A Peaceful Day

We had a more peaceful day today with visits to the Acient Rome, the Basilica of St Paul outside the Walls, Casa Canta and the Auxilium. 

We admired again the beautiful Basilica with its vast space. We especially enjoyed the hospitality of the two communities at Casa Canta and the Auxilium, enjoying home-made ice-cream and high-powered afternoon teas at both places – so much so that some thought we could have skipped our evening meal! 

The day ended with the whole group doing a Thank-You presentation to the community at Sacro Cuore, who had been accomodating and serving us with much love and care every day since we arrived. A week has gone and it was already time to say goodbye to the community! We will only see them again briefly at the end of the Project.

by Sr Thuy-Linh Nguyen SPR
Pictures by Sr Theda PHL

Visit to Assisi

Outside the Upper Church of St Francis of Assisi

We had another hectic day but enjoyable today with an early rise to journey to Assisi, the birth place of the Franciscan orders. 


Assisi was a very interesting city with a very ancient look – many things were preserved since the 13^th and 14^th centuries. It was touching to visit the place where St Francis used to come to pray – escaping from his father, who actually imprisoned him, and finally died, utterly poor materially but surrounded by the love of his Brothers and many other people who admired him. 

Clothings St Clare used

At Assisi we were met with an excellent tour guide, who was a member of the third Franciscan order, and was totally passionate about St Francis and Assisi. He took us to all three levels of St Francis’ Basilica, and we learnt many things that day. We also visited St Clare’s Basilica, venerated her remains in her tomb, and were able to see a display of things she had used, which showed just how much of a poor life she had led.

by Sr Thuy-Linh Nguyen SPR

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

At the Heart of the Institute - Casa Generalise

Small group photo at the entrance of the Generalate

Today we visited “Casa Generalizia”, that is, the “Mother House” of the whole Institute of Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.

It was a great feeling to be in the Mother House! We felt immediately at home with the Sisters, as if we had known each other before! We were able to take a picture next to two beautiful statues of Don Bosco and Maria Mazzarello near the entrance.

Statue that Don Pestarino gave Maria Mazzarello

We were also able to visit all the offices of Mother Yvonne and the General Councillors, the General Chapter Hall, the beautiful Chapel, and many other interesting places. I love most of all, the Marian Museum where we found a very cute statue of Mary, a gift from Fr Pestarino to Maria Mazzarello when she was a child. The Secretarial section of our Institute was also an interesting place where we found a file for each Sister neatly filed in alphabetical order! We feel we really belong to the Institute!

by Sr Thuy-Linh Nguyen SPR