Contents:
1. Gatherings for Community Formation
2. We Went to Czestochowa
3. Rome Spring Festival
4. Ponte Lambro
5. A Yellow Taxi Caravan Rolling Along
1. Gatherings for Community Formation
Rome — Learning to Live in Peace with Others
At Faith and Light, we are well together: we are well when there is celebration and singing, when we talk and come to know one another, when we pray and our souls fill with light. These are precious moments, and we return home enriched, joyful, everything seeming more beautiful. But very soon our peace collides with the difficulties of daily life. Even within the group itself, we often find conflict, argument, resentment.
How can we hold onto and nurture the peace and light we receive—gifts so great and powerful they can transform the world around us?
This year, Faith and Light in Rome organized two gatherings, planned in the trust that we can cultivate a deep peace within ourselves, one that sustains and illuminates us even in times of hardship.
The first gathering, for the young people from all the groups, took place at the Benedictine monastery in Civitella S. Paolo on April 16 and 17.
The second gathering, held April 30 and May 1 at the Benedictine monastery in Montefiolo, invited five people from each group.
Saturday afternoon was devoted to a contribution from psychology—the study of feelings, emotions, and thoughts as they form and develop in our daily interactions with others.
Divided into three groups, each led by a psychologist, we began with practical exercises, then drew from that practice important theoretical insights and useful guidance for how to act in ways that foster and maintain peaceful relationships with others.
That evening, though tired, we felt satisfied. We had glimpsed—despite the limited time that prevented us from completing the full program—new possibilities worth exploring, possibilities that could help us seek better relationships with our neighbors and work to make present the person who sometimes seems so far away.
Sunday, by contrast, centered entirely on faith: what does our faith say to us, what does it teach us, how does it help us navigate this broad dimension of life concerning our relationship with others—with all others?
The day unfolded like this: a priest addressed the theme we had chosen (Luke 4:32), giving us many points of reference. Then, in separate groups and approaching the theme from different angles (drawing from scripture, the Church, our Faith and Light communities, psychology, and our own humanity), we sought to deepen our understanding together, listening carefully to each voice and treasuring what each one offered. In the afternoon, after synthesizing the various contributions, we brought them into our common preparation of the Mass. That Mass became the moment of true encounter and reconciliation—every voice, every hope gathered and held sacred. The joy of being together, which had grown within us all those hours, became holy.
Milan — Affective Life
In March, Faith and Light in Milan organized a panel discussion on affective and sexual life among people with handicaps. Many people attended the presentations and participated in the debate.
Dr. Zani, a psychiatrist at ANFFAS Milan, spoke first. She highlighted how we are often guided by prejudices that prevent us from seeing clearly the difficulties and possibilities in our own lives and in others' lives. A fundamental principle is that everyone must have the chance to be recognized as valuable and to live happily with themselves and with others.
Lucia Bertolini, a psychologist and coordinator of the Rome groups, offered concrete examples from her personal work with real people and real situations. She showed how the external environment—family, friends, broader social context—can ease the most difficult and troubling aspects of the desire for love in all its forms. It is essential, nonetheless, to feel solidarity with one another, to recognize that this is one of life's most delicate balances for everyone, and to examine our own attitudes, both surface and deep.
Daniela, a young psychologist in Milan, described how the strong emotional support she received and lived within her family helped her overcome obstacles that came from her physical disability. The desire to be accepted, loved, and valued was stronger than her fear of rejection. It pushed her away from self-defeating resignation toward struggle and hope.
Don Dario, national assistant to Faith and Light, identified some key points to keep in mind in the most critical situations:
- The principle of history: every affective relationship is part of a journey with moments of peace, tension, and setback. It is neither the beginning nor the end of the story. Understanding this helps us live the situation without dramatizing it.
- The principle of limits: the limits of what even a rich experience like Faith and Light can resolve; the personal limits each of us must recognize so we can honestly assess what promise we make to another.
The discussion that followed made clear how hard it is to find clarifying words in such a complex reality. Yet there was a strong desire among everyone present to discover attitudes and ways of being and acting that bring the most possible wellbeing and joy.
Lucia Bertolini
2. We Went to Czestochowa Back to top
April 25-27, 1983. More than 800 people from Faith and Light communities throughout Poland gathered for a pilgrimage to Czestochowa. Among the guests were some French and Belgian friends and four Italians, invited by the Rome communities. Here are some notes from the diaries of the four: Francesco, Cristina, Anna, and Paolo.
Sunday the 24th
At Katowice station, we are greeted—to our surprise in perfect Italian—by five young women wearing identifying badges. A triumphal welcome.
After dinner, we have a fascinating conversation about the situation in Poland and, more broadly, about how people really live in this country: "Luxuries here mean a new dress, any food except bread and milk, never mind cars or anything else."
In their words we heard courage and resolve, and at the same time patience and honesty.
Monday the 25th
At Czestochowa: a long walk on foot, heavy backpacks weighing us down, along the avenue to Our Lady of Jasna Góra. We greet the statue of the praying Madonna. Prayers, songs, then bed in remarkable silence.
Tuesday the 26th, 11 p.m.
In a large dormitory room, I am talking with Eva, who speaks Italian well.
"Your Poland is suffering, Eva. Please, tell us how we can help you."
She answers: "I have so many friends in Italy who always write asking if I need anything. No, I don't want Italian blue jeans, chocolate, or soap. I just want my friends to think of me. I want to be in their hearts. That's what I need. That's what gives me everything."
As she spoke, I read in her deep eyes such serenity, such pride in belonging to her people.
You set out on a journey—you go, not quite knowing where, who you'll meet, why, who called you. You go with trust, with fear. We arrived at Czestochowa, and I saw at the end of a very long avenue, against the blue sky, an illuminated cross.
I look around: a group of people near me sings softly things I don't understand but can imagine. A young woman at the front walks slowly, holding high the symbol of Cracow. There—that's who had invited me. A community from a city I don't know and yet am already part of. A strange people, simple and strong, sad and serene, surrounded by uncertainty yet convinced, resolved.
At the feet of the Madonna's statue, kneeling on the ground, silent, dead from exhaustion, I understood I had come all this way for this: to kneel before this simple figure as I perhaps never had before, to let myself be helped by this extraordinary people, and to do it with trust and surrender.
"Stay with us because evening is falling"—we sang this in Polish, and we meant it truly. For this prayer we had set out.
Tuesday the 26th
The pilgrimage began. Already the evening before, a special atmosphere had formed, full of thoughts, expectations, questions—an almost imperceptible aura of prayer.
I saw a man bend down and kiss the road in reverence. I saw a soldier—a symbol of the power that seeks to deny the Church—kneeling before the altar. I had the great joy of seeing up close the beautiful painting of the Black Madonna (thanks, Taddaeus): such sweetness and suffering in that face, which a hostile hand once dared to cut. But how can I describe what one reads in the eyes of everyone who looks at it? I knew then, I understood then, because many of their thoughts were my own. But now it is so hard to capture the language of those eyes: reverence, passion, emotion, hope—and also anger, despair, suffering, uncertainty. So many thoughts churning through my mind throughout the Mass.
We entered the church singing: "Lord, you once saved Poland. Save her again!" And it was true prayer. Mary, Queen of Poland, looks at all of us with an expression of sorrow, bearing on herself the signs of the world's violence. She is a mother grieving because her children must bear injustice. She is a mother who carries in her heart the wounds of her children. For this reason, she stands very close to the mothers there before her with their wounded, rejected children. Mothers with eyes full of tears. They knew they were understood, heard. And the prayer was a cry, a mother's weeping giving voice to the others—our silence, everyone's tears for the children of Poland.
Wednesday the 27th
A great festival, a great spectacle. The Cracow group, with our Italian participation, performed the resistance of Czestochowa against the Swedes.
Unforgettable was the moment when we distributed our small gifts: rosaries, images, medals, little madonnas—things we had almost been embarrassed to pull out, that we had half laughed at. But here they took on another meaning, their true, authentic value, understood fully only in circumstances so different from our own superficial way of living.
Thursday the 28th
We visited Nova Huta: the ultramodern, beautiful church shaped like a ship. What brought home to me the full suffering of the Polish people was the visit to the chapel of Reconciliation beneath it. Then, a cheerful meal of spaghetti (Polish-style). Taddaeus gave us an invitation to his priestly ordination and other gifts, underscoring the bond that now exists between the Faith and Light group in Rome and the one in Cracow.
A rush to the station. Departure. I am sad: the four of us are leaving, and soon we will be in a free country. They, our friends, cannot leave. Who knows if and when we will see them again. Goodbye Barbara, Eva, Taddaeus, Anna, Marta.
3. Rome Spring Festival Back to top
Like clockwork, May brings Faith and Light's Spring Festival. It takes place in magnificent settings filled with trees, flowers, and broad lawns where our young people can run freely with their wonderful friends, who prepare games and amusements for them, surrounding them always with affection and care.
Everything at this festival speaks of joy and peace, everything is friendship. The deep sincerity of affection shines through, turning every handshake into a fraternal embrace. For us parents, it means feeling, during these hours, free from every self-consciousness—that difficult-to-name feeling we carry when we go out with our children and sense ourselves at the center of constant observation, observation that, even if kind or tinged with pity, does us little good. At Faith and Light we don't feel this. It is only at these gatherings that we can truly see our children as equals to others. We feel them surrounded by sincere affection, we see them as truly important members of a humanity that beneath the sign of the Cross achieves a spiritual equality. The Spring Festival is simply a chapter full of sunshine, green, and friendship—one we await each year with pleasant anticipation, certain we will spend a day that is different and more beautiful.
- Rino Perozzi
Everyone Gave Something
From the very morning I was excited to come to this festival. I saw it as a day to spend with many friends and a chance to see people I hadn't seen in months.
But the festival gave me much more than I expected, beginning the moment I arrived and saw how everyone, though working frantically, did so in complete calm. No one gave the impression of laboring. The whole atmosphere was one of perfect peace. This climate held throughout the day. Everything ran as it should, leaving room for each person's initiative, letting everyone give something, so that no one felt like they were only receiving. The whole atmosphere, charged with peace and friendship, reached its peak at Mass. Fantastic was the closing blessing, marked by a rainbow that lit up the entire day—a symbol of God's light, which reached every one of us present on that, for me, most beautiful day.
- A friend from the San Francesco group
4. Ponte Lambro Back to top
A wonderful world where the impossible does not exist, where happiness dwells
I have chosen to open with these lines a phrase from one of the poems of Tonino Ardagna, a young poet who carries a physical disability that keeps him from flying like the seagulls in his verses.
I met Tonino during a weekend away with the Ponte Lambro group. Among us were young people living with various disabilities, their parents, and their friends.
We spent two days together at a convent hidden in the mountains around Como. We took a walk, attended a mime performance where everyone participated, shared delicious food (thanks to Sister Bertilla!), sang and played, had a long discussion followed by reflection, and all of us participated in Mass together. Side by side we lived the three moments of Faith and Light: celebration, exchange, reflection.
In Antonella's words: "We didn't do anything in particular, but they chose us. They guided us and taught us how we should act."
- Olga Gammarelli
5. A Yellow Taxi Caravan Rolling Along Back to top
The idea, born in Rome, of bringing together our Milan group with the one from Ognissanti in Parma found quick support from friends, enthusiasm from our young people, and generous help from a group of Milan taxi drivers who for two years have offered us their friendship and their cars for outings beyond the city. As always, the plans grew: the Parma friends invite the group from Fidenza, just down the road. We mention it to the people in Carugate, and they, without hesitation, book a bus and fill it.
A yellow taxi caravan rolling along together.
The welcome from our friends in Parma is nothing short of triumphal. Between the band and majorettes, greetings and embraces, they place a new heart in our hands (apparently made of red cloth with our name stuck on it), and at once it is Faith and Light: joy, sharing, love.
Mass ends with a grand blessing (rain) that forces us to take shelter under trees and umbrellas.
The afternoon, the weather clearing, sees all of us participating in dances, games, songs, impromptu gatherings in small groups.
Everything is so beautiful that no one watches the clock. The departure is delayed a quarter hour, then half an hour, then an hour. No one wants to leave, and honestly, it is not clear why the day should ever end.
The departure itself is reluctant. During the ride back, along with impressions and memories, we sketch out plans for our next meeting.
The desire to be together is truly strong. Everyone feels that peace within themselves—the peace that has nothing to do with the world's peace, the very peace the Gospel spoke of today. Everyone thanks everyone, with a special thanks to our friends in Parma: they were truly wonderful.
- Mariella Pinchetti
Getting to Know Each Other Better Back to top
Rezzago, May 6-7-8, 1983
I believe the experience at Rezzago was positive for all of us. First, I want to say those days helped us know each other better. I also believe the Faith and Light group took an important step forward.
Don Dario and the young people showed their complete willingness to be present.
Walking together through Campoe, singing, praying, and playing gave meaning to our Faith and Light hopes.
Meeting Francesco, Olga, and Sabina was useful and beautiful because we could share and exchange various experiences.
I think that the testimony of these two brave parents and Sabina's presence gave all of us the push we were looking for.
I hope this beautiful experience can happen again.
- Tonino Ardagna