Germany – It was not quite time for our vacation so we kept our staff and cooperators busy by packing and loading relief goods which, in cooperation with the Lazarus Order, are being shipped to Romania. Some of them are designated for the Guanellian sisters in Jasi and Scheia, Romania. During the annual vacation we invited our cooperators to our regional garden show which this year was held in the charming little city of Nagold in the Black Forest, Folk music, cold beer and blonde ladies in traditional costume were the highlights for our German and Italian friends; we ended the day with a pizza dinner.
This year we assisted with the celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. With the German ladies of our parish, we collected herbs in the neighboring fields and gardens and made fresh flower bouquets. More than 100 bouquets were placed before the beautiful altar in Saint Magdalena Basilica, the mother Church of the Guanellian Procura and of the St. Lazarus Knights. In the near future we’ll celebrate our meetings and religious festivities. Although it is not a civil holiday, for the Catholic population of our district, it is a great event. The flower bouquets were offered to those present. Small donations were collected for the Baby Hospital of Bethlehem, proof that after 2000 years no Catholic believer forgets the Holy Child, son of the Blessed Virgin on the annual feast of her Assumption into Heaven. This ceremony brought me back to November 1, 1950 when, as a young seminarian in Rome, I attended the proclamation of this important Dogma by Pope Pius XII. At that time at least fifteen Guanellian seminarians were serving Mass in Saint Peter‘s Basilica; we stood behind the Baldachin of the Pontiff in front of more than 150,000 pilgrims from around the world. Just 5 years after the end of World War II.What an opportunity! I still thank the Lord and his Beloved Mother for having granted me such a privilege!
Since the world cannot be changed simply with empty words after the Assumption Mass, the cooperators gathered to discuss the so called “Don Mimi Testament.” He wrote to the German Procura just fifteen days before he died revealing his deepest wish: starting a project for children of lepers in Mindanao, Philippines. The project will be submitted on October 12th to Kinder Mission at Aachen, who made many donations to Guanellian projects in Legapzi and Mexico City in 2011.
May Mary of Nazareth cover all our benefactors, cooperators and supporters under her protective mantle during this blessed and relaxing time.
Servants of Charity 