In the scorching heat of Turin at the end of July, a group of 75 young people from Portugal, Poland, Spain, Morocco, and Italy gathered to walk in the footsteps of St Joseph Allamano. They are young people close to the Consolata Missionary Institutes and the Consolata Lay Missionaries, who already knew Allamano, hence, they came from far away to set foot on those stones and on those streets he walked over a hundred years ago.
At the Consolata Shrine and in the Mother Houses, through the streets of the historic center and in the “square kilometer of charity.” Turin, but not only: Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Rivoli.
In short, a special experience, made so by the places they visited and the people they encountered. The entire Consolata Family was present. Let’s hear, from the young people, the protagonists of this pilgrimage: their words which still resonate with the joy of this encounter!
I really enjoyed deepening more about Allamano. Given that he is a figure I’ve always heard about, almost legendary, it was very positive to get to know the places where he lived. I believe, these days have made Allamano more human, and have placed him in a “horizontal” position in respect to us. This is always positive, because it makes us understand that we all have the ability to do something significant; we don’t need superpowers to do it.
For me, this experience was the epitome of missionary spirit: meeting others, sharing moments of joy and difficulty, and ultimately finding ourselves united by experiences and indelible memories built in the memorial sites of the one who made it all possible. I was deeply touched by the presence of the priests, nuns, and seminarians during these days. Their spirit, their affection, their proactivity, their care, their attentiveness, and their relaxed attitude… In other words, I believe their personalities reflect the characteristics Allamano desired for his Institute, so, in a certain sense, I got to know Allamano through them!
A huge thank you to the leaders for giving us this wonderful week and for their trust in us. A huge thank you to Mother Consolata and the other young people (JMC) for guiding my faith and for being a family and a source of comfort.
Thanks to this experience in which I met and bonded with new people and I hope that all this will last over time . Before leaving, for example, I didn’t think I would be able to have even a single conversation with people who didn’t speak my language, but during this experience I learned that even if I would make a mistake or i didn’t know something, it wasn’t a problem, rather it was an opportunity to improve.
Thanks to this experience, I was able to socialize more, both with the group and with all the new people I met. It was difficult for me at first because I was n’t in my comfort zone, but afterward, despite the language and everyone’s differences, I realized that this was precisely what made this experience beautiful! I will never forget this experience, and knowing that I gave a little of myself to other people and that other people gave a little of themselves to me can only enrich me. I met wonderful people and I was very sad to leave them.
Above all, having bonded even more with the people within this group and with other people is one of the most beautiful things that I will carry within me for the rest of my life . Finally, I would also like to thank all of you animators who proposed and brought us on this beautiful experience because it is also thanks to you that we were able to experience all of this. Besides getting to know Allamano better, I think it’s important to have a way to communicate with young people around the world (or at least in our region) who are connected to Mother Consolata. The idea of the Commissioning really excited me!
When I realized that Allamano is a father figure, suddenly many things began to make sense and fall into place: the priests are always available, always very close, we address each other informally, they treat us as equals; the sisters are always attentive, a great testimony of life… everyone’s enthusiasm, everyone’s availability. There’s a real sense of family, I didn’t think it was possible. I knew it existed in theory, because many people talk about the “Consolata family,” but I thought it was synonymous with “community,” but no, it truly is a family, you feel like you’re part of a family. I repeat, I’m truly very happy, like I haven’t been for a long time. I feel fulfilled, satisfied, I want to search for more, learn more, serve more.
I hope to meet them again, perhaps in the next camps… because with most of them I built, and by keeping in touch with them, I continue building new friendships born from something as beautiful and pure as this experience. I thank both myself and the animators because without them none of this would have happened.
This experience was very important for me because it gave me the opportunity to meet many people from other countries, from whom I learned a lot. All of this enriched me greatly and introduced me to many young people with whom I was able to bond, even if only in a few days, providing me with many moments of happiness and sharing, as we got to know each other and shared opinions and ideas about the activities we were doing during those days.
Wishing you a fruitful journey together, friends!
