Also this year the Community gave us the possibility to gather in Saluzzo for Mother Elvira’s birthday: a great gift announced the day before by Fr Cassian with a funny word game of which the solution was “tomorrow we are going to Italy”. We arrived in Italy in the afternoon of Friday 18th just in time to admire a beautiful sunset behind the snow covered mountains near Saluzzo.

Saturday: we spent a normal day of work, prayer and sharing with the brothers who we met from other Fraternities.

Sunday: we gathered all together, also with the girls, in Envie for an intense day of prayer, catechism, songs, dancing and in the afternoon a series of videos about missions, the new Fraternities and future projects of our Community. The day ended with a beautiful and moving video about Mother Elvira today: a gift prepared by the sisters who assist her every day to say thank you for everything she has done for each one of us.

The following couple of days we spent just with the other male Fraternities. We talked about the pillars of our Community: prayer, work, friendship and sharing; we listened to many catechisms and testimonies from experienced guys of our Community.

We had also the possibility to do a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Snow, through whose intercession many people have been healed: the testimonies of these healings are shown in pictures around the walls of the church.

The meeting closed with the presentation of the gifts prepared by all the Fraternities and with a deep moment of Eucharistic Adoration in thanksgiving to God for the gift of life, a new life finally free from evil, lived in the truth and with a new hope.

We want to say thank you also to the Community for the opportunity to say hello to Mother Elvira through her window, singing happy birthday for her.

Thank you Lord Jesus for the gift of our Mother Elvira, instrument of the Holy Spirit to touch and to heal our hearts, to teach us how to pray, how to love and how to have joy in our lives.