Chestnuts, Ribbons, and Celebration in Cuneo
Every month, Fede e Luce gathers to mark the occasion with a party that draws families and friends alike. On November 16th, we held our "chestnut roast." For days beforehand, each of us thought about how to organize it—how to make this time together as beautiful and joyful as possible.
At last the day arrived, pale and cold with the first breath of winter. We met at the Salesian Institute, in the hall and courtyard we occupy every Saturday afternoon.
To help people understand our work better, we extended invitations beyond our regular group. And what a gift it was to have so many of us there.
Some families were attending for the first time. There's always that initial shyness—how do you break through it? But a simple hello and a colorful ribbon to pin on your shirt did the trick. Soon people were roasting chestnuts, hanging paper flowers on the walls, singing together. We formed a circle, and everyone's smile told the story. Each person lifted the spirits of everyone else.
When the cold bit harder, we moved inside where it was warm. Chestnuts, wine, and juice were passed around. The mood was one of easy, genuine happiness. Those who felt awkward at first had found their place. We were content. The young people especially—you could see it in their eyes, in their gestures. Everything happening around them, everything offered to them, they received with joy.
But evening came, and it was time to leave. "See you at the next celebration!" What matters most to us is feeling bound to one another by friendship. We trust that future gatherings will strengthen these bonds with our new families and new friends, deepening them in ways we cannot yet imagine.
A friend from Cuneo
Long Live the Pope!
Long live the Pope! It's a cry of joy you hear whenever the Vicar of Christ draws near, whenever people want to see him, to clasp his hands, to receive his blessing. But when our young people are there among the crowd, that cry comes not in words—it comes in a glance, a simple smile, enough to show their joy and make their presence felt wherever the Pope has come to find them.
On Sunday, January 18, 1981, twenty of us—young people, friends, and parents—gathered at the Church of San Giuseppe al Trionfale to represent the Sant'Anna group of Fede e Luce. We were in the front pew. As the Pope moved through the church preparing for Mass, he stopped to greet each of us. But Carla held him there for a few moments, all for herself. She took his wrists and spoke to him, with difficulty: "Listen to me… listen to me… I… I… I… I love you so much."
Carla spoke to the Pope for all of us. After Mass we gathered in a hall to receive the Holy Father's greeting. His words were few but spoke volumes to our hearts. What I remember most: "The light that you, the weaker ones, give us will return to you."
Alleluia, Alleluia—that was our answer.
Fausta