The season of Advent has given us precious fragments of a hope that nourishes the ordinary and knows how to make room even in life's impervious places and times.
Between Monday, December 2nd and Friday, December 6th, we hosted a spiritual retreat for young people in the seminary, preached by Don Giovanni on the theme "In Your Truth I Direct My Steps." For the second time this year, an initiative was launched that involves engaging in a period of spiritual exercise in the daily routine of one's studies or work. During the first three days, an evening meditation was offered, preceded by the celebration of the Eucharist and followed by a moment of personal prayer. Our travelling companions during these evenings were several evangelical figures who had lived their own experiences of faith along the way: the Magi on the road to Bethlehem, the Samaritan on the road to Jericho, and the Seventy-Two on the streets of the city. Research, charity, and mission were, therefore, the dimensions explored over these three days, keeping our gaze fixed on the Jubilee now upon us, which invites us to live as "pilgrims of hope" and not as wanderers without a destination. The final two days, however, were marked by a moment of prayer (Eucharistic adoration on Thursday) and a time for sharing the experience (dinner on Friday). Several young people participated in this initiative, testifying to the acute need for those living an experience of faith to dedicate time to cultivating the more spiritual aspects of their lives in order to find the strength to bring the Gospel message into their daily lives with renewed vigor.
As a seminary community, we then enjoyed an evening meeting with the community of the Sisters of Providence, made up of Sister Bruna and Sister Magdalena. We had a feeling it would be a somewhat special evening right from the start, when we found ourselves at the door, in Sister Magdalena's place, a fully dressed Saint Nicholas, complete with miter and crozier, and a basket full of sweets and chocolates. After a moment of conversation in which the two sisters shared the history and charism of their institute, we prayed Vespers together, which they enlivened with organ music and a few introductory and concluding words to each psalm. Our meeting then concluded with a convivial dinner, where we got to know each other a little better and were enriched by Sister Magdalena's testimony about her work as a nurse at the Policlinico San Matteo.
In addition to Sister Magdalena's story, we also had the opportunity to learn about the hospital at another significant moment. On Saturday, December 7th, we had an experience in several departments of the pediatric clinic with Father Alberto Manelli, a religion teacher at the hospital school, and two of the Camillian Fathers who provide spiritual assistance to the hospital's patients. Specifically, we visited the pediatrics, pediatric oncology, and neonatal pathology departments, where we were able to engage with the testimonies of two fathers of hospitalized children and a doctor who, with shining eyes, told us how she helps children "knock on the gates of heaven" and their parents recognise that "your child wasn't born for nothing." These were truly intense moments of insight and direct contact with human fragility and suffering, which is even more striking when it manifests in the youngest.
Finally, we entrusted all the stories of the people we met and the experiences we lived into the hands of Mary Immaculate during the mass celebrated in the church of San Francesco and presided over by the bishop, and to San Siro, patron saint of our diocese, whose intercession for our seminary journey and for all the needs of the Church of Pavia we invoked in the pontifical mass of 9 December.
We'll tell you about other wonderful moments, like the last weekend of Advent with our legendary friends from Copiano!
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