RMG

(ANS – Rome) – “The profound communion that exists between all the Groups and with all the continents and which nourishes our common spirituality at the service of the mission”. It is this that gives form and content to the Spirituality Days of the Salesian Family among all those who take part in them. In a few days, in Turin-Valdocco, (12-15 January 2023) a new edition will take place, the 41st^to from the start of this beautiful and successful Salesian tradition, which will focus on the theme of the Rector Major’s Strenna for this new year: “LIKE YEAST IN THE HUMAN FAMILY TODAY. The lay dimension in Don Bosco’s Family”. Here is all the information to fully experience it.

Given the success of the methodology used in recent editions, this year too the Salesian Family Spirituality Days (GSFS) provide for a “mixed” combination of face-to-face and digital activities. Thus, i about 300 representatives of almost all 32 groups of the FS present in Valdocco they will be able to participate in 100% of the scheduled appointments; but also the thousands of members of the FS scattered throughout the world will be able to experience some of the moments of the Days as a community: in particular, the morning Mass at 9 and the afternoon sessions from 15:00 to 17:30 (UTC+1) will always be visible on the ANS social channels – the Facebook page And the YouTube channel.

The GSFS2023, coordinated as always by the Central Delegate of the Rector Major for the Secretariat of the Salesian Family, Fr Joan Lluís Playá, and his team, will be accompanied, as presenters, by the Hungarian past pupil Marton and the Italian animator Federica Ambrogio.

It will start in the morning of Thursday 12 January with the reception of guests and visits to Valdocco and the Casa Don Bosco Museum, while the official inauguration will take place in the early afternoon, at 15:30 local time (UTC+1). In this same session, digitally accessible from all over the world, in addition to greetings for all and welcome messages, the Year dedicated to St. Francis de Sales will be officially closed, with a speech by Fr Ivo Coelho, General Councilor for Formation; and the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, will proceed with the presentation of the Strenna. Mass in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians and, in the evening, the community experience of the “Via Lucis” – a liturgical-devotional journey born right in the Salesian Family – will close the day.

Friday the 13th it will open with Mass in the Basilica and a reflection session in which the participants in Valdocco, divided into small linguistic groups, will reflect on which aspects of the Strenna help most to enhance the lay dimension of the Salesian Family. In the afternoon, during the session broadcast live online, the round table will take place on the theme “The current moment of the laity in the Church”, moderated by Antonio Boccia, World Coordinator of the Salesian Cooperators, and which will see four different interventions: on the apostolic commitment of the laity; on the identity of the lay person; on educational processes and youth accompaniment; and on the role of the lay person in the Church today.

The day will then proceed with the presentation of two groups of the Salesian Family – the Sisters of Mary Immaculate Help of Christians (SMI) and the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel (CSSMA) – a time for the meeting with the speakers of the round table and a prayer time in the evening.

The morning activities of Saturday 14 January they will proceed in the same way as those of the previous day, but during the work time in the linguistic groups, the reflection will continue to develop the ideas that emerged from the previous day’s round table. In the afternoon, the assembly session – visible for all in live streaming – will provide for an in-depth study of the Salesian sanctity of Artemide Zatti. Next, the groups of the Daughters of the Queen of Mary Immaculate (DQM) and the Community of the Mission of Don Bosco (CMB) will be presented. Then we will continue with the presentation of various good youth service practices carried out by the Salesian Family in the various continents, the film will be screened “Zatti, hermano nuestro”, and the day will close with an evening of fraternity.

the last day, Sunday 15 January, will also open with the morning Mass from the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, presided over by the Rector Major and visible in streaming; and will proceed with a last session of group work, this time however with the participants divided by group to which they belong. The reflection in this case will concern the youthful experiences of the previous day.

In the last digital broadcast, the final conclusions by Fr Playá and the Rector Major will be broadcast.

To watch the various moments broadcast via the web it is possible to subscribe to the linguistic channels of ANSChannel (YouTube) that will offer live commentary: Italian, English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.