I am grateful for this beautiful opportunity to honour the memory of so many Sisters who have formed my heart as a Daughter of Charity, Servant of the Poor. Attracted by a call beyond the “known”, with courage and trust they embarked without looking back, in a farewell full of hope. Without looking back, like the merchant in the Gospel, they found the pearl of great value and sold everything to keep it.
When I was asked to write a testimony of the missionary Sisters, immediately my mind and my heart crossed the threshold of my present to move me back to my childhood. I was 5 years old when I passed in front of the dear Canossian Institute of San José in Berisso, hand in hand with my mother. I told her without knowing the reason, that I wanted to go to that school and in March 1967 I entered the Children’s Nursery. How could I have imagined that our Mother and Foundress was waiting for me there through her Daughters, who not only educated me in the faith, but also helped me discover God’s plan for my life.
If I wanted to express with an image what the Sisters of the school were for me, I would choose that of a stainedglass window (vitreaux), because for me they were rays of light that illuminated the richness of the Charism. It is impossible to forget M. Maria Alghisi, the Headmistress of the school, tireless in her dedication. She transmitted to me the passion of making Jesus known and loved. Not being tall, she would stand on a bench to reach all the students with her gaze. For us it was very natural to see her stand up higher for the prayer at the beginning of the school day and every evening on the bench to greet us. Once, after finishing school, I was in class looking for the rubber that I had lost; the Sister noticed my concern and appeared with an rubber and a gold bracelet: that evening I returned home very happy.
At 2.45 p.m. the bell rang for recreation and with a group of friends we ran up the stairs of the Chapel (before getting there, we encountered a large Crucifix illuminated by the stainedglass windows of Our Lady of Sorrows) to make a Visit to Jesus, as we had been taught and there, concentrated in prayer, was also M. Angelita Faedo. This Sister invited us to sit next to her to pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be; then, after a cordial greeting, she sent us to play in the playground. It was our daily appointment.
What emotion I felt when, years later, when I went to the Provincial House and, after having agreed with the Provincial M. Juana Ciusani the date of my entry into the Postulancy and she invited me to breakfast… and at the table, sitting next to me, there was M. Angelita! Without a doubt, those visits to Jesus, with her, influenced my vocation.
If we needed a map or to buy some school supplies we went to the little Caritas shop: there we always found M. Maria Barlasina. We liked to go shopping in her little bookshop and she always had some medals in her pocket to give us. Often helped by a group of lay people, she assisted with dedication, a long line of people in need; when she found herself without supplies she looked up at the painting of the Sacred Heart and aloud asked the Lord for help for her poor loved ones: Providence did not keep her waiting…
Another place we liked best was the reception, where we found M. Maria Dadda; she stopped her work and listened to us attentively. Other times there was M. Pasqua Varagnolo who transmitted joy and good humour to us.
María Luisa Peruco, my Middle school teacher, with creativity and maternal wisdom accompanied our passage into adolescence. I remember that she filled the classroom library with books that helped us understand the changes in our growth: we felt listened to and very much followed.
When the colour and scent of nature announced the month of September, so loved by all of us, the Ave Maria of the Crown of the Sorrowful Virgin helped us meditate on her 7 sorrows and so we learned to love and honour our Virgin Mother.
The Sisters taught us to offer little paper flowers for the mission Ad gentes. We coloured the roses drawn on a simple sheet of paper and we painted them all and when we gave a few of our coins for the mission, we became godmothers to some African children. We chose a name and they gave us the diploma of being a godmother, with the commitment to pray for our godchild.
The courtyard was filled with scent in the month of Mary, with our sprig of white flowers we paraded in front of the statue of the Madonna to leave it at her feet while we sang “We offer these flowers to Mary, who is our Mother.”
Our Sisters perhaps did not know so many high-sounding words, but with their lives they transmitted to us the spirit of the Institute, as recommended by our Mother Foundress, St. Magdalene.
Many other names form the tiles of my “charismatic vitreaux”, thee are many other experiences I could share… Today, looking at the path travelled, I have nothing else to say except “Thank you Lord, for all the Sisters who made me discover the precious pearl of the Charism; thank you because they taught me that a Daughter of Saint Magdalene has the heart of a Mother capable of embracing the entire world.”
Miriam Mostafà
Religious Province “Nostra Signora di Lujan”-
Argentina-Paraguay