As is tradition, this year too we celebrated the solemnity of Saint Andrew the Apostle, patron saint of our seminary, with joy and gratitude. The entire morning of Saturday, November 29, was dedicated to celebrations in honour of the saint, beginning with a Mass presided over by Bishop Andrea Migliavacca, Bishop of Arezzo-Cortona-San Sepolcro. This year, Bishop Andrea commemorates the 10th anniversary of his episcopal ordination, which took place in the Cathedral of Pavia on December 9, 2015. Before being ordained bishop, he had served as rector of our seminary for 15 years. This day was an opportunity for him, as he recalled in his homily, to thank all those who accompanied him on his journey of following the Lord and to emphasise how every vocation begins with Jesus' loving gaze upon each of us, as it was for the apostle Andrew. The bishop's invitation to those present was to rediscover their vocation in light of this vision, which continually invites us to change perspective, to no longer consider the things we have done, but those that God has accomplished and continues to accomplish in our lives.
Many accepted our invitation to attend Mass. The packed church was once again a clear sign of the affection that the entire Pavia Christian community has for the seminary, which has now become a home not only for seminarians but for many others. The many priests present testified to their gratitude for the years of formation spent in the seminary and for the bonds that were forged during those years. The members of the "Friends of the Seminary" association and the members of the "Invisible Monastery" prayer network continually expressed their assiduous closeness to us in prayer, which, on occasion, becomes a real encounter, as was the case on the feast of Saint Andrew. The many university students who chose to be present remind us how the desire to follow the Lord through courageous choices remains alive in the hearts of many young people today, and how the seminary has become a "home" for many of them, students living away from their families. The choir of the parish of San Lanfranco, enlivening the liturgy with music and singing, has, finally, contributed to creating a true parish atmosphere in our seminary church, in some ways almost family-like.
The morning continued in the Aula Magna with a talk by architect Luigi Leoni in memory of Father Costantino Ruggeri, on the centenary of his birth. Father Costantino was an artist and Franciscan friar who lived for many years in the Canepanova convent in Pavia. In collaboration with Luigi Leoni, he designed and created numerous churches and works of sacred art in Italy and around the world. The portrait painted by architect Leoni clearly showed us how the vocational and spiritual dimension of Father Costantino's life perfectly complemented his professionalism as an artist and, indeed, significantly enhanced it.
In short, in the life of Saint Andrew, as in that of Father Constantine, we see the fulfillment of Paul's invitation to the Philippians to "shine like stars in the world," words we have chosen as inspiration for this community year. And this is the invitation we wish to extend to all those who have drawn close to us during this time because, as Don Giovanni recalled in his editorial in "Il Ticino,", Only by allowing ourselves to be penetrated by the light of God will we be able to colour the world, often too grey, that surrounds us.
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