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A Dream Come True
It all started about two years ago when Sr. Nancy Michael was inspired:
"Wouldn't it be great if we could be at the Cathedral of Alba
(a small town in Northern Italy and the birthplace of the Pauline
Family) on December 31, 2000?" It would mark exactly 100 years
since Fr. Alberione's night of prayer
before the Eucharistic Master that gave birth to the Pauline Family
That dream came true and on December 26, 2000, 33 Daughters
of St. Paul from the US province left for Italy on a pilgrimage
that was packed with graces from beginning to end. We would like
to share with you some of the highlights of our trip that will live
on forever in our hearts.
December 31, 2000
Members of all the branches of the Pauline Family gathered in the
Cathedral of Alba for Mass and all night Eucharistic Adoration.
100 years ago James Alberione, then a 16-year-old seminarian, had
spent the night in prayer. He felt a particular light coming from
the Host and acquired a deeper insight into the invitation of Jesus,
"Come to me, all of you." He seemed to fathom the heart
of the great pope, Leo XIII, who in an encyclical letter was calling
the Church to center her life in Christ, the Way, Truth and Life.
He also felt the Church's call to spread the Gospel message to all
people, and the duty of being modern apostles, using the means exploited
by those who opposed the Church at that time-combating the press
with the press, organization with organization. He felt deeply obliged
to prepare himself to do something for the Lord and for the men
and the women with whom he would live.
On this night, we, the new generation of Paulines, prayed in thanksgiving
to the Lord for the inspiration that moved the heart of James Alberione
to leap out into this adventure of faith at God's invitation. We
knew that our lives too were a part of this great dream that was
about to enter into a new millennium.
As two of our Junior professed Sisters (who are also "blood
sisters") renewed their vows that night, each of us offered
anew our "yes" to the Lord, to be apostles of his Word
in the world of communications.
The First Paulines
Our pilgrimage took us to the birthplaces of Fr. Alberione,
Mother Thecla and Blessed Timothy Giaccardo,
the first Pauline priest. Each of them were born into devout, Catholic
families, poor and hardworking. We gathered for Mass in the chapel
at Mother Thecla's birthplace, a
small town called Castagnito.
The tomb of Mother Thecla Merlo. Her tomb is in the sub-crypt of
the Queen of Apostles Basilica which had been built under the direction
of Fr. Alberione to be a tribute to Mary, Queen of Apostles and
both an expression and an experience of our Pauline spirituality.
To Mother Thecla we especially prayed for those young women whom
the Lord is calling to be Daughters of St. Paul that they might
have the unbounded trust and apostolic fire that burned in her heart.
The tomb of Blessed Timothy Giaccardo.
The room where Fr. James Alberione was called into eternity. The
clock on the wall marks the time of his death. A plaque to the right
commemorates the visit of Pope Paul VI to the deathbed of our Founder.
Among the surprises that came our way, was meeting living relatives
of the first Paulines. Pictured below is a group of Daughters of
St. Paul with a nephew of Blessed Timothy Giaccardo and the widow
of a man baptized by our Founder at St. Bernard's Church in Narzole,
birthplace of Blessed Timothy Giaccardo.
Our pilgrimage would not have been complete without traveling the
road that St. Paul, our Father walked. With prayerful reverence,
we traced his footsteps along the Apian Way that he had walked centuries
ago as a prisoner coming to Rome. We visited the Mamertime Prison
(pictured below) where both Sts. Peter and Paul were held in chains
and where a miraculous spring of water appeared that allowed for
the baptism of the guards to take place.
And we couldn't leave Rome without expressing our love and gratitude
to Pope John Paul II! We were blessed to be at St. Peter's on January
6th,, the Feast of the Epiphany, for the closing of the
Jubilee Year. Thousands of people from all over the world were gathered
in the square. The Pope reminded us:
The Holy Door is closing but the heart of Christ is
always open, calling to us "Come to me, all of you!" Pilgrims
have come by the millions to Rome not bringing gold, frankincense
and myrrh but their heart rich with faith and full of the desire for
mercy.. As the magi contemplated the glory of God, so too we must
contemplate the face of Christ painted by the Divine Iconographer,
the Holy Spirit in the heart of every follower of Christ.
And as a crown to our already grace-packed trip, we were able to
have a private audience with the Holy Father. We presented him with
a basket of the latest fruits of our evangelization efforts: CD
roms, books, magazine, CD's--all bearing the Word of God!
Every step of our trip was beautiful. We thank the Lord for the
many blessings he gave us, the inspirations that filled us, and
the deepening of our call to be women apostles in the world of communications
as the new millennium unfolds. We treasured the rich opportunities
we had to meet our Sisters in the Italian province and to both receive
from and share with them the joy of being called to be Daughters
of St. Paul!
A big thank you to Sr. Mary Emmanuel Alves, FSP, who was our illustrious
photographer during our pilgrimage and made it possible for us to
savor our experiences and share them with you through her photos.
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