ST LUCY FILIPPINI, FOUNDRESS - 25 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH

Saints celebrated on the 25th of March

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST LUCY FILIPPINI, FOUNDRESS

Born January 13, 1672, Saint Lucy Filippini first worked with Saint Rosa Venerini. Afterwards, she founded the Religious Teachers Filippini, a group devoted to the education of young girls. Founded several schools throughout Italy. St Lucy died on March 25, 1732.

FROM AN ADDRESS BY POPE JOHN PAUL II. TO THE SISTERS (IN 2001)

"How could we fail to recall on this occasion the time when, towards the end of the 1600s, Cardinal Marcantonio Barbarigo, assisted by the young Lucy Filippini, began an extensive work of human and spiritual support for the young, dedicating themselves also to the improvement of women’s status and the moral and cultural reform of the clergy and people? 

It was precisely to this end that around 1692 the 'Schools of Christian Doctrine' for girls were established with a view to the renewal of the family and society. Thus a capable and stable corps of teachers was created, which was able to carry out, with fidelity and creativity, the educational project that Barbarigo and the young Lucy Filippini had conceived.

...The Church, dear sisters, expects much from you: from your example and from your generous apostolic dedication. You are called to exercise a special educational ministry, which is expressed in constant signs of love, especially towards the poor, and which, through schools, fosters not only the solid cultural growth of your pupils, but also their conscious introduction to the perennial truths of the Gospel.

So that you can fruitfully continue your apostolate, your priority should be to cultivate a personal and community spirituality that can harmoniously combine the safeguarding of the interior life and the generous commitment to your multiple apostolic and charitable initiatives."