Blessed James Alberione

Anything Can Begin With A Meeting

By Angelica De Meis

These were the first words I read on the little brochure of the Apostoline Sisters back in 1991 when I was 17 years old. It announced a series of retreats for young people who wanted their life and joy to be "complete." Complete? I had a lot going for me as it was. I had a good family, I loved school, and I was involved in many activities in the parish of the town near Rome where I come from. The impression and feelings I felt that very first day are still with me now that I am a postulant of the Apostoline Sisters (Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles). The welcoming atmosphere, the sisters' joy of belonging to Christ and their deep peace made me feel at home. Little by little I began to know about their charism and mission in the church: to help everybody (especially young women and men) to discover their vocation, that call of love that alone can fulfill their lives and express the full potential of their being human.

The Apostoline Sisters are the most recent institute founded by James Alberione. The first sisters made their first profession of vows on September 8, 1959 in Castelgandolfo, Italy.

Our Pauline spirituality is centered on Jesus the Master, Way, Truth and Life, and inspired by St. Paul. We refer especially to Mary, Queen of the Apostles, because of her complete acceptance of God's project for her life and because she's the Mother of Jesus, the first Apostle, and of the apostles of all times.

In our Constitutions (our rule of life) we read: "Mary is the one who from the Annunciation to Pentecost fully realized God's call; and in her total availability of faith and service, she not only precedes every man and woman who is called, but walks along with them with her maternal love" (art. 94). We also look up to her to know how our femininity and mission in the Church can work together. In the Final Document for the first General Chapter in 1997, we wrote: "Our Founder entrusted us to Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and he gave her to us as a 'sure guide,' who shows us Apostolines how to incarnate the vocation and mission we have received. We therefore feel our responsibility to assume the attitudes that make our apostolic contribution characteristically feminine: mediation and discretion, gratuitousness and acceptance, industriousness and thoughtfulness. It was these same attitudes that characterized the Mother of all vocations."

That was what attracted me so much: I discovered in myself how much I yearned to be "complete," to find out the one thing I was meant for, the place where I belonged. So I began to spend more time with the sisters, in order to explore their lifestyle and see if it could be mine as well. I felt accepted as I was, with my strengths and limits. I could perceive that all they cared about was my happiness, and they were there to help me to find it.

I graduated from college and thought I knew what to do with my life. All of a sudden, though, I was restless. Nothing was working as I had planned, and I felt I had to prove myself, to see if I could make it on my own strength. Before giving to someone else, I had to find myself. So I accepted a job I was offered teaching Italian in a middle school in Boston, Massachusetts. In the two years I was there, I could see my life blossoming: I loved the place and the people I met, and I thought that maybe I had found my heart, my treasure.

But that was MY dream, not HIS. During the last couple of months I was there, I grew restless again: there was something missing, something was tugging at my heart….Someone was knocking on the door. I realized that in spite of loving Boston, my friends, and the life I had created for myself, I wasn't at peace. I had to give religious another try. I had to face my fears and know where I belonged. When I wrote my resignation letter, I cried my eyes out: my heart was breaking, my mind kept telling me I was crazy, but my gut feeling was that I was doing the right thing. I was at peace. I was leaving my dream behind; there were no certainties, only faith in the One who was leading me.

When I got back to Castelgandolfo near Rome—after wrestling with God with all my strength—I had to say yes. I had found him, his love and his faithfulness. God was asking me to serve him in all those people who can't find meaning in life. He was calling me to reach out to all those who are searching for the truth of their existence, to all those who are finding difficulties with their call….He was inviting me to witness to the most beautiful love story there is: the one between God and his child.

I learned how to ask the right question: It's not WHERE I belong, but to WHOM. Isn't this true in marriage, in the priesthood and, in fact, in any walk of life? I am now walking this new path, full of gratitude for what I have been given, but "it is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.

Straining toward what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit towards the goal, the prize of God' upward calling, in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:12-14).

Home | www.alberione.org | Contact Us