Easter at Lourdes in 1971 was our first encounter with Foi et Lumière.
We had left Rome not skeptical, exactly, but uncertain. Then came the meeting! The joy of it. The singing, the laughter, the way we looked at each other and smiled, grateful simply for being seen.
Yes—grateful. Each of us thanked the other for that greeting, for the happiness shining in those faces. The same faces that usually carry pain and tears. Not there. Everything was different. We were different. And with that faith and that light, we dared to hope it might last forever.
A miracle? No. Not a miracle. Just gladness—the simple happiness of people meeting who are used to weeping, who carry their sorrow in silence and ask for nothing. But here everything changed. Those smiles were a language without words, an outpouring of great joy, a particular light that whispered hope.
After that, things began to grow. Letters came. Newsletters. A visit to Paris and Compiègne. Meetings. And we could feel it ripening into something real.
A French journal wrote: "Italy is waking up." Yes. We woke up. Why not share our peace with others?
So that is our will now: to give our friends the gift of this encounter—rich not only in faith, but in joy and understanding, in the exchange of smiles that carry both pain and light.
We started our first meetings. Ten people came. Then twenty. Then, in wonder, we found ourselves fifty strong.
We asked ourselves: have we said something that matters? Perhaps. The answer came when we gathered and counted one hundred fifty.
And it did not stop. Faith and light help us hope and believe. Now we are more than ever—always together, friends with friends, and the young people have answered our call and joined us.
Hand in hand, united, like in the moment of the Our Father, with the Light to guide us forward and the Faith that moves us to do good.
— Enzo, 1979