CONGRATS ADMA, 155TH ANNIVERSARY18 APRIL 2024
Dear friends,
On the occasion of ADMA's 155th birthday, we share the greetings received from Sister Chiara Cazzuola, Superior General of the FMA Institute.
Her words underline, with joy and in simplicity, some important traits of the Salesian charism, which characterizes the ADMA of yesterday, today and tomorrow: the entrustment to Mary, the attention to the weak, the commitment to spread the faith and bring hope, remembering faith and bringing hope, reminding everyone that she never abandons us.
We thank Mother Clare for her closeness and for the accompaniment she offers us which is made concrete thanks to the presence and animation at world level of Sister Lucrecia and the presence of Sister Marilena at local level and also thanks to the participation, support and sympathy towards the ADMA which is always felt by all the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
We too pray for Sr. Maria Cazzuola, for her intentions, for the Institute. Together with the whole Salesian Family, we want to pray for peace and for those who struggle most, that in Jesus through Mary they may find peace.
Fr. Gabriel Cruz Trejo, Sdb, Spiritual Animator, ADMA Valdocco.
Renato Valera, President ADMA, Valdocco.
Dear friends of ADMA,
I am in Angola, near Luanda, with the 9 Provincials/ Superiors of the Interprovincial Conference of Africa and Madagascar (CIAM) for the annual spiritual Retreat.
These days I was able to visit the Vice-Province of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians - ‘Rainha da Paz’ - from Angola, and I met many ADMA groups, adults and young people, full of energy and a great desire for good. They have a strong sense of belonging. They are witnesses of a remarkable Marian identity and are active in the creative mission, especially for the good of the little ones and the poor. They shine with beauty and hope in their Christian and Salesian communities, to confirm that 155 year-old Association has inspired them and brought them up really well. Congratulations indeed, or rather, as they say in Portuguese, parabéns!
It was 18th April 1869, when Don Bosco founded the Association of Devotees of Mary Help of Christians, so that the love for Mary could be witnessed in a rapidly changing society that challenges the life of faith and destroys the religious values of people, especially the young. To this Association, our Founder entrusted the task of reminding us that, like every mother, Mary is present in the lives of her children and never abandons them; on the contrary, she is most present where the need for her help is greatest.
I think that after 155 years, this reminder is more valid than ever at this time!
I thank you for all the good that you are sowing and doing under the gaze of Mary Help of Christians who loves you and has great confidence in you!
Fraternal wishes and prayers from all of us, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
Happy Birthday ADMA!
Sister Chiara Cazzuola
Mother General of the FMA Institute
