Big celebration for the 150th anniversary of the Daughters of Mary Missionaries
Great celebration for the 150th anniversary of the Daughters of Mary Missionaries, in whose joy also participates spazio + spadoni who, for a long time, has been following and accompanying them
Indeed, there have been several collaborations within Project Hic Sum, with some sisters hosted in Italy at the Misericordie, called to train in the works of mercy, to intervene in forums and to continue in their missions.
A long and intense history of missionary work that deserves to be celebrated; for this reason, Sunday, Feb. 15, becomes for the extended family of the Daughters of Mary Missionaries an occasion of prayer and gratitude for what these sisters have sown over the years and for the works of mercy of which they have been capable.
So many moments have been shared with them, and the excitement of space + spadons in 2023 for the entrance of the first Indian sister into the congregation of the Daughters of Mary Missionaries is recent.
We wish these sisters of ours that their zeal and missionary efforts alongside anyone in need of merciful presences may always be sustained by faith and love.
Origins
The Institute of the Missionary Daughters of Mary was born from the zeal of Father Giacinto Bianchi on Feb. 11, 1875, when six
young people
began common life peer to prepare themselves spiritually for a mission in Palestine, responding to the request of the Bethlehem orphanage made by Canon Carlo Belloni.
Father Giacinto Bianchi thought of the Institute for foreign missions. In fact, in 1952, the sisters also settled in Brazil where they opened the novitiate. “Daughters of Mary” and ‘Mission’ are thus two dimensions that recall the identity essence of the Congregation.
The figure of Mary
From the Constitutions of the Institute: “Our Congregation draws its origins from the Pious Union of the Daughters of Mary; it is particularly inspired by the Virgin and takes on her missionary spirit and style.
From the beginning, Mary’s presence is decisive in the Founder’s thought; she is the inspirer of the Work. In our life as Missionaries, Mary is therefore an essential and irreplaceable presence, her maternal and universal love becomes for us a stimulus to carry out the mission.”
Father Giacinto Bianchi reported it was precisely the maternal love of Mary Immaculate that kept his missionary thought alive, a thought so frequent that he did not even let it rest.
Thus, the birth of this Congregation was named after her to whom he asked with perseverance for the success of the work.
The founder: father Giacinto Bianchi
Carlo Giacinto Bianchi, born in the diocese of Cremona on August 15, 1835, from an early age showed an innate vocation for prayer, sacrifice and liturgy accompanied by great compassion for the poor.
Although the desire to “become a saint” and “become a priest” accompanied him from childhood, it was a particular event that prompted him to devote himself completely to God.
Hyacinth had never enjoyed excellent health, and at the age of 14 he became seriously ill to the point of death. His sudden recovery was read by the young man as a special sign from the Lord and he decided at that point to place his entire life in His hands.
After some difficulties related to his family’s financial situations, he entered the seminary in Cremona on October 11, 1852, the feast of the Motherhood of Mary. Having successfully completed his studies, he was ordained a priest on May 29, 1858.
He died on February 11, 1914, on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Soon after his death in 1915, a first biography was published and his reputation for holiness spread rapidly.
On Dec. 6, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI declared him Venerable.
“Giacinto Bianchi was a restless Christian: faithful and secure in his vocation and at the same time continually pressed by the urgency of Christ. He lived the priesthood not as a goal reached, a ministry to be exercised, but as a constant starting point to renew each day the proclamation of the Gospel by making himself ‘all things to all people’ (1 Cor. 9:22) according to the talents received” (Cardinal Ivan Dias).
The body of Venerable Giacinto Bianchi is kept in Rome at the General House of the Daughters of Mary Missionaries.
Daughters of Mary Missionaries in the world
Responding with joy to the missionary call, today the Institute is present in Italy, Brazil, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Central African
Republic.
Thanksgiving Feast
On Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, at 6 p.m., at the Parish of the Transfiguration in Rome, there will be a Mass of Thanksgiving for the Institute’s 150 years of foundation and missionary presence in the world.
All sisters invited to participate and share in the joy of this important anniversary.