Good evening to you all. Thank you for sharing with us this celebration of thanksgiving to God at the close of this Calasanctian centenary. Today is a particularly special day for us, because we honour the memory of the birth into heaven of our venerated Father Celestino Zini, Piarist, Archbishop of Siena and founder. Our hearts are filled with gratitude towards him and, above all, we nourish the hope of making shine once again the rich treasure of his holiness, which has remained hidden for more than a century.
After celebrating in Siena the first centenary of his death, in May 1992, we realised that it was not possible to separate two souls whom God had united for ever in the building of the Kingdom of God.
And so then, as today, the whole Calasanctian Family was gathered, on 23 April 1994, when his venerated remains were transferred from Siena to the Church of the Adoration in our Mother House, so that he might be not only close to the tomb of Blessed Mother Celestina, also a foundress, but so that they might be together at the centre for ever.
Indeed, Bishop Celestino Zini, in Siena, on 25 May 1889, one month before the foundation of us, the Calasanziane Sisters, wrote the famous letter which we now know well and which has been the source of inspiration for the logo of this period of our centenary, entitled “Together at the Centre”.
Little daughter in Jesus,
I gladly accept the symbol of the circle, in place of that of the triangle. Therefore, from now on, we shall understand one another simply by saying: at the centre.
Siena, 25 May 1889.
These two souls were seeking to find the path, the way to remain together, that is, united, even though one was in Siena and the other in Florence, in order to fulfil God’s will: to be founders and guides of the new Calasanctian little plant that was still about to be born: we, the Calasanziane Sisters.
As then, so also today, these two souls are united for the Kingdom of God. Indeed, gathered as we are here in this Church of the Adoration, all of us have the grace of being able to contemplate the mystery of the union of two souls with our own eyes, because here, on this presbytery, their being together at the centre remains visible for ever.
Thank you to His Eminence, Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice, Archbishop of Siena, for having accepted our invitation to preside over this celebration closing our centenary. His presence here, on the day when we remember our dear Archbishop of Siena, Celestino Zini, is deeply significant and representative for all of us Calasanziane Sisters, for the Piarist Fathers and for the whole Calasanctian Family. Our sincere thanks.
I would also like to thank all of you, members of the Calasanctian Family, for having accompanied us during this Calasanctian centenary:
- the Piarist Fathers;
- the Cavanis Fathers, of the Congregation of the Schools of Charity;
- the Piarist Sisters, of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary, Religious of the Pious Schools;
- the Calasanz Sisters, Daughters of the Divine Shepherdess;
- the Sisters of the Company of Mary, Provolo Institute.
We also thank the presence of the children and some parents from our San Giuseppe Calasanzio Institute in Via Cento Stelle here in Florence; the presence of the children, lay people and sisters of the Mamma Bella Oasis in Campi Salentina, the Celestina Donati Oasis and the Linda Penotti Oasis in Rome, and the Giulio Salvadori Oasis in Milan. For us Calasanctians, a Eucharistic celebration shared with you — children, sisters and lay people — becomes more beautiful and complete. Any Calasanctian reality that did not have children at the centre would deprive all of us of the reason why we are Calasanctian.
I would like to thank all of you, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, who are here today to share this celebration with us, and also those who, very probably, are not physically here today, but are surely united spiritually, taking part online with a Calasanctian heart.
We conclude this centenary certain that we have lived a journey together at the centre. And my wish is that this centenary may make us together at the centre for ever.
M. Marilia Evangelista Lima, Sch. P.
Calasanziane Sisters
