Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - Can an apparently ordinary life such as that of Madre Maria Teresa Casini (Frascati 1864-Grottaferrata 1937), unknown and humble, in a period of great political and social upheaval, be of interest to people today? “The foundress of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart lived a life which had no outstanding events and took place in the restricted are of two convents, one in Frascati the other in Rome” says the author Angelo Scelzo, Under Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications “I want to be a saint” who tells of the nun’s life and work. “This story, like many others, emerges because it was a life of values which need not be proclaimed all the time because they are so strong and have such a natural eloquence that in the end they emerge and make their mark, through concrete actions, institutions, pastoral intuitions.” Madre Casini realised that the crucial point in her time was to help priests in their mission and she dedicated her whole life to sustaining and encouraging holiness among priests. “To Madre Casini we owe the intuition of pre-seminaries - says Angelo Scelzo - hence the idea of guaranteeing vocation formation before the seminary, and above all her work was directed to offering in assistance to priests. So their activity could bear more fruit she relieved them of certain heavy burdens so they could express the riches of their ministry. This was an act of great humility and at the same time, pastoral intelligence, to valorise priests as the pivot of all evangelisation”.
The recent growing popularity of religious literature is due also to the diffusion of biographies of people like Madre Casini, written for the general public but with historical precision, which are both easy to read and interesting. This brings unknown people to the fore. “I think this success is due to the fact that these are true stories, lives which were lived in which nothing was dull, colourless, illusory -Scelzo explains -. Increasingly popular today fiction and reality shows present situations apparently connected with reality but which instead have nothing to do with it. These forms of communication have success but they also increase the desire for authentic and real situations. We live in a situation ever more globalised which generalises and targets the crowds, and this is why people want to hear about personal stories which escape the limelight. Biographies are about people and these stories are important because they are the foundations of civil society, of history and progress. even little gestures, signs and stories help to build the history of the Church and the world.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 17/12/2005, righe 34, parole 489)
