After 27 years of presence, service, and hospitality in Pistoia, during which there were many, many meetings with young people, women, families, people living in poverty, and people living in difficulty, the closure of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor’s community in Pistoia is planned for the end of February.
What follows is the testimony Maria Chiara, who retraces the stretch of road that she shared with the Sisters in these years and relates what Casa Betania was for all those who knew it.
“It was on January 13, 1998, when the Lord led the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor to Pistoia to the house that became Casa Betania, the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, where Jesus would go when he needed to be among friends and find peace, refreshment, and familial warmth.
I met the Sisters when I was 18 years old, and they had only been in Pistoia for a little while.
What struck me immediately about the charism of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor was the welcome without prejudice, the listening, and the generosity.
The Sisters accompanied me through the years of my journey of growth to become a woman, facing my first life choices to becoming a bride—from the youth group, through my experience in the Youth Center, to today.
Many people had the opportunity to meet them or see them moving about the city, sometimes by bike but often on foot with the quick stride of someone who is running to be an instrument of God’s love.
And this is what they were: credible, tangible witnesses of Divine Love, of God’s care, creativity, and strength.
Their charism of healing poor and suffering humanity also led them to undertake activities in the diocesan Caritas at the San Martino de Porres Center, helping women who were victims of trafficking, fragile mothers with children, in family counseling, in prison, with the Romani people, and in all the places they were called by God.
Over these years, they also have put their charism of healing into action by accompanying engaged and married couples on the journey of life and faith; by organizing meetings for people who wanted to be closer to the Franciscan charism and for women of different ages discovering the beauty of being women, wanted and loved by God; and by working hard in youth and family ministry throughout the whole city.
For many, they were precious guides on the journey of faith and life from youth, when one is in a period of life choices, overwhelmed with desires and emotions, through adulthood.
The door of Casa Betania was always open for a friendly word, a meal in simplicity, a spiritual discussion, or a meeting of formation and sharing. The hospitality never diminished, even during the pandemic, continuing through meetings online, phone calls, and messages.
The chapel, a place of intense spirituality and intimate prayer, located in the heart of the neighborhood, was a reference point in the lives of many.
Sr. Maria Francesca, Sr. Antonietta, Sr. Marvi, Sr. Michela, Sr. Marina, Sr. Paola, Sr. Francesca Maria, Sr. Vera, Sr. Tina, Sr. Gabriella, Sr. Giovanna, Sr. Mara, Sr. Vincenza, Sr. Cinzia, Sr. Viera, Sr. Giannica, Sr. Giuliana, Sr. Roberta, Sr. Carmen: friends, sisters, mothers—this is what they are and will always remain.
Undoubtedly, our city is losing a lot with the closure of the community, but we are certain that the good work they have sown and given will continue to bear fruit just like the grain of wheat, which, if it falls to the earth and dies, bears much fruit (John 12:24-26).
When the Sisters pronounce their Perpetual Vows, they are promised the hundredfold of the Gospel: this is my wish for them for the future, combined with that of those who love them.
Not adieu but ‘A-Dieu,’ ‘To God,’ until we meet again on those roads that the Lord will sketch out in the time to come.
With immense love and gratitude to the Lord for this gift of the presence of the daughters of Mother Frances in Pistoia for 27 years,
A young woman grown into an adult,
Maria Chiara Pieraccioli”
