Italy

Brief history of the Province

PROVINCE OF ITALY “ST. MAGDALENE DI CANOSSA”

Founded on 8^th May 2009, after a long awareness-raising process involving the Sisters, the Province of Italy “Saint Magdalene of Canossa” today presents a new face, unprecedented in some ways, and well-rooted in the past, in others.

The path of unification, aimed at developing an authentic sense of belonging to the Institute, mainly highlights two aspects: on the one hand, local identity emerges, which highlights that special touch of the Spirit that makes each of our presences unprecedented; on the other hand, that common face emerges which confirms all of us as being Daughters of Charity – Servants of the Poor.

The Province is distributed throughout the national territory in 13 Regions: Lombardy, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli – Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, Marche, Puglia, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily.

The communities are concentrated mainly in Lombardy and Veneto. The Institute was born in the latter region.

To date – 4^th October 2019 – there are 653 Sisters of the Province who live in 64 Communities and 2 apostolic groups.

14 of these Communities accommodate the presence of our dear “mountains of gems”.

Among the Communities, some stand out in particular for the preciousness of their origin and for the preservation of the history of the path of holiness of some Sisters:

• Verona – Mother House, heart and cradle of St. Magdalene’s charism
• Schio, Via Fusinato, blessed by the presence of St. Josephine Bakhita
• Pavia – Corso Garibaldi, place from which the first missionaries departed thanks to the tireless zeal of the Servant of God, M. Luigia Grassi

The unification has required the need for the process of downsizing more evident, in the awareness that the Lord, who calls us to live the sign of prophecy today, gives us and will give us the gift of light and the necessary tools.

Our Sisters have a lively and passionate perception of the value, passion and drive for the mission.

In general, we feel the urgency of collaborating with the local Church and with the institutions of the local territory.

While on the one hand we suffer for our fragility and smallness, on the other we perceive a strong energy that comes from the same faith in the Lord, who has called us all to live his measureless Love today.

Our time forces us to leave behind many things, but at the same time it makes us rediscover in depth the great wealth that we have, and is making us glimpse that it is still possible to be prophetic signs of the Lord’s love.

We are living through an “epochal” passage and we must continue the journey …