I come from Slovakia, a country in which not even a single community of the whole Pauline Family is present. The years of my childhood were spent in the shadow of the five-pointed red star, the symbol of the communist regime, which controlled Czechoslovakia until 1989. Despite the all-pervasive atheist ideology, my parents continued to… Read more »
To share my vocation story with you, I reviewed my journey and what flows from the depths of my heart is love and gratitude towards the Lord. Sharing my story is a beautiful opportunity to rediscover the wonderful gift of God’s love and grace for me. He looked at me, small and weak, and with… Read more »
My vocation is a “story” of God’s faithful love that quietly breaks into my life and unfolds day by day. As I look back, I can see how He was preparing me to be able to hear and respond to His call through the people and the experiences with which He blessed my life. I… Read more »
It was during the bombardments in February 1943 in Frascati (RM) that my parents, originally from Albano Laziale, lost everything. Hiding in the straw in a Papal State truck, they landed at night in Umbria at the gates of Assisi in a little village called Bettona. I saw the light between a bomb and anti-aircraft… Read more »
«A rose does not ask why: it blooms because it blooms, without thinking about it, and it does not ask you to take notice of it” (The Cherubic Pilgrim I, 289). Looking back over my vocational journey, this statement popped into my mind. The Lord caused my vocation to bloom. It is a vocation without…
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«Religion is the opium of the people and of the Church. With its prohibitions and the bogeyman of hell, it holds entire populations hostage. Learn to use your heads–don’t put your brains in storage!” I was still a teenager when, at school, I listened with fascination to my literature professor, a convinced Marxist atheist, who… Read more »
The vocational testimonies that I have either read or listen to are always dynamic and stimulating. They tell a story of expectations, desires, anxiety, and struggle–either hidden or manifest. They are moving testimonies that capture the reader’s interest. In contrast, I consider my own vocation story to be a very simple one–the story of a… Read more »
I became acquainted with the Daughters of St. Paul when I was 14 years old. They came to our house (I think at the suggestion of my pastor) to invite us to attend a retreat in their community in Brescia. I was intrigued by these sisters who were so new and different from the nuns… Read more »
Whenever I go to Alba, the diocese of my youth, I always drop into the cathedral to visit Jesus in the Eucharist. There, I read the words inscribed on the little door of the tabernacle: Come to me, all of you It is an invitation that has always fascinated me because of the way I… Read more »
Even as a child, I felt the Lord drawing me to himself. This was truly a gift! Although young, I was already familiar with suffering and it was precisely in this context that my friendship with him began. He was the dear Friend and good Father to whom I entrusted everything. I don’t know where… Read more »
