Jubilee Magnificat

Every year, at the beginning of the 10th month, on the 7th of the month, to remain in the biblical style of indicating an important date, the heart of every Pastorella fills with a profound and grateful joy: the dies natalis of our Congregation.

We belong to that "night of light" in which a "dream" took shape in Blessed Alberione's mind: "not a group of ordinary nuns, but rather a group of Pastorelle Sisters who understand and carry out the Pastor's mission" (AD, Appendix IV, 309).

This is the commitment that underlies the new Congregation, the fourth in the Pauline Family, "apostolic ministry in the midst of the world: The Pastorelle Sisters share a single mission with the Pastor Priest; they share the same concerns, the same goals, the same means" (Idem, 313).

Today, October 7, 2025, we meet in Verona at the House of the Pastorelle Sisters, Parish of Mary Immaculate. We are a group of "Jubilarians": Cesarina Pisanelli and Annalisa Lionello; Assunta Perdoncin, Celestina Costantini, Francesca Lazzarini, Gabriella Leonardi, Lucia Barbieri, and Rita Nardon; Luigia Cuffolo and Giuseppina Giovannini; Tarcisia Magarotto, who joyfully gives thanks to God for her 75th anniversary of religious consecration. We are celebrating not only the Jubilees of consecrated life, but with the entire community, some Sisters from the Negrar community, members of the Pauline Family, friends, relatives, and parishioners, we are also joyfully celebrating another precious anniversary: ​​the day of the Congregation's birth, exactly 87 years ago, October 7, 1938. This is not just a stage in time but the preservation of a mystery of love, a time of belonging to the Good Shepherd, in service, prayer, and total offering. Magnificat!

The central moment of the day was the Eucharist celebrated in the parish, presided over by Father Valdecir Tressoldi (of the Institute of the Poor Servants of Divine Providence) and Father Umberto Pellini (Salesian). In his homily, Father Valdecir emphasized the importance of knowing the people entrusted to us, the flock of Jesus the Good Shepherd, the sheep, and making ourselves known to them, keeping each one's name in mind and in our hearts. "I know my sheep" (John 10:14).

He emphasized three points from the Gospel of Luke 1:26-38:

"Rejoice": the joy of the call.

How much joy fills the heart of the person who hears his name pronounced with the voice of love! It is a joy that is the fruit of a calling gaze; the joy of those who, even amid hardship, have discovered that the Lord's faithfulness is stronger than any frailty, the joy of feeling inhabited by God.

"Here I am": the response of faith.

Here I am, the key word of every consecrated life, not a word of the past, but a daily prayer, renewed in silence, in community, in service. It is the word repeated in every forgiveness given, in every act of charity, in the faith lived in daily life.

Like Mary, who at the Angel's announcement asks, questions, but trusts. And God works wonders in our poverty.

"The Lord is with you": the promise that sustains.

Every consecrated man and woman carries this certainty in their heart: The Lord is with you. Every consecrated person is like a little Nazareth where the Word becomes life. Today we celebrate God's faithfulness, and our perseverance is the fruit of his mercy.

Fr. Valdecir's wish for us was to be a prophetic and significant sign among the people of God entrusted to us and, like Mary, who stands beside the cross, to renew our trust and our abandonment in the heart of the Good Shepherd, in the certainty that our life is in his hands; it is he who guides it, and to him we return it.

The day ended in another festive atmosphere: the reception, which, in addition to all of us, was attended by many people from the parish, relatives and friends, happy to share such an important occasion with us.

Sr. Rita Nardon, sjbp