On 21 July 2019, Superior General Sr. Anna Maria Parenzan and Provincial Superior Sr. Annunciata Bestetti joined the Daughters of St. Paul of Via Antonino Pio and sisters from other FSP communities in Rome to celebrate Sr. M. Lorenzina Guidetti’s 100th birthday. The Eucharistic Celebration for the occasion was presided over by Fr. Valdir José De Castro, Superior General of the Society of St. Paul.
Sr. M. Lorenzina has reached this important milestone preserving intact her human warmth, intellectual vivacity, interest in others, sociability, witty outlook on life, and lively way of communicating her ideas to everyone. All these qualities spring from and are continually nourished by her daily prayer, which over time has developed into an ever-more intimate and profound relationship with Jesus, her sole Savior.
In her many years in the Congregation, which she entered at the age of twelve, Sr. M. Lorenzina carried out many apostolic services both in Italy and abroad. We want to mention in particular her role as director of Così (an FSP magazine for young women), which was founded in 1955 through the express desire of our Founder, Blessed James Alberione.
Sr. M. Lorenzina’s heart truly expanded to universal dimensions during the years she spent as a missionary in France, India, the Philippines, United States, England and Australia, where she worked with great selflessness and joy to communicate the Father’s love for all people. In these last years, she has continued to enthusiastically share, especially with our younger sisters, the beauty of the Pauline vocation, her spontaneous and filial relationship with Sr. Thecla Merlo, Co-Foundress of the Daughters of St. Paul, and her missionary heart, which perpetually radiates a positive outlook on life and openness to the future.
During the festivities, the Provincial Superior expressed her gratitude and that of all the members of the Province and Congregation with words brimming over with affection: “Thank you, Sr. Lorenzina,” she said, “because you continue to be a great gift to all of us. Thank you for teaching us the importance of detachment and pure love, which you express through your prayer life, self-offering, smiles and the humble acceptance of whatever each day offers you. Thank you for your great simplicity and focus on essentials. Thank you for your ardent heart, which yearns to see the dissemination of everything good and beautiful throughout the world, along with your desire that faith in our heavenly Father, the civilization of love and the ‘culture of encounter’ will grow. We thank the Lord for your life and want you to feel hugged by all of us!”