Here is a testimony from the group of FSPs in the Italian province who are commemorating their 50th anniversary of religious profession this year:
In order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our religious profession (June 1973-2023) in a meaningful way, we held video conferences to discuss how to commemorate this significant event. One person’s suggestion that we make a pilgrimage to Malta, the site of St. Paul’s shipwreck, was appealing, and the idea was welcomed even more warmly when it was expanded to include the proposal of making our spiritual exercises on the island, thus combining days of prayer and reflection with visits to Pauline sites. The result was that our group of FSP jubilarians spent ten very rich and intensive days in Malta. Our spiritual exercises were guided by Father Oliver, sj, a missionary with many years of experience in the field of formation. He skillfully combined meditation on the Pauline letters with thoughts of St. Ignatius on how to advance in the spiritual life.
We deeply appreciated the way in which Sr. Anna Caiazza, superior general, expressed her congratulations to us as a magnificat for our 50 years of Pauline life, and how the message of Sr. Annunciata Bestetti, provincial superior, revealed her joy at the fidelity of those of us making our Golden Jubilees, saying that “the ‘sacred history’ of each of you has been marked on the personal level by your many yeses to the Lord throughout the years.”
The solemn Eucharistic Liturgy on 29 June 2023 in the Queen of Apostles Basilica for all the members of the Pauline Family celebrating their Jubilees was a true gift to all of us, enabling us to share an experience of universal communion in which we felt once again the power of the Pauline charism at work in us and through us by means of our witness to Paul’s love for Christ and all people on a daily basis.