Before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament let us celebrate the merciful Love that ever since 21 November 1832 has shone upon us and still does so today. On this very day we are in a particular way called to be SISTERS OF

CHARITY in concrete solidarity with all persons in distress. Let us make our own their painful situation and present it to the Lord on their behalf. Let us address Him once again, well-disposed to listen to His silence… Let us take to Him our requests with the questioning and distress of our brethren and as we lift our eyes to the Cross let they be lit with new courage and hope. From Him let us recapture an attitude of unlimited trust and self-surrender to the Father, deeply confident in our prayer of intercession. Before Vespers we shall together say this prayer:

Saint Bartolomea,

you were granted the grace to start in Lovere

an Institute “totally founded on Charity”;

guide us at this moment of our history

so that with courage and passionate love

we may open out and respond

to the creative action of the Holy Spirit.

Vespers.

DAYS OF PREPARATION FOR 21st NOVEMBER

personal prayer

during Hour of Adoration of the Eucharist

«We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy», but at times we

are called to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a

more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives» (Misericordiae Vultus).

_____ FIRST DAY _____

[TOKEN: a lit candle, placed at the foot of the Blessed Sacrament] The lit candle is a reminder of the merciful love which one “day” had cast its

light on Bartolomea and Vincenza and every day on all of us.

OUR CONSECRATION IN THE LIGHT OF MERCIFUL LOVE

«...I meditated on the great mercies the Lord has always shown me in spite of my

ingratitude. I thought of my good upbringing, so many inspirations and the wise advice

of my Confessors, Teachers and companions, the Sacraments so frequently received, so

many practices of piety, and in return for it all, such a poor response! … Alas, my

God, I am monstrously ungrateful!» (Scr III, 177).

In Today, as we celebrate our vocation and the religious family that received

us, let us dwell with our thoughts on how we have responded to developing

events in the light of which our ‘blessed Institute cast its seed and spread its

branches; let us discover the underlying values that have always guided its

choices. It is a re-reading which puts us in an attitude of praise when we

recognize in this ‘journeying’ the «gift» that Bartolomea received as a

manifestation of the love of God for men of her time and of any time.

Glimpses into our history

Bartolomea was accustomed lo set apart some time to consider the grandeur

and the gratuitousness of the «favours» that she continually received from

God. She felt that she herself was wholly a gift, moulded into God’s saving

action in such a way that she could not help exclaiming: «Ah, Lord, even when

I offend you, you seem to close your eyes and turn a deaf ear so that you may

not lose the opportunity to love me and favour me!» (Scr III, 112).

This was a meditation that put her truly and fully before God: «Without any

merit on her part» God had favoured her with an excellent body, a soul made

in his own image, a considerable talent, a world so beautiful and so varied as a

dwelling-place, a good education; besides: Basptism and the other

Sacraments, especially the Eucharist; «With sacred espousals he had

admitted her into a greater intimacy with him…» (Scr III, 112).

In this hymn of thanksgiving Bartolomea loves to see included another gift

which, with the clear consciousness of a foundress, recognizes in all its

gratuitousness. She speaks of it in various texts. In the «Humble Offering» she

describes it in these terms: «Most lovable Jesus, in keeping with the advice of

the person who holds your place for me and with what you make me feel deep

within myself, it seems to me that, out of a special favour, you have destined

me as a poor, worthless instrument in the work you have planned for your glory

and for the benefit of your creatures in this town» (ib, 706). A gift that was not to

be used up in her own lifespan, but which from her was to light up and be

shared by many others, includimg us.

As she draws up her «Promemoria» her being is filled with sentiments of

gratitude and sweetness at the sublimity of this vocation which unites her more

intimately to Jesus the Redeemer: to «imitate what Jesus did in this world»,

and her exulting spirit is vitally aware of us, too, already present in her project:

«Jesus Christ would be granting us a wonderful grace if he would call us to

such heights».

With her, like her, let us cherish this «magnificat» which celebrates God’s

merciful love: as we realize our ‘littleness’ we become more deeply aware of

the greatness of God’s «gift».

«The Institute - says Bartolomea - is for the glory of God and for the benefit of

His creatures in this town». The prophetic word, reconfirmed various times in

Holy Communion and in prayer, points to a well-defined place and to human

events: forming part of the overall picture were «the poor orphan children

belonging to the Municipality of Lovere, the destitute and the sick of the Home»

in Porta Seriana (Mazza II, 355), the girls of the School and the parish, and

other persons in need, for whom Bartolomea’s caring, enterprising spirit was

so deeply moved.

The Holy Spirit chose to inhabit this particular segment of history and speak

through it; but his invitations and his gifts - as St Paul writes – are irrevocable

on his part.

The charism of our Institute, visibly at work in that early nineteenth century,

has catered to people through the happenings of a century and a half. It has

traversed so many lands and promises to have a future of inexhaustible vitality.

On our part, however, we must remain dynamically faithful in it. In that sense

we can interpret the insight Bartolomea, then seriously ill, had on the Feast of

Corpus Christi, 1833. As Our Lord passed in procession under the windows of

Casa Gaia, it seemed to her that He said: «Have no fear; this house is in my

hands» (Mazza II, 108).

Sr A. Mascotti—NSdU 1982, n 1, pp 4-11