Father Pestarino admitted only the best girls of the parish, and they made such strides in the spiritual life that two years later the Bishop of the diocese gave his approval to the union, and himself came to Mornese to invest the members with the Medal of Mary Immaculate in a public ceremony. Mary now advanced at even greater pace along the road of perfection. The members of the union lived with their families, but they met daily, if possible, for Mass, for spiritual readings, for visits to the Blessed Sacrament and for other pious practices. A public confession of faults formed part of their weekly meeting, and it was at one of these meetings that Mary accused herself of the enormous crime of allowing a whole fifteen minutes to pass without thinking of God. But Mary was soon to need all her virtue, for a great trial was about to test her.

The Nurse Becomes Ill

In 1860, a typhus epidemic broke out around Mornese, and the whole family of one of Mary’s uncles was stricken with the disease. Father Pestarino realized that only Mary could nurse the family back to health.

He obtained the reluctant consent of her family to send her to nurse them, and she humbly obeyed, even though she protested that she was sure that she would catch the dreaded disease. In a few weeks, the family had recovered, and Mary was at death’s door. It was some weeks before she was out of danger and months of convalescence followed. It was a sadly weakened Mary who returned home and her father refused to allow her to work in the fields. Mary was disheartened for she could not bear to be idle, and she determined to turn to needlework, as this was an occupation which would not require great physical strength. Mary thought that if she could learn needlework herself, she could later teach the girls of the township to sew; but there was also at the back of her mind that she might thereby be able to teach them their Christian religion, and so lead them with her along the paths of virtue. Her vocation was being mapped out before her.

One day as she was walking in the fields at the highest point in the district, she was startled to see before her a very large building which she was certain did not exist. She rubbed her eyes; she was certain that she was not dreaming; yet there it was.

She informed Father Pestarino of the occurrence and, wise man of God that he was, he told her to forget about such day dreams and not to be so foolish as to speak any more about them. Yet later she recognized the building that she then saw as the Motherhouse of the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians.

Teacher Of Needlework

With Petronilla, another member of the Pious Union, Mary spent six months working with the tailor of the town, and then another six months with the town’s only seamstress. So proficient did the girls become that on the departure of the seamstress to another town they were able to take over her business. Soon there were a number of young apprentices wishing to learn dress-making, and the girls had some difficulty in renting quarters large enough to accommodate them all. Work came in quite fast, and it is interesting to note that Mary would not make garments that she did not consider sufficiently modest. What would she say then of many of the fashions of today? The two sewing mistresses undertook to shelter two little girls whose mother had died, and whose father was the counterpart of our modern commercial traveller. Petronilla began to live on the premises and look after them, but Mary continued to go home each evening, despite the fact that she would very much like to have remained and led a common life with the others. The humble beginnings of a great work were thus being laid, when the great apostle of Turin, Saint John, ‘Don’, Bosco, the father of thousands of homeless boys, appeared on the scene.

Don Bosco Meets Father Pestarino

For some time Don Bosco had been urged to organize some institution which would do for girls what his Salesians were doing for boys. In one of his dreams, he had seen a town square full of girls appealing to him for help, and a majestic lady had asked him to look after them for they were her daughters. Whilst this problem was on his mind, he had the good fortune to meet Don Pestarino at a meeting of priests. They walked part of the way home together, and made themselves known to each other. Don Pestarino had a small group of girls seeking to perfect their lives and to help others, whilst Don Bosco was seeking to establish an order of nuns to work for girls. Both priests felt that their meeting was not a chance one but that it had been arranged by God. Some more meetings followed at Turin, and Father Pestarino became so infatuated with Don Bosco and his work that he sought to become a Salesian; Don Bosco was willing to accept him and told him that his obedience would be to remain at Mornese and look after the girls of the Pious Union of Mary Immaculate. In bidding him farewell, Don Bosco gave Father Pestarino a medal each for Mary and Petronilla, and a card for Mary; on the card was written: “Keep on praying hard; but do as much good as you can for young girls; do everything possible to prevent sin, even if it is only one venial sin.”

Don Bosco’s message inflamed Mary and her companion with new zeal. Hitherto they had concentrated on prayer and practices of piety; now they turned more directly to the Salesian preventive system, the prevention of sin by keeping the girls fully occupied and shielding them from occasions of sin. All the girls were urged to attend Mass daily if possible. Work began soon after Mass. Mary encouraged the girls to add, “May Jesus Christ be praised” to the greeting they gave each other every morning. For the first half-hour, work was done in complete silence and then there was a short meditation or some spiritual reading. The Hail Mary was recited as each hour struck. Talking was allowed after the first half-hour, but Mary forbade the girls to talk of frivolous things or to talk in whispers. At ten o’clock, all returned home for dinner, it being customary at Mornese to dine as early as that, and work was resumed at noon. During the afternoon, the Rosary was said by all, and at afternoon- tea time the girls were permitted to go to the church for a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, after which work was continued until dark. Mary continually urged the girls to remember the presence of God, and she exhorted them to make every stitch an act of the love of God.

Later Mary and Petronilla used to gather the girls on Sundays in the courtyard of the house where they rented their rooms and there they instructed them in the Catechism or engaged them in honest, healthy recreation. They also organized walks into the neighbouring countryside, and took the girls in a group to Church services. Without realizing it, they were engaging themselves in the “Festival” Oratory work of Don Bosco.

Don Bosco Comes To Mornese

In the late summer of 1864, Don Bosco himself came to Mornese, bringing with him some of his boys and the band of the Oratory at Turin. The town turned out in force to give the party a royal welcome, and the townspeople all helped to lodge and feed the party during its stay at Mornese. Don Bosco spoke to the Children of Mary, and expressed surprise at finding in those simple country folk such detachment from worldly things and such enthusiasm for heavenly things. He left after a stay of four days, but not before he had promised to send his Salesians to conduct a boys’ school which was to be built at Mornese. Father Pestarino blessed the foundation stone of this school, in the presence of all the inhabitants of the town in 1865, and Don Bosco sent a special representative from Turin for the ceremony.

Community Life

Shortly afterwards, Father Pestarino determined to make available to the girls of the Union of Mary Immaculate, a house which he had built for himself near the church. Some of the girls of the Union decided to leave their families and live there; others decided to remain with their families. Mary’s parents were quite firm in their intention not to let her join the community, but Father Pestarino brought all his influence to bear on Mr. Mazzarello and the ageing gentleman who had a great respect and affection for the priest, capitulated. He then persuaded his wife, and Mary was free to go.

“But what will you do?” her mother asked Mary as she was leaving, “You will die of hunger.”

“If I am in need I shall return,'” answered Mary, “and I am sure that you will not shut the door in my face.”

And so with three other girls Mary took up residence in Father Pestarino’s house near the church. “You will live here on trial,” Father Pestarino had told them, “Continue as you have been doing in the workshop and we shall see what the future will bring; but remember quite well that if anyone wishes to return home she is quite free to do so.”

The life of poverty, work and prayer attracted other girls to join the community, but not all of these persevered. At first the girls lived most poorly; they had to work hard to support themselves, and often there was not enough to eat. But Mary was not to be discouraged by such hardships; she encouraged the others to persevere, and the blessing of Almighty God was evidently upon the little community. People who had earlier forecast an early end to the venture, began to help the girls when they saw the exemplary lives they led. As the numbers grew, the girls themselves asked for a superior. Father Pestarino told them to choose one for themselves, and Mary was the unanimous choice.

In December, 1867, Don Bosco again came to Mornese, this time for the blessing of the chapel of the new college. Such was the attraction he had for the people of Mornese that, although he arrived at 1 a.m., a large number of the inhabitants greeted him in the streets. Later in the day, Don Bosco gave a conference to the members of the young community, and he felt sure that here was his projected congregation of nuns in embryo.

In the ensuing years, Don Bosco and Father Pestarino met very often to confer about the sisters, and eventually in 1871, Don Bosco with his Chapter in Turin decided upon the foundation of his order of nuns. A convent was necessary for them and the proposed school was selected. Father Pestarino was taken aback at this decision, as the people of the town had set their hearts upon a boys’ school, and he feared that they would not welcome Don Bosco’s decision; in fact, he feared reprisals. Don Bosco informed Pope Pius IX of his designs; the Pope not only consented to the plans, but actually encouraged Don Bosco. He told him to draw up the constitutions of the Congregation and give them a trial, stating that the sisters would depend on the Salesians in the same way as the Daughters of Charity depended on the Vincentians.

Don Bosco drafted the rules and gave them to Father Pestarino, instructing him that in selecting applicants he should accept only those who were obedient even in the smallest things, who were not offended when corrected and who showed a spirit of mortification. On January 29, 1872, Father Pestarino gathered the sisters together for the election of a chapter, and Mary was chosen as superior. In her humility, she wished to resign the office immediately, but she was persuaded to accept it with the title of Vicar until Don Bosco would send a superior. Don Bosco had been unable to attend the ceremony, as he was at the time seriously ill in Turin.

It was at this time also that the Municipal Council of Mornese, of which Father Pestarino was a member, decided to pull down the old dilapidated presbytery and build a new one. In seeking a residence for Father Pestarino, the Council chose the sisters’ house, and transferred the sisters for the time being to the partly finished school. Perhaps it was a ruse to save face for Father Pestarino, but it caused an uproar in the town and the sisters were unpopular for many years to come.

One of the many trials and tribulations the sisters had to suffer was the poor food. Breakfast consisted only of dry bread. They seldom saw milk, eggs, cheese and fish; they never ate meat. Yet Sister Mazzarello was so mortified that she did not appease her hunger even on feast days. None of the sisters complained; they deemed it a great privilege to be chosen by God to undergo such sufferings. Sufficient time was given to prayer and spiritual exercises, but by far the greater part of the day was devoted to hard work, and even during their recreations, the sisters carried materials for the workmen who were finishing the college building. Washing clothes at the public washing place of Mornese was one of their most frequent tasks, and Mary, although Superior, always gave the lead, choosing the hardest and dirtiest tasks for herself.

As yet, the sisters wore no special habit, and Don Bosco, when asked what they would wear, would reply: “For the time being let them be satisfied with the habit of virtue; later on we shall see.” Eventually a brown habit with a blue veil was chosen; professed sisters wore a crucifix and the novices a medal of Mary Immaculate. And all this time Sister Mazzarello kept asking for the Superior, Don Bosco was going to send, but Don Bosco had no intention of changing her. He planned instead to give the Congregation a more definite shape, and arranged for a retreat to begin on July 31, 1872, and to be followed by the first professions of those who were ready for this step, and by the clothing of new novices. At last, the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians was a reality.

First Vows

The Bishop of the diocese was at Mornese at the end of July, and he himself wished to preside personally at the retreat. When Don Bosco was informed of the presence of his Lordship, he declined go to Mornese out of respect for the bishop, although he had promised to be present at the ceremony. The bishop thereupon sent his secretary to bring Don Bosco at any cost, and the man of God humbly acquiesced to the bishop’s wishes. As, however, Don Bosco could not afford to remain long at Mornese, the ceremony of profession and clothing was advanced from the 8th of August to the 5th, the feast of Our Lady of the Snow, and the retreat was finished as scheduled. The bishop himself presided at the ceremony, at which eleven sisters, including Sister Mazzarello, took the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience for three years, and fifteen novices were clothed in the religious habit.

The bishop then motioned to Don Bosco to speak, and although the latter endeavoured to withdraw, he obeyed and spoke to the sisters from the very depths of his heart. “You will suffer,” Don Bosco told them, “and I see with my own eyes that people will persecute you, will deride you; even your very relatives will turn their backs on you. But do not be surprised at all this. If you keep yourselves humble and mortified, you will become holy and in time, you will do much good to many others. The world is full of snares; but if you live according to your rule you will do great good to your own souls and to those of your neighbours.” Sister Mazzarello was appointed Superior, but given the title of Vicar, “because,” said Don Bosco, “the real superior is Our Lady herself.”

A religious institute is blessed if it is governed well from its very inception, and in the choice of superior, the Institute of the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians, was singularly fortunate. Sister Mazzarello despite her lack of learning possessed definite ability for governing her community, as may be seen from what Pope Pius XI said of her in 1936: “This small, simple, poor country girl, whose education had been most rudimentary, showed quite early that she possessed a talent, one of the greatest of talents — the talent for governing. Her choice by Saint John Bosco was proved not only in the firm, secure foundation of the new family of Mary, Help of Christians, but also in the marvellous and rapid growth and spread of the flourishing institute.”

Sister Mazzarello, The Woman

Sister Mazzarello was a little above average height, well built and possessed of very sharp features. She had a high forehead, a regular nose, and penetrating, lively chestnut eyes. She had a medium sized, regular mouth, and her cheekbones, upper lip and chin were all slightly raised. Her complexion was pale and slightly brown, and she coloured up quite quickly whenever she did violence to herself.

Spiritually Sister Mazzarello was inclined to piety. She received the Sacraments frequently, was most devoted to Mary, Help of Christians and showed herself obedient even in the smallest things. She shunned ease and luxury, and if obedience had not checked her she would have worn herself out with mortifications and penances. In matters of purity, she was beyond all reproach. She was ready to check evil where ever it broke out, and in her work for God and souls she was not affected by human respect in the least degree. Although she could hardly read or write, she spoke well and clearly, and it often seemed that she was inspired by the Holy Ghost. She was always ready to receive advice from her superiors, and asked her companions to advise her when she failed. She walked erect with her head slightly inclined forward, and her actions were determined, but dignified and simple. When speaking of heavenly things she often became radiant and her face took on a heavenly look. Everything about her helped to infuse some of her zeal and love for God into others. Walking or talking she was accustomed to hold her crucifix in her left hand. She was extremely active but performed every action calmly and recollectedly. She was full of charity towards everyone she met, and quickly gained a stranger’s confidence. She studied how to lead souls to be virtuous and always spoke well of her neighbour, preferring to change or break off conversation rather than say or hear anything uncharitable.

Mother Mazzarello, as the sisters now began to call her, was the only one who thought that she was unfitted to be the superior of the growing community, and she continually besought Don Bosco to change her. One of the sisters, who had been fortunate in receiving a good education, began instructing the other sisters so that they could in their turn teach girls in the future schools of the Institute, and in simple humility the superior, Mother Mazzarello, took her place in the benches with the other sisters, and showed herself a most attentive pupil. It was not long before the Institute was able to boast several teachers with diplomas, and a school was established for the girls of the district.

Don Bosco often sent women with likely vocations to Mornese, and if they were well educated Mother Mazzarello welcomed them most warmly as her future successors, but Don Bosco had sent them to learn obedience, not to govern. The real family spirit which existed in the growing community of professed nuns, novices, postulants and students was in a large measure due to the influence of the Mother Superior herself. Don Bosco had obtained the services of two of the Sisters of Saint Anne, an experienced congregation working in Turin, to advise the community at Mornese for some months, but after some time there the sisters declared, “Let us go back to Turin, this superior needs no direction in virtue.”

By the spring of 1874 there were in the community, 14 professed members, 8 novices, 8 postulants and 17 school girls, and Father Pestarino was able to write to Don Bosco: “What consoles me most is the real union and spirit of charity, the harmony and the holy joy which reigns among all. They are edifying in their piety, are really detached from the world and don’t utter the least complaint in their work.” Don Bosco later declared to Father Cagliero, a future Salesian missionary and Cardinal, “Mother Mazzarello has special gifts from God. There are virtues in abundance to make up for her scanty learning. She is prudent, has wonderful insight into things, and a gift for governing, based on kindness, charity and unshaken faith in God.”

Death Of Father Pestarino

The sisters were successfully overcoming the opposition of the inhabitants of Mornese when a fresh trial assailed the community. On May 15, 1874, Father Pestarino was taken suddenly ill. Mother Mazzarello was informed immediately and hastened to his bedside.

“Where are the sisters and the girls?” asked Father Pestarino.

“In church praying for you.”

“Good . . . good . . . courage, my children. Have confidence in God.”

Shortly after saying this, Father Pestarino was dead. The whole district was heartbroken at the loss of this good, kind and pious pastor. As for the sisters, many thought that they would not be able to carry on, but they placed all their confidence in God and the help of Don Bosco.

“Don Bosco! He is in Turin and has too many boys to maintain, and too much to do to look after you.”

But Don Bosco did look after the sisters. Father John Cagliero arrived the following morning for the funeral of Father Pestarino, and shortly afterwards his cousin was appointed spiritual director of the sisters. On his death in September of the same year, Father James Costamagna was appointed to the office.

Don Bosco came in person to visit the sisters on June 14, and on the following day, received the first vows of eight novices, and clothed fifteen postulants. Then he gathered the sisters together for the election of a superior general and chapter, both essential if the Congregation was to expand as he planned. As expected, Mother Mazzarello was unanimously elected Superior General, and realizing this time that it certainly was the will of God, she did not try to excuse herself.

Superior General

Mother Mazzarello now devoted her whole time and attention to the direction of the institute. “Oh, my companions,” she told the sisters, “What a joy it is for us poor country folk of Mornese to become the spouses of Jesus Christ and the daughters of Don Bosco and Mary, Help of Christians. O my dear Lord, what a grace! What a great grace! We thank you for it.” “She practised the most profound humility at all times especially when reproved,” Father Costamagna tells us, “Sometimes I purposely tested her rather severely; she kept silent and complained to no one; she even suffered her humiliation joyfully as if the most natural thing in the world had happened. Her obedience was perfect. A word from Don Bosco or the local superior was law for her, and immediately the order was made known, she herself obeyed and made the others obey if necessary — blindly, cheerfully, promptly.”

One day Mother Mazzarello and some of the sisters were out walking, when they came across a poorly-clad, hungry little girl of five or six, who touched their hearts, and the good mother immediately gave the little waif her portion of food for the journey. Then she sought out the sister with the best cloak, and forthwith proceeded to cut it up for a garment for the girl. The pieces were distributed among the sisters to sew together, whilst she herself gave the little girl a lesson in catechism and prayer. When the garment was finished, she put it on the girl, and then gave her the odd pieces of material, telling her to take them to her mother so that the garment could be repaired when it began to wear. This incident shows not only the charity of Mother Mazzarello, but also her great care not to waste the least thing.

At Mornese, Mother Mazzarello was accustomed to ask the time of the different members of her community whenever she met them during the day. The inexperienced would answer that they did not know or they would run to look at a clock, but she herself would answer with a smile: “It is time to love Jesus; let us love Him with all our heart.” Among other favourite sayings of hers to her community may be cited the following: “At the hour of death you will be very happy to have made this sacrifice;” “What have you done for Jesus today?”; “What are you thinking of at this very moment?”; “What resolution have you made at meditation this morning?” All this was not intended to reprove her subjects, but to make them remember the presence of God and the great reward that awaited them if they remained faithful to their vocations.

Learning that Don Bosco had a practice of giving his boys a “good-night” sermonette, before they retired to rest, Mother Mazzarello imitated him also in this, and spoke briefly but fervently to her sisters before they retired, even though she always experienced great difficulty in public speaking.

And here is recalled another delightful little practice of hers which shows the simple confidence that this humble soul placed in the Mother of God. At night after everybody had retired to rest, she would lock the doors and place the key at the foot of the statue of Mary, Help of Christians, whom she looked upon as the real Superior of the Institute. Although she suffered from very severe headaches she took little food, worked hard, rose before four in the morning and mortified herself continually during the day, but she sedulously looked after the welfare of the other sisters, especially when they were ill.

Mother Mazzarello showed remarkable insight in accepting or rejecting those who wished to join the Congregation. Catherine Daghero became a postulant with the best of dispositions, but she soon began to fear that she could not live the life of the sisters, and did not wish to carry on. “You must remain here,” Mother Mazzarello told her, “the more you suffer now the happier you will be later on and the more good you will do. When you have received the habit all these things will disappear.” The day before her clothing Catherine was most upset, but Mother Mazzarello was adamant and insisted that she should receive the habit. Catherine obeyed and at the moment the habit was put on her, all her worries disappeared. She became a most fervent sister and made such progress in the spiritual life that six years later she succeeded Mother Mazzarello as Superior General of the Congregation.

Perpetual Vows

On 28 August 1875, the first perpetual professions were made, Mother Mazzarello being among the number of those who vowed themselves to God for life. After the ceremony, Don Bosco spoke of rapid development in the near future, and fired the sisters with enthusiasm for the missions at a time when he himself was preparing to send his first missionaries abroad. The promised development took place and within the space of two years, the sisters had ten foundations. Writing to Father Cagliero who was in South America with the first band of Salesian missionaries, Mother Mazzarello described the new foundations, and then naively added: “I forgot to tell you of the house which we have in Heaven; it is always open and the Rector of this House makes decisions without having recourse to either Superiors or Chapters. He just takes anyone He wants, and has already taken seven sisters.”

Missionary Expeditions

In September, 1877, the first expedition of sisters set sail for South America. Don Bosco sent them first to Rome where he arranged an audience with the Pope. Mother Mazzarello accompanied them to the eternal city although she greatly feared that such an ignorant Superior General would give his Holiness a very bad impression of the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians. As may be well imagined, the Pope was most impressed with her virtues, particularly with her great humility. Mary later accompanied the sisters to the boat at Genoa, and with true maternal solicitude inspected all their cabins carefully before bidding them farewell.

Because of the toll the climate of Mornese was having on the health of the sisters — several had died, and others had been seriously ill — Don Bosco decided to change the mother house to a more healthy locality. Nizza Montferrato was selected, so a convent evacuated by the Capuchins in 1855 was acquired there, and the changeover, begun in 1878 was completed early in the following year. The school at Mornese was sold; perhaps it was a punishment from God for the continued hostility and indifference towards the sisters during the early years of the Congregation.

Ten more missionary sisters sailed for South America on January 1, 1880. One of the sisters, Emilia Borgna, was very delicate and the leader of the expedition was not in favour of taking her to America, but to all her remonstrances Mother Mazzarello replied: “Take her, for you will find that she will do more work than you think she can do, and she will succeed very well indeed.” Sister Emilia went and spent more than fifty years in South America working for the poor and abandoned girls of that continent.

In August, 1880, the sisters held their first general chapter. Although Mother Mazzarello had hoped to be relieved of the burden of office, she was re-elected Superior General. It would appear that she already had a presentiment of her approaching death for she said to one of the sisters who had insisted that she should be again elected as Superior General, “No, because half way through next year you will suffer inconvenience at having to put someone in my place.”

Early in 1881, she fare-welled yet another group of missionaries. This time the sisters proceeded to Turin for a solemn farewell in the Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians on January 18. On the night of January 24, Mother Mazzarello who was accompanying the missionaries as far as Marseilles, woke up the sister who slept in the room with her, and told her that Sister Arecco had died. The sister had been ill in bed when the missionaries left Nizza Montferrato. In the morning, all the sisters were asked to pray for the soul of the departed sister, and the announcement was confirmed with a telegram later in the morning. But that is not all. Sister Arecco had an intense desire to speak with Mother Mazzarello before she died, and the latter was away from Nizza Montferrato. However, Sister Arecco suddenly sat up and said that she saw her beloved Superior. The sisters present at her bedside saw nothing, but Sister Arecco, having seen Mother Mazzarello, was happy to die. Perhaps it was a case of bilocation!

Some days later, Mother Mazzarello spoke to the missionary sisters and told them that one night as she was going to sleep, Sister Arecco had appeared to her.

“But you are dead,” stammered Mother Mazzarello, “How is it that you are here? Perhaps you are in Purgatory, tell me what you want, but do not frighten me. Have you saved your soul?”

“Yes, by the mercy of God, but I am in Purgatory.”

“And will you be there long?”

“Only until Easter, thanks to the prayers of the community; but if you will pray for me I shall go to Heaven earlier.

The Lord has allowed me to come to tell you this.”

“I shall do that willingly. Now tell me my defects so that I can correct them. Go on; tell me what there is in me that displeases God.”

“And she told me before she disappeared,” concluded Mother Mazzarello. The great humility of their superior in her simple exposition of what had happened made a great impression on the sisters.

Although Mother Mazzarello was far from well she saw the sisters off at Marseilles on February 6, and then on her return to the convent in Marseilles, she had to go immediately to bed. The doctor diagnosed her case as advanced pleurisy, and it was not until March 17 that she was able to appear amongst the community again. She expressed a desire to end her days at the Mother House at Nizza Montferrato, and accordingly on March 19 she set out for Italy via Nice, where she met Don Bosco and asked him bluntly whether she would be cured.

Don Bosco in reply told her a story.

One day Death came and knocked at the door of a convent. The porteress opened the door.

“Come with me,” said Death. But the porteress replied that she could not go for there was no one to take her place. Then Death went into the convent and invited all those he met to go with him; sisters, teachers, postulants, students, even the cook. But all answered that they could not accept the invitation, because they had too much to do. And so Death went to the Superior, and said: “Come with me.” Even the Superior put forward her excuse, but this time Death insisted: “The Superior must give good example to all the others, even on the road to eternity; come, for I cannot possibly accept your excuses.”

What could she do? The Superior bowed her head and followed.

Mother Mazzarello listened attentively to the story and understood it perfectly, but so as not to alarm the sisters present with her she made pretence to treat it as a joke.

Death Of Mother Mazzarello

On March 28, Mother Mazzarello reached Nizza Montferrato to the great joy of the whole community. She was apparently well, but on April 15, she was again confined to her bed. Although her strength was gradually failing, she continued to take an active part in the direction of the Congregation. On April 27, she received Extreme Unction and the end appeared near, but she lingered on, and by May 5, there were signs of improvement. “I shall die willingly,” she said, “but the Lord would please me very much if he would leave me in the world until Monday (May 9) . . . my birth-day . . . I shall be 44 . . . then there is still much to suffer before dying.”

During these last days, she turned instinctively to the Crucifix and the sufferings of her Divine Lord. “Yes, Lord, send me great sufferings, but also give me patience and strength to bear them. Oh my Jesus, I want to love you now and forever.” Father Cagliero arrived on May 10 with strict injunctions to summon Don Bosco when he saw that the end was near, but as Mother Mazzarello appeared to rally, Father Cagliero decided to return to Turin. On May 14, he was preparing to say Mass at 4 a.m., before departing, when at 3.45 he was summoned to the bedside of the dying nun. He administered the last rites, and then she said to those around her: “I am not sorry to die; in fact I die willingly.” Father Cagliero began the prayers for the departing soul, Mother Mazzarello asked one of the sisters to help her, then waved her hand and with a smile on her lips whispered, “Goodbye, goodbye, I shall see you in Heaven.” She fixed her eyes on the Crucifix. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I recommend my soul to you . . . Jesus, Mary . . . Joseph . . .”

Mother Mazzarello was dead.

Glorification

At the death of their foundress, the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians numbered 230 working in 28 houses, of which six were in South America.

By 1950, the number had grown to 12,000 sisters with nearly 1000 houses, and the sisters were working in all five continents except Australia. (They were to open their first house in Australia in 1954.)

The heroicity of the virtues of Mother Mary Mazzarello was proclaimed by Pope Pius XI in 1936. On November 20, 1938, the same Pontiff beatified her, and on June 24, 1951, his Holiness Pope Pius XII, gloriously reigning, solemnly canonized Mother Mary Mazzarello, and she became the second member of the Salesian family to be enrolled among the canonized Saints of the Church.

A humble peasant girl, who possessed little learning and shunned the world and its maxims, has achieved greater and more lasting fame than the millions of worldly men who sought only to obtain worldly honour and to have their names and deeds written boldly in the pages of history. She will be remembered when they are long forgotten.

Characteristic of the humble life of Saint Mary Dominica Mazzarello were the last words she directed to her spiritual children: “Love one another, practice true charity, humility and obedience. Teach the girls to be frank and sincere.”

– from the booklet Saint Mary Mazzarello, by P Swain, SDB; published by the Australian Catholic Truth Society in 1951

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-mary-mazzarello-by-p-swain-sdb/

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

The Life Story Of ST. MARY DOMENICA MAZZARELLO

Peasant of the Fields

A hot Italian sun beat mercilessly on the handful of workers in the rocky field. Mopping the sweat off their well-tanned faces, they labored on, their hands burrowing into the soil, skillfully setting the delicate vines in place and tying them tenderly with wisps of straw onto thin sticks. But it was so hot in the glaring sun! Gradually, one by one, they began edging away toward the shade, till a single girl remained in the field, her sturdy, young body bent firmly over her task, her swift fingers deftly caressing the vines and sealing them into place. Now and then, as a lock of her black hair fell across her eyes, a quick movement of the hand pushed it back into place under a white kerchief - and then immediately back to work! "Mary," called a friend, "come on in out of the hot sun. It's much more comfortable here!"

Mary looked up. "But no work was ever done in the shade!" she laughed. "Since when have you all become afraid of the sun?"

"We're not afraid. We just prefer to wait till it sets lower in the sky!" retorted a young man.

"Cowards!" the girl in the field chided. "The sun is God's gift to us! You'll never have any wine this winter if you hide in the shade!"

A peasant woman laughed heartily. "Some girl, that Mary Mazzarello! She can beat anyone of us in the field, and that goes for the men too! No use calling her. She'll stay there till her line is done and then go on to ours!"

"Mary," teased a young fellow resting under a tree, "did you hear that? Is it true you can beat us working on the farm?"

"On the farm and anywhere!" came the decided answer.

"She's right," interrupted a young woman. "You've never done a day's work equal to hers."

"No use teasing her, lad," broke in Mr. Mazzarello, going out to join his daughter in the field. "Ever since she was just a tiny thing of a girl, she has never given in to anybody. Her mother and I know too well!"

But as Mary bent back to her work and the perspiration trickled freely down her cheeks, her thoughts were far from boasting, even far from the friends that called out to her from the shade. Her eyes were fixed on the tiny vines that seemed to look to her hands for assistance in their first moment of life. Those hands, roughened and cut by pebbles and briars, were meant to be helpful hands, to labor for others - hands of tender mercy to comfort and heal, to lift and strengthen. She was eighteen now, and, though most girls at eighteen think only of love and marriage and a warm hearth and children nestling in their arms, such thoughts seemed alien to her mind. Much as she loved her people, their priceless heritage of Faith and simplicity, much as she admired the sincere and well-intentioned approaches of the young men of Mornese whom her mother made her find every opportunity to meet, she could not think of herself as a housewife. She felt there was another call for her, other tasks than a housewife's reserved for her. What it might be, who could tell? Father Pestarino, the pastor of Mornese, who had guided her in her spiritual life ever since her First Communion, would tell her in good time when prayer and meditation had revealed God's will to him. Till then, she would labor, as peasant among her people, yet not entirely one of them.

The work grew tedious. Impatiently she tugged at handful of tendrils, which refused to fit the contour of her slender fingers. They broke, and petulantly she flung them aside. She paused. No, she must not lose her patience, even in the hot sun. Had she not promised these hours of broiling heat to the Lord who had come to her that morning in Holy Communion? She must check these outbursts, even if only as reparation for the many girls of her age who lived in the wicked cities beyond the citadel of hills that protected Mornese and who, Father Pestarino said, often bartered away their souls for false pleasure and tinsel glory.

Poor deluded children! Maybe someday in the future she might be able to help them. But then she blushed at the thought as she always did when it came to her in the hours of prayer. What could she do for the Lord - she, an ignorant farm girl who could neither read nor write even her own name? Yes, of course, she knew her catechism thoroughly - she had beaten all the children of the village in that years ago, much to the joy of her parents, who bragged openly of their daughter's remarkable memory. And she could do sums faster on her fingers than the village clerk could on paper, even big sums for the patron of nearby farms. But with all that, she was still an illiterate peasant and would have to be content with just menial tasks in God's work.

Yet, what had Father Pestarino told her - God doesn't need the learned ones or the earthy ones of the world? Why, in that case even she might be able to work for God. It might not be much but it would be for the Lord. Her heart leaped for joy! Those hands could work for God!

Angel Of Mercy

Mornese was a "death town." The jolly villagers who loved music and merriment and the open fields now sealed themselves and their children behind barred doors and boarded windows, praying that the grim specter of death would not demand a victim among them. Typhoid took over the town!

The deserted cobblestone street rang dismally with the clatter of heavy wooden shoes, as a young woman, clutching a crying boy by the hand, hastened through the crooked lanes of houses.

"Oh, Mary, what are we going to do?" the child whines. "Mama and Papa are sick, and my big brother is almost dying, and there's no one to take care of us!"
"Hush, hush," comforted the girl. "I told you not to worry."
"Will you stay with us?"

"Of course as long as necessary. And I'll take care of my little cousins."

Mary ran up the stone steps and pushed open the door to find a bedlam of crying children, soiled dishes, and her aunt and uncle lying helplessly on their straw mattresses. Quickly and efficiently, Mary cooked a hot meal, washed and put the children to bed, and fed the sick with her own hands, all the while uttering a thousand gentle phrases that brought comfort and hope to the stricken family. Then she began the impossible task of cleaning a week's accumulation of clutter.

Mary proved an angel of mercy to her aunt and uncle. Her soft words and the tender touch of her hand eased the burning brows of her feverish patients, promised assurance of health, and instilled a deep, comforting resignation to the Divine Will such as they never before experienced. The little ones took to her as to a mother and clustered about to hear her tell of the Lord that loved and cared for then. Day and night she would not spare herself, washing, cooking, and comforting. She would only grasp tiny moments of sleep between tasks.

Within a week her aunt and uncle were able to get on their feet again care for their family. Hearts bubbling over in gratitude, they could only show their thanks through eyes brimming with tears. Mary accepted it all with that humility and gentleness that characterized her entire life of mercy, and then she made up her bundle of clothing to return to her mother.

As soon as she stepped into the house, Mrs. Mazzarello noticed the change in her daughter. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sunken, her sturdy body broken by the long hours of work and sleepless vigils. Mary tried to smile away her mother's fears, but, admitting she needed rest, went immediately to bed. Within a few hours, she was in the throes of a consuming typhoid fever. She tossed about in burning heat, trembling and perspiring alternately. She raved in delirium for hours, reliving the days of exhaustion she had gone through, muttering prayers for her little brothers and sister as though danger awaited them. Brief respites brought a few precious hours of rest. But the relentless fever hungrily burned every ounce of strength out of her tired body. She hovered on the brink of eternity for a few days. Then her native strength rallied. Longer hours of rest and healthful nourishment from the hands of her overjoyed mother restored the color to her blood-drained face. The fever ebbed away.
Father Pestarino, who had anxiously watched her through the days of crisis, brought her Communion every day, knowing that it would be her only comfort through the long hours of painful illness.

The Mazzarello home now became a small oasis for the Mornese townsfolk, who had heard of Mary's heroic venture into the typhoid-stricken village and had nervously watched her fight with death. They flocked to see her. Her many friends spent long hours in her company, marveling at her infinite patience, as they remembered the sturdy young woman who would yield to neither heat nor fatigue in the blistering fields, and now saw the thin, frail girl that the consuming typhoid had left behind.

Mary was not blind to reality. She knew she would never again be able to work in the fields. Two months of fever and illness had destroyed her iron constitution. She would have to be content with even smaller and more menial tasks now. And yet, she reflected as she sat in the warm October sun, maybe it was all for the better. Maybe this was what she had been waiting for all these twenty years - maybe she and Father Pestarino would now know what God wanted her to do.

Of course, it could never be much now. But, as long as it was for God she would do - and love it!

Visionary

Mary was enjoying her autumn stroll through the country. Everything was so beautiful in late October; the woods ablaze with bright masses of red and yellow leaves set against a deep blue sky, the soft winds breathing aimlessly over the rolling hills and setting the dry bough alive with music. Certainly, a Great Artist had planned this all out, this pageant of splendor, and had lent it the quickening force of life that seemed to speak to her of the Eternal Beauty.

She was convalescing now, and the long walks, mostly spent in spontaneous prayer, did her a great deal of good. Over the hilltop she strayed, kicking up the leaves in splashes of gold. But she stopped in surprise - that building set in the midst of the field! Where had it come from? And those Nuns playing with the village girls, who were they? She rubbed her eyes fiercely. Surely she was not delirious again! She took her hands from her face and saw... nothing, just the bare field swept by the wind. The building and the Sisters and the children were all gone.

Mary turned back. What had she seen? A vision? Impossible. Her religious training had always been very earthly, practical, passed on to her by a plain, hard working priest who had little trust in visionaries and dreams. And yet, so many things had come up of late, little things that fit into a pattern. Her illness, so abruptly changing her life - her twenty years of waiting for God to speak - her growing attachment to the care and teaching of children were they accidents? And then Father Pestarino kept telling her that Don Bosco, the great priest of Turin who had erected schools for poor boys and founded a religious congregation, was interested in the Immaculate Conception Society of Mornese. Did it mean anything?

She sat under a tree to rest. The Immaculate Conception Society was a wonderful thing, she knew. Yet, it was so unstable, more a foretaste of the future than an existing reality. Fifteen girls of Mornese, all of them anxious to leave the world and live the religious life but drawn to no particular order, desirous of living at home with their families, while bound by their vows, and benefiting the village children, that was the Immaculate Conception Society to which she belonged, but it would not last forever that way. Father Pestarino kept dropping hints to that effect, always bringing up the name of Don Bosco and his work of education. Certainly, that meant something! Mary took up her Rosary. She was dizzy with thought. She needed prayer.

Back in Turin, miles from Mornese, Don Bosco was also deeply engrossed in thought. A certain "dream" puzzled him, because he knew it was one of those "Dreams" that became the signposts of his ministry. He had strangely found himself in the midst of a crowd of girls in one of Turin's great squares. For the most part they were poor - just the tattered homespun dresses, bare feet and unkempt hair of the peasant folk and the city slums. They rushed to him and tugged at his cassock.

"Please come to us!" they pleaded. "We need you too!" Their thin faces, outstretched arms, and moist eyes begged as no orator could do. Then they faded into the nothingness from which they had emerged.

Girls? Was he called also to work for girls?

Don Bosco fingered the letter he had just received from Father Pestarino. He read again of the Immaculate Conception Society - fifteen young women, already partly trained in religious life, anxious to work for girls, poor girls. Some hand was shaping the future!

He took up his pen and wrote to Mornese: "I shall come with my boys for a few days. And I would like to meet and speak to the Immaculate Conception Society.

Beginnings

"Mama," announced Mary one evening after a meeting of the Immaculate Conception society, "I am going to leave home."

Her mother looked up from her sewing. The children stared in mute surprise.

"Fr. Pestarino is going to allow some of us girls to live together in the cottage he owns near the church. He told us tonight. And I have decided to be one of them."

"And what are you going to do there?" her father asked skeptically.

"Live as a religious. During the day we will take in village girls to teach them religion and sewing and cooking. The rest of the time we will spend in prayer, like nuns."

"And starve!" he suggested.

"Oh no, Papa, we won't starve. We'll get a little something for teaching the girls, enough to live on."

"But are you going to teach fancy sewing? You don't know it yourself, dear," broke in her practical mother.

"Oh, we're going to learn it, Mama. Mr. Campi, the tailor, is going to teach us, and the seamstress in Mornese is going to show us how to cut and piece dresses. So, you see, we can do it."

"My dear, I'm worried to death!" muttered her mother.

"Now, Mama, you know there's nothing to worry about! We'll live just like religious, so God will take good care of us! Just think of all the good we can do the girls of Mornese. We can make fervent Catholics out of them, and good housewives!"

"It wouldn't be a bad idea if you became a housewife, Mary," chimed in Mr. Mazzarello.

"No, Papa!" was the girl's decisive answer. "You know I've never wanted that. It's not my life. Oh believe me," she pleaded. "This is the life I have always wanted! I know God wants me to follow it!"

"Very well, Mary," sighed her mother quietly. "We won't stop you if that is really what you want. But," she struggled to choke a sob, "we will miss you at home. And I suppose I'll worry night and day about you."

Mary kissed her mother. "Please Mama, there is nothing to worry about. God will be with us!"

And thus the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians had their lowly beginning: a handful of young peasant girls, with only the love of God to warm them, living together in rudimentary religious life, sharing a small cottage which they proudly called "The Immaculate Conception House," taking in small village girls to teach them their religious and domestic duties.

Even begging was necessary for the "Sisters" in those hard beginnings. Mary often knocked at the door of her own home to ask her mother for food. With tears in her eyes, Mrs. Mazzarello would heap steaming dishes of meat and vegetables into her daughter's arms and Mary would kiss her and say, "You are a darling, Mama!" Then she would turn her back on the warm hearth to return to the cold cottage.
Through those crucial days, only one thing kept the new community together and gave them a charm that gradually won the hearts of even the most skeptical of the villagers, and that was the love of God. It served them as fuel, nourishment, and comfort.

Don Bosco drew up the first rules of the new community in 1867. Mary Mazzarello, then thirty years old, was considered the natural Superior or Mother, though of course her position was very informal. Yet Sister Petronilla, who had grown up with Mary in the fields and always shared her most intimate secrets, asserts very resolutely that most, if not all, of the community's good humor, patience, fortitude and absolute trust in God came from her.

July 31,1872, was just a normal day for the farm folk of Mornese, but a day that would make the town famous. In the chapel of the new school, which had been built by Father Pestarino and, on Don Bosco's advice, had been turned over to the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception in spite of the vigorous protests of the village fathers, fifteen young women knelt in anxious anticipation before the altar. This was to be the day of their mystic espousals with Christ. In the sanctuary sat the Bishop of the diocese; near him stood Don Bosco, the saintly priest of Turin who advised Fr. Pestarino who steered the new congregation through troublesome beginnings.

The fifteen young ladies arose. Mary Mazzarello, her face radiant with joy, hardly showing her thirty-five years except for a few stray wisps of graying hair that showed from under her bonnet, went first to the Bishop's chair. He handed her the new habit, which she herself had devised and first sewn together: upon her head he placed the veil of Sisterhood. And she arose Sister Mary Mazzarello. One by one, the other heroic young women stepped forth to receive the habit. When the last one had donned the black outfit that would always mark her out in life as one of God's chosen, Mary Mazzarello arose, and with her companions, uttered vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. The promise she had made to God at her First Communion was now complete! She was infinitely happy. God had told her what he wanted.

The new Sisters received their official name of "The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians." Their work was clearly outlined for them by Don Bosco: they were to consider themselves as the complement to the work of the Salesian Fathers and Brothers founded by Don Bosco in Turin, and what the Salesians were doing for boys they would do for girls.

There was as yet no duly elected Superior in the community, so, before leaving, Don Bosco asked Mary Mazzarello to assume temporary charge - to the joy of the Sisters and her own embarrassment. She objected, alleging her ignorance as an excuse, but, on the Saint's reassurance that it would be for only a while, she humbly acceded to his wishes and became Mother Mary Mazzarello.

The temporary job lasted two years. And then the wisdom of Don Bosco's choice was apparent, for in the first elections of the Congregation, Mother Mazzarello was chosen to be the first Superior General by a unanimous vote - except one - her own! The temporary job became permanent.

Mother General

Mother Mary Mazzarello remained Mother General until her death. In those seven years she endeared herself to her sisters by a genuine, deep-seated humility and extraordinary sense of motherly understanding. The conviction that she was a peasant girl, fit only to do the humblest task, never left her and gave her every work and action an attractive pleasantness that took the barb out of correction, sweetened even a gentle reprimand, and won all hearts to her. The little incidents of her life, cherished by the Sisters as a precious heritage, have long become a byword in their communities and, when looked upon as a whole, form a marvelous portrait of a woman who had the heart of a mother and the soul of an angel.

One day a postulant ran into her room. On the verge of tears, she exclaimed: "Mother, I have to go home - today!"
Mother Mazzarello looked up in surprise. "Why, my dear, what's wrong?"

Gradually the story came in bits between sobs, a combination of homesickness, and childish worry. Mother explained it all to her.

"But I still want to go home!" the girl protested.

"Well, now, there is no sense in dashing off before you even know your own mind. Why don't you stay with us for month on vacation? Then we'll pray together, and if you want to return home after that, I'll go with you myself. How's that?"
The girl agreed. She stayed and became a wonderful Salesian sister!

Catherine, a novice, had happily gone through her period of novitiate and was ready for her religious profession, when a storm of doubts overwhelmed her. She could not make up her mind; so many difficulties, worries, hesitancies shook her soul to its depths. She consulted her superior and her spiritual director, a Salesian Priest.

"Go ask Mother Mazzarello," was the answer.

She did. Mother analyzed the problem and unquestionably told Catherine it was all a temptation. "Take your vows, Catherine," she concluded.

But Catherine could not make up her mind. She went to her superior again and once more manifested her doubts.

"What did Mother Mazzarello say?"

"To go ahead, because these are only temptations. But I cannot!"

The Sister tried repeatedly to assure Catherine, to no avail. The temptation was grave, and the girl was evidently suffering. Just then the spiritual director of the house entered. Catherine repeated her bitter story. The priest listened patiently. Then, kindly taking her hand, he told her firmly: "Mother Mazzarello gave me a message for you this morning: 'Tell Catherine that she is to receive the habit and make her vows. God has called her to do a great deal of good.' Well Catherine, now you know God's Will. The decision is up to you."

"Yes, Father," the girl answered slowly. "I'll do as Mother says."

Seven years later, Catherine Daghero was elected Superior General to succeed Mother Mazzarello on her death. Her life of profound holiness was rivaled only by that of her canonized predecessor.

Wash day was not a private affair in Mornese; everyone did her laundry in public at the mountain brook that skirted the village. Squatting low, the housewives would dab their linen with homemade soap, beat and scrub it vigorously on the flat rocks, and rinse it in the icy stream. It was a village event and a rather noisy one at that. But at the end of the chattering line of women, one could see a small group of the new Sisters washing the community laundry, and in the group Mother Mazzarello, the superior, industriously banging away at the soiled clothing, absorbed in her task, chatting amiably with her companions.

"But, Mother," one Sister complained, "you shouldn't be scrubbing clothes like the rest of us. Look, everyone is pointing at you."

Mother smiled. "Now, child, don't be so curious as to see who's pointing at us. And what if they do? Am I any better than you or the other Sisters? I am just a peasant, and there is no sense in my putting on airs."

No, Mother Mazzarello was not one to put on airs. Her humility was real. Studiously she attended class with the other Sisters and learned how to read and write. Though she was naturally quick, it was no small task for a woman of thirty-five to learn the elements of her language, and she made silly blunders, but she would laugh them off with the other Sisters and persistently try again.

Her lifelong friend, Sister Petronilla, one day asked her, "Mother, don't you think our community is becoming too important? Look at all the intelligent young ladies who are entering - all of them with years of schooling."

"Hush," whispered Mother Mazzarello as though afraid of being overheard. "Not so loud! You and I are just plain oxen. Let's be thankful that they don't throw us out!"

Evening Star

Mother Mazzarello, leaning heavily on the arms of two Sisters, stumbled into the convent of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians at Nice-on-the-Sea. Smiling to all the good nuns who rushed to greet her, she tried to brush away their fears with gentle reassurances. But her face, taut with pain and haggard with long days of illness, belied her words. Her companions rushed her to a room and set her into an armchair.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, attempting a light laugh and failing miserably. "I'm feeling so much better already. Now, Sisters, why those tears? Is that the way to greet your Mother after such a long absence?"

She broke short all their sniffling apologies with a soft, "You must not grieve so. I feel my strength returning already, and I'll soon be as strong as ever. Now go about your work again, and let me rest a moment. "

The sisters reluctantly obeyed, leaving her with an attendant.

In the hall, the companions of Mother Mazzarello were the focus of all attention.

How was Mother? Was she improving any? She looked so poorly!

The information was far from pleasant. Mother Mazzarello had left Mornese some two months before to accompany a group of Sisters, who were to go to the Missions of South America, to their port of departure, Genoa. From there she decided to take a ship with a part of the missionary contingent, to stop off at Marseilles, a port of call, and from there to visit the houses of the Sisters in France. Throughout the journey, she suffered from persistent seasickness, but, true to her native stubbornness, she hid her pain behind a smile and a thousand little attentions on her companions. At Marseilles, bitter disappointment waited them. Their ship broke down in sight of the harbor and had to be towed into dry dock for repairs.

Late at night the little group of tired Sisters ventured into the unlit waterfront streets of Marseilles in search of an address where they had been told lodgings had been prepared for them. But, due to a careless blunder, no beds had been made up for the nuns. Noticing her host's utter confusion at having the Sister walk in on him to find no accommodations, Mother Mazzarello speedily assured him they could care for themselves.

"We have clean bedclothes with us. If you can give us some straw, we will shift for ourselves quite easily."

And so, plying her needle, Mother Mazzarello set the example by sewing up an armful of straw in a sheet, setting the bed on the floor, and lying fully clothed upon it. Her companions good-naturedly imitated her and spent a miserable night on the floor with only a few inches of straw to keep the draft off their backs.

The next morning, Mother Mazzarello was unable to rise. A high fever kept her on her straw pallet. Her Sisters clustered about her. But the next morning she staggered to her feet and escorted the Missionaries to their ship, bidding them a tender farewell. Then she hastened to the town of St. Cyr, where the Sisters conducted an orphanage. Once there, she was put to bed for a few days of rest. But the unrelenting fever developed into pleurisy, followed by complications.

For forty days the saintly Mother had been confined to her bed, running high temperatures, spending interminable hours in burning heat and acute pain. Yet, throughout it all, she had always remained the center of joy in the house, calling the Sisters to herself, chatting amiably with them, and endeavoring to make herself as little bother as possible, never realizing that the Sisters treasured every moment they could shower their solicitude on her.

As soon as she felt her strength returning, she decided, against the doctor's orders, to return to Italy, so as to die, she said, in her own community. The Sisters had been heartbroken but, reassured by Don Bosco, who had been to see her, that she would not suffer by it, they acceded to her wishes. Mother had decided to make the journey in short stages. With two companions she had started that morning and would remain at Nice-on-the-Sea for a few days and then proceed to cross the Italian border.

While the Sisters outside hustled about their task, stealing every moment they could for a quick prayer in the chapel for their Mother, their frail patient remained in her room, trying to recover her strength. By good fortune, Don Bosco had just arrived a few hours before her. Knowing of her presence, he went to call on her.

In that little room the two Saints faced each other for the last time. St. John Bosco, sixty years old, looking tired and a little stooped at the shoulders, smiled upon the drawn features of this forty-two year-old woman who had been God's chosen instrument to fulfill a great part of his apostolate for youth. Their names, he knew, would forever be linked together. Now their hearts beat in unison, and their thoughts ran along the same channel, only seeking God's will and endeavoring to burn out their last energies in a flaming holocaust to Him.

"Father," asked Mother Mazzarello, "will I ever recover?"

After a moment's pause, the priest ran his fingers through his bushy hair.

"Mother," he said diplomatically, "I want to tell you a story. Once Death decided to pay a call to a convent. 'Come with me, Sister,' he said to the portress as she opened the door. 'Oh, but I cannot,' the Sister responded. 'There is no one to take my place, and the convent must have a portress.' Death crossed the threshold and stalked through the convent halls. His order was the same for everyone he met: 'Come with me!' The response was invariably: 'I cannot! I have so much work to do!' Finally Death knocked at the door of the Superior's room. 'Come with me,' he announced. 'I cannot!' was the startled reply. But Death would take no excuse. 'If no one else will come, you must!' he ordered, and taking her by the hand, he took her through the convent halls into the dark night"

The Saint stopped. Throughout the narrative, Mother Mazzarello had sat perfectly still, her head bowed, her hands folded on her lap. Now she looked up at Don Bosco, smiling at his delicate handling of a difficult task. The priest arose. How great a woman was this who could not even rise from her chair! He had not been mistaken when he had chosen her years ago to be the cornerstone of the new community of Sisters, a complement to his own Congregation. Now, as then, she was still the guileless, humble, self-effacing peasant who considered it her greatest privilege to be God's little girl, to do the lowliest tasks for Him, and to rest confident in His all-embracing love. Here was no worry, no struggle to live, but just peace and holiness that so radiated from her sparkling eyes and imparted a delicate touch of beauty about her pale features. He blessed her, knowing that from her, too, a blessing flowed into him and into the house that sheltered her. Slowly he turned around and left the room. Mother Mazzarello was still smiling, fingering her Rosary.

Come, Bride of Christ

Exhausted and feverish, Mary Mazzarello arrived at Mornese in early April. After a few days rest in her invigorating native air, enjoying the new burst of life that made Mornese with its vineyards and hillsides a veritable garden, she felt much stronger and got up from bed maintaining that she was no exception in the house and had to do her work along with the other Sisters. For several days she stubbornly followed the routine of the community, rigorous in its demands for a sickly convalescent till, finally, her resistance broke down and she collapsed. The doctor analyzed it as a relapse into pleurisy and recommended absolute rest.

But Mother Mazzarello knew her days were numbered: Death was knocking at the door of the Superior. There was little time to lose now, and she used every moment in prayers or in the care of Sisters, the needs of the houses, and the individual problems of those who daily came to her with their troubles. To all, she was ever the considerate sympathetic mother, hiding her own pain in solicitous regard for her daughters giving her undivided attention to every detail.

Toward the end of April, she steadily grew worse. No remedies brought her relief. Her only comfort in the long days and nights of pain was the thought of our Blessed Lady, to whom she would pray aloud or even sing hymns in a soft undertone. She asked for the Last Sacraments and followed the ceremony and prayers attentively. At the end she looked at the priest and asked cheerfully, "Now that all my papers are in order, I suppose I may leave at any time at all?"

But for three more weeks she lingered on often in pain, always in prayer. One particular evening she became so weak that she thought it was the end and called the superiors of the Congregation to her. Gasping for a few painful breaths of air she whispered her last counsels:

"I am afraid jealousies will crop up among you after my death, envy of a younger Sister who may be placed as Superior. Remember that Our Lady is Superior of this Congregation. Always obey the one who receives the task of leading. And, secondly, always help each other, but let your spiritual guidance be in the hands of the one appointed for that purpose."

The strain was too much for her feeble frame. She drew a deep breath and muttered, "Oh if I could only explain myself! But I cannot."

Finally, in a soft undertone, she sighed. "The Sisters must not leave the world only to build up a new one of their own in the Congregation! And then they say they desire Christ! Dear Lord, if they only knew You as I know You now!"

The few days remaining of her earthly life Mother Mazzarello passed in prayer and final words of counsel. As she lay on her deathbed, resolving to make use of every second left to her, her resoluteness was so reminiscent of the hardy peasant girl of Mornese who persisted in her stubborn determination never to yield to anyone or to anything! Not even illness or death!

But, if her sickness was marked by an enviable calm, the last hour of her life was tortured. It was three o'clock on the morning of May 14, as the mountain ridges outside her window were scarcely outlined against the first haze of a spring sky, that Mother Mazzarello entered her purgatory of spiritual agony. She moaned and tossed about, uttering prayers to Our Lady, trying to boost her trust in God.

"Don't give in, Mary," she pleaded with herself. "Where is your courage? Tomorrow you are going to begin the Novena to Mary Help of Christians. You must not give in! Take heart! Come, sing Mary's praises!"

Then straining every nerve and muscle, in a feeble and broken voice she painfully sang a hymn to Our Lady. With that, the struggle was over. As the hymn died away on her lips, she sank back in restful sleep.

The priests and sisters about her began the Church's prayers for the dying. As they neared the end, she feebly raised her hand and whispered, "Good-bye. I am going now. I will see you in heaven." With the names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph on her lips, she paid her last tribute of obedience to the Divine Will, in utter confidence of his limitless mercy.

Sunset and rest came early for Mother Mazzarello, just in the midst of her day. But at the age of forty-four, she had lived a complete life, had carried out all the work God had assigned to her, and was ready to return her Divine Master.

The peasant girl of Mornese became the Mother of a congregation of Sisters that today covers the globe and numbers thousands. On that religious body of self-sacrificing souls is stamped the indelible character of Mother Mazzarello's humility and in each one of the Sisters she lives again and continues her apostolate for the souls of girls. Thus, St. Mary Mazzarello walks today in the broad streets of European and American cities, in the jungle paths of the Amazon, on the sun-drenched deserts of Africa, in the mudflats of India, in the mountain recesses of the Andes. She lives a Citizen of the World, for there is no death for God's Saints!

A Saint

In 1936, Pope Pius XI, proclaiming the heroic nature of Mother Mazzarello's virtues, aptly summarized her remarkable life thusly: "Here is a woman of simplicity, extreme simplicity - a simplicity as pure as that of the simple elements, as simple and unmixed as gold without alloy!

"The characteristic mark of Mary Mazzarello is her humility, a profound consciousness and continual remembrance of a lowly birth, a plain way of life, and her work. She was but a peasant girl, a village seamstress, endowed with the most elementary education, one that lacked all the refinements we generally associate with the term. There was in her only that simplicity which God had predisposed in such an elect soul."

Original Title:

Gold Without Alloy: A Brief Account of the Life of St. Mary Mazzarello By Paul Aronica, SDB

SOURCE : https://donboscowest.org/mary-mazzarello

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello Vergine

14 maggio

Mornese, Alessandria, 9 maggio 1837 - Nizza Monferrato, Asti, 14 maggio 1881

Nacque il 9 maggio 1837 a Mornese (Al). Nel 1860 il paese fu colpito da un'epidemia di tifo e il parroco chiese a Maria di assitere i parenti ammalati. Dopo aver assistito gli zii nella frazione dei Mazzarelli, Maria contrasse la malattia il 15 agosto. Potè rialzarsi soltanto il 7 ottobre. Indebolita dalla malattia, non poté più lavorare nei campi. Decise così di aprire un piccolo laboratorio di sartoria per le ragazze di Mornese. Realizzò questo desiderio insieme all'amica Petronilla. Grazie all'intervento del parroco alcune giovani, fra le quali anche Maria e Petronilla, si consacrarono a Maria come «Figlie dell'Immacolata». Nell'ottobre 1867 le giovani fondarono una loro comunità che nel 1872 si trasferì al collegio di Mornese, destinato loro da Don Bosco. Qui Maria Mazzarello e 10 sue compagne diedero inizio all'Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, consacrandosi a Dio con i voti. Nel 1879 la Casa Madre venne trasferita a Nizza Monferrato. Qui Madre Mazzarello morì il 14 maggio 1881. (Avvenire)

Etimologia: Maria = amata da Dio, dall'egiziano; signora, dall'ebraico - Domenica = consacra

Emblema: Giglio

Martirologio Romano: A Nizza Monferrato in Piemonte, santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, che insieme a san Giovanni Bosco fondò l’Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice per l’educazione delle ragazze povere e rifulse per umiltà, prudenza e carità.

“A te le affido”

Maria Domenica nasce a Mornese, in provincia di Alessandria, il 9 maggio 1837 in una numerosa famiglia di contadini.

Dotata di una non comune forza fisica, fin da ragazza lavora nei campi con il padre Giuseppe: “Perché Dio non ci lasci mancare il pane, bisogna pregare e lavorare”, diceva lui.

Grazie all’educazione profondamente cristiana ricevuta in famiglia, Maria fa grandi sacrifici per incontrare quotidianamente Gesù nell’Eucaristia: “Senza di lui non potrei vivere”. Nel 1860 arriva il tifo a Mornese. Il suo confessore don Pestarino le chiede aiuto per curare alcuni parenti della famiglia Mazzarello. Maria accetta, ma si ammala. Guarisce inaspettatamente, perdendo però la forza fisica di un tempo, ma non la fede. Camminando per strada ha una visione misteriosa: un grosso edificio con tante ragazze che corrono nel cortile, e una voce che le dice: “A te le affido”.

Lo Spirito Santo formò in lei un cuore materno

Non potendo più fare la contadina, d’accordo con l’amica Petronilla decide di diventare sarta, per insegnare alle ragazze povere a cucire. Lo Spirito Santo formò in lei un cuore materno. Prudente e saggia, educò le ragazze con amore preventivo. Aperto il piccolo laboratorio – come capitò anche a don Bosco –, il Signore le inviò le prime orfane da accogliere. Arrivano le prime collaboratrici, che don Pestarino chiamerà Figlie dell’Immacolata.

Don Bosco arriva a Mornese con i suoi giovani nel 1864 per aprire un collegio per i ragazzi del paese. Maria lo guarda ed esclama: “Don Bosco è un santo, e io lo sento”. Don Bosco visita il piccolo laboratorio delle Figlie dell’Immacolata e ne resta molto colpito.

Figlie dell’Immacolata...Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice

Pio IX chiede a don Bosco di fondare un Istituto femminile, e lui, convocato don Pestarino, sceglie le Figlie dell’Immacolata, inviandole nel collegio appena costruito. Maria e le compagne soffrono la fame, anche a causa dell’iniziale ostilità dei compaesani, ma sono sempre allegre e la loro fede non vacilla mai.

Nel 1872 le prime quindici Figlie dell’Immacolata diventano Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice. Maria è chiamata al governo, ma inizialmente si fa chiamare la Vicaria, perché, diceva, “la vera superiora è la Madonna”.

L’Istituto cresce e sciama e si aprono le prime case, le prime missioni in America. Maria è chiamata “la madre”. Nonostante tutto è semplice e premurosa con tutti, dà sempre l’esempio anche nei lavori più umili.

Con la sua saggezza indirizza la spiritualità dell’Istituto, incarnando nelle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice il carisma dato a don Bosco.

Morì a Nizza Monferrato il 14 maggio 1881, all’età di 44 anni. Alla sua morte l’Istituto contava già 165 suore e 65 novizie sparse in 28 case (19 in Italia, 3 in Francia e 6 in America).

Fu beatificata da Pio XI nel 1938 e canonizzata da Pio XII il 24 giugno del 1951.

La memoria liturgica della santa è stata fissata al 14 maggio, mentre la Famiglia Salesiana la ricorda al 13 maggio.

Autore: Sac. Domenico Paternò Sdb

Maria Domenica Mazzarello, Santa Cofondatrice dell’Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, nacque il 9 maggio 1837 a Mornese, nella frazione dei "Mazzarelli di qua", dove il padre e la madre vivevano insieme alle famiglie di alcuni fratelli di lui. Qui, Maria abitò fino al 1849 o 1850, data che attesta la nuova residenza alla Cascina Valponasca che il nonno paterno di Maria Mazzarello,nel 1827, aveva preso in locazione per sé, figli ed eredi. Essendo aumentati i membri della famiglia, Giuseppe Mazzarello, il padre di Maria, decise di andare ad abitare alla Valponasca. In questa casa, Maria Mazzarello visse gli anni dell’adolescenza e della giovinezza. Era una ragazza come tante: piena di energia, vivace, intelligente. Qui il ritmo della sua vita si modificò. Fino allora era stata il braccio destro della madre, ma ora che la sorellina Felicita si era fatta più grande, lei poteva seguire il padre in campagna. "Quando prevedeva fin dalla sera innanzi di dover tornare un po’ tardi dalla chiesa, e si era nel buono del lavoro in campagna [...] si levava ancor più presto del consueto e prima di svegliare la sorella andava nella vigna a sbrigare buona parte del proprio compito [...]. La sua vigoria fisica e il suo stesso carattere, oltre al desiderio di rendersi utile, la portavano prepotentemente a un lavoro virile" (dalla "Cronistoria dell’Istituto FMA"). Il 16 marzo 1858, il padre di Maria decise di lasciare la Valponasca, in seguito ad una rapina avvenuta nella loro casa. La famiglia si trasferì, dunque, in paese, più vicino alla Chiesa, con garnde gioia di Maria. Nel 1860 in Mornese ci fu una grande epidemia di tifo. Don Pestarino aveva chiesto al padre la presenza di Maria presso i parenti ammalati, alla frazione dei Mazzarelli. Egli si era opposto, ma senza togliere a Maria la libertà di fare la sua scelta. E lei l’aveva fatta dicendo a don Pestarino: "Se lei vuole, io vado, ma sono sicura di prendermi la malattia". Dopo aver assistito gli zii malati, Maria contrasse il tifo. Fu una malattia gravissima e lunga. Dio aveva i suoi disegni. Maria si ammalò il giorno dell’Assunta (1860) e potè alzarsi soltanto il 7 ottobre, dopo 52 giorni di letto. Il forte tralcio della sua vita, spezzato, tornava a vivere con la fiducia riposta solo in Dio. Non più le vigne, non più i campi: altra messe il Signore le aveva preparato. Maria, indebolita dalla malattia, decise di imparare il lavoro di sarta, in modo da poter aprire un piccolo laboratorio per le ragazze di Mornese. Questo le avrebbe consentito, non solo di insegnare loro un mestiere, ma anche di avvicinarle a Dio. realizzò questo desiderio insieme all’amica Petronilla. Intanto, don Pestarino, pastore zelante, aveva proposto ad alcune giovani, fra le quali anche Maria e Petronilla, di consacrarsi a Maria come "Figlie dell’Immacolata". La casa adiacente alla parrocchia era stata fatta costruire da don Pestarino, che vi abitava, con l’intenzione di cederla con il tempo alle Figlie dell’Immacolata, perché vi potessero abitare insieme, quando fossero rimaste senza parenti. Qui, nell’ottobre 1867, le Figlie dell’Immacolata iniziarono a vivere in comunità. Le prime furono: Maria, Petronilla, Giovanna Ferrettino e Teresa Pampuro. Con loro vissero anche alcune altre ragazze. Maria, anche se gracile di salute, ebbe la piena approvazione del padre che, da autentico educatore cristiano, assecondò le buone inclinazioni di Maria, accompagnandola con il suo affetto. Maria Mazzarello non sapeva dove il Signore la stava conducendo, ma si fidava di Lui; è certo che sceglieva la via del radicalismo evangelico espresso nel semplice quotidiano e nella gioia del cuore innamorato di Cristo. Ivi restarono fino al 23 maggio 1872 per trasferirsi successivamente al collegio di Mornese, destinato loro da Don Bosco. Il 5 agosto dello stesso anno, Maria Mazzarello e 10 sue compagne diedero inzio all’Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, conscarandosi a Dio con i voti religiosi. Nel 1879 la Casa Madre venne trasferita a Nizza Monferrato, luogo più facilmente accessibile alle linee di comunicazione di quel tempo. Qui Madre Mazzarello morirà il 14 maggio 1881, all’età di 44 anni. Alla sua morte, l’Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausililatrice contava già 165 suore e 65 novizie sparse in 28 case (19 in Italia, 3 in Francia e 6 in America).

Il 3 maggio 1936 è dichiarata l’eroicità delle sue virtù.

Il 20 novembre 1938 è’ beatificata.

Il 24 giugno 1951 è canonizzata.

La sua opera continua e le Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice fanno vivere ancora oggi il suo sogno in tutto il mondo.

Per saperne di più puoi visitare i siti:

http://www.mornese.pcn.net

http://www.cgfmanet.org

Autore: Monica Roncari

SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/32600

Maria Domenica Mazzarello

(1837-1881)

Beatificazione:

- 20 novembre 1938

- Papa Pio XI

Celebrazione

Canonizzazione:
- 24 giugno 1951

- Papa Pio XII

- Basilica Vaticana

Celebrazione

Ricorrenza:
- 14 maggio

A Nizza Monferrato in Piemonte, insieme a san Giovanni Bosco fondò l’Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice per l’educazione delle ragazze povere e rifulse per umiltà, prudenza e carità

"Vogliatevi bene. Tenetevi sempre unite. Avete abbandonato il mondo. Non fabbricatevene un altro qui dentro. Pensate al perché siete entrate in Congregazione"

Nacque a Mornese, nel Monferrato, in provincia di Alessandria, il 9 maggio 1837 da una famiglia di contadini, primogenita di sette tra fratelli e sorelle.

Ella cresce piamente, placidamente, nei lavori della casa e dei campi. In materia di scienze e di lettere umane, ella è e rimarrà sempre — e si compiacerà di proclamarlo altamente — poco istruita.

Nel 1860 il paese fu colpito da un'epidemia di tifo e il parroco chiese a Maria di assitere i parenti ammalati e contrasse la malattia il 15 agosto dello stesso anno.

Indebolita dalla malattia, non poté più lavorare nei campi. Decise così di aprire un piccolo laboratorio di sartoria per le ragazze di Mornese. Realizzò questo desiderio insieme all'amica Petronilla. Grazie all'intervento del parroco alcune giovani, fra le quali anche Maria e Petronilla, si consacrarono a Maria come «Figlie dell'Immacolata».

Quasi per ispirazione divina, è creata Superiora, anche prima che ella stessa e le sue compagne avessero una idea precisa di ciò che è la vita religiosa. Nell'ottobre 1867 le giovani fondarono una loro comunità che nel 1872 si trasferì al collegio di Mornese, destinato loro da Don Bosco e qui diedero inizio all'Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, consacrandosi a Dio con i voti.

Le notizie, che pervenivano sulle meravigliose opere apostoliche dei Salesiani nell'America latina, avvivano lo zelo di Maria Mazzarello e delle sue figlie e suscitano, l'una dopo l'altra numerose partenze, non solo per l'Argentina e l'Uruguay, ma ben presto anche per le regioni indiane della Patagonia.

Morì a Nizza Monferrato il 14 maggio 1881.

SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/maria-domenica-mazzarello.html

DISCORSO DI SUA SANTITÀ PIO PP. XII

AI PELLEGRINI GIUNTI A ROMA

PER LA CANONIZZAZIONE DI S. EMILIA DE VIALAR
E DI S. MARIA DOMENICA MAZZARELLO*

Mercoledì, 27 giugno 1951

De condition fortunée quant aux biens de la terre, de naissance aristocratique, d'une instruction et d'une éducation raffinées, malgré les péripéties de son enfance, Emilie de Vialar, obéissant à une irrésistible impulsion de la grâce, pratique, dès la jeunesse, à un degré héroïque, toutes les œuvres de la piété et de la charité. Malgré cela, dans une lumière lentement croissante, elle comprend, petit à petit, que Dieu l'appelle à une vie religieuse proprement dite. Mais où? et sous quelle forme précise? Elle ne le voit pas encore. Après les crises traversées, après celle de la Révolution française, il était difficile, surtout dans des cas comme le sien, de trouver aussitôt un guide tel qu'elle en ressentait le besoin. Elle marche à tâtons.

Elle a atteint ses trente-cinq ans, lorsqu'elle peut commencer à réaliser son désir. Elle n'est pourtant pas au terme de ses tribulations. Aucune difficulté, aucune contradiction ne lui est épargnée; humiliantes à sa fierté naturelle, de la part de son milieu de famille et de société; crucifiantes à son cœur, de la part de son père tant aimé; paralysantes, de la part d'autorités, envers lesquelles elle n'éprouve qu'amour et respect; soutenue seulement, non par sa seule conviction personnelle, dont elle eût fait bon marché, mais par les encouragements et la volonté d'une autorité plus haute encore, de l'Autorité suprême sur la terre, par le secours d'en haut, qui la console en ses angoisses, comme il avait, par l'ange, consolé saint Joseph dans les siennes. C'est ainsi qu'elle avance, pas à pas; elle avance quand même, mais sur quel chemin! sur la montée de quel Calvaire!

Nel tempo in cui Emilia de Vialar redigeva le sue Costituzioni, nasceva da semplici campagnuoli Maria Mazzarello. Ella cresce piamente, placidamente, nei lavori della casa e dei campi. In materia di scienze e di lettere umane, ella è e rimarrà sempre — e si compiacerà di proclamarlo altamente — poco istruita. Ben lontana dal doversi imporre per rispondere a una vocazione chiaramente conosciuta di fondatrice, ella, al contrario, avrà da lottare invano per schermirsene. Quasi per ispirazione divina, è creata Superiora, anche prima che ella stessa e le sue compagne avessero una idea precisa di ciò che è la vita religiosa. Eccetto qualche nube passeggiera, ella cammina nella luce. A lei non mancano nè gli appoggi nè i consigli; sostenuta e guidata da uomini eminenti per santità e qualificati, oggetto delle cure di direttori spirituali attenti e solleciti, sembrerebbe che non abbia avuto che a lasciarsi condurre, e che il suo Istituto, all'ombra di quello del santo Don Bosco, si sia fondato, stabilito, consolidato, quasi da sè stesso. Senza dubbio le tribolazioni non sono mancate a Maria, come le gioie a Emilia, ma esse sono di carattere ben differente.

Come diversi sono i due campi in cui si svolge la vita delle due Sante, altrettanto considerevoli sono per la loro conformità lo spirito, l'oggetto, lo sviluppo dei loro Istituti.

Ambedue gl'Istituti, per l'influsso visibile delle cause seconde ben diverse, avanzano tuttavia, sotto l'azione invisibile della Provvidenza, a un ritmo prodigiosamente accelerato, e le due Fondatrici non cessano di seguirne attentamente lo sviluppo con le loro visite e la loro corrispondenza. Il pensiero delle vocazioni, necessarie per bastare a tante imprese, non le induce nè ad allentare la severità nella scelta e nella conservazione delle aspiranti, nè ad esitare nel rispondere alle domande di nuove fondazioni. Le notizie, che pervenivano sulle meravigliose opere apostoliche dei Salesiani nell'America latina, avvivano lo zelo di Maria Mazzarello e delle sue figlie e suscitano, l'una dopo l'altra numerose partenze, non solo per l'Argentina e l'Uruguay, ma ben presto anche per le regioni indiane della Patagonia. — Dès sa jeunesse, Emilie de Vialar s'était senti un grand attrait pour les missions et, petit à petit, elle entrevoyait que sa Congrégation serait une Congrégation missionnaire. Et voilà que, en peu d'années, dans les immenses régions de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie, de la Syrie, de la Terre Sainte, des îles du Levant et jusqu'en Birmanie, elle envoie ou même conduit ses filles, pour s'y dévouer en toutes sortes d'œuvres spirituelles et corporelles de miséricorde au service des populations juives et musulmanes. Comment expliquer une telle conformité dans une diversité si frappante, sinon par l'identité de l'esprit, qui animait vos deux Mères? Il faudrait pouvoir étudier les vertus, que cet 175 esprit faisait fleurir en elles. Qu'il suffise de souligner le degré d'excellence, où s'était élevé leur amour de la pauvreté, du sacrifice, la charité inépuisable envers Dieu et envers le prochain, la force et la tendresse maternelle. N'est-il pas touchant de les voir, unies dans la gloire, sourire à l'union entre vos familles religieuses? Unissez-vous pour les prier d'attirer sur vous l'abondance des faveurs divines, en gage desquelles Nous vous donnons de grand cœur Notre Bénédiction Apostolique.

*Discorsi e Radiomessaggi di Sua Santità Pio XII, XIII,

Tredicesimo anno di Pontificato, 2 marzo 1951 - 1° marzo 1952, pp. 173 - 176

Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana

SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/it/speeches/1951/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19510627_beate-de-vialar-mazzarello.html

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Santuario di Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, Mazzarelli, Mornese, Italia

Maria Mazzarello

Maria Domenica Mazzarello, Santa Confondatrice dell’ Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, nacque il 9 maggio 1837 a Mornese, nella frazione dei "Mazzarelli di qua", dove il padre e la madre vivevano insieme alle famiglie di alcuni fratelli di lui. Qui, Maria abitò fino al 1849 o 1850, data che attesta la nuova residenza alla Cascina Valponasca che il nonno paterno di Maria Mazzarello,nel 1827, aveva preso in locazione per sé, figli ed eredi. Essendo aumentati i membri della famiglia, Giuseppe Mazzarello, il padre di Maria, decise di andare ad abitare alla Valponasca. In questa casa, Maria Mazzarello visse gli anni dell’adolescenza e della giovinezza. Era una ragazza come tante: piena di energia, vivace, intelligente. Qui il ritmo della sua vita si modificò. Fino allora era stata il braccio destro della madre, ma ora che la sorellina Felicita si era fatta più grande, lei poteva seguire il padre in campagna. "Quando prevedeva fin dalla sera innanzi di dover tornare un po’ tardi dalla chiesa, e si era nel buono del lavoro in campagna [...] si levava ancor più presto del consueto e prima di svegliare la sorella andava nella vigna a sbrigare buona parte del proprio compito [...]. La sua vigoria fisica e il suo stesso carattere, oltre al desiderio di rendersi utile, la portavano prepotentemente a un lavoro virile" (dalla "Cronistoria dell’Istituto FMA"). Il 16 marzo 1858, il padre di Maria decise di lasciare la Valponasca, in seguito ad una rapina avvenuta nella loro casa. La famiglia si trasferì, dunque, in paese, più vicino alla Chiesa, con garnde gioia di Maria. Nel 1860 in Mornese ci fu una grande epidemia di tifo. Don Pestarino aveva chiesto al padre la presenza di Maria presso i parenti ammalati, alla frazione dei Mazzarelli. Egli si era opposto, ma senza togliere a Maria la libertà di fare la sua scelta. E lei l’aveva fatta dicendo a don Pestarino: "Se lei vuole, io vado, ma sono sicura di prendermi la malattia". Dopo aver assistito gli zii malati, Maria contrasse il tifo. Fu una malattia gravissima e lunga. Dio aveva i suoi disegni. Maria si ammalò il giorno dell’Assunta (1860) e potè alzarsi soltanto il 7 ottobre, dopo 52 giorni di letto. Il forte tralcio della sua vita, spezzato, tornava a vivere con la fiducia riposta solo in Dio. Non più le vigne, non più i campi: altra messe il Signore le aveva preparato. Maria, indebolita dalla malattia, decise di imparare il lavoro di sarta, in modo da poter aprire un piccolo laboratorio per le ragazze di Mornese. Questo le avrebbe consentito, non solo di insegnare loro un mestiere, ma anche di avvicinarle a Dio. realizzò questo desiderio insieme all’amica Petronilla. Intanto, don Pestarino, pastore zelante, aveva proposto ad alcune giovani, fra le quali anche Maria e Petronilla, di consacrarsi a Maria come "Figlie dell’Immacolata". La casa adiacente alla parrocchia era stata fatta costruire da don Pestarino, che vi abitava, con l’intenzione di cederla con il tempo alle Figlie dell’Immacolata, perché vi potessero abitare insieme, quando fossero rimaste senza parenti. Qui, nell’ottobre 1867, le Figlie dell’Immacolata iniziarono a vivere in comunità. Le prime furono: Maria, Petronilla, Giovanna Ferrettino e Teresa Pampuro. Con loro vissero anche alcune altre ragazze. Maria, anche se gracile di salute, ebbe la piena approvazione del padre che, da autentico educatore cristiano, assecondò le buone inclinazioni di Maria, accompagnandola con il suo affetto. Maria Mazzarello non sapeva dove il Signore la stava conducendo, ma si fidava di Lui; è certo che sceglieva la via del radicalismo evangelico espresso nel semplice quotidiano e nella gioia del cuore innamorato di Cristo. Ivi restarono fino al 23 maggio 1872 per trasferirsi successivamente al collegio di Mornese, destinato loro da Don Bosco. Il 5 agosto dello stesso anno, Maria Mazzarello e 10 sue compagne diedero inzio all’Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, conscarandosi a Dio con i voti religiosi. "Voi, ora, appartenete a una Famiglia religiosa che è tutta di Maria; siete poche, sprovviste di mezzi e non sostenute dall’approvazione umana. Niente vi turbi. Le cose cambieranno presto [...]. Io vi posso assicurare che l’Istituto avrà un grande avvenire, se vi manterrete semplici, povere, mortificate" (dalla "Cronistoria dell’Istituto delle FMA"). Nel 1879 la Casa Madre venne trasferita a Nizza Monferrato, luogo più facilmente accessibile alle linee di comunicazione di quel tempo. Qui Madre Mazzarello morirà il 14 maggio 1881, all’età di 44 anni. Alla sua morte, l’Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausililatrice contava già 165 suore e 65 novizie sparse in 28 case (19 in Italia, 3 in Francia e 6 in America). La sua opera continua e le Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice fanno vivere ancora oggi il suo sogno in tutto il mondo.

SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20090108015131/http://www.mornese.pcn.net/mm.html

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Wandbild an der Südfassade des Don-Bosco-Kindergarten Baumkirchen mit Don Bosco und Maria Mazzarello, gemalt 2007 von Martin Juen aus Rietz

70° Canonizzazione di Madre Mazzarello

Il 24 giugno 2021 ricorre il 70° anniversario della Canonizzazione di Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, Confondatrice dell’Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice (1951-2021).

Redazione

24 Giugno 2021

Roma (Italia). Il 24 giugno 2021 ricorre il 70° anniversario della Canonizzazione di Maria Domenica Mazzarello, Confondatrice con Don Bosco dell’Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, proclamata Santa da Papa Pio XII il 24 giugno 1951, a Roma, nella Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano.

Suor Piera Cavaglià, Segretaria generale dell’Istituto FMA, nell’incontro con la Comunità FMA di Casa Generalizia a Roma (RCG), presentando l’iter del processo di Canonizzazione di Madre Mazzarello in vista del 70° Anniversario, ha sottolineato: «La Santità di Madre Mazzarello era un segno di grande benedizione su tutto l’Istituto FMA e sulla Chiesa, ma anche una chiamata a tendere “alla misura alta della vita cristiana ordinaria”» (Cf. Giovanni Paolo II, Novo Millennio Ineunte 31).

Nel dare la notizia all’Istituto FMA, circa un mese prima, la Vicaria generale Madre Elvira Rizzi, a nome della Superiora Generale dell’Istituto FMA, Madre Linda Lucotti, scriveva: “Care sorelle, parlate con tutti di questo gaudio della nostra famiglia religiosa, diffondete la notizia a tutti i ceti di persone” (Circolare del 5-4-1951).

Il 24 giugno 1951 nella Basilica di San Pietro, sono presenti Madre Linda Lucotti con il Consiglio generale, 32 Ispettrici d’Italia, d’Europa, d’America e del Medio Oriente, 3.000 FMA tra Direttrici, Suore, Novizie, Postulanti, Aspiranti, ragazze, genitori ed Exallieve delle FMA, Salesiani di Don Bosco, Salesiani/e Cooperatori/trici, e pellegrini provenienti da tutto il mondo; le due miracolate per intercessione di Madre Mazzarello: suor Maggiorina Avalle, FMA, e Carla Ramponi, di Castano Primo (Milano).

Lo stendardo della Santa, opera del pittore Gian Paolo Crida, apre il corteo papale con il Sommo Pontefice Pio XII accompagnato dal collegio dei Cardinali, Prelati e Officiali della Curia Romana, Abati, Vescovi, Arcivescovi, e si dirige all’Altare della Confessione. Sul frontone della Loggia esterna della Basilica è esposto l’arazzo con le due Sante educatrici canonizzate in quel giorno: Maria Mazzarello ed Emilia de Vialar, Fondatrice dell’Istituto delle Suore di S. Giuseppe dell’Apparizione.

Iter del Processo di Canonizzazione

La fama di santità, indispensabile per avviare il Processo di Canonizzazione, era viva tra le suore, le missionarie, ma anche tra i Salesiani di Don Bosco e la gente che l’aveva conosciuta. C’era fiducia nella sua intercessione e le FMA percepivano di aver avuto una Superiora Santa.

Sono due le principali tappe del Processo riguardanti la raccolta e l’esame della documentazione: il Processo Informativo Diocesano, disposto dalla Diocesi in cui muore la persona in fama di santità, e il Processo Apostolico, indetto dalla S. Congregazione dei Riti. Tra i due processi vi è il Decreto per l’introduzione della Causa (27-5-1925), a cui segue la discussione sulle virtù (Decreto di Venerabilità), e sui miracoli (Decreto di Beatificazione e Canonizzazione).

Il Processo Informativo Diocesano ha inizio nella Curia di Acqui Terme (AL) il 23 giugno 1911. Don Ferdinando Maccono fu scelto come Vice-Postulatore della Causa. Il Maccono lavorò con accuratezza, serietà di metodo storico e capacità letteraria per far conoscere ed amare la Madre. Nel 1918 venne nominato come Relatore della Causa (ponente), il Card. Giovanni Cagliero, SDB, figura molto significativa per la lunga familiarità con suor Maria Mazzarello.

Tra il 1918 e il 1924 si realizza il Processo sugli scritti di suor Maria Mazzarello. Nelle lettere raccolte e autenticate dalla Curia di Acqui, uno dei teologi evidenzia la “singolare cura” per la formazione delle consorelle, la sua umiltà e il suo ardente amore per Gesù, unico scopo della sua vita.

Per le testimonianze vennero interrogate 27 persone: molte FMA, accolte come educande nel Collegio di Mornese o come postulanti, tra queste Caterina Daghero, Enrichetta Sorbone, Eulalia Bosco; alcune signore, tra le quali alcune mornesine exallieve del laboratorio; delle Figlie dell’Immacolata; laici, tra cui i cugini Giuseppe e Domenico Mazzarello; tre Salesiani: Mons. Giovanni Cagliero, Mons. Giacomo Costamagna e don Francesco Cerruti. Una delle testimoni più significative era suor Petronilla Mazzarello, l’amica con cui Madre Mazzarello aveva condiviso il progetto dell’educazione delle ragazze e il graduale costituirsi e consolidarsi dell’Istituto delle FMA.

Nel 1923 vennero raccolte le Litterae Postulatoriae, in cui si domandava che suor Maria Mazzarello venisse elevata agli onori degli altari. Le lettere raccolte furono ben 558, provenienti dalle varie parti del mondo, a dimostrazione della sua popolarità.

Nel 1925 ha inizio il Processo Apostolico.

Nel 1929 a Nizza con la ricognizione della salma alla presenza di medici e persone competenti. Nel 1934 sulla questione del titolo di ‘Confondatrice’ attribuito dalla Chiesa a Madre Mazzarello.

Nel 1935 si entrò nella fase decisiva del Processo: la valutazione dell’eroicità delle virtù e la conferma con i miracoli. Furono presentati due miracoli: il primo avvenne nel 1916, con la guarigione della bambina Ercolina Mazzarello, residente a Mornese, che soffriva di paralisi spinale acuta a entrambe le gambe per una poliomielite. Il secondo, il 19 marzo 1926, con la guarigione della dodicenne Rosa Bellavita di Paullo (Milano), colpita da peritonite tubercolare ascitica. In entrambi i casi si tratta di guarigioni istantanee, complete e durature, inspiegabili dal punto di vista scientifico.

Il 3 maggio 1936, nella Sala del Concistoro, alla presenza del Papa, Pio XI, vi fu la lettura del Decreto dell’eroicità delle virtù (Venerabilità), fondamento di un processo di Beatificazione. Le sue spoglie vennero portare da Nizza Monferrato (AT) a Torino, provvisoriamente nella Cappella delle reliquie, in attesa di essere poste nella Basilica di Maria Ausiliatrice.

Il 20 novembre 1938 a Roma, nella Basilica di S. Pietro in Vaticano, si svolse la solenne Beatificazione, a cui erano presenti le due giovani miracolate: Ercolina Mazzarello, che aveva 26 anni e Rosa Bellavita, 24. Al Papa Pio XI fu offerto un reliquiario con la vertebra di Madre Mazzarello che commentò: «La Mazzarello, come don Bosco, aveva una buona spina dorsale. Lo dica alle suore che abbiano esse pure una buona spina dorsale».

Il Processo in vista della Canonizzazione riprese nel 1941. Il culto alla Beata Maria Domenica Mazzarello portava la sua impronta popolare: “È il popolo che va a lei, la sente una Santa sua, che comprende, che ascolta, aiuta con predilezione la gente della sua condizione”, scriveva il Vescovo di Asti, Mons. Umberto Rossi.

Il 13 marzo 1950, alla presenza del Papa Pio XII, venne data lettura del Decreto per l’approvazione dei miracoli: suor Maggiorina Avalle, FMA, guarita istantaneamente a Roppolo Castello (Biella), il 15 agosto 1941, da setticemia diffusa, quando i medici avevano detto che le restavano poche ore di vita e Carla Ramponi, di Castano Primo (Milano), guarita il 24 novembre 1946, all’età di 8 anni, da nefrite acuta, dopo che una FMA aveva posto sotto la testa della bimba, che pareva ormai morta, la reliquia di Madre Mazzarello.

Il 24 giugno 1951 si arriva alla Canonizzazione di S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello proposta al culto della Chiesa Universale. La Bolla di Canonizzazione termina con una esortazione rivolta a tutti, specialmente alle FMA di cui Madre Mazzarello fu la prima Superiora: “da lei imparino l’unica vera scienza, la quale – come ella scrisse – consiste nel farci santi”.

Celebrare un Anniversario di Canonizzazione è mantenere viva la memoria degli eventi di grazia e i legami di comunione, è continuare «a riconoscere che siamo circondati da una moltitudine di testimoni che ci spronano a non fermarci lungo la strada, ci stimolano a continuare a camminare verso la meta» (Papa Francesco, Gaudete et exsultate, n°3).

SOURCE : https://www.cgfmanet.org/infosfera/chiesa/70-canonizzazione-di-madre-mazzarello/

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, a Roma, nel quartiere Don Bosco

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, a Roma, nel quartiere Don Bosco

MARIA DOMENICA Mazzarello, santa

di Serena Veneziani - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 70 (2008)

MARIA DOMENICA Mazzarello, santa. – Nacque il 9 maggio 1837 nel piccolo borgo di Mornese, nell’alto Monferrato, da Giuseppe e Maria Maddalena Calcagno, contadini. Primogenita di dieci figli (di cui tre morti in giovane età) trascorse gli anni della prima giovinezza aiutando i genitori nel lavoro dei campi e prendendosi cura dei fratelli minori.

Ricevette in famiglia un’educazione fortemente religiosa che seguì con particolare trasporto e dedizione. Apprese il catechismo dal sacerdote D. Pestarino che si era formato in seminario a Genova (dove era diventato amico del teologo genovese G. Frassinetti) che le fu fino alla morte (1874) guida spirituale.

Nel 1854-55 nacque a Mornese, per iniziativa della maestra Angela Maccagno e di Pestarino, consigliati nella redazione del regolamento da Frassinetti, la Pia Unione delle figlie dell’Immacolata, cui M. aderì con la maestra Maccagno e altre tre giovani.

L’Unione, che nel 1857 ottenne l’approvazione vescovile all’interno della diocesi, aveva in particolare lo scopo di formare fanciulle devote, dedite all’aiuto del prossimo e alla propria maturazione religiosa interiore attraverso meditazioni, letture, esami di coscienza, oltre che con la frequenza ai sacramenti secondo il consiglio del proprio direttore spirituale.

Nel 1860 scoppiò in paese un’epidemia di tifo che M., allora ventitreenne, contrasse nell’assistere una famiglia di parenti. La malattia la portò quasi alla morte e, dopo la guarigione, ne rese la salute più cagionevole. Si dedicò in seguito con l’amica Petronilla Mazzarello a imparare e poi insegnare il mestiere di sarta alle fanciulle della zona, proponendosi nel contempo di educarle ai precetti religiosi. Poiché le richieste di apprendistato aumentavano, venne presto affittato un locale adeguato, adibito a laboratorio, accanto alla chiesa del paese, cui si aggiunse la fondazione di un ospizio per ragazze orfane e di un luogo di ritrovo per le giovani nei giorni festivi e nelle brevi pause del lavoro quotidiano.

Nell’ottobre 1864 Giovanni Bosco visitò Mornese con un gruppo di allievi ed ebbe modo di conoscere e apprezzare le iniziative dell’Unione. Poco dopo la partenza degli ospiti, Pestarino mise a disposizione di M., dell’amica Petronilla e di altre due giovani una nuova dimora affinché continuassero l’opera da loro iniziata attuando una scelta di vita comunitaria fuori dall’ambito familiare.

Attraverso la collaborazione con Pestarino e appoggiato nel progetto dallo stesso papa Pio IX, Giovanni Bosco maturò l’idea della fondazione a Mornese di un’istituzione religiosa femminile con le stesse finalità della Congregazione maschile dei salesiani. Tale progetto, facilitato dalla concordanza tra le linee guida salesiane e il progetto educativo e religioso che M. aveva portato avanti con le sue compagne, fu realizzato dapprima con la compilazione di un abbozzo delle costituzioni consegnate nel 1871 a Pestarino, poi, all’inizio del 1872, attraverso la trasformazione vera e propria delle figlie dell’Immacolata nell’Istituto delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, poi conosciute anche con il nome di salesiane di S. Giovanni Bosco.

M., in seguito riconosciuta accanto a Giovanni Bosco cofondatrice della Congregazione femminile, venne eletta il 29 genn. 1872 prima superiora. Fu tra le prime undici giovani che il 5 ag. 1872 fecero professione dei voti per tre anni (poi perpetui dal 1875) davanti al vescovo di Acqui, mons. G.M. Sciandra. Esse si trasferirono in un apposito spazio, il collegio di Borgoalto, in un primo tempo pensato da Giovanni Bosco come luogo di educazione maschile. Cominciarono così ad affluire a Mornese fanciulle per ricevere un’istruzione nella nuova istituzione, insieme con il necessario personale docente qualificato. Tra le discenti fu anche M., impegnata nello studio della scrittura e della pronuncia dell’italiano, parlato diffusamente nella zona solo in forma dialettale.

Le costituzioni della Società salesiana (cui era aggregato anche il nuovo istituto femminile) furono approvate in ogni loro parte dalla commissione cardinalizia e con decreto papale il 3 apr. 1874. In esse era prevista una dipendenza diretta del nascituro ramo femminile dal rettore maggiore del ramo maschile. Le regole per le figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, scritte da Giovanni Bosco, furono approvate all’interno della diocesi da mons. Sciandra nel 1876 e pubblicate per la prima volta a Torino nel 1878.

M. svolse l’incarico di superiora generale, affidatole nel 1874 e poi di nuovo nel 1880, con grande convinzione e coinvolgimento, ispirandosi ai principî salesiani, con una forte impronta mariana: il modello di maternità della Vergine venne riproposto nell’educazione delle giovani, in un’azione che univa dolcezza e fermezza, attenzione alla riflessione interiore e all’attività pratica nella società. Le sue doti organizzative nella gestione della nuova Congregazione furono notevoli, ottenendo dallo stesso Giovanni Bosco costanti lodi, fiducia e riconoscimento per la crescita dell’istituzione che si andava a porre, secondo i disegni e le aspirazioni di questo, come il corrispettivo femminile salesiano sia nei principî costitutivi sia negli intenti: rendere gloria a Dio e contribuire alla missione della Chiesa attraverso l’educazione delle giovani, basandosi sul «sistema preventivo» (comune quest’ultimo a una serie non trascurabile di pedagogisti ed educatori ottocenteschi), con attenzione particolare alle ragazze in situazioni di svantaggio, tanto nei paesi cristiani che in quelli in via di evangelizzazione.

Negli anni che seguirono le case dell’istituto si moltiplicarono, dapprima in Piemonte e in Liguria, poi in altre parti d’Italia, tra cui nel 1880 a Catania e a Bronte. L’attività delle appartenenti alla Congregazione, la cui casa generalizia, fino al 1879 a Mornese, fu poi trasferita da Giovanni Bosco a Nizza Monferrato, si diffuse presto anche fuori dai confini italiani: nel 1877 in Francia (Nizza Marittima) e in America Latina (Montevideo), dando il via a spedizioni di stampo missionaristico che investirono con successo, oltre l’Uruguay e l’Argentina, altri luoghi del continente americano non ancora toccati da missioni, come la Patagonia (1880).

M. aveva appena salutato, nel febbraio 1881, la terza spedizione missionaria in partenza da Marsiglia per la Terra del Fuoco, quando, colta da grave malore, fu trasportata per la convalescenza a Saint-Cyr, e quindi in Italia.

M. morì poco dopo, il 14 maggio 1881, presso la casa generalizia di Nizza Monferrato.

L’istituto femminile (che contava alla sua morte poco meno di 200 religiose e 26 case distribuite tra l’Italia, la Francia, l’Uruguay, e l’Argentina, di cui una in Patagonia) sarebbe divenuto autonomo dal ramo maschile salesiano nel 1907, ottenendo nel 1911 l’approvazione pontificia con incluso il decreto di lode. M. fu beatificata da Pio XI il 20 nov. 1938 e canonizzata il 24 giugno 1951 da Pio XII.

Fonti e Bibl.: Lettere e scritti di M. sono riuniti in Cronistoria dell’Istituto delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, a cura di G. Capetti, I-III, Roma 1974-77; Lettere di s. Maria Domenica Mazzarello, a cura di M.E. Posada, Milano 1975; M.E. Posada - A. Costa - P. Cavaglià, La sapienza della vita. Lettere di Maria Domenica Mazzarello, Torino 1994; P. Cavaglià - A. Costa, Orme di vita, tracce di futuro. Fonti e testimonianze sulla prima comunità delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice (1870-1881), Roma 1996. Si vedano ancora: G.B. Francesia, Suor M. M. e i primi due lustri delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, San Benigno Canavese 1906; G. Mainetti, M. M. Profilo, Torino 1933; Id., La prima discepola di s. Giovanni Bosco, Torino 1938; E. Ceria, La beata M. M., confondatrice delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, Torino 1938; G. Favini, Santa M.D. M., confondatrice e prima superiora generale delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, Torino 1951; F. Maccono, Santa M.D. M. confondatrice e prima superiora generale delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, I-II, Torino 1960; M.P. Giudici, Una donna di ieri e di oggi. S. M.D. M. (1837-1881), Torino 1980; L. Castano, Madre M., santa e confondatrice delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, Torino 1981; Attuale perché vera. Contributi su s. M.D. M., a cura di M.E. Posada, Roma 1987; A. Deleidi, La dimensione mariana della vocazione della figlia di Maria Ausiliatrice alle origini dell’Istituto, in Madre ed educatrice: contributi sull’identità mariana dell’Istituto delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, a cura di M.P. Manello, Roma 1988, pp. 27-36; M.E. Posada, Storia e santità. Influsso del teologo G. Frassinetti sulla spiritualità di s. M. M., Roma 1992; D. Agasso, M. M.: il comandamento della gioia, Torino 1993; Un progetto di vita per l’educazione della donna. Contributi sull’identità educativa delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, a cura di P. Cavaglià - P. Del Core, Roma 1994, pp. 67-78, 109-129, 131-162; La maestra delle novizie di fronte alle nuove istanze formative. Approccio interdisciplinare ad una identità complessa, a cura di E. Rosanna - G. Niro, Roma 1995, pp. 21-30, 193-206; L. Castano, Perfezione cristiana in don Bosco e madre M., Torino 1996, pp. 81-111; A. Caviglia - G.B. Lemoyne - A. Kothgasser, M.D. M.: profezia di una vita, Roma 1996; M. Ko - P. Cavaglià - J. Colomer, Da Gerusalemme a Mornese e a tutto il mondo. Meditazioni sulla prima comunità cristiana e sulla prima comunità delle figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, Roma 1996, pp. 96-173; S. Vrancken, Tempo della scelta. M.D. M. sulle vie dell’educazione, Roma 2000; Enc. cattolica, VIII, p. 134; Bibliotheca sanctorum, VIII, coll. 1061-1063; Diz. degli istituti di perfezione, III, coll. 1609-1613 (s.v. Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice); V, coll. 950 s. (s.v. M.D. M.); Enc. pedagogica, IV, pp. 7474-7477.

S. Veneziani

SOURCE : http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/maria-domenica-mazzarello-santa_(Dizionario-Biografico)/

Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello

Chiesa parrocchiale di Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, a Roma, nel quartiere Don Bosco. Immagine della santa titolare della chiesa.

IN SOLLEMNI CANONIZATIONE

BEATARUM CAELITUM AEMILIAE DE VIALAR ET

MARIAE DOMINICAE MAZZARELLO, VIRGINUM,

IN VATICANA BASILICA PERACTA

HOMILIA SANCTISSIMI DOMINI NOSTRI PIO PP. XII*

Die XXIV mensis Iunii, Anno Domini MCMLI

[. . .] Tum Sanctissimus Dominus Noster, omnibus aperto capite surgentibus, Ipse sedens in Cathedra mitramque gestans, de plenitudine Apostolici ministerii solemniter sic pronanciavit :

Ad honorem Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis, ad exaltationem Fidei Catholicae et Christianae Religionis augmentum, auctoritate Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, Beatorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli ac Nostra, matura deliberatione praehabita et divina ope saepius implorata, ac de Venerabilium Fratrum Nostrorum Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalium, Patriarcharum, Archiepiscoporum et Episcoporum in Urbe exsistentium consilio; Beatam Aemiliam de Vialar et Beatam Mariam Dominicam Mazzarello, Virgines, Sanctas esse decernimus et definimus ac Sanctorum Catalogo adscribimus, statuentes ab Ecclesia Universali illarum memoriam quolibet anno die earum natali, Aemiliae nempe die vigesima quarta augusti, et Mariae Dominicae die decima quarta maii, inter Sanctas Virgines non Martyres pia devotione recoli debere. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.

Venerabiles Fratres, Dilecti Filii

Dum sacrarum virginum vitam recolimus, quas hodie in hac tanta maiestate rerum hominumque celebritate sanctitatis insignibus decoravimus, earum imprimis menti Nostrae occurrit christianae fortitudinis virtus, qua eaedem inde a tenera aetate omnia vincere enisae sunt, quaecumque arduum praepediebant iter ad evangelicam assequendam perfectionem ad eamque omni ope suis sodalibus inculcandam. Paternam relinquere domum, terrenae huius vitae gaudiis, quae vel in edita vel in humili fortuna sperare licet, volenti ac generoso animo vale dicere, nihil aliud optare, nihil petere, nisi Dei obtemperare voluntati, qui eas ad grandia vocabat munera: haec omnia earum indolem ostendunt, quae, si ex natura fortis ac strenua fuit, fuit etiam superna gratia tam uberrime alita ac confirmata, ut mirandum in modum eniteretur.

Haec autem invicta animi fortitudo tum luculentissime in utraque virgine refulsit, cum opus fuit ut nascentes earum ductu moderationeque Communitates gravissimas omne genus difficultates eluctarentur ac superarent. Nullis enim neglectis curis, ac diuturnis exantlatis laboribus, litterarum ludi puellis educandis tenuioris praesertim condicionis multis in locis aperti sunt; eademque de causa collegia, opificia, pupillarum domus condita fuere. Praeterea sacrae utriusque Sodalitatis virgines, suae Antistitae inflammata caritate compulsae, angustiis, miseriis, aerumnis relevandis dederunt operam; ac corporuum curandis morbis tam suavi agendi modo se addixere, ut saepenumero languescentes etiam infirmorum animos in spem erigerent melioris aevi potiorisque felicitatis. Neque id satis; sed tam Aemilia de Vialar, quam Maria Dominica Mazzarello, cum vehementer percuperent christianum nomen propagare, in longinquas etiam regiones, evangelica veritate nondum collustratas, suas filias miserunt, quae Missionalibus praesto essent, eosque in recta potissimum puellarum ac mulierum institutione summopere adiuvarent.

Quibus in multiplicibus rebus gravibusque inceptis illud peculiari modo mirandum est: sacrarum, nempe harum virginum Antistitas, quamvis tantis distinerentur curis, sollicitudinibus, laboribus, quamvis tot periculis, angustiis, difficultatibus opprimerentur, nihil tamen umquam amisisse serenae illius suavisque tranquillitatis, quae innata quasi dos videbatur earum animi.

At innata omnino non erat; sed caelitus insita, sed superna alita gratia, sed incenso erga Deum, erga proximos amore confirmata ac solidata. Cum Divino enim Redemptore arctissime perpetuoque coniungebantur; quandoquidem cum eo familiariter colloqui eumque vehementer adamare iisdem in deliciis erat. Ex hac vero flagranti caritate vis praepotens eliciebatur, cui omnia vincere ac superare facile erat.

Id optime quidem aureus ille de imitatione Christi libellus explicat, in quo haec leguntur, intenta meditatione digna: « Magna res est amor, magnum omnino bonum; quod solum leve facit omne onerosuum (cfr. Matth. 11, 30), et fert aequaliter omne inaequale.

Nam onus sine onere portat, et omne amarum dulce et sapidum efficit.

Amor Iesu nobilis ad magna operanda impellit, et ad desideranda semper perfectiora excitat...

Nihil dulcius est amor, nihil fortius, nihil altius, nihil latius, nihil iucundius, nihil plenius, nihil melius in Caelo et in terra; quia amor ex Deo natus est (cfr. Io. 4, 7), nec potest, nisi in Deo, super omnia creata quiescere.

Amans volat, currit et laetatur; liber est, et non tenetur.

Dat omnia pro omnibus, et habet omnia in omnibus; quia in uno summo super omnia quiescit, ex quo omne bonum fluit et procedit » (De Imitatione Christi, 3, 5).

Multa habet saeculum hoc nostrum, quae ex pulcherrimis hisce ac salutaribus sententiis discat; multa, quae ex sancte vivendi exemplis harum virginum imitanda suscipiat. Homines hodie nimio saepius ab aeternis bonis ad fluxa et caduca deflectunt, in eademque se misere ingurgitant, quasi terrenae huius vitae voluptates sua ipsorum possint infinita explere desideria. Atque adeo id evenit ut subsequentium rerum varietate eventuumque vicibus perpetuo agitentur, utque mentes animique eorum idcirco semper inquieti fiant, quia in Deo, eum adamando, non requiescant. Cum vero — quod non raro accidit — ad virtutem et ad proba facinora iter difficilius evadit, undenam possunt necessariam vim fortitudinemque haurire, si cum caelestis gratiae fonte sitienter non cohaereant? Facile decidunt ac concidunt; cumque hac de causa eorum voluntates enervatae iaceant, non ad excelsa enituntur, sed ad ima potius infeliciter dilabuntur.

Omnes igitur, quotquot adestis, atque omnes etiam, qui longe absentes, vel radiophonicae artis ope haec verba Nostra quasi praesentes auditis, vel eadem aliquando per commentarios relata lecturi eritis, mentem animumque vestrum ad lucem convertite, quae a Sanctis hisce Caelitibus refulget, et ad superna tam vehementer vos invitat. Pro certo habeatis nihil esse hac in mortali vita virtute pulchrius, nihil amabilius, nihil magis frugiferum. Christiana namque virtus turbidos animi motus coërcet ac dirigit, voluntates temperat, et ad fortiter recteque agendum compellit; in anxitudine dat quietem, in laboribus solacium, tempestatibus serenitatem, et in apostolatus operibus, quae hodie praesertim non ad clerum solummodo pertinent, sed una cum eo ad laicorum etiam ordinem, studiosam illam impertit alacritatem, quam adipiscenda animarum salus ab omnibus postulat.

Hoc impetrent hae Sanctae Caelites a bonorum omnium datore Deo; ita quidem ut quasi sacrum ver novum hac in misera terra efflorescat; onmesque, suo cuiusque officio fideliter obtemperantes, intimae illius tranquillitatis lumine fruantur, quae quasi species sit atque auspicium sempiternae aliquando assequendae beatitatis. Amen.

*Discorsi e Radiomessaggi di Sua Santità Pio XII, XIII,

Tredicesimo anno di Pontificato, 2 marzo 1951 - 1° marzo 1952, pp. 167 - 169

Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana

SOURCE : https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/la/homilies/documents/hf_p-xii_hom_19510624_beate-de-vialar-mazzarello.html

Il portale ufficiale delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice : https://www.cgfmanet.org/

ICONOGRAPHIE CHRÉTIENNE

jeudi 14 mai 2015

Sainte MARIA DOMENICA MAZZARELLO, vierge religieuse et fondatrice de la Congrégation des Filles de Marie Auxiliatrice (Salésiennes de Don Bosco)

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