Mariangela—your very name was the story of your life. That clear, wise gaze of yours. That gift for reaching people. I knew you through Fede e Luce, and across the years you became a kind of teacher to me. You understood my pain in a way few could: a child facing struggles of his own…
What strength you carried. What a gift for listening. And what deep spiritual roots you had, Mariangela! You offered all of it to anyone who was suffering.
I remember I was recovering from a terrible bout of sciatica—the kind that lingers—when I attended a Fede e Luce weekend at the Venegono seminary. I climbed those stairs over and over to reach my room, and I felt no pain at all.
One afternoon at Venegono, during a powerful moment of prayer with our group—there was music, activities, animation—you were at the heart of it all. You asked if I would read a poem I'd written to everyone there. When I finished, something strange happened. I leapt into the air—really leapt, higher than I'd thought possible. Somehow, Mariangela, you had given me that lift. Not just the courage, but something else: a kind of spiritual and physical lightness I can't quite explain.
Perhaps you're calling to us from above now, and you've risen high indeed—so close to the God you always loved. Thank you, Mariangela, for the good you wished upon my entire family.
Maria Teresa Mosconi Straulino, 2014
