(ANS – Rome) – We asked Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints of the Salesian family, to offer a brief reflection ahead of the Solemnity of All Saints. A memory which results in knowledge and narrative of the life and experience of men and women who have lived in fullness of the Gospel.

The Solemnity of All Saints Day is marked this year for the special time of grace in which the Church is living with the New Synod on Evangelisation and transmission of the faith, which ended a few days ago, and with the Year of Faith, proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI and which began on Oct.11th .

Holiness is the concrete and mature expression of a life lived by faith in God and a prerequisite of apostolic and evangelical growth. Saints are people who have met the Lord Jesus, have believed in him and allowed themselves to be driven and shaped by his spirit, making Church resplendent in light and beauty. The universal vocation to holiness, solemnly established by the Documents of Vatican II – and particularly dear to our tradition inspired by the teaching of Saint Francis de Sales and the pedagogic proposal of our father Don Bosco – commits us to promoting practical experiences and good practices that can help especially families and young people to meet Jesus. As a community and, within them, as disciples of the Lord, we have requested the sanctity of life that even in our time, the hope of the Gospel contacts the lives of all those whom the Lord entrusts to us.

The Salesian Family possesses a priceless heritage of holiness, shown by the life of our Saints, Blesseds, and Venerable servants of God, whose memory and storytelling is a precious  instrument of the New Evangelization enhanced through a serious knowledge, an exemplary imitation and a choral invocation.

In particular we point out the priestly testimony and richness of theological thought of the venerable Fr Giuseppe Quadrio, on the occasion of the conference dedicated to him, which will be held in November at Turin-Crocetta, and during which, the new location where his mortal remains rest will be blessed. At a time when we must humbly recognize the poverty and weakness of the disciples of Jesus, especially of his ministers, the evangelical and radiant testimony of Fr Quadrio is a great gift for the whole Church of God.

Let us give thanks also for the imminent beatification of Sister Maria Troncatti, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, a missionary of the Ecuadorian Amazon, which will take place on November 24th  at Macas (Ecuador). Her singular testimony of faith and evangelization among the Indians helped to give face to the dignity of the person and the common good, through various forms of charity and service to create a humanistic culture inspired by the Gospel and the educational system of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello.

Published 31/10/2012