Automatic translation from Italian, under review.
In the full heat of summer, in the church of Saints Peter and Paul, on Via Bentivegna in Palermo, we were welcomed by Fr. Mario Golesano to celebrate together with Sr. Diva, the first Filipina sister of the Institute, on the day of her perpetual profession!
The solemn Eucharistic concelebration was presided over by Most Rev. Domenico Mogavero, Bishop Emeritus of Mazara del Vallo, whom we have known since the very beginnings of the Foundation.
The festively decorated church welcomed many people who had come from everywhere: from Palermo and various parts of Sicily, from Veneto, from England, from Germany and… from the Philippines. For the occasion, besides the Filipino community present in Palermo, there arrived – after a journey of over 24 hours – Sr. Diva’s mother, Mamma Fe, and Kuya Dave, her eldest brother, representing the other three brothers and above all Papà Tito, who certainly took part in the celebration… from Heaven. Five years ago, in fact, in the midst of the pandemic, during Sr. Diva’s novitiate, he died, a month after the diagnosis of a fulminant cancer… he would have wished to accompany his daughter, dressed in light blue, to the altar… we are certain that he was at her side, in a very special way!
Perpetual profession is for a religious sister her wedding day, the day on which the pronouncing of the vows of obedience, chastity and poverty is sealed by the giving of the ring. It is a tradition of the Institute that the youngest receive the ring of the deceased sisters, a sign of the handing on of the faith… to Sr. Diva fell that of Sr. Zaira, who just a year ago, at the age of 49, departed for Heaven after a few months of suffering… Full of emotion, at that point, was the embrace between Mamma Fe and Mamma Maria, Sr. Zaira’s mother, who was sitting beside her… Heaven truly made itself present!
At the end, Sr. Nunziella reminded us, among other things, that evil often makes a great deal of noise, while good is silent, almost unnoticed, inviting all those present to live, to put it in the words of Pope Francis, the revolution of kindness!
The celebration continues at the Motherhouse, to thank God together for the gift of the first “Yes forever!” (in English) of our religious family… may Sr. Diva’s joyful yes be a transparency of the limpid joy of Mary, dawn of the world of Trinitarian communion!
Sr. Patrizia A.
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