Remembering my missionary vocation allows me to remember the Love of God, always surprising, original, unique… How many graces I received.
A few days ago, we recalled my entry into the postulancy, many years have passed, but the love, the fervor, the mystery of God lived in faith does not change and always makes me happy.
“…for God loves the cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9,7)
This was the Word of God that accompanied me in the preparation for my first religious profession celebrated on 14 September 1979, the vigil of the feast of Mary Mother of Charity at the foot of the Cross. as St. Magdalene called her.
I was born into a simple family, from working parents, we are four children in the family, I am the eldest.
“People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16,7).
No one could understand my vocation, but remembering the words of St. Magdalene “The strength of vocation overcomes any difficulty” was not impossible. The pain then translated into blessings for the whole family.
Thinking now about the courage, the “strategies” and ways I used to be able to tell my family about my desire and being able to leave everything for the Lord, without knowing where He was leading me, was a true miracle of God’s love. I never been afraid, I never regretted it. The great desire to imitate Jesus, to be a missionary, was very strong, it was an adventure that began and that I wanted to complete. The only doubt I had was, if I will be able to learn another language to make Jesus known.
The film of Father Damien I’ve watched when I was a teenager, convinced me that I could follow Jesus, go where he wanted, to love more and love everyone and not reduce my life to that nucleus of people who instead had many possibilities and many human and spiritual helps.
The presence of the Salesian Institute, close to my home, was very important and a great help to made me decide: the daily Mass, the accompaniment of the Salesian Fathers, their friendship and love for young people, aroused in me the desire to seek what the Lord wanted from me.
In a spiritual retreat of young people in Vimercate (Mi), I saw an inscription on the door of the convent: “Canossian Sisters Foreign Missions” was the light and the clear sign of my search, the illumination of how to live my dream and my vocation.
The Lord called me among the daughters of Saint Magdalene of Canossa. In one of his expressions he said:
“The spirit of the Institute is to be stripped of everything and everyone and willing to go for divine service anywhere, everywhere and farther away. (Al Card.Zurla 27.11.1824 Ep.IIpag. 593)
On January 6th, the day of the Epiphany, Mission Day, after almost 4 months from my first religious profession, the Eugenio Costa ship was waiting for me in Geneva for the trip to Argentina that lasted 15 days. It was quite a complicated journey also because I suffered with seasickness, but I arrived well and willing to do anything.
Being a missionary where He wants, and being a Canossian, was the realization of my dream. For many years I have been with young people in schools, pastoral care and in different communities: in the center of Argentina, in La Plata, in Berisso, in the north in Posadas, in the unforgettable Paraguay, in Encarnacion, and currently in the South in Punta Alta, near Bahia Blanca.
In all these years I have been able to realize my dream, to meet so many people, to make Jesus known and to bear witness to the love of God who loves without measure and needs collaborators who continue his mission today in the world.
I conclude by expressing my thanks to the Lord for the graces I have received, thanks to the Institute to be able to become a Canossian Daughter of Charity, who in the Church shares the charism of the greatest Love contemplating Jesus on the cross, together with Mary at the foot of the cross who educates us every day in being mothers and sisters of humanity.
M. Mirella Fiorentini, Canossian Missionary
From the Province of Argentina-Paraguay