Today, March 18, we remember Blessed Celestina Donati (1848-1925), foundress together with Fr. Celestino Zini Sch.P. of the Congregation of the Poor Daughters of St. Joseph of Calasanz. Suore Calasanziane.
It is possible to distinguish in Mother Celestina’s experience the power of discernment as an essential dynamic in the Christian life, capable of energizing not only the search for God’s will for one’s own life, but also the concreteness of the vocational response.
Desiring to “live only for God and to please him in everything” (CCal 34), Mother Celestina began an unprecedented and innovative search that, thanks to the wise and prudent mediation of Father Zini, would take shape in the foundation of a new Calasanzian Institute at the end of the 19th century. The educational option of the first sisters under the shared leadership of Fr. Zini and M. Celestina would deepen, after the death of the founder, in a way of unconditional acceptance of the most disadvantaged girls deprived of social and family support.
The transformation of the school into an “oasis” capable of providing the little ones with an integral environment that allows them to develop in fullness, gives the Calasanzian-Celestinian project the opportunity to educate “in full time”, making school a natural extension of family life.
“Only those who love, educate” will be the motto repeated and lived by Mother Celestina, who makes of her heart the space of maternal welcome for so many little ones in need of school, home and the encounter with Jesus to begin a history of relationship and friendship with Him. A Calasanzian heart that offers a new and good way to educate in piety and letters.
To know more: www.calasanziane.org
