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Rome, 14 February 2017.
Dearest Sisters,
What a great joy to be able to meet each other in this new ‘missionary appointment’! Many
meaningful responses have come from various Provinces regarding the day of prayer for Mary
Help of Christians Province (IPI). Communion with Piedmont, the land that formed and saw the
departure of the first six missionaries for Uruguay is an invitation to unite even more in
preparation for the GREAT MISSIONARY EXPEDITION to celebrate well the 140th
Anniversary of
FMA presence in South America.
This time, we wish to move to Uruguay, the land that became the “second country” of those
young sisters who arrived there with a heart that did not know difficulty, nostalgia, regrets… but
only the desire to love and bring Jesus to the ends of the world!
Today, February 14, we unite in prayer for Immaculate Conception Province (URU). All our
communities are invited to remember with affection and gratitude, the land of this Province which
received the first six FMA missionaries ad gentes in that faraway December of 1877, after about a
month of travel. As a concrete gesture, we can leave on the altar of the Chapel during the day,
Volume II of the Institute Elenco, opened to pages 190-191. It would be lovely if we would place
beside the Elenco, the names of the first missionaries written on a card: Sr. Angela Vallese, Sr.
Giovanna Borgna, Sr. Angela Cassulo, Sr. Angela Denegri, Sr. Teresa Gedda, Sr. Teresa Mazzarello.
With this gesture, we wish to raise to God and to Mary Help of Christians our prayer of
thanksgiving and of intercession for Uruguay and for Immaculate Conception Province.
Among the episodes that have marked the events of the first missionary expedition, we find one
that is very lovely and meaningful, and which is narrated in Volume II of the Cronistoria.
Soon after, while we were standing around the Superiors for these last moments of good-bye, Fr.
Cagliero came with another beautiful painting: Mary Help of Christians holding in her arms a
charming, smiling Baby. He told us jokingly, “I stole it from the sacristy in Valdocco. I stole it for
you. It was painted by a man who was suffering from an illness of his eyes and was becoming
blind. He went to Don Bosco who, after guiding the brush in his hand on the canvas for a few
moments, he blessed it. From that moment, the man found he was perfectly cured and he gave us
this beautiful Madonna”. Thus, it is a miraculous picture. It makes one happy only to look at it. Don
Bosco blessed it and he sends it to the missionaries. “Bring it with you and the Madonna bless you
and accompany you on your voyage”.
In fact, that picture of Mary Help of Christians with the smiling Baby is still found at Villa Colón
(Montevideo), in the Chapel of the Provincial House. We entrust our desire to the sisters who live
there and in the nearby communities: we ask you, dear sisters, before this picture that crossed the
ocean together with the first missionaries, to pray to the Madonna while looking at the eyes of the
smiling Baby. Pray to the Madonna asking for a re-awakening of missionary vocations ad gentes
for the Church and for the Institute: Vocations of the same caliber of the first six missionaries;

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that they may be many and fired with missionary passion. In addition, all of us with you, dearest
sisters of Uruguay, will pray for the people and the cultures that still today await the proclamation
of the Gospel, that still today await to know Jesus, even though unaware and without knowing
how to express it.
In conclusion, I gift you with the testimony that came precisely from Immaculate Conception
Province (URU) regarding the impression left by the first six missionaries in that reality. I invite you
to read it, praying and meditating with the heart of the one who lived it and wrote it with her
heart:
“We have had the privilege of welcoming the first group of missionary sisters who left
Mornese in 1877, and even the sisters of the second missionary expedition in 1879, who
had lived and were formed at the school of Mary Domenica and of the first community.
What impression did they leave?
The first one that comes spontaneously to mind is the simplicity of life, the simplicity of
Mornese that made possible a familiarity of comportment, of closeness, of spontaneity.
This is clearly reflected in the letters of the first missionaries when they wrote to Mother. This
simplicity allowed them to live with joy the fatiguing work and the poverty of the early
days. I believe that simplicity is the heritage they left us and which is immediately noticed
by those who visit our land: “We can see that the first sisters of Mornese really arrived
here!”
In addition, there is also a strong sense of belonging to the Institute, love for Don Bosco
and for Mother Mazzarello. It is worth noting that with the few means available at that
time, they were able to remain faithful to the charism and even enriched it with the
contribution of our own culture. And not only this: they succeeded to transmit it to the new
generations and to the young. Yes, the youth of Uruguay to this day are vibrant with the
charism and the spirituality of Mornese; they too feel they are the ‘sons and daughters’ of
Maìn.
There is no doubt that the feeling of being ‘family’ was made possible by the presence of
Mother Mary Help of Christians, by the presence of the Smiling Baby. Our first missionaries
were always aware of the treasure they had brought with them to America: the image
blessed by Don Bosco. To Her they entrusted themselves totally and from Villa Colón they
made love for and trust in Mary Help of Christians radiate. This was and continues to be a
characteristic of all the FMA of Uruguay and of the past pupils. Mary has always gone
before us and still goes before us, opening the way for the proclamation of Jesus and of
His Gospel.
This first group of missionaries was made up of six very young sisters, three of them were
only 17 years old. They were formed in the atmosphere of the house of Mornese that
vibrated with Don Bosco’s missionary dreams. “I will go” was repeated with evangelical
naturalness and this spirit of “missionary availability” came with them as they arrived in our
land. The handkerchief Giovanna Borgna had taken on the ship, and which had fallen
from the trembling hands of Don Bosco, was certainly a sign of this availability for the
mission that the Saint inculcated in his sons and daughters. Thus, they were always ready
to ‘leave’ and bring the message to other lands. They knew how to contagion with this
same passion, the vocations from Uruguay that were born; young sisters departed from

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Uruguay to bring the Good News to the young people of Brazil, of Terra del Fuoco, of
Paraguay.
This missionary availability that is the essence of our charism and the origin of our Province,
fills us with ‘holy pride’ because from Uruguay, many sisters left who knew how to bring the
gift of the charism to other peoples. It is certainly a dimension to be further developed, to
be made to grow. We must enable it in our actual reality so in need of the presence of
Jesus. Celebrating 140 years is not only a glory for us, but also a commitment”. (M. F.)
A sisterly embrace together with a grateful thank you for your involvement and for your readiness
to celebrate well the 140th
anniversary of the First Missionary Expedition.
In the missionary heart of Don Bosco and of Mother Mazzarello,
Councilor for the Missions
Painting of Mary Help of Christians blessed by Don Bosco and brought to America (Uruguay)
by the first FMA missionaries ad gentes.