"Remaining in Christ to live our fraternal relationship with missionary faith" is the title of the XVI Chapter of the Province "Santa Maria degli Angeli", whose preparation journey was inspired by the Gospel of John, "The vine and the branches". The Chapter took place in the Mother House in Gemona del Friuli from June 26 to July 4, 2021. Sister Paola Dotto, Superior General, arrived at the Mother House a few days before the beginning of the Chapter, in order to greet and give comfort to the sisters much tried by the painful experience of the Coronavirus, which affected them from November 2020 to January 2021. She arrived together with the Vicar General Sister Tiziana Tonini, the General Councilor Sister Augusta Visentin and the Superior of the Vice-Province “St. Martyrs of Uganda "Sr. Beltha Ngwashi Mange.

On Saturday 26 June the delegate sisters arrived at the Mother House and on Sunday they lived the important time of the recollection in preparation for the Chapter, entitled "Do not fear, just believe!", The recollection was led by Sister Grazia Paris of the Congregation of the Dorothes of Cemmo, who gave significant and concrete ideas for the delegated sisters. The reflection was divided into three flashes: the purpose of the provincial chapter - discernment – moving from the “individual” to the “person”, and in three key words: REMAIN - ACCEPT - BELIEVE.

On Monday 28 June, the liturgical memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr, the Eucharist was presided over by the Archbishop of Udine Andrea Bruno Mazzocato. In his homily, the Bishop based his reflection from the first reading, Genesis 18, 16 - 33: Abraham is the great man of prayer, to whom we should all look upon. He turns to God with humility, constancy and courage; this should also be our attitude, thanks to which we know how to get on our knees to entrust to God, our Congregation, the whole Church and all humanity in a difficult historical time, where prayer is the essential dimension of the consecrated person and of the believer.

The Bishop then, with Sister Paola and Sister Giordana, brought greetings and his blessing to the sisters in the infirmary; he was particularly attentive and present to the great suffering experienced in the Mother House due to the coronavirus.

The opening of the XVI Provincial Chapter began at 10.00 in the Church, the delegate sisters gathered for prayer in the presence of Sister Paola, Sister Tiziana, Sister Augusta, Sister Beltha. The Gospel of the Wedding at Cana was the Word of God proposed for the Liturgy at the beginning of the Chapter, because only by assuming the attitudes of Mary can we look beyond ourselves and entrust ourselves to Jesus: “Do whatever He tells you”. After the prayer, Sister Paola gave each chapter delegate a lamp, a sign of Jesus and of his Word. The Chapter members then went down in procession to the Chapter Hall, where Sister Paola, president of the Chapter, officially declared the opening of the XVI Provincial Chapter.

Sister Paola listened attentively to the report of the Provincial Superior Sister Stefania Bandiera, highlighted the concreteness of the relationship, underlining how the pandemic on the one hand made the journey more difficult, on the other hand it highlighted the courage and the ability to take care of each other. The following interventions of the sisters focused, in particular, on the drama experienced in the Mother House from the months of November 2020 to January 2021. The sisters most directly involved in this indescribable and unimaginable suffering, shared their still living and strong experience in the assembly. All listened to them with emotion, all expressed the closeness and solidarity that came from Gemona and also from all the missions of our Congregation.

On Tuesday 29 June, the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the birthday and name day of the Superior General Sister Paola was joyfully celebrated.

The parish priest of Gemona, Mons. Valentino Costante presided over the Eucharistic celebration in the morning, highlighting the prayers of today's liturgy, of the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, in which the two Apostles are called "friends of God", to remind us that the goal of our life is precisely this: to be friends of God. During the day and in the following days the chapter assembly was engaged in the usual formalities and in the presentation of the reports, in the sharing and discussions for the preparation of the new chapter document .

Throughout the day there were various moments to express good wishes to our Mother General SISTER PAOLA: the songs at breakfast, the special prayer in the chapter house, the well-prepared lunch for the occasion with the cake that crowned everything. Special was the recreation of the evening: all the delegated sisters and the whole fraternity of the Mother House joined in a cheerful and relaxing evening of celebration for our dearest Sister Paola. The sisters, young and old, although with little time, prepared songs, dances, poems, small joyful and meaningful dramatizations.

On Wednesday 30 June, the delegated sisters, after invoking the Holy Spirit in Eucharistic Adoration, elected the new Provincial Council constituted as follows:

Sister Stefania Bandiera                    Provincial Superior
Sister Francesca Fiorin                      First Councilor and Vicar
Sister Miranda Sforza                        Second Councilor
Sister Giordana Marta                       Third Councilor
Sister Chiara Ceron                           Fourth Councilor

All the sisters present in the Mother House joyfully welcomed the new Council.

After the announcement to the sisters of the community of the Mother House, Sister Paola, with the councilors Sisters Tiziana and Sister Augusta accompanied Sister Stefania and the new Council to greet the dear sisters of the infirmary.

Within the Chapter, a special moment was reserved for the visit to the cemetery.

Since the morning of Friday 2 July in the Liturgy of Lauds and in the Eucharistic Celebration our deceased sisters were remembered, in particular those who left us because of the Coronavirus:

In the afternoon, at 5.00 pm all the Chapter Sisters drove to the Gemona cemetery for a prayer, a greeting to our sisters, to Father Gregory and to our dear Franciscan friars.

Stopping in front of the graves of our sisters, especially of those who, due to the pandemic, were not accompanied with the usual liturgy, caused a lot of emotion in all of us despite the certainty that spiritual communion was and is even stronger.

 The morning of July 3 saw the conclusion of the work in the assembly and so, in the early afternoon, Sister Paola, after reading her final report, declared the closure of the XVI chapter of the “Santa Maria degli Angeli” Province.

Sister Paola and her councilors have given the sisters of all the communities of the Province beautiful gifts !!! Furthermore, they donated to the Community of the Mother House, a wonderful chasuble and an ambo cover that Represents Joseph and Jesus in their daily life.

In the evening, all the sisters had a super final party to cheerfully welcome Sister Stefania and her Council and joyfully praise the Lord for the week spent together.

The Thanksgiving Mass for the Provincial Chapter was celebrated on July 4th.

In the evening a large, brightly coloured rainbow appeared in the sky; a sign for all of Hope, of Peace, of fraternity for our journey as Franciscan Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.