I want to thank Saint Joseph for having, with his powerful patronage, improved every area of my life.
In the family and life situation in which I find myself, since the "positive influence" of the celestial patriarch took over, it seems that the forces of evil are "subdued".
Infinitely grateful for this, I undertake to spread devotion towards Saint Joseph.
Letter signed
Dear and kind lady,
I am really happy to share with you the noble feelings of gratitude to Saint Joseph who accompanies her with so much love on her way and becomes energy, courage and optimism in facing and overcoming the difficulties that life holds for us. Eyes illuminated by faith make us see the saints who from heaven become "good Samaritans" to lift us up in moments of hardship.
The guarantee of Saint Joseph's intercession is narrated in the first chapters of the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, in which we find Joseph's loving attention alongside Jesus in providing with great concern for human growth.
When the cold of life envelops us, the mantle of Saint Joseph shelters us from the elements and offers us supplements of divine energy and his presence fills the soul with hope.
Dear Director,
I cannot express all my gratitude and emotion that his words and his memory aroused on the occasion of my husband Francesco's anniversary.
I never expected to receive a letter from him in a moment that was so painful for me and full of beautiful memories. I feel truly moved and honoured, thank you. Since her letter arrived, I have reread it and pondered every word of hers. I learned by heart the words of Saint Augustine which give me so much courage and serenity. I can tell you this: never a day goes by in which I don't thank God for having placed my husband Francesco next to me for 58 years. He has always united us with a deep, immense clean affection, we have formed a beautiful family with two children, God called him, just turned 80.
Now I live with memories, I always thank God for having fulfilled all the wishes I kept in my heart and Saint Joseph has always accompanied me with his help and protection, since I was a little girl.
I apologize, director, if I have gone on, but my heart overflows with gratitude towards you, who I now feel like a dear friend, appreciating and admiring you for what you write in the magazine which I always wait with great anxiety to be able to read each article. and reread while waiting for the next issue to arrive.
I greet you with all my respect.
Raffaella (Rome)
Dear and kind Mrs Raffaella,
I wanted to publish your letter to communicate the nobility of your feelings towards your husband Francesco. In the souls of two spouses who for many years have sown love and understanding, nostalgia is immense, in fact it runs through every fragment of life embroidered with the joyful colors of sharing.
Jesus, speaking of spouses, stated that they fill their future in a single reality, embellished with noble feelings with the guarantee of eternity.
Dear,
I received the monthly magazine, and when I reached the last page the article on tattoos left me stunned: what's the point? What did you want to convey with those words?
Articles I read some time ago on the same topic, but of a completely different nature, came to mind.
Antonella, via email
Dear Don Mario,
on behalf of myself and my entire family I would like to thank you for your message and for the precious gift of "Perpetual Suffrage".
Very Reverend Director,
since I was young, urged by my mother, I have always trusted in Saint Joseph, the great Saint, who in various circumstances helped me resolve unexpected or difficult situations of need.
Rev. Don Mario,
It is with great joy and gratitude that I write, to publicly testify to a grace recently received.
Dear Director, returning this morning from the post office where I sent a contribution for the magazine, which I read with emotional transport and emotion.
Dear Don Mario,
It is with great relief that I write to you after months of suffering from an annoying and often distressing psychophysical depression. Medicines and psychotherapy sessions produced no effect.
Dear Father Mario,
I am so grateful to God for the intercession of Saint Joseph that, even with a little delay, I write to you to publicly repay my debt to Saint Joseph from whom, in asking for grace, which was very important for me, I had promised him that if he granted me 'I would have communicated to the Pious Union of Saint Joseph to testify to his paternal attention towards those who suffer.
I had been suffering from a nervous disease for a long time; despite many medications and conversations with the psychotherapist, I didn't see any improvement.
Then I turned to Saint Joseph: I prayed with the Sacred Mantle, I made novenas and I prayed with an open heart, trusting in his help.
Slowly I noticed an improvement and now I fulfill my promise.
Saint Joseph truly protected me and I am grateful to him.
Letter signed by Marino
Dear lady,
a shared joy, infects those who listen to it and widens the circle of contentment. For this reason we too share his healing and are encouraged not to let our trust in Saint Joseph wane, humble, silent and faithful protector of our lives.
His letter truly echoes the words of Genesis: "Go to Joseph". Just as on that occasion the famine was stopped, so too our trust in Saint Joseph defeats our fears, our desolations and fills our voids with the awareness of not being orphans, but beloved children.
Dear Friend, thank you for your testimony which I am sure represents the voice of many people trusting in the intercession of Saint Joseph.
Dear Don Mario,
We are two spouses who have been members of the Pious Union for years, we write to you to sincerely thank Saint Joseph because after having recited the Sacred Mantle for three different intentions, the Lord granted us the graces requested.
We want to give this thanks by taking up some words of the Mantle itself and to keep the promise expressed in them: «And as a sign of my deepest gratitude, I promise to make your glories known, while with all my affection I bless the Lord who wanted you so powerful in heaven and on earth."
We also give thanks for the blessed oil that we promptly received.
Kind regards and respect.
Simona and Iacopo – Rimini
Dear and kind
Simona and Jacopo,
thank you for your testimony and the benefits enjoyed through the intercession of Saint Joseph. Pope Francis some time ago said that Saint Joseph can be compared to the carpenter or the blacksmith who, when called for a repair in the house, ensures his presence and sometimes makes himself wait, but in the end he comes. This is what Saint Joseph does, maybe he doesn't intervene immediately, but he arrives anyway. He takes us by the hand and patiently accompanies us to solve problems.
The oil that we have invited you, blessed through the intercession of Saint Joseph, is similar to the medicine that the good Samaritan poured on the wounds of the unfortunate man lying on the side of the road. The oil is the same, fruit of the olive tree, but in addition it possesses the spiritual energy of the blessing and constant intercession of Saint Joseph.
May faith and love continue to bind your lives on a path illuminated by hope that cannot disappoint.
I guarantee you our intercessory prayer.
Rev. Don Mario Carrera and dear members of the Pious Union, it is with joy that today, the First Wednesday of the month and, by virtue of the many and clear graces received through the intercession of Saint Joseph, I would like to explain, publicly, to the glory of the latter, 2 recent "works" concerning him: - "painting" of St. Joseph the carpenter on the facade of the family home in Campodolcino (see attached photo) - placement of the statue of St. Joseph (Fontanini) at the church of Portarezza in Campodolcino ("work" supported by the parish priest D. Mario Baldini) - as per photo. Both the painting and the statue are intended to be a manifestation of personal/family and parish gratitude towards St. Joseph of whom St. Guanella was a particular "singer" and propagator.
Dear Father Director Mario Carrera,
I am very happy to write them again, and I was very happy that my first letter was published in the monthly magazine La Santa Crociata in Honor of San Giuseppe.
In the June issue, which I received promptly, I was very struck by the prayer to Mary, our traveling companion, a wonderful prayer, which gives an inner strength that cannot be explained.
I was struck by a phrase in this beautiful prayer, when it reads: «That the heaviness of the past prevents us from giving credit to the future». it's exactly like this, if we want to be followers of Jesus we must not look back, we would not be able to think of a peaceful present and future; the mistakes of each of us must make us stronger, they must help us not to make the same mistake again, without sitting there dwelling on it. This way we will be able to face life more peacefully. Being witnesses of Jesus, of that Jesus who gave all of himself for us without holding back.
And as Pope Francis says regarding holiness, each of us can be a joyful, cheerful and full of life little saint to follow Jesus in the two things so dear to him: humility and charity.
Domenica Tarantino,
Calabrian lace
Dear Sunday,
I share with her the joy that sings in her heart, the effort in editing the magazine has the aim of making noble feelings vibrate in the souls of our readers both before God and our brothers and sisters. Monsignor Tonino Bello's letters to the Madonna are a masterpiece of humanity permeated by great faith. He was truly "a bishop made Gospel", for all the people he met in life and for those who meet him reading his writings; it is a perennial fragrant message of evangelical wisdom. He spoke of the Church and dreamed of it as a mother with "the apron" always on, like the mothers of yesterday, always careful to keep the house in order and in permanent service for the well-being of the entire family. And he suggested something important: "Never close the apron in the wardrobe of sacred vestments, but understand that the stole and the apron are almost the obverse and reverse of a single priestly symbol."
With Baptism, even all lay people acquire a priestly character and, therefore, the entire existence passes into our hands and our hearts with a scent of blessing that leaves the flavor of eternity.
Dear Don Mario,
I am late replying to your note regarding our participation. My husband and I read the beautiful magazine with great pleasure and it is true that we do not actively participate in the magazine and this also makes me sad about the decline in readers. We are two retired old men and we help one of the children raise the children. They are our consolation and at the end of the day we are happy to have them but also for the tiredness they cause us. My husband reads the magazine first, especially the advice column for the small vegetable garden that he successfully grows and the cooking recipes.
Thank you. I hope Saint Joseph continues to bless my family.
I wish everyone a good continuation!
(Sorry for my poor Italian, I haven't been from our beautiful Rome for over 50 years)
Wilma L. Mazzulli, USA
PS My brothers and I were students at St. Joseph's school, and under the saint's protection from birth; my parents and in-laws are enrolled in perpetual masses.
Dear Wilma,
what a joyful breath of beautiful nostalgia in his writing. She brought a piece of our world overseas and our work at the Pious Union is not only to keep the gaze of Saint Joseph vigilant on the people consecrated to him, but also to make the "sweet" Italian dialect resonate in your homes and also to avoid losing the heritage of a memory as a reserve of values.
I will try to pay attention to your wishes and to be able to cultivate on American soil the traditions of the "smells" of our gardens and our tasty cuisine for which we publish some simple recipes. Let's not forget that the earth is always mother and invites us to look up where life comes from.
Reverend Don Mario,
even if my economic conditions do not often allow me to support the magazine and the works of mercy you carry out, nevertheless I assure you that you are in my thoughts and prayers and in the future I will try to help you more.
I take the opportunity of a friend of mine coming to Rome to send you my solidarity also to support the expenses of the magazine, for which I send you my cordial thanks for the beautiful articles which are a real pleasure to read both for the mind and for the soul and which allow me to maintain a strong relationship with God and communion with our patron saints.
I hope that this beautiful magazine will never come to an end and that Saint Joseph will keep us away from all evils.
With a cordial and affectionate greeting I ask you to pray for me and for our family. God bless us!.
Giovanna Puggioni,
Oliena (NU)
Dear Mrs Giovanna,
the freshness of his feelings shows the nobility of his soul in sharing our faith and keeping his soul open to the passage of God who, like breathing, nourishes and regenerates our trust in his mercy and allows us to work with commitment by entrusting ourselves to love fatherly of God who watches over our affairs with loving sympathy.
May Saint Joseph help us to walk the paths of daily life with the same trust that he preserved and exercised even in dark moments, humanly incomprehensible, but which turned out to be a winning bet. The hands of God weave our future with threads of light, it is important not to abandon the hope of his constant presence.
Keep your genuine faith, many of our associates also need it, sometimes prisoners in the grip of evil.
Rev. Don Mario,
it is difficult for me to express in words the emotion of receiving greetings on the occasion of my name day on time every year; I thank you from the bottom of my heart and also for your special prayers. I hope that Jesus, Mary and Saint Joseph will always be my dear patron saints, that they will guide me in these days of life that the Lord grants me after 91 years of life.
The month of March, dedicated to Saint Joseph, is life for me: on 6 March I took the religious habit, on 20 March 1948 my religious profession, this year the 70th of consecration.
Thank you Saint Joseph, my great help and protector. I recommend the prayer and protection of Saint Joseph for me and in particular for my family.
In union of fraternal communion, with esteem and gratitude.
Sr. Maria Flavia Saraceno, Roccamorace (PE)
Dear and esteemed
sister Maria Flavia,
we are the ones who thank you for letting us share the joy of this 70th anniversary of consecration to Love. Seventy years are a poem of feelings, of gratitude to the divine goodness that allowed her to sing with Mary, the mother of Jesus and the wife of Joseph, the song of gratitude, for having looked at her with such benevolence since the first years of her life. youth. Those who have enjoyed her good have seen first-hand how God is able to build cathedrals of love through the fragile weakness of our lives. The lives of people, of religious women who spend their existence in arousing joy are comparable to a carousel that hosts children for free for a ride and thus provides life with reasons for joy, a constant smile to enjoy the good shared with others.
May God preserve her serenity, clarity of mind and enough energy to still feel like a musical note in the song of life for herself and for others.
Dear director,
I obeyed the desire to write to you to testify to the love and devotion I have for Saint Joseph, who has always protected my family. With Stefano, my husband, and our 3 children we were recently at your basilica at the headquarters of the Pious Union to thank Saint Joseph for the love with which he surrounds us, a love that he pours out on us and also for the protection that the his mantle exercises visibly.
We firmly believe in his divine bond with Jesus and Mary, and we have experienced it in the past together with our families of origin, in particular with my grandmothers, Giovanna Francone and Lidia Oliverio, who were also members of the Pious Union of Saint Joseph.
In addition to my testimony, I have written to you to register two people dear to me who recently passed away in the Perpetual Suffrage list.
Nadia Scordino from Castrolibero
Dear Mrs Nadia,
I reply to you in the magazine because it seems to me that your testimony joyfully recovers a past built in your family with a faith quotient that has allowed you and your husband to also religiously educate your three children and give them that heritage of values that spontaneously they have passed through the weekday circuit of your life style rich in faith, animated by hope and open to the world of the poor.
I like to underline that the flowering and fruits of your faith have their roots in the fabric of your families of origin who, with their example of life, have transmitted to you that commitment to live a life not barricaded and closed in their own selfishness, but open to neighbor in whom we see the face of the risen Christ, source of our life energy.
I carry her and all her loved ones in the heart of my prayer with the desire that Saint Joseph guard the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to us on the day of our baptism and nourished in their growth with the sacraments.
Dear Pious Union of the Transit of Saint Joseph, I am writing to you to thank Saint Joseph immensely, as thanks to his constant and powerful intercession I have received from Heaven the long-awaited grace for my employment as a teacher. For a long time I had been reciting the Sacred Mantle every day in honor of Saint Joseph; during the novena in honor of the saint, I approached the statue of Saint Joseph and in the lamp there were leaflets of the novena to the saint of the Pious Union available. So I intensified my prayer by promising Saint Joseph to write to your Pious Union for the grace that I would certainly receive... and so it was.
Saint Joseph allowed me to obtain the teaching role after many hardships that I had to face. Following years of precarious employment, I felt too tired to obtain the aforementioned role in the Philosophy and History discipline. Tired of so many negative circumstances suffered. Therefore, contrary to a percentage considered high of being named in the ranking for my subject, I asked Saint Joseph not to miss the opportunity to work on a permanent basis as I could also be nominated from the list of support for disabled students. Saint Joseph helped me by accepting my cry for help also for these young people.
Thank you very much Saint Joseph! I always trust in your constant help for everything I keep asking you! Thank you also infinitely to your association and for all your efforts in spreading the cult of Saint Joseph! Peace and love!
Isabella Del Prete – from the Province of Brindisi
Dear Isabella,
thanks to her for her testimony of patient waiting that Saint Joseph could make the implored grace come down from heaven. Saint Joseph is constantly attentive to our invocations and equally alert to the opportunities that open up for our invoked future.
Pope Francis, who has a particular devotion to St. Joseph, recently suggested this comparison. «Saint Joseph is like the carpenter. When we need it we call him immediately: “I'm coming, I'm coming”. Sometimes, days pass, other times, weeks and you wait, but don't be afraid that you will forget. No! At the right moment he arrives and fills our desires with his grace." The prophet Isaiah suggests to us that "our ways are not always equal to those of God". Sometimes we are like children: we demand everything right away. The parent knows when it is time to fulfill requests.
On this earth before God our poor life makes us affectionate beggars. The Catechism suggests to us that: «Humility is the necessary disposition to freely receive the gifts of God».
Dear Isabella, through Saint Joseph, together, we thank God for this great grace and invoke his constant presence and ask to make his mission as a teacher a luminous reflection of his pedagogical action.
May Saint Joseph, who was next to Jesus as an educator and shadow of the Father, stand by her to sow in young lives the joy of living and the commitment to collaborate for the good of all.
Reverend Don Mario Carrera,
Thank you very much for your very welcome letter, your words and the always useful calendar for appointments.
In this somewhat gray and sometimes sad time, his words comforted me. In this time it is fashionable to expatriate to procure death, even long steps are being taken to introduce euthanasia. I continue to hope that his magazine sheds adequate light on these issues. Life is no longer considered a gift and this distresses me and I remain desolate.
What can we of the Pious Union do to stem this mentality? This is also why I entrust myself to your prayers so that the Holy Spirit will suggest convincing and adequate words to offer a correct evaluation on these topics.
With deferential sentiments of esteem, I greet and thank you.
Signed letter - Como
Dear friend,
I thank you for your expressions of appreciation and encouragement to continue my work as a sower of the soothing word of the Gospel through our magazine and various types of contacts with our Associates. With ever greater frequency the problem of euthanasia returns to the fore in the mass media, unfortunately influencing, as you assert, the opinion favorable to its practice, even among Catholics, who forget that no one is the master of their own life. Before religious faith, the common experience of humanity attests to this. No one came into existence on their own initiative or was asked for permission to come into existence. Life was given to us, granted, gifted. It's a gift. The illicit nature of euthanasia, even before faith, emerges from the recognition of the truth of man's being.
If a person is a believer, he sees the mark of God in life and for this very reason acquires a halo of sacredness which reinforces his inviolability. In this case, pain and suffering have many things to give if they are experienced in communion with Jesus: "I am happy with the sufferings that I endure for you and I complete in my flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, in favor of his body which it is the Church” writes Saint Paul (Col 1,24). Perhaps the first form of evangelization on the value of life, even when its health integrity is seriously affected, is offered to us by the attitude that each of us has towards those who suffer. Jesus' behavior in the Gospel teaches us this with his predilection for the marginalized; Pope Francis bears witness to this in his sensitivity towards those whom society "discards".
Let's not forget that before words, the testimony of our actions is the most effective message we can offer, for better or unfortunately, even for worse. Our magazine, referring in its mission to the preciousness of life even in the final moment of its sunset on this earth to open up to the light of Heaven, will always be a strong point in proclaiming the value of every life and of all life.
We of the Pious Union of Transit are a large family which, with all its Associates, embraces the five continents: an immense choir of prayer which every day raises to the Father the hymn of thanks and supplication for the life of all.
I take this opportunity to bless you and encourage you in your faithful testimony as an authentic disciple of Jesus.
Dear Don Mario Carrera,
I would like to tell you my most sincere thanks for the consoling words you sent me. It is truly a source of serenity to know that prayer keeps us united with each other, and I assure you that feeling like a very small part of the Pious Union has an immeasurable value for me and is of great help to me.
Unfortunately it is difficult for me to sit down at a table, even just to write a few lines, but I assure you that I always read with great pleasure, every month, the Crusade of St. Joseph and that I have listened to the beautiful album, a "CD", «It Christmas" that she wanted me to have. They are very beautiful songs, even modern and unusual for me, all with a beautiful rhythm.
I hope they are successful and help many people, even young people, to strengthen their faith. I sincerely wish you much health and energy and I pray that the Lord will always help you in your praiseworthy work of charity and evangelization.
With much gratitude.
Paola Santucci, Milan
Dear Mrs Paola,
the "thank you" and the sharing of the noble feelings that our "walking together" with our associates encourages us to keep alive the tension towards a service to make life joyful especially in the inevitable moments of darkness.
Singing always brings joy. I have read - and I am convinced - that where there is a people who sing there is no need to be afraid: they are a people who love chorality and in a choir there is the search for harmony. Christmas carols then have an extraordinary repercussion on the soul: they caress the memory, make moments of familiarity bright and bring out the smiling faces of people who loved us with free love, without interest, but it was simply love.
I pray to Saint Joseph that he preserve a young heart that knows how to enjoy the daily joys of life as well as live the joy of faith with enthusiasm.
Dearest Don Mario,
I write little but on the phone a little more.
In 1982 I started working in a hospital in Cagliari and a colleague introduced me to San Giuseppe and the Pious Union of Transit and signed me up. In short, I fell in love with it. Until then I didn't pray to any saint... since then I pray to Saint Joseph and I make Chiara Lubich's words my own... «I didn't speak to you but I spoke about you». I never left you again.
I also moved San Giuseppe to Germany where I lived for almost ten years and where my son Angelo, who is also enrolled, was born. Even after the death of my husband, Saint Joseph made sure that providence did not make me lack the necessary things. My son left for Australia last November to work on a fruit farm. Even under Australian laws, permanence is not easy. […] I don't deny that I miss my paper, but the prayer and protection of Saint Joseph makes me calm. […].
I entrust my son to your prayers and may Saint Joseph keep him under his protection.
Pistis Chiara Troll,
Quartu S. Elena (CA)
Dear Mrs Chiara,
I share with her her concerns and also the anxiety of a mother who has a child so far away.
Saint Joseph also passed on the path of emigration, far from his land, he brought Jesus and his bride, Mary, to Egypt, where he lived like a foreigner, struggling with the language and also with his work activity for support his little family. Joseph has experienced hardships and sees our situations from heaven and his intercession with Jesus becomes thoughtful, attentive and solicitous.
Rest assured that every day for you and your son there is a memory full of affection. I hope that you can live in a region of Australia where there are Italians and also members of the Pious Union. There are over one hundred members of the Pious Union residing in the immense territory of Australia. God bless you and may Saint Joseph always assist you.
Very Reverend Don Mario Carrera,
upon receiving the San Giuseppe magazine I have already been disappointed twice for not having found the page that hosts the letters. When my husband and I came to Rome, after meeting her, in the evening we attended the mass she celebrated [...]. They were happy days spent visiting the Vatican: from the dome, to the museums up to the Sistine Chapel. Everything was wonderful. Now my husband and I can't travel much anymore. Our health is getting worse. Please remember us in your prayers to Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Thank you and God bless everyone.
Carmen Endrizzi
Dear and affectionate Mrs Carmen,
I confess to you that I too suffer when I don't find space for letters. Sometimes there are articles linked to a moment of the liturgical year that we cannot postpone. But I promise you that I will try not to disappoint you, I will try to give voice to your testimony, convinced that faith speaks only with the words of testimony and the letters from our associates are the tip of an "iceberg" which only reveals the tip, but the imagination to intuit great faith, trust, hope and a great desire for solidarity.
I wish you much goodness and joy in living.
Dear director Mario Carrera,
I am writing to thank you as I now receive the monthly La Santa Crociata on time. The topics covered, current and interesting, help you reflect. And curious articles such as: "The almanac", prayers, pearls of wisdom, curiosities and even a space dedicated to the recipe of the month.
La Santa Crociata is a monthly magazine that helps spiritual growth, because as in the article I read on Abraham's authentic faith, it helps us to understand that only by truly trusting in Jesus without fears and doubts, only in this way is our soul free to have with courage eternal life. Thank you in advance for paying attention to my letter. I await the next monthly magazine with great trepidation.
Sunday Tarantino
Dear Mrs. Domenica,
reading his letter I am pushed to "steal" the words of the canticle of the Virgin who, admiring the works that God was carrying out on her for the benefit of his people, explodes with the canticle of the Magnificat. In that song of praise, Mary's soul opens the range of wonders that God has done for his people and which her eyes admire and become a prayer of thanks and the words of the prophet come true for us too when he says: « I will give the people a pure lip, so that all may call on the name of the Lord and all serve him shoulder to shoulder." Our service consists in walking together "shoulder to shoulder" to enjoy the warmth of communion between us and the joy of maintaining a regular step towards the eternal goal, where a merciful Father awaits us, a Brother Savior, the light of the Holy Spirit and , last but not least, in the company of our loved ones, Saint Joseph and his wife, our mother Mary.
Reverend Father Carrera,
with the offer sent for a scholarship in the name of my parents, I wanted to thank Saint Joseph for the many help and for the good that I have received over many years: for having graduated and for having celebrated my eleventh year of retirement in good health . […] Wanting to take stock of my life I can say that it always took place under the caring and watchful gaze of Saint Joseph. I have often prayed and pray to Saint Joseph to always help me in my choices. I thank him for becoming a grandmother to my granddaughter Aurora, who I entrusted to her paternal protection, so that she grows up good and healthy in a family where love and peace always reign.
I thank you for your attention to my letter and I greet you and all your collaborators with great esteem.
Thank you also for the always welcome wishes on my name day.
BAGT - Voghera
Dear and esteemed "grandmother",
I respect his desire to obey Jesus in «not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing», but I praise the sense of gratitude that shines like perfume from his words and the confident awareness of being under the warm protection of Saint Joseph who it does not always erase the cold of our worries, but it always gives us the warmth to dilute the cold and the courage to face the inevitable difficulties in our pilgrimage through the days of life.
Dear "Grandma", the sharing of your noble feelings of faith and charity have brought joy to me and my collaborators and we assure you to pray for you so that Saint Joseph may always keep his feelings clear and transparent.
Dear Director,
Thank you for the good wishes on my name day. I am sending my contribution in favor of people in difficulty, certain that you will be able to allocate it according to the needs of the Work. I entrust to your community a prayer for my family, so that the presence of God in our lives may never be lacking, capable of spreading to those we meet every day. May Saint Joseph, admirable example of a just man, full of trust in God, affectionate companion of Mary and loving father of Jesus, continue to be a model for her and for every collaborator of her in the Work that she supports.
Best regards.
Luigi Colantuoni, Tokyo – Japan
Dear friend and esteemed brother in the faith,
It is with particular pleasure that I respond to your kind letter, coming from a very distant continent where Christianity is not very widespread and you and your family are the messengers sent to the frontiers of the world to bear witness to God's love for people. Our magazine reaches fifty-eight countries including China and Twain.
Thinking about this global network and the physical distance of many nations, our commitment to the magazine is great so that you do not feel distant, but close, and participate in your events with our prayer that knows no borders.
Thinking of you, dear Luigi, and of the members in distant countries, I would like to assure everyone of a daily hug of solidarity.
Dearest Father Carrera,
last July, after six years of illness, our dear mother, Nelda Fagioli Brillo, left us to return to the house of our true Father. She was 96 years old and she hadn't recognized anyone for a long time, to our great sorrow (we are 4 children).
Our mother, since she was little, was always devoted to Saint Joseph, who prayed even when she was doing housework and during our children's illnesses: always very serious illnesses. Mother was very happy to receive the monthly magazine La Santa Crociata which she read with great interest. Even though she was ill, she very often recited the Holy Rosary to the Holy Family. I would like this testimony to be published to honor Saint Joseph through whose intercession my mother and we received so many graces. I greet you with much affection. Thanks for everything.
Marcella Brillo Baldelli,
Passignano sul Trasimeno (Perugia)
Dear Marcella,
thank you for the beautiful testimony of mother Nelda, who not only gave you life, but cultivated it with so much love and passion that, despite the many years, she left so much nostalgia for her presence in your heart. Nelda is not distant from her children, but her goodness is combined with the wind of God's love that blows in the sails of life that pushes us towards new experiences, full of grace and consolation.
Our parents leave us a wealth of wisdom and experience to face life with dignity and faith. I wish you that from heaven mother Nelda will blow on the ashes of memories and enliven your generosity and always revive hope, the energy of life.
God bless you and keep you united.