At the Heart of the Church - Vatican City

Today we visited the heart of the church – Vatican City. 

Inside St Peter's Basilica

We had another lucky day! Our group was able to celebrate Mass right in front of the tomb of St Peter in the crypt of St Peter’s Basilica! That was a real privilege! After Mass, we were able to admire the magnificent artworks in the Basilica. I felt overwhelmed by the vastness and richness of our church here! And was very happy to find the picture of St Maria Mazzarello and the statue of St John Bosco among so many statues and mosaics. 

Sacred Heart Basilica

After St Peter’s Basilica, we visited the Sacred Heart’s Basilica, the church that Don Bosco was asked to complete just before he died. It was a moving experience to climb the same stairs that Don Bosco climbed with great difficulty, and to hear how sick he was when he was asked to complete this enormous project. A well-organised museum keeps some memorabilia and relics of Don Bosco and Fr. Rua. It was touching to see them! 

Display of FMA Charism

Another highlight of today was the visit to the “Display of the Charism” in our General House in the evening. The room was beautifully laid out with the “light and water” theme. Here we found displays of images and information of our Institute since the first Mother General, Mother Maria Mazzarello, until our current one, Mother Yvonne Reungoat.  It was a really long day but was worth it!

by Sr Thuy-Linh Nguyen SPR

Visit Castelgandolfo

Pope Benedict XVI greeted pilgrims at Castelgandolfo

Statue of Don Bosco inside the parish church at Castelgandolfo

Today we went to Castelgandolfo to say the Angelus with Pope Benedict XVI. Our group was really lucky to be able to come here, as the crowd was much smaller here than in St Peter’s Square, and it also gave us the “bonus” trip to this beautiful spot where the Pope comes every summer to avoid the stifling heat of Rome. We had an early start to be in time for Mass at Castelgandolfo at 9am. It was a nice discovery that the parish church seems to have a strong Salesian link when we found a beautiful statue of Mary Help of Christians and a statue of Don Bosco complete with the children around him! As we had plenty of time to spend here, all Sisters had a chance to take photos near both statues! 

The wait was long but it was worth it when we could see the Pope quite close-up from his balcony. It was a wonderful experience to see so many people from all over the world coming here, waiting for hours, just to be with the Pope for about 15 minutes to say the Angelus! On the way back, we were amazed to learn about the difficult lives of the early Christians with the visit to the Catacombs of St. Callistus.

by Sr Thuy-Linh Nguyen SPR

Laetare Sunday

Today, the Sisters are going to the Vatican to hear the Angelus message of the Pope.