Holy Week in Mornese

Reliving the Experience of Our First Sisters


The Washing of the Hands
replaced the traditional
Washing of the Feet

 We are a privileged group no doubt! This month has been a month of blessings. We had the added joy of celebrating Holy Week in Mornese, the land of our origin and of our co-foundress, Mother Mazzarello.

On Holy Thursday, instead of the traditional washing of the feet, we had the washing of each others hands to remind us of our role as servant leaders. The Altar of repose was kept in the very room of Mother Mazzarello where we kept watch with the Lord until midnight.



The Cross was carried
from Station to Station



Good Friday was a unique experience. A meaningful reconciliation service invited us to receive the Sacrament of Penance and at the end, each of us was anointed with the Holy Nard as a sign of blessing. As dark clouds gathered in the sky and light showers trickled down, we felt that nature, too, shared with us the Lord’s Passion. At dusk we joined the parishioners in a meaningful and well-enacted ‘Via Crucis’ along the streets of Mornese. The atmosphere of this little town reflected the road to Calvary.

Holy Saturday was a day of prayer and expectant waiting. In the afternoon, we visited the Roverno and shared in a meaningful prayer service there that explained the significance of the river in the lives of our first sisters and the symbolic gesture of washing off our burdens in the waters of the river. This further helped us to prepare ourselves for the Easter Vigil.



The Well of Mornese
is the background
for the new fire
at the Easter vigil


The Easter vigil was indeed a solemn celebration with the singing of the Exsultet by Fr. Mathew Chan. Our hearts were filled with the joy of the Resurrection.

It was indeed a unique joy to celebrate Easter in the Collegio. I am sure in the years to come during the Easter Triduum we will all join with our first sisters in Nizza in exclaiming: Ah Mornese!!! Ah Mornese!!!