Automatic translation from Italian, under review.
Here is some news from the “Buccheri La Ferla” Hospital of the Order of the Fatebenefratelli, a facility in Palermo where Sr. Marianna Lilia works as nursing coordinator and Sr. Anna Maria as spiritual animator in the chaplaincy.
Doctors, nurses, healthcare staff, technicians, but also chaplains and volunteers, are called in these days to give “more.” In some areas, especially in northern Italy, their lives seem to answer the words of Jesus, “Give them some food yourselves.” Even farther south these are certainly not ordinary days. The long applause that rose at noon two days ago from the windows and balconies of all Italy is a thank-you that comes from the depths of each person’s heart, but also a sign of the desire to stand beside those who are working in healthcare facilities, making their own contribution, which at this moment also means doing everything to limit the contagion.
So we are publishing some experiences related in emails or short messages.
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Dearest Mother, I am writing to update you on our adventure here at the Buccheri. “We are at war..!” I repeat every now and then, because it is truly a battle, not so much against an “unknown virus” as against all the human frailties that come to light in these emergency circumstances. Here we try to be a presence of love that, together with all the staff, seeks to find ways to face the emergency that is affecting the whole facility, but above all the Emergency Room, which is the hospital’s first filter. It is not easy! The first who are called to give their very best are the “boys,” as I call them, the nurses… who are willing to work long shifts, who cooperate with Sr. Marianna to work as well as possible, without wasting supplies (which at this moment are extremely precious), and who try to maintain a climate of serenity among themselves… in every situation. Sr. Marianna tries to reassure the nurses, who do nothing but thank her for it. Some check Twitter to see “what Mother says today” and to face the day. The morning prayer, which we broadcast through the television channel to all the hospitalized patients, is the support we try to bring to everyone; the encouragement to the staff of all the wards who continue to work for those patients hospitalized with cardiac, orthopedic or surgical conditions… and the good wishes to the mothers who give birth to their little ones, princes and princesses born in this time of CORONAVIRUS […]. Sr. Anna Maria
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The experience we are having here is truly unique; I do not know when I will manage to communicate it. Jesus in our midst is the first therapy, Jesus Forsaken the Beloved who continually seeks us and does not want to be left alone even for an instant. Warmest greetings, Sr. Marianna Lilia