"THE HOUSE OF HAPPINESS" "Main..." "Main!" "Where are you?" "Your sister is looking for you, eh." "Answer me." "Main!" "Main!" "Main!" "Will you answer please." "Coming now!" "Tell me who has eaten the cottage cheese?" "Mh?" "The kitten!" " Ahh!" "The kitten!" " Let's go Felicina." "Look, Felicina." "Those are violets." "They are hiding, sort of." "They are small, but we've discovered them." "Papa!" "Papa!" " How are you?" " Fine papa." " How has your day been?" " Very good, thanks." "Let's go Main, let's go and say goodnight to the stars." "Are we going to bed?" "There you go." "Papa, what did God do before he created the world?" "What do you think, huh?" "He was contemplating himself... and loving himself." "He was just fine by himself." "Because, you see Main, God is not alone." "He is a bit like... me, you, your mama... and Felicina too." "We love each other, no?" "God is like this." "God loves always." "This is what he was doing before he created the world." "And now comes... comes... number" "One!" "Good." "Now let's see" "What is... the commandment that's most important?" "Love the Lord your God, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself." "The winner is Main of the farmhouses!" "Take this." "Here is your prize." "I ask you to say a little prayer for the Pope." "You know, he left Rome, and took refuge at Gaeta." "I know these things are too big for you to understand... but you, must always remember to pray for him, alright?" "We... must plant... our...selves" "deeply rooted... in God." "That's rig ht, Main." "Plant ourselves deeply rooted in God..." "Papa, it's as if we're like a tree and God is the earth where the tree is rooted." "Is that right?" "Papa, tomorrow is my first Holy Communion" "I can't get Jesus out of my mind" "It's time for sleep now." "Under the covers." "Come on." "Good night." "After tomorrow it will always be like this." "I'll imagine, that Jesus has entered me through the sacred host." "Or that it's Jesus whom I will receive." "Howl do want to please our Jesus!" "Every day a little more." "We know all about it." "That's enough children." "Go to sleep." "Let's have... a minute of prayer." "In nomine Patris at Filii at Spiritus Sancti." "Amen." "Accipite et manducate ex hoc omnes." "Hoc est enim corpus meum." "Jesus, you are my Lord and my God." "So, I am the tree and you are the earth where I plant my roots." "Papa, I've been waiting for you!" "Well then Main, if you want to ask for a present, now is the time to ask." " What do you mean a present, papa?" " Yes." "Let me think... well..." "For example, did you see the lovely dress Teresa had on in church?" "Her father bought it for her at the fair at Montaldeo." "Will you take me papa?" "Please!" "I beg you." "You know how I love county fairs." "I'll take you." "I'll take you" "Thank you!" "Felicina, papa's taking me to the fair!" "Main sure has good taste... and she always wants to prove her worth." "But I don't want to get her hopes up too much." "But she already has!" "The other day she said to Petronilla: "I tell you that new bodice must suit me, must look good on me, not on my mama." "Don't tell her I told you, please?" "Ah, no!" "The Valponasca and Mornese are too confining" "My little Main, needs to broaden her horizons, to meet other people." "But don't worry I'll look after her." "Hello!" "Look at me!" "Here I am." "Up here!" "Here!" "Hey!" "Here I am." "Shoes, shoes!" "Look at me." "Here I am." "Shoes!" "Finest shoes!" "What a beautiful little girl!" "This is for you!" "Look!" "Shoes!" "Shoes for men and women." "For gentlemen... and for little ladies." "Do you like them?" "Yes I do!" "I'll take care of Say hello to him for me." "Look how pretty these are!" "Yes, they sure are nice ." "I wish I had boots like these!" "Remember." "Don't worry Father." "You know the other day I saw quite a few animals passing by?" "Which ones?" "I saw ducks and horses too." "When papa bought them for me, I thought that I had gone to heaven... but now?" "Don Pestarino is right." "It's more wonderful being, than seeming to be... it certainly is." "If you continue like this I won't be able to find men to work in the vineyards." "Do you know what they say?" ""That girl works too hard, we can't keep up with her." "Aren't you happy Papa?" "You're like your mother." "Impetuous and impatient." "But I'm also like you papa, aren't I?" "Yes, you have good sense, and you know what you want." "But whenever you judge someone or something" "What does the priest always say?" "You have to temper it with humility, with tenderness and with kindness" "Otherwise you will become hard-headed." "If someone contradicts me I get all red like hot coals." "And even my lips even quiver, or else I, get such a serious look on my face and then I just run off." "And what does the priest say?" "Don Pestarino doesn't let me get away with anything." "He has examples that are right on the mark." "He chats with everyone he meets, he does." "He explains the Gospel everywhere, in the streets, in the homes, and obviously in church!" "You should always listen to him, because he is a man of God." "You know he studied in Geneva!" "He can certainly teach you many things." "Listen to him" "There are girls who have made a vow of virginity for one year." "I know one who even did it for two years." "I don't understand why one has to ask permission to take a vow of virginity." "And I don't understand why you should for any amount of time." "I have already taken it forever." "I don't think I'm wrong about this." "So then why for a year..." "or even two years?" "With God love is much simpler." "And I chose God, forever from morning till night." "I do everything with him and for him." "I do everything for love, everything." "Shouldn't you be sleeping as well?" "You should be asleep yourself." "Go to bed." "Don't worry about me." "Felicina, go to bed" "I'll finish this and be right in." "Sleep so that tomorrow morning we can wake up early and go to mass." " And you?" " I'll finish here, so tomorrow, when we return from mass, I've already done my part and papa can start working." "Main?" "May I ask you a question?" "Ask me." "You help mother in the kitchen and with the laundry." "You help papa in the vineyard." "You teach me and the little ones to do the housework, because you always do the heavier work..." "And so what?" "It's just that... while you're doing all of this..." "you pray." "Why?" "Why?" "How may we open the treasures of paradise if we don't pray?" "Main, how many keys do you need to open the treasures of paradise!" "No, it's prayer that's my treasure, not the things I do." "Now good night Felicina." "Good night." "Let's ask him what time it is." "That way he won't notice that we are afraid." "What time is it?" "It's three hours past midnight." "What are you doing out at this time of night?" "We're on our way to church." "At this hour?" "It'll give us more time to pray!" "Do you remember that time when it snowed?" "When they opened the doors of the church and, we could can't even lift our shoes from the ground." "We could hardly move our feet forward!" "And that time when I was so soaked by the rain that I couldn't let myself be seen by the priest, I had to sit far away from his confessional?" "Don't you think it should always be Summer whenever we come to mass?" "Jesus, when I'm here in church it's always Summer." "I think about you constantly." "I live everything with you." "And I do it with so much love." "Always." "You are... like the water of the stream in the valley," "like the water of the Roverno." "Just like a bunch of grapes attached to the vine," "I cling to you." "For a while now, after dinner Main disappears." "Who knows what she's up to, that girl?" "To be honest they all disappear, you know." "Even the little ones." "Let's go look for them?" "Jesus is there, in the tabernacle of the church, and we're keeping him company." "Try and repeat after me:" "Jesus you are the source." "Jesus you are the source." "Jesus, you're like a sun that never sets." "Jesus, you're like a sun that never sets." "Jesus, you are the true God and the one true man." "Jesus, you are the true God and the one true man." "Angelina Maccagno has returned from Genoa." "Don Pestarino sent her to study to become a teacher." "Everybody says that she'll be the one to teach the girls." "Apparently she told her cousin that she wants to become an in house nun." "Not only her, there are others who want to become in house nuns." "They have already talked to don Pestarino and he agrees." "How I would just love to be part of that group." "If I may have your attention, friends!" "Please." "We are here to celebrate the birth of the Association." "But first of all to thank don Pestarino for the important role that he gives us women, in the life of the parish." "Today begins the Association of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate." "There are five of you." "From the eldest, to the youngest" "You will be the leaven among the people of Mornese." "Leaven with your example, always, and when it's needed, with your words as well" "And you will live fully the values of the Gospel." "She will be your guide" "The path you are to follow, will be hers." "She will be the example." "With you, my tender and only bridegroom, I will be wed." "It's you I wish to love, and I will leave everything for you." "I want to live my life by helping those who are in need and guide them towards your everlasting love." "There we go!" "Good boy." "Only you, do I want to love." "For you, I leave everything." "With you, my tender and only bridegroom," "I will be wed." "Come on!" "Put the tools where they belong." "I run ahead and light the fire!" " Wait!" " Go and get some wood." "Wait!" "Wait!" "All our savings!" "Damn those thieves!" "Mamma, no, there's no need to curse." "They're poor wretches, they're worse off than we are!" "Rather let's say a prayer, that God touches and changes their heart." "Wouldn't it be better if we went to live in the village?" "What if something terrible had happened to any of us?" "Bring everything up here!" "Yes, put those in there!" "Jesus I can no longer see you from here, but I am just a few steps away from you." "I haven't stopped since this morning and I went a quarter of an hour without thinking of you." "Never again a quarter of an hour without thinking of you." "Mamma, I'm going to see the priest." "Do you need anything?" "No." "But try not to be late, soon it will be dark!" "So you're in Mornese." "How is your family coping?" "Papa and my older brothers have to go every day to the Valponasca." "Sometimes mama goes as well." "The little ones are happy, I must say." "And you?" "Must you ask?" "You know I'm happy to live close by to the church." "I don't miss my little window." "Main, I wanted to talk to you." "In the village there are some severe cases." "Nobody outside of the af?" "icted families knows anything about this." "We must pray all together." "The French troops returning from the war have passed not too far from where we are and... they may have left us with something far more serious than we're able to imagine now." "Don Pestarino, what am I to prepare for?" "You must tell me, please." "I can't tell you any more." "Main, you're to stay calm, I can always rely on you, I'm certain." "Or rather, God can always rely on you." "Don't forget that." "I'm scared." "People are dying." "They say that it's typhoid fever." "Main, Main, please hurry." "The priest is at our house and he is talking with Papa." "You realise how contagious this is, don't you?" "Sending Main to care for our relatives with typhoid?" "No, no, no Father." "It's impossible." "How can I take care of the house all alone?" "And the children as well?" "And the vineyards?" "I can't stop everything." "Main works as hard as three laborers put together." "Listen, I can't send Main." "But, if she really wants to go, I have no objection." "I'll go, papa." "Mama, I'll go." "Those people do need me." "Main..." "Main..." "They have all recovered." "And soon you'll be well again, too." "Don Pestarino... would you please bring me." ".. every day...the eucharist." "We should have told them no." "But you had to insist." "What are you saying?" "But just think what a nice gift it would be if I were to die... a martyr by love." "I can't bear the thought of not having her here any more." "This house seems so empty." "I used to say to her:" ""Please slow down, Main..." "She's my first child!" "Will she get better?" "And if so, how much?" "Papa, don't say that." "Certainly she will get better." "Let's pray, let's pray just like she did." "Holy Mary has looked after you and has left you with us... so that no-one in our house cries." "Jesus, I can no longer get up at dawn," "I can no longer do the heavy work... come to mass in the early morning." "If you give me a little more life, please let all this be forgotten." "I am happy just to be remembered by you." "In the spring, will my strength return?" "Life returns." "Everything is reborn." "But not my strength." "I, Main of the farmhouses." "Main, stronger than her father's laborers." "God, what do you want from me?" "Help me to understand, give me a sign." "Show me the way." "If I knew how to work as a dressmaker, just think of all the girls I could rally together." "Howl could help them" "I could keep them off the streets, from danger, and I could bring them closer to you, Mary." "What's happening?" "What is it that I'm seeing?" "You entrust them to me?" "" " Main!" "I must speak to you." " But..." " Straight away." "Not here." "Let's go." "I think I understand now that the Lord wants the two of us to take care of the girls in Mornese." "Actually, Mother Mary wants it." "And I'm certain of it." "Holy Mary." "The two of us, did she tell you this?" "Yes, in a certain sense she did tell me." "Listen Petronilla, you're not strong, you can't work in the vineyards." "And I too, after the illness, can't do it any more." "Yet both of us care very much for many of the girls of Mornese, isn't that so?" "Yes, of course, but what will we tell them?" "I've given it some thought." "Don't you think that if we knew how to sew we could succeed?" "You want to learn to be a dressmaker?" "We want to learn to become dressmakers." "Me too?" "But how?" "Who will want to teach us how to sew?" "Valentino Campi." "He is a good tailor and an excellent christian." "Yes!" "Yes, maybe you are right!" "But promise me we will only sew for women." "Promise?" "Listen carefully." "We will learn to sew to keep the girls away from harm's way, to better themselves, to bring them closer to Jesus and to love him." "But how do we care for them and, how do we feed them all?" "We will live off of our work." "Just look at those two." "Everyone is talking about them." "They're not working in the fields, but are learning to sew, and from a man no less, can you believe it!" "Who do they think they are?" "Do you know what some of the Daughters of the Immaculate are saying?" "I've heard." "The group doesn't want them around any more." "Those two do what they want." "They think they're better than the rest." "The dressmaker is moving away and leaving her work to us!" "Soon we will have our very own workroom." "Angela Maccagno made me a promise, maybe she could rent a room to us." "Main, maybe it's just an idea of mine, but it seems to me that some of the Daughters of the Immaculate are... jealous of you." "Of me?" "But why's that?" "They say that you're too enterprising and you only want to be successful." "I only want to give the girls a helping hand." "That's all I want to do." "Go to Main, she will teach you how to sew." "Margherita, take this cloth." "Do you know where the new house that fills everybody with happiness is?" "Where a stitch is enough... to make goodness bloom like a ?" "ower?" "Knock on our door and look at us, you'll discover that we are cheerful while praying and working:" "here is the house of happiness!" "What have you done?" "Two identical sleeves?" "There isn't enough cloth to make another!" "Well then, let's take the cloth from the front." "And instead of that one we can use another piece of it." "But what will the lady do with a dress that has two different halves?" "She can cover it with an apron!" "There's not enough space in here." "We're too close together." "That's why I made a mistake." "No, it's still the same house, we're the ones who are growing in number." "When you get bigger, you take your things and... you go someplace else!" " These two rooms are yours, and I'm happy you're here." " Thank you maestro Bodrato." " Goodbye little lucky ones." " Good bye maestro Bodrato." "Petronilla, look!" "We are doing it all by ourselves." "Our very own workroom" "What will the other Daughters of the Immaculate say?" "We're doing it for the girls." "They have been entrusted to us." "Girls." "Don't forget!" "Every stitch you make, is an act of God's love." "By working, we show him our love." "By being a little quieter, we can re?" "ect more." "And now, let's get back to work!" "And this..." "That's very nice, yes!" "I heard that you look after girls here." "These are my two daughters." "I'd like them to stay with you." "My wife died a few days ago and I work in the trade fairs." "I have no one to leave them with." "We take care of the girls during the day only." "Nobody has ever slept here." "You entrust them to me?" "Come on in." "Come on, don't be afraid." "Go on, go on." "Say hello children." "Hello." "From today on our workroom has become a real home." "Why don't you come with me." "I'll prepare a bed." "I don't know how, but I will." "I want to live here with you too." "You already have a family and a home waiting for you." "But this is a home too, you said so yourself." "I want to live here with you." "Rosins I'll speak with your father." "I'm hungry!" "Poor, yes!" "But not in our heart!" "Look at them!" "I love the things they love" "How beautiful they are, shining with joy." "They will shine even brighter, closer to you, our Lady Mary." "I wanted to talk to you." "You have a right to know." "I've just come back from Turin." "Where I met with don Bosco, you both know him, and I'm happy to say, that I too am a Salesman." " But you won't leave us, will you?" "And Mornese?" " And us?" "Well, I had wanted to stay in Turin, and be nearer to him." "But don Bosco told me he has big dreams, very big," " and said nothing more about it." " Big dreams?" " And said nothing more about it." " Big dreams?" "That's all he really said but..." "he gave me something for you." "A medal of Mary Help of Christians, one for you Petronilla, and another, for you, Main." "And another, for you, Main." "He blessed them himself." "He said you should keep praying, as well." "But above all, to continue your good work for the girls." "As much as possible." "But above all, to continue your good work for the girls." "As much as possible." "I asked if he would come to Mornese." "He accepted the invitation." "The girls have asked me if sometimes I can stay over and sleep with them at night." "What do you think?" "The girls have asked me if sometimes I can stay over and sleep with them at night." "What do you think?" "They would be happy." "I could tell them good night as if I were their mama." "But what about Petronilla?" "But I'd like to take care of them as well." "Well your home is here with us, remember that." "Well your home is here with us, remember that." "It's nice what you do for those girls but, remember that you belong here with us." "Aren't Main and Petronilla coming?" "It's our meeting today!" "It's better if they don't come, their heads are elsewhere!" "It's all because of Main." "She's too bizarre for us." " And she's dragging Petronilla down with her." " Well then?" "Are we ready to start the meeting, girls?" "Come in." "You asked to see me?" "There's something wrong, isn't there?" "Sit down Main." "Look, I..." "Look, I..." "I don't know how to say it, but it can't go on like this." "There's a lot of talk, and what they're saying isn't very nice." "There's a lot of talk, and what they're saying isn't very nice." "Of the daughters of the Immaculate you already knew." "But it's not just them." "Everybody in town is saying..." "that you want to be in control." "Everybody in town is saying..." "that you want to be in control." "I want to be in control?" "I just, want the girls to learn a trade so that they don't lose themselves..." "lose hope" "Don Pestarino, you know how much I care for them." "I know." "I know." "I know." "I know." "Of course I know" "But I'm afraid you're going to have to take some time off." "At least until things calm down." "And where am I supposed to do this?" "You will go to Valponasca" "You will go to Valponasca" "Someone will help Petronilla with the girls I promise you." "I know this is a great sacrifice for you." "It's as if Jesus himself were asking" "In the silence of this farmhouse, in its memories, I choose you." "In the silence of this farmhouse, in its memories, I choose you." "Looking through my little window, I choose you." "In this storm that makes me suffer, I choose you." "I miss the girls." "I don't understand what has happened." "I miss the girls." "I don't understand what has happened." "Oh, Jesus, heart of my heart, give me strength." "I choose you because you have chosen me." "Angels and saints all around you," "Angels and saints all around you, are singing with me "sleep little one, do"." "Are singing with me "sleep little one, do"." "Love everything always, because" "God did everything thinking of you." "God did everything thinking of you." "So you pass the needle from here to there," "So you pass the needle from here to there, and from there to here." "Small stitches." "I brought Main back." "Main!" "Main!" "Main!" "Welcome back!" "From now on I'll be sleeping here with you as well." "And I also bring great news." "Wonderful news for the whole village." " In a month's time don Bosco will come to Mornese with his boys." " Don Bosco?" "And he will stay until the feast of our Lady." "And he will stay until the feast of our Lady." " With his boys?" "How will we manage where will we put them all?" " We'll manage it somehow." "You could help me to prepare my house for them in Borgoalto." " My I have a bit of cake?" " Not now!" "Go and play over there." "Go on." "Quickly." "Go on." "Wait for me!" "Give me the ball!" " The spoons!" "I found them!" " Oh!" "Thanks!" "Don Bosco's here!" "He's here!" "Don Bosco!" "Don Bosco's here!" "He's here!" "Don Bosco!" "Cheers for Don Bosco!" "Hooray!" "Cheers for Don Bosco!" "Hooray!" "Look at him... he's a saint!" "Thanks!" "Thanks to everyone." "Thanks!" "Thank you." "Thanks!" "Thanks to everyone." "Thanks!" "Thank you." "Thanks to everyone in Mornese." "I bless you." "I bless your land and your families." "I bless you." "I bless your land and your families." "May God protect you and make you happy." "I pray for you, but you also must pray for me and the boys who live in the salesian houses." "I pray for you, but you also must pray for me and the boys who live in the salesian houses." "Pray for don Pestarino, who is doing so much for Mornese." "May God bless all of you." "And good night." "Main, how bold you were to get to the front row, in the midst of all those children." "You seemed spellbound." "It was as if don Bosco could read into my heart." "I've waited so long to hear his words, you know?" "I've waited so long to hear his words, you know?" "Don Bosco is a saint, my heart tells me so, and now I know." "Thank you, don Bosco." "I felt very happy today." "Thank you, don Bosco." "I felt very happy today." "That's what holiness is." "Always being very happy." "Just like we do with our girls." "Just like we do with our girls." "Don Pestarino says that they too have the oratory on Sundays." "While during the week they teach a trade to the boys" "And we don't seem to be any different." "I'd like to tell you something." "I have all this land around the house here in Borgoalto," "I have all this land around the house here in Borgoalto, and it's here that I would like to build the boarding school, the school which I had spoken to you about" "This place is so beautiful." "Ask for a helping hand from the people of Mornese and you'll build it." "This place is so beautiful." "Ask for a helping hand from the people of Mornese and you'll build it." "A boarding school here at Mornese, is a good idea." "Get straight to work and when it is ready, I will come to inaugurate it." "Get straight to work and when it is ready, I will come to inaugurate it." "While I look after the basilica for our mother Help of Christians in Turin, you build a boarding school for her children" "I've met a small group of young girls in Mornese." "They do everything that we do at the oratory:" "Sunday mass, catechism, games, they have fun." "During the week they teach the girls from the village a trade." "$0?" "Well, they have asked for my permission to live in a group if they're able to support themselves." "Sometime ago don Lemoyne told me I should be doing the same for the girls, that I am also doing for the boys:" "oratories, schools." "And what was your answer?" "That we would eventually have sisters, but it would take some time." "And then I saw those brave girls." "I was very impressed and they made me stop and think." "What I had seen and heard in Mornese is exactly what we are doing here in Turin." "Well, now I know for certain that it is God's will that we are also to look after girls." "I have entertained your views which are most positive, and it is officially written here May 1871, and this date will remain, for historical purposes." "For the congregation that I am hoping to found I have the approval of the Pope, and as far as the practical aspect, I propose that this institution takes its root in the house that don Pestarino is currently finishing in Mornese." "Thank you for leaving us the house." "It's spacious." "The girls are increasing in number and the work is as well." "I moved quite willingly to Borgoalto so that" "I could easily follow the construction." "Is there something wrong, father?" "I just received this letter from don Bosco." "And... it's only right that I share it with you." "Come then, let's sit down." "Don Pestarino..." "I intend to allocate... the boarding school that you are building in Mornese no longer for the boys... but for the girls." "The new sisters will be called, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, like Our Lady of the basilica we are constructing here in Turin." "This basilica, is a monument of stone whereas they will be a monument that lives for the Help of Christians." "Follow carefully those who obey even in the little things, that they are not offended by the corrections received and are mortified with joy." "These are the sisters that Mary Help of Christians wants." "Just think when it becomes known in the village." "Everyone is expecting a boarding school for boys." "They will feel like they've been tricked." "They may even think it's your fault." "I will have to explain, but... you will have to be strong." "They're silkworms." "Here take the mulberry leaf." "Alright!" "Let's see how we're doing." "Now then, 24 lire from the silk that we sold." "From the clothes that we made, 46 lire." "All together in this month that comes to 70 lire." "It isn't much but, it is enough to live on." "I have to go and ask for work on commission, I think." "Dresses to make." "We need to become more autonomous." "The girls have brought us polenta, ?" "our, potatoes and even kindling." "Between what we do for work and what they give us in exchange for teaching, for the moment we seem to be self-sufficient." "They still care for us in the village, but when we transfer to the boarding school that was meant for the boys," " I really don't know." " You don't have to worry." "Shortly we'll have to make a decision that's important." "Don Bosco knows what he's doing." "I'm cold." "I too am glad that you're here." "I have gathered you here today, because at this point, you must decide whether you want to be a nun." "Don Bosco wants to found an Institute." "Do you know what that means?" "It's a decision that's important and, perhaps the decision of your life." "You must think about it." "Those who do not choose, will remain with their family, and will continue to do good work in the village." "Instead whoever raises their hand, will then choose this path, and will become part of the new Institute." "Very well." "For those who chose to live with their family, the superior is Angela Maccagno." "You will be called "The New Ursulines..." "Now you are to vote in complete freedom, for the one who will be the superior of the new Institute." "Please write the name on these sheets." "The new superior is..." "Maria Domenica Mazzarello." "I cannot accept this." "Thank you, but I'm not capable of this." "Believe me, I am not capable of being the superior." "Well then, for the time being, we'll call you Vicar, how's that?" "You will move into the new building at Borgoalto." "Transfer everything during the night, I beg you." "The village is still quite upset about the entire episode." "Stay close to me." "Guide me." "I will follow you." "With you I am not afraid." "Papa," "Papa... this has always been my home, and you will always be my family." "In the hour of need I know I can knock on this door, and I know it won't remain closed." "Here we are in this new house that's so big." "Think about it:" "just today three girls have chosen Jesus... and have asked me to become part of our family." "You sanctimonious lot!" "You'll get tired soon you won't be able to resist." "Nobody will send any more girls to the workroom." "You will go hungry." "This building was for the boys!" "Shame on you!" "Let's go inside." "The whole village is against us now." "This is another test of strength we offer to Jesus." "Main!" "And if the families won't send their daughters to our workroom any more?" "How are we going to feed the little ones if we don't have any work?" "Let's not be disheartened by the things they say." "If food becomes scarce then," "I'll go and ask for help from my family." "Let's go inside." "We're here because we were asked by don Bosco." "Have you heard that don Bosco arrived sooner than we had hoped?" "No one expected him." "He's staying only one day, so the profession is tomorrow." "They will become nuns tomorrow." "Can you imagine how thrilled they'll be and us too?" "In fact they are now preparing the chapel while you speak." "I wonder where they will practice?" "You know, she reads well, she could do the part of the Bishop." "Come with me." "My daughters, what is it you ask?" "We only ask to profess the rule of the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians." "Have you considered what this means?" "Among the small plants, there is one that gives off the most perfume: the spikenard." "For the spikenard to be able to give forth her sweet scent it must be well trodden." "Suffer with Jesus, and for Jesus." "You are now part of a religious family that belongs to our Lady." "The Institute will have a great future... if you keep yourselves poor, simple, and mortified." "You are the living monument that gives thanks to our mother." "The living monument... are the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians." "Let us become saints, truly great saints!" "Sister Maria Domenica Mazzarello, from now on you are to call her "Mother", because she has been the first among you, to have faced many difficulties." "You are to listen, and to obey her." "For now, she will be the vicar because the one true superior of the house is our Lady." "Your life shall continue, just as before, but now you are brides of Christ." "I beseech all of you to be happy." "Don't you realise, don Bosco, that this is the house of happiness?" "Come in." "Mother, I am very concerned." "The firewood is almost finished, the cupboards are almost empty." "No one from the village is helping us." "The villagers are still against us." "As far as the villagers we must have patience and, pray for their souls .They will understand." "As for the firewood, we shall go up to the hill, to the woods of my mother." "And as for food we shall do as we have done on other occasions: we'll all go collect chestnuts." "I'm afraid that some novices will not cope with the hardship and the poverty." "We must not be sisters in name only, but in fact as well." "It is a divine grace for us poor peasant girls of Mornese, to have become brides of Jesus, and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians." "The girls have never seen anyone dressed with such elegance." "I'm afraid they are very modest, they don't know a word of French." "Girls, please, come and greet your new French teacher," "Miss Emilia Mosca." "Good morning miss." "Good morning." "The poverty of the house is great, but the joy that accompanies it is even greater." "Here everything is done out of love." "You will learn." "From the smallest aspect, up to the largest." "Can you tell me what time it is?" "Mother, I'm sorry but I don't have a watch." "You may answer me that it is time to love the Lord." "It is time to love the Lord." "Take care of the girls with patience and infinite gentleness." "Mother, the Sorbonne sisters have arrived!" " Where are they?" " Down in the garden." "Then let's go." "Enrichetta, we've been expecting you." "Thank you Mother." "May I present my sisters." "Welcome." "I wanted to be a nun with all my heart, but I couldn't leave my sisters at home, they have already lost their mother." "I've already told don Bosco, it's a joy to have you all here." "You may go." "And you?" "I have a little surprise for you." "Shall we go?" "Good morning Mother." " Good morning Emilia." " I'd like to speak to you." "Certainly." "I've been here for a while and I've watched carefully, and I've observed attentively." "And what have you seen?" "That the girls change when they come in contact with your kindness." "Emma, for example." "She was very ambitious and did nothing but open and close her trunk full of frivolous things." "And she didn't know how to pray." "Now she is another person." "And also Maria Belletti." "She was uninhibited at the beginning, but not any more." "And what else have you seen?" "The Sorbonne sisters." "All five of them." "You have welcomed them with your heart." "I have seen the unity and harmony that governs this house, and I have seen you austere, with yourself, but protective and maternal with us." "And you wanted to say this?" "Well, yes..." "I wanted to tell you that..." "I want to stay here with you from now on." "Would you accept me as a novice?" "I will entrust you with the direction of the school and of the boarding school." "To me?" "Yes, and now you may go." "Emilia!" "I wish to learn how to write." "I still don't know how." "The..." "SHOW... is falling... on the hillsides... of Mornese." "What an unruly hand I have!" "Humility is good for everyone, including me!" "My handwriting is terribly undisciplined, but I want to learn to write." "Why's that?" "Because I have a rather big task to perform... and I can't do that without knowing how to write well." "But you live like this?" "I was looking for a convent." "No don't touch it." "Not even the trunk." "Because I'm leaving." "Caterina, you'll see how we live." "Stay for at least a month trial period." "Not even for one day." "Aren't you hereto be part of the religious order?" "Yes, but I didn't imagine all of this." "I was hoping for a convent." "What do you see here?" "I see a lot of confusion." "That is true, we are not perfect, therefore we are humble, hopeful, and joyful" "Do you mind if I tell you something?" "It's here where God wants you to be." "If you go away, what will you say to our Lord?" "Since you were 10 years old I knew what stuff you were made of." "The secret of your work, of your happiness is just one:" "the love of God, without holding back." "Time passes and my seasons have been accompanied by the story of your life, Main, and by the history of the Institute, that will continue to grow." "It's already growing." "Come in." "Am I disturbing you, Mother?" "I know it's a moment of concern for you." "No, please." " And your trunk?" " It's in the dormitory." "Are you happy now that you've said "yes" to God?" "I'm here to tell you that I am happy." "Because this is indeed a convent, but above all it's a home." "And it's a family." "Very soon there will be other houses like this one." "Thank you again, Mother." "I'll return to the courtyard, the girls are waiting for me." "I wanted to tell you that a few days ago, on the 8th of October, the first sisters had left Mornese for Borgo San Martino, in order to open the institute's second house." "They will bring with them the spirit of Mornese, the spirit of poverty, love and sacrifice, loyalty to the Holy Rule and prayer that comes from the heart, and always bound by acts of kindness." "We have already opened eight houses and you are the first missionaries." "In a few days you will go to Genoa, and from there you will embark together for Uruguay." "All the bell towers that you will see between here and Genoa will help you find the way." "Know happiness, in whatever occasion you find." "I recommend that you love each other, to forgive each other's mistakes but always with love and tenderness." "Don Bosco, has called us to work among the girls throughout the world, among the most needy." "I will leave my birthplace forever." "Here is where I met you." "Here is where you talked to me," "and I followed you." "I will leave Mornese to go to Nizza." "I've suffered many times." "The death of my younger sisters reminds me that our true home is in Heaven." "I think about all of them!" "You are here... and I am here." "Mama, with a heavy heart I have left you and my siblings:" "papa is no longer with us." "I miss him very much but now he is even closer to us all." "Come in." "We've finished the carpet that you had started." "Do you like it, Mother?" "It's very beautiful.You were all so precise and clever to finish so quickly." "The builders have completed the work on the new music and art rooms." "And today we have welcomed another 15 new girls." "They are settling in, on the first ?" "oor of the dormitory." "You have done well." "You look rather tired Mother." "Perhaps you should rest a little." "I would like to accompany the missionaries of the third expedition to the port of Genoa... and then," "perhaps, go to Marseille, and wait with them until the ship sets sail." "Main, the expedition doesn't leave until the 3rd of" "February, and if you travel you may catch a cold." "And with that cough of you rs... you must think of all the daughters you have" "Petronilla, I don't have daughters, but I have many sisters only... and they are all very special to me in my heart." "But the missionaries will need me to accompany them there." "A letter has arrived from the house at Saint-Cyr." "A letter has arrived from the house at Saint-Cyr." "Our Mother has accompanied the missionaries to Marseille, from where they have embarked and she is now at Saint-Cyr." "She has a high fever and unfortunately is not able to travel." "My dear sisters, my missionaries, all of you." "The distance that separates us is very great." "I had hoped to pay you a visit... but an immense sea separates us." "Do not be too happy or too sad over anything in this world... for this life is too short." "The day will come when we will meet each other in Heaven." "Be loving and amazed, always." "What you teach through example, remains." "I die as a bride of Jesus, a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians and don Bosco!" "I ask this grace for all of you whom I have loved very much, and whom I now love even more." "Jesus, you are my strength." "If they only knew you as I know you now."