By Fr. Anthony Paul Bicomong, SDB

Turin, Italy, 29 September 2016 -- Three years of service have passed for this group of Provincials: we find ourselves once again in the places dear to our hearts, the places where Don Bosco lived and moved. In seven days, September 23-29, 2016, the Provincials who are in the middle of their term, from different regions in the world, gathered and met with the Rector Major, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime and his Vicar, Fr. Francesco Cereda. This gathering is dubbed as the “Meeting of Provincials in the Salesian Places after Three Years of Service of Animation and Governance of the Province.” There are eleven provincials participating from the following Provinces: FIN (Filippine Nord), AFM (Africa Meridionale), FRB (Francia e Belgio Sud), AET (Etiopia), VEN (Venezuela), COB (Colombia Bogota), ISI (Italia Sicilia), ANG (Angola), ICP (Italia Piemonte e Valle d’Aost)), PLE (Polonia Est) and KOR (Korea). The venue is none other than the motherhouse of the Salesian Congregation: Valdocco. At the middle of our term as Provincials, we naturally find ourselves at the crossroads, and what better place to go back than the place that Don Bosco called his home!

An important part of this encounter is the colloquy of each individual provincial with the Rector Major and also the Vicar General. The different provincials shared matters about their respective provinces and also their personal reflections on their first three years of service of authority. The rest of the timetable are the activities in common: the liturgical celebrations, the fraternal meals, the conferences (once a day), and the visits to the Salesian places.

Among the many unforgettable experiences during the week-long meeting were the conferences that were truly relevant to one’s Salesian life: “She Has Done Everything: Mary in the Spiritual Experience of Don Bosco” (by Fr. Roberto Carelli), “The ‘Form of Sanctity’ of Don Bosco: A Theological Reading of the Depositions in the Process of Beatification and Canonization” (by Fr. Andrea Bozzolo), “The Salesian Priest and Salesian Brother: Theological Interpretation in View of Formation and Vocation Animation” (by Fr. Andrea Bozzolo). There was also Fr. Aldo Giraudo’s conference at Colle Don Bosco entitled “Spiritual Adventure of Don Bosco: Elements for Our Spiritual Journey.”

The participants were also blessed to witness the giving of the missionary crosses to the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in the 147th Salesian Missionary Expedition on September 25. We concelebrated with the Rector Major in the Eucharistic celebration that was held in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians.

One of the highlights of this gathering of Provincials with the Rector Major was the visit to Mornese on September 27. The whole day was dedicated for this. We left Valdocco early at 6:30AM and took breakfast at Mornese. Sr. Piera Ruffinato, FMA, gave a conference on specific elements in the spiritual journey of Mother Mazzarello. She also guided the participants through the different places of Mother Mazzarello and the Salesian Sisters: Mornese—the place where St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello was born, Valponasca, and the Collegio. We reflected on the historical and spiritual journey of St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello, retracing all the important steps that formed her from a human and religious perspective. The visit ended in the place where the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help began on 5 August 1872.

This meeting is historic, for it is the first formally organized encounter of the midterm provincials who are halfway through their mandate with the Rector Major. Right at the beginning, Fr. Angel Fernandez himself said that this gathering is neither a course nor a lecture, but rather, a meeting of brothers, a time to rest and pray, a time for fraternity and sharing, a time for reflection and integration. Indeed, it is! For the participating provincials, it was a time to bring the experience of the past three years, or better, the whole Provinces they are serving, to the Salesian places—to Don Bosco himself!

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