This evening could be defined as "a true historical meeting". It was the first time that the young people who animate this Salesian house (the group of university students who collaborate in the animation of the work’s initiatives and pastoral care) could experience a moment of deepening and knowledge of such a significant figure for one’s own personal history.
The meeting was part of the annual training programme of the "Community Animators - ADS" which this year focuses on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
The evening was divided into three moments:
– A first session was entitled "The Scent of Oblation", which highlighted the formation of Giuseppe Cognata from the early years up to his episcopal ordination and the first fruitful times of ministry in the diocese of Bova.
– It was then continued with a second session titled, "The White Martyrdom", in which one learned to recognize the depth of the spiritual life of the servant of God capable of enduring difficult people according to the most genuine Salesian spirituality and the sensitivity of the institute of the oblates he founded.
– To conclude, the last session was on the theme, "Joy and Fruitfulness", which highlighted how the silent oblation of this bishop generated (and is still generating) so much light of sanctity and so many good fruits for the universal Church, the Salesian congregation, and the SOSC institute.
It was a meeting in which there were moments of testimony, videos, songs, periods of silence, questions, and moments of reflection alternated bringing much joy to the participants. At the end, it is Msgr. Cognata who addressed the conclusive words, through an extract of the letter he wrote from Rovereto to the Oblate nuns in June 1941:
"Each Christian is the Temple of God, enlivened by divine Love, which is spread in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. It is this Love, made Life of our life, which teaches us everything we need for our sanctification since it gives us: the sacred fear of the slightest offense to God. Living piety, which is the continuous union of children with the Father; true Science, which makes us see everything in the Light of God; The victorious fortress of natural weaknesses and all trials and temptations; enlightened counsel, which makes us truly prudent in directing our actions to the ultimate goal of life; the precious intellect, which raises us to the sublime visions of the Faith; perfect Wisdom, which leads us to generous uniformity with the Will of God, as the supreme sincerity of Love ... let us invoke the Holy Spirit with great fervor this month, so that the fire of Love may kindle in our hearts, that there may be the Light of teaching, Wisdom in the practice of life, Consolation in bitterness."
