Rome Italy). On November 15, 2022, the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Mother Maddalena Morano (1847-1908), Piedmontese Daughter of Mary Help of Christians who knew how to inculturate herself in Sicily to proclaim the Gospel of Christ and spread the Salesian spirituality breathed in Mornese, Nizza Monferrato and Valdocco, in the relationship with Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello.
On the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the FMA Institute, its audacity is highlighted, which made it an active citizen in the Sicilian context of the late nineteenth century, distrustful of the religious. Enterprising and intuitive, she knew how to make herself loved and listened to.
Mother Morano had sensed that witness and coherence of life in apostolic commitment were the secret of meeting people: “I think I am here for the Lord and with the Lord … when I feel I really love him, I will make these poor Sicilian girls love him too, who know him so little and are so full of prejudices”.
Sister Adele Martinoni testifies: “I can attest that he had a great zeal for catechism. Coming to the houses, she questioned the pupils of the individual classes, then made her appreciation of her and inculcated that catechism should not be taught only literally, but that it be translated into practical life. She everywhere she then she recommended that catechetical teaching be imparted to all categories of people, taking care of the opening of schools and oratories, as she in particular she did in Catania. In these schools she took care of the preparation of the girls for First Communion, assigning to this in a special way a nun who would go around all the parishes of the city. She made great sacrifices to find time to walk to inspect the parish catechism schools, often regardless of her ill health “ (in G. Favini, Life of the Servant of God Mother Maddalena Morano, Turin, 1966, pp. 118 – 119).
Today at the diocesan sanctuary of Alì Terme, Messina dedicated to Mary Help of Christians, in the chapel where her relics are kept, many pilgrims go to ask for her intercession. Mother Morano is recognized as the woman who with her faith has power with the Father. Many young couples come and turn to her to entrust her with their nascent life. They believe that she is a true mother who understands the pains and hardships of those she generates and those she wishes to generate life.
The cancer patients, who feel accompanied in the inner struggle experienced by those who suffer from this disease, rely on her, who has been a victim of this disease. Parents turn to her especially when they ask for help in the difficult mission of educating her children.
In 2017, the Archbishop of Messina – Lipari – Santa Lucia del Mela, Mons.Giovanni Accolla, decreed that Blessed Maddalena Morano be recognized by the whole Archdiocese as “Patroness of Catechists and Educators”. The motivation reads: “Blessed Maddalena Morano, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, was an indefatigable educator of youth animated by the desire to make the Lord Jesus known and to instill in the souls of the faithful an uninterrupted union with God, a desire for holiness and a firm will for Christian life ,… His life is well identified as an example to follow for those in the Church who are more primarily concerned with collaborating in the proclamation of the Gospel ”.
To her, on an annual pilgrimage and in various formative and celebratory moments, they are addressed catechists and teachers so that they accompany and enlighten the apostolic commitment of evangelization and proclamation. They ask for the impetus to deepen the truths of faith and the renewed commitment to act in communion without any personal and individualistic interest, to illuminate and inspire with his life new strategies for reaching children and families.
Mother Morano is also recognized as a religious capable of giving up herself to serve and to accompany the poorest and most difficult girls. Every year, on November 15, the School Institutions and Associations that welcome children and young people, including the disabled, from the Ionian area of Sicily entrust the new school year to the intercession of Mother Morano with a solemn celebration at the Sanctuary.
