Mother Eugenia
Elisabetta Ravasio
Who is Mother Eugenia, whom God the Father called "My beloved daughter",
"My little plant"?In our opinion, Mother Eugenia is
one of the greatest lights of our times, the little prophet of a new Church, in which the
Father is the centre and apex of all mankind, and in which unity is the highest ideal of
spirituality. She is a light given by the Father to the world at this time of chaos and
darkness, so that we may see the road that has to be followed.
She was born in San Gervasio d'Adda (now Capriato San Gervasio), a
small town in the province of Bergamo, Italy, on 4 September 1907, in a family of peasant
background.
She received only an elementary education. After a few years working
in a factory, she entered the Congregation of Our Lady of the Apostles at the age of 20
years. It was here that her great charismatic personality developed, leading to her
election as Mother General of the Congregation at the age of only 25.
Quite apart from her spiritual qualities, her work in the social
field alone would suffice to ensure her a place in history. In twelve years of missionary
activity she opened over 70 centres - each with infirmary, school and church in the
remotest spots of Africa, Asia and Europe.
It was she who discovered the first medicine for the cure of
leprosy, extracting it from the seed of a tropical plant. This medicine was later studied
and developed further at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
She encouraged the apostolate of Raoul Follereau, who, following in
her footsteps and building on the foundations laid by her, is regarded as the apostle of
the lepers.
During the period 1939-41 she conceived, planned and brought to
fruition the project for a "Lepers' City" at Azopte (Ivory Coast). This was a
vast centre, covering an area of 200,000 sq.m., for the care of leprosy sufferers. It
remains even today one of Africa's and the world's leading centres of its kind.
In recognition of this achievement, France conferred the highest
national honour for social work on the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of
the Apostles, of which Mother Eugenia was Superior General from 1935 to 1947. Mother
Eugenia returned to the Father on 10 August 1990.
Her most important legacy to us is the Message of the Father
("The Father speaks to His children"), the only private revelation made
personally by God the Father and recognized as authentic by the Church after ten years of
the most rigorous examination. We reproduce at the beginning of the text the statement
issued by Mgr Alexandre Caillot, Bishop of Grenoble, following the investigation.
It is noteworthy that the Father (in 1932) dictated the Message to
Mother Eugenia in Latin, a language totally unknown to her.
In 1981 this Message came to our notice, and in 1982, its fiftieth
anniversary, we published it in Italian.
The many miracles of grace worked by the Message have led us to
disseminate it gratis, especially in prisons, barracks and hospitals. In addition to
English, it is available in French, Italian, Spanish, German and other languages.
|
