Already on October 5, 2021, immediately after the election, the newly elected Mother had said to the Chapter Assembly: “It is a mission greater than me. I trust in the Lord, and I entrust myself to Mary Help of Christians whom I feel very present. For this, I say Yes and I thank you for your trust. I know that it will be a path that we shall travel together.”
Then, on the evening of Sunday 11, she expressed the following words with serenity and clarity:
“The heart experiences many different feelings, but there is one above all the others: and it is gratitude. Thanks to the Lord for having called us to this wonderful Institute that Our Lady wanted. And this is a beautiful certainty that accompanies us. When we say 'Mary is present in our life, in the life of the Institute' we are telling the truth! (...)
Mother Mazzarello used to say to the sisters: 'let's behave and live as if we always had Mary beside us'. And we really do, even if we don't see Her! (...)
So my thanks is for that. And then for each of you: for the amazement in every meeting, for the fraternity, the cordiality, for the welcome that is breathed every day and which makes the universality of the FMA Institute visible. This gives us strength to live in the present and to look to the future with the certainty that it is Mary who guides us, and is the source of our fidelity. (...)
Reading the Constitutions, we notice how the Marian dimension is transversal: the reference to Mary is present in all the articles. And we are constantly invited to be 'Helpers' too. Art. 4 says for the young - girls and boys - but I would say, 'starting from our communities'. (...)
So, looking to Mary and living in communion with Her really means finding the source and also the strength of our fidelity; and also of this desire we have, to be generative communities: of life and vocational fruitfulness. (...)
Therefore I entrust all of you to Her, and to you I entrust Her, so that we can truly keep Her in mind and let Her accompany us and make us docile to the Word of the Lord.”
