Without leaving the walls of their abbey, the group of Italian nuns uses thread and needles to restore the vestments of missionaries that died defending the Faith.
Newsroom (October 28, 2021, 9:35 AM, Gaudium Press) The contemplative Benedictine nuns of Mater Ecclesiae Abbey, located on the island of San Giulio in Lake Orta, Italy, are carefully mending the religious vestments and daily-use garments of 19 missionary martyrs.
With authentic missionary zeal and without leaving the four walls of their abbey, the group of ten religious women uses thread and needles to restore the vestments of missionaries of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) of Milan, Italy. They died defending the Faith in China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.
A gesture of gratitude
Sister Maria Lucia, the superior responsible for the group of nuns, emphasizes that this is a labor of love; and it is also a prayer that reflects the foundation of Benedictine life – Ora et Labora (prayer and work).
According to the religious, touching these vestments, cleaning and tidying them is a way of expressing gratitude to the brave brothers who remained meek and docile like Jesus even at the moment of martyrdom and resembling the Lamb of God who saved the world.
Inspired by St. Therese of Lisieux
Like St. Therese of Lisieux, who without ever leaving the enclosure became the patroness of missionaries, the nuns of Mater Ecclesiae Abbey, also believe they participate in the missionary effort of the Church through this silent work.
“The prayer of a cloistered nun, who every night and several times a day crosses the threshold of the chapel and kneels before the tabernacle that preserves the living memory of Christ carries with it the memory of missionaries, especially those who are at risk. It is not by chance that St. Therese of the Child Jesus, a cloistered nun, is the patroness of the missionaries. She wrote in a letter to a missionary: ‘I ask of you the crown of martyrdom,’ that is, the courage to be a testimony of Christ until the end and to love with unfailing love the brothers who have been entrusted to you,” said the superior.
The restoration process takes weeks to complete
Father Massimo Casaro, head of PIME’s cultural patrimony department, entrusted the work to the religious sisters. First, the vestments are disinfected, which can take up to three weeks. Then they go through a cleaning process, and finally, they are repaired.
The nuns also attend to requests from parishes, cathedral chapters, confraternities, and individuals, who ask them to restore other ecclesiastical artifacts, sacred vestments, flags, tapestries, and pennants. They were responsible for restoring the vestments draped over the relics of St. Ambrose, St. Protasius, and St. Gervasius in the Basilica of Milan. (EPC)
Compiled by Ena Alfaro
