Columns
from issue no.11 - 2007
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The Director's mailbox
LETTERS FROM THE CONVENTS
MISSIONARY SISTERS OF THE CONSOLED
Ikonda, Tanzania
30Giorni to read... and to meditate
Ikonda, 14 October 2007
Dear Mr. Director,
It is with great joy that I want to thank you for the most beautiful gift of 30Giorni! It is a lovely and very interesting magazine, from all points of view. To read, reread... and to meditate! A true voice that emerges from the much useless, if not harmful, “blah blah”, of so many publications! It is a beautiful gift for all of the missionary community that then travels towards other missions, where it is received with joy. I assure you that I pay my subscription daily with prayer because your magazine is ever more an instrument of good and of true apostolate. I ask another great favor, if it is possible: to have some copies in English of the booklet Chi prega si salva. I write from a large missionary hospital and would like to help the staff in the spiritual life a little more, and some of the sick who speak English. The majority speaks Kiswahili, the national language. I ask pardon if I dare so much, but I believe firmly in the strength of prayer... and the more people who pray the better our troubled world will be!
I thank you sincerely for so much goodwill, also in the name of my missionary sisters and brothers. I wish you a happy Christmas and a New Year rich in grace and graces!
God bless you!
Sister Magda Boscolo and Missionary Community
FRANCISCAN NUNS OF THE “DEL MONTE DONDE DIOS PROVEE Y DE SAN FRANCISCO DE ASÍS” CONVENT
Saint Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
Quien reza se salva, a blessing for our community
Saint Pedro de Macorís, 22 October 2007
Dear Mr. Giulio Andreotti,
From when we began to receive 30Días , we have wanted to write to you in order to express our gratitude for such a generous gift, given that receiving it is a blessing for our community, as also the beautiful booklet Quien reza se salva.
It has been very lovely to see that there are those who appreciate the hidden life of the cloistered communities: perhaps we are those who are less seen but of whom there is more need. Our life of physical separation from the world is a mystery also for those who, like us, have received this vocation; in fact, in spite of everything, we are not far from our brothers and sisters who suffer all over the world but, on the contrary, we carry them in the depth of our heart.
To read 30Días is like covering every corner of the world that suffers because of violence and hatred in all its manifestations; it is like taking every hurting face, every heart that suffers and offering them to the Lord at every moment of the day; it is to know the hidden face of the great events of the world, it is to be aware of what nobody says. We would like to indicate the articles that struck us most especially: those on suffering Lebanon, on the refugees, on the Christians persecuted in the Middle East.
All this encourages us to raise supplications for peace, so that man turns to meet God, but the God of Jesus Christ in Whom we are all a single family. May the Good God, through the intercession of His Blessed Mother, grant us workers of unity and of harmony who labor untiringly so that the world is a place of peace and harmony.
God bless you and make all the works of your hands prosper.
Sincerely, in the seraphic Francis and Clare of Assisi.
Sister María Fabiola de Montserrat Guevara Rivera, Abbess
POOR CLARES OF THE SAINT CLARE CONVENT
Campina Grande, Brazil
A lovely surprise
Campina Grande, 28 October 2007
Dear Mr. Andreotti,
Peace and good!
I remember that between the years 1988 and 1998 we received the magazine 30Dias in our convent monthly. Even if delayed, it always reached us. All the articles were read with attention, above all those regarding the life of the saints. One of our nuns, who is today in the Convent of Canindé (Ceará), also made a selection of various issues and with great care bound them in two large volumes. We were very upset when the subscription, gift of a benefactress, was interrupted. Years passed without us having any contact with our dearly beloved magazine. For this reason, the surprise was great in seeing it return to the convent and, even more, when we had the certainty that it would continue to arrive thanks to the generosity of its Director Giulio Andreotti, who sends it to all the convents of the contemplative orders. It was truly a wise offer, because the convents cannot forget it in their prayers.
I like the Quem reza se salva booklet very much, which is a precious gift for adults who for many years have forgotten the instructions of the Catechism about First Communion. If the mailing of some exemplars were possible, I would be very happy and grateful.
In attachment, I send some photos of our convent.
In the hearts of Jesus and Mary I send my embrace of gratitude and my humble prayers.
Sister Maria Tereza do Espírito Santo, OSC
POOR CLARES OF THE SAINT CLARE CONVENT
Saltpond, Ghana
With joy and eagerness
Saltpond, 29 October 2007
Dear Mr. Director,
We send you the traditional Franciscan Greetings of “Pace e Bene”; however this time it is seasoned with the infectious joy from the coast of Ghana.
First and foremost we would like to register our heartfelt gratitude to you, Dear Mr. Director, for sending us the wonderful magazine 30Giorni. Every issue we read with joy and eagerness. It helps us to follow the events in the Church.
About a year ago, I have written to you, but it seems my letter never reached you. Because of this, let me write a bit more about ourselves.
We are a small community of Poor Clare Sisters who arrived in Ghana almost 18 years ago. Here we started the first cloistered and contemplative monastery in the country. Our mother monastery is in Cracow (Poland).
Dear Mr. Director, may God bless you and reward you for your kindness to us; and be assured of our prayers for all of you. Our mission or main work is to support you with our prayers.
Gratefully yours,
Poor Clare Sisters and Sister Mary OSC
Ikonda, Tanzania
30Giorni to read... and to meditate
Ikonda, 14 October 2007
Dear Mr. Director,
It is with great joy that I want to thank you for the most beautiful gift of 30Giorni! It is a lovely and very interesting magazine, from all points of view. To read, reread... and to meditate! A true voice that emerges from the much useless, if not harmful, “blah blah”, of so many publications! It is a beautiful gift for all of the missionary community that then travels towards other missions, where it is received with joy. I assure you that I pay my subscription daily with prayer because your magazine is ever more an instrument of good and of true apostolate. I ask another great favor, if it is possible: to have some copies in English of the booklet Chi prega si salva. I write from a large missionary hospital and would like to help the staff in the spiritual life a little more, and some of the sick who speak English. The majority speaks Kiswahili, the national language. I ask pardon if I dare so much, but I believe firmly in the strength of prayer... and the more people who pray the better our troubled world will be!
I thank you sincerely for so much goodwill, also in the name of my missionary sisters and brothers. I wish you a happy Christmas and a New Year rich in grace and graces!
God bless you!
Sister Magda Boscolo and Missionary Community
FRANCISCAN NUNS OF THE “DEL MONTE DONDE DIOS PROVEE Y DE SAN FRANCISCO DE ASÍS” CONVENT
Saint Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
Quien reza se salva, a blessing for our community
Saint Pedro de Macorís, 22 October 2007
Dear Mr. Giulio Andreotti,
From when we began to receive 30Días , we have wanted to write to you in order to express our gratitude for such a generous gift, given that receiving it is a blessing for our community, as also the beautiful booklet Quien reza se salva.
It has been very lovely to see that there are those who appreciate the hidden life of the cloistered communities: perhaps we are those who are less seen but of whom there is more need. Our life of physical separation from the world is a mystery also for those who, like us, have received this vocation; in fact, in spite of everything, we are not far from our brothers and sisters who suffer all over the world but, on the contrary, we carry them in the depth of our heart.
To read 30Días is like covering every corner of the world that suffers because of violence and hatred in all its manifestations; it is like taking every hurting face, every heart that suffers and offering them to the Lord at every moment of the day; it is to know the hidden face of the great events of the world, it is to be aware of what nobody says. We would like to indicate the articles that struck us most especially: those on suffering Lebanon, on the refugees, on the Christians persecuted in the Middle East.
All this encourages us to raise supplications for peace, so that man turns to meet God, but the God of Jesus Christ in Whom we are all a single family. May the Good God, through the intercession of His Blessed Mother, grant us workers of unity and of harmony who labor untiringly so that the world is a place of peace and harmony.
God bless you and make all the works of your hands prosper.
Sincerely, in the seraphic Francis and Clare of Assisi.
Sister María Fabiola de Montserrat Guevara Rivera, Abbess
POOR CLARES OF THE SAINT CLARE CONVENT
Campina Grande, Brazil
A lovely surprise
Campina Grande, 28 October 2007
Dear Mr. Andreotti,
Peace and good!
I remember that between the years 1988 and 1998 we received the magazine 30Dias in our convent monthly. Even if delayed, it always reached us. All the articles were read with attention, above all those regarding the life of the saints. One of our nuns, who is today in the Convent of Canindé (Ceará), also made a selection of various issues and with great care bound them in two large volumes. We were very upset when the subscription, gift of a benefactress, was interrupted. Years passed without us having any contact with our dearly beloved magazine. For this reason, the surprise was great in seeing it return to the convent and, even more, when we had the certainty that it would continue to arrive thanks to the generosity of its Director Giulio Andreotti, who sends it to all the convents of the contemplative orders. It was truly a wise offer, because the convents cannot forget it in their prayers.
I like the Quem reza se salva booklet very much, which is a precious gift for adults who for many years have forgotten the instructions of the Catechism about First Communion. If the mailing of some exemplars were possible, I would be very happy and grateful.
In attachment, I send some photos of our convent.
In the hearts of Jesus and Mary I send my embrace of gratitude and my humble prayers.
Sister Maria Tereza do Espírito Santo, OSC
POOR CLARES OF THE SAINT CLARE CONVENT
Saltpond, Ghana
With joy and eagerness
Saltpond, 29 October 2007
Dear Mr. Director,
We send you the traditional Franciscan Greetings of “Pace e Bene”; however this time it is seasoned with the infectious joy from the coast of Ghana.
First and foremost we would like to register our heartfelt gratitude to you, Dear Mr. Director, for sending us the wonderful magazine 30Giorni. Every issue we read with joy and eagerness. It helps us to follow the events in the Church.
About a year ago, I have written to you, but it seems my letter never reached you. Because of this, let me write a bit more about ourselves.
We are a small community of Poor Clare Sisters who arrived in Ghana almost 18 years ago. Here we started the first cloistered and contemplative monastery in the country. Our mother monastery is in Cracow (Poland).
Dear Mr. Director, may God bless you and reward you for your kindness to us; and be assured of our prayers for all of you. Our mission or main work is to support you with our prayers.
Gratefully yours,
Poor Clare Sisters and Sister Mary OSC
Spiritual reading/13
In Il problema
dell’ateismo [The problem of atheism]
Augusto Del Noce writes: «There are only two fundamental explanations
of the evil in the world: that of Genesis, whereby evil was introduced into the world because of a
free act of man, and that contained in the myth of Anaximander, whereby
evil lies in the finiteness of existence itself». Had it not been a
sin of man to separate from God, creation itself would be bad.
In the very acceptance of the truth of faith about original sin, faith shows itself to be, as Pope Benedict has many times recalled, a friend of the intelligence.
Therefore one acknowledges that creation is good also in its finiteness and its appearance («omnis creatura bona», 1Tm 4, 4) and that an act of freedom injured it.
From this the originality of Christian asceticism derives: not to go beyond appearance and finiteness, but to recognize the beauty of the creation, that is testimony of the Creator, asking that the attraction of grace prevail over the evil desire that is born of original sin and that leads to sin and which the apostles call concupiscence.
Indiculus
What the Small Roman Catechism says about original sin
In praevaricatione Adae omnes homines naturalem possibilitatem et innocentiam perdidisse, et neminem de profundo illius ruinae per liberum arbitrium posse consurgere, nisi eum gratia Dei miserentis erexerit, pronuntiante beatae memoriae Innocentio papa atque dicente in Epistula ad Carthaginense Concilium: «Liberum enim arbitrium olim ille perpessus, dum suis inconsultius utitur bonis, cadens in praevaricationis profunda demersus est, et nihil, quemadmodum exinde surgere posset, invenit; suaque in aeternum libertate deceptus huius ruinae iacuisset oppressu, nisi eum post Christi pro sua gratia relevasset adventus, qui per novae regenerationis purificationem omne praeteritum vitium sui baptismatis lavacro purgavit» (Denzinger 239).
In the transgression of Adam all men lost their natural power and innocence, and no one can rise from the depth of that ruin through free will, unless the grace of a merciful God raise him up, according as Pope Innocent of blessed memory proclaimed and said in his Letter to the Council of Carthage: «For he, having once braved every consequence of free choice, while he used his goods too unadvisedly, fell and was overwhelmed in the depth of his transgression, and found no way by which he was able to rise from it; and beguiled by his own liberty he would have forever lain prostrate by the weight of this ruin, if the coming of Christ had not afterwards lifted him up by virtue of His grace, who through the purification of a new regeneration washed away in the bath of His baptism every past sin».
In the very acceptance of the truth of faith about original sin, faith shows itself to be, as Pope Benedict has many times recalled, a friend of the intelligence.
Therefore one acknowledges that creation is good also in its finiteness and its appearance («omnis creatura bona», 1Tm 4, 4) and that an act of freedom injured it.
From this the originality of Christian asceticism derives: not to go beyond appearance and finiteness, but to recognize the beauty of the creation, that is testimony of the Creator, asking that the attraction of grace prevail over the evil desire that is born of original sin and that leads to sin and which the apostles call concupiscence.
Indiculus
What the Small Roman Catechism says about original sin
In praevaricatione Adae omnes homines naturalem possibilitatem et innocentiam perdidisse, et neminem de profundo illius ruinae per liberum arbitrium posse consurgere, nisi eum gratia Dei miserentis erexerit, pronuntiante beatae memoriae Innocentio papa atque dicente in Epistula ad Carthaginense Concilium: «Liberum enim arbitrium olim ille perpessus, dum suis inconsultius utitur bonis, cadens in praevaricationis profunda demersus est, et nihil, quemadmodum exinde surgere posset, invenit; suaque in aeternum libertate deceptus huius ruinae iacuisset oppressu, nisi eum post Christi pro sua gratia relevasset adventus, qui per novae regenerationis purificationem omne praeteritum vitium sui baptismatis lavacro purgavit» (Denzinger 239).
In the transgression of Adam all men lost their natural power and innocence, and no one can rise from the depth of that ruin through free will, unless the grace of a merciful God raise him up, according as Pope Innocent of blessed memory proclaimed and said in his Letter to the Council of Carthage: «For he, having once braved every consequence of free choice, while he used his goods too unadvisedly, fell and was overwhelmed in the depth of his transgression, and found no way by which he was able to rise from it; and beguiled by his own liberty he would have forever lain prostrate by the weight of this ruin, if the coming of Christ had not afterwards lifted him up by virtue of His grace, who through the purification of a new regeneration washed away in the bath of His baptism every past sin».
LETTERS FROM THE MISSIONS
BADU ‘E CARROS JAIL
Nuoro
Chi prega si salva for the prisoners
Nuoro, 9 November 2007
I carry out my ministry in the Nuorese jail of Badu ’e Carros, that has over 270 prisoners, even if last year more than five hundred passed through. I have read many times of the thanks and initiatives for the dissemination of the booklet Chi prega si salva, and so decided to put myself in the queue in order to ask for an offering. Would it be possible to have in gift various copies of this booklet, and not only in Italian? We have a considerable group of Romanians, some English-speaking Africans, a Dutchman and some South Americans. I thank you in anticipation,
don Giampaolo Muresu, Chaplain
XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES
Dhaka, Bangladesh
I await L’attrattiva Gesù
Dhaka, 30 November 2007
Dear Senator Giulio Andreotti,
A cordial salute from Bangladesh, that has recently been hit by a tremendous cyclone. We are recovering, thanks also to international collaboration. I come to you in order to thank you for the regular sending of your magazine 30Giorni, full of useful cues also for my apostolate. In a moment of absence from Bangladesh I was told that you sent an interesting book on the apostles. Currently I am working on the translation into Bengali of the catechesis of the Holy Father that has to do precisely with the apostles. I believe that your book would be truly useful to me in order to complete the discourse. On another occasion I asked for a copy of Giussani’s book, L’attrattiva Gesù [The attraction Jesus], but I have still not received it. Could it have remained dispersed in the tortuous ravines of mail of some large room? This book also interests me a lot. I thank you for your kind attention and pray that your activity reaches many persons wanting to hear a message of substance!
Father Silvano Garello
SAINT EUSEBIO PARISH
Inhassoro, Mozambique
30Giorni in Africa
Inhassoro, 13 October 2007
Dear Senator,
I am a “fidei donum” priest of the diocese of Vercelli, for forty years a missionary in Africa (thirty years in Kenya) and since 2000 I am in Mozambique. I have had occasion to read your magazine in a house of the Fathers of the Consoled and found it interesting.
I would appreciate, if it were possible, receiving some issues. For now accept my thanks and a prayer,
father Pio Bono
MAJOR SEMINARY JEAN XXIII
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Qui prie sauve son âme for the seminarians
Kinshasa, 2 October 2007
Mr. Senator,
For the first time I come to know the magazine 30Jours that you direct. I am very struck that a politician of your stature should make such a noble gesture allowing the public to have access to cultural information so precise in matter whether political or religious or other.
Compliments. It is this that we Christians expect from our managing politicians: to witness their faith in the world. We are truly proud of you!
Our seminary not having the means to subscribe to 30Jours, asks you to include us in the list of your poor subscribers. We would appreciate also receiving for our sixty seminarians the book entitled Qui prie sauve son âme.
With our prayers,
don Sébastien, Rector
COMBONIAN MISSIONARIES
Lodwar, Kenya
We would like to receive 30Giorni in English
Lodwar, 15 November 2007
Dear Director,
Peace and good. I am a Combonian missionary who writes to you from the desert of Turkana, in the north-west of Kenya.
When I find myself passing through Kapenguria (a couple of times a year) I read your magazine with great joy. Congratulations. I find it most interesting.
I would like to ask you kindly, if possible, to send a copy of it directly to us.
We are two Combonians (Father Elia Ciapetti of Brescia and the undersigned Father Raffaele Cefalo of Avellino), both of us for more than fifty years in Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Sudan).
We would like, if it were possible, to receive the English edition to be then able to have our superiors read it also.
Thanks and many good wishes. Most affectionately in Jesus Christ,
father Raffaele Cefalo
Nuoro
Chi prega si salva for the prisoners
Nuoro, 9 November 2007
I carry out my ministry in the Nuorese jail of Badu ’e Carros, that has over 270 prisoners, even if last year more than five hundred passed through. I have read many times of the thanks and initiatives for the dissemination of the booklet Chi prega si salva, and so decided to put myself in the queue in order to ask for an offering. Would it be possible to have in gift various copies of this booklet, and not only in Italian? We have a considerable group of Romanians, some English-speaking Africans, a Dutchman and some South Americans. I thank you in anticipation,
don Giampaolo Muresu, Chaplain
XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES
Dhaka, Bangladesh
I await L’attrattiva Gesù
Dhaka, 30 November 2007
Dear Senator Giulio Andreotti,
A cordial salute from Bangladesh, that has recently been hit by a tremendous cyclone. We are recovering, thanks also to international collaboration. I come to you in order to thank you for the regular sending of your magazine 30Giorni, full of useful cues also for my apostolate. In a moment of absence from Bangladesh I was told that you sent an interesting book on the apostles. Currently I am working on the translation into Bengali of the catechesis of the Holy Father that has to do precisely with the apostles. I believe that your book would be truly useful to me in order to complete the discourse. On another occasion I asked for a copy of Giussani’s book, L’attrattiva Gesù [The attraction Jesus], but I have still not received it. Could it have remained dispersed in the tortuous ravines of mail of some large room? This book also interests me a lot. I thank you for your kind attention and pray that your activity reaches many persons wanting to hear a message of substance!
Father Silvano Garello
SAINT EUSEBIO PARISH
Inhassoro, Mozambique
30Giorni in Africa
Inhassoro, 13 October 2007
Dear Senator,
I am a “fidei donum” priest of the diocese of Vercelli, for forty years a missionary in Africa (thirty years in Kenya) and since 2000 I am in Mozambique. I have had occasion to read your magazine in a house of the Fathers of the Consoled and found it interesting.
I would appreciate, if it were possible, receiving some issues. For now accept my thanks and a prayer,
father Pio Bono
MAJOR SEMINARY JEAN XXIII
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Qui prie sauve son âme for the seminarians
Kinshasa, 2 October 2007
Mr. Senator,
For the first time I come to know the magazine 30Jours that you direct. I am very struck that a politician of your stature should make such a noble gesture allowing the public to have access to cultural information so precise in matter whether political or religious or other.
Compliments. It is this that we Christians expect from our managing politicians: to witness their faith in the world. We are truly proud of you!
Our seminary not having the means to subscribe to 30Jours, asks you to include us in the list of your poor subscribers. We would appreciate also receiving for our sixty seminarians the book entitled Qui prie sauve son âme.
With our prayers,
don Sébastien, Rector
COMBONIAN MISSIONARIES
Lodwar, Kenya
We would like to receive 30Giorni in English
Lodwar, 15 November 2007
Dear Director,
Peace and good. I am a Combonian missionary who writes to you from the desert of Turkana, in the north-west of Kenya.
When I find myself passing through Kapenguria (a couple of times a year) I read your magazine with great joy. Congratulations. I find it most interesting.
I would like to ask you kindly, if possible, to send a copy of it directly to us.
We are two Combonians (Father Elia Ciapetti of Brescia and the undersigned Father Raffaele Cefalo of Avellino), both of us for more than fifty years in Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Sudan).
We would like, if it were possible, to receive the English edition to be then able to have our superiors read it also.
Thanks and many good wishes. Most affectionately in Jesus Christ,
father Raffaele Cefalo
