Sr. M. Savina Boni
“Our foundation in Spain began in Bilbao, where we went to help our sisters Sr. M. Girolama and sr. M. Teodolinda engaged in priestly service at the Society of St. Paul, who took care of about 40 boys …“.
In this way, Sister Savina[1] begins her memoirs on the beginnings of the Congregation in Spain: “Those were difficult times, because of the wars, and for this there was a need for courageous women, ready to follow God’s call here and beyond all borders.” Fr. Alberione, worried about the situation of the nascent Spanish Pauline Family, insisted on the request that the Disciples go to the St. Paul’s house. In 1942 two sisters were sent and in 1943 Mother Scholastica asked Sr. Savina to join the group.
This decision was not an easy one. Savina did not feel capable and so she tells us: “I felt totally incapable and I replied that, if he wanted me to go to Spain, I would go, but not as the person in charge. For everything else, I was willing to place myself at the service of all.”
I replied in this way, mainly because of I felt my incapacity, and because I had always been in the apostolate, the sewing room, Liturgical Centre. I hadn’t had the possibility, to experience anything else. Mother Scholastica did not listen to my answer, so I turned to Primo Maestro, thinking that, at least, he would understand me. That was worse! He confirmed to me that this was God’s will.
Mother Scholastica explained to me that our sisters were a presence in the Society of St. Paul: “You will go there, you will help and support in the apostolate because there are so many young people. Later on, with the help of Father Costa, we will start our own house where we can welcome vocations.”
Savina departed and said: “Sr. Mary Carrara of the Sacred Heart was entrusted to me as my companion.
We left Alba in the early days of June, 1943. In Rome they had booked the plane, they told us that it was the Rome-Barcelona route and that it would be the last one available, so we would have to leave immediately, otherwise it would no longer be possible.
After Holy Mass, the Primo Maestro came to us and said: “Go at once; There are many vocations waiting for you there. Go! The Lord accompanies you! Try to welcome all that Divine Providence sends you, teach them to work, and, above all, to do the adoration. Pray well and the Lord will help you, always and in everything. I give you my blessing.”
They were years of so much generous love, of so much work, of difficulties of all kinds. It was in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, we sought to obtain a suitable home for the sisters and the necessary permits to carry out the apostolate in the dioceses. There was the difficult period of the “decree of death” of the Congregation, during which Sr. Savina, although she did not communicate it, encouraged and formed the sisters.
On this subject, she tells us about a meeting with the founder, Fr. Alberione. “He asked me many questions, I was interested in getting to know the sisters and the situation very well, and I asked him: “I want to know if the Pious Disciples exist or not, because we have postulants who wish to continue the journey with the novitiate, but do not want to be Daughters of St. Paul. I have to tell the truth.”
The Primo Maestro sent Fr Giaccardo to me and he told me: “Yes, the Pious Disciples will exist, even if we have to start again from scratch!“, I was amazed, I kissed his hand and said: “I feel like I’m dreaming”, then he looked at me and said “So, dream“. I plucked up courage and told him that I had experienced something similar in my dreams, that’s when he invited me to write it down and give it to him, then he added: “What shall we do? We could begin the novitiate there with you” I thought about it for a moment and told him that it was not a feasible thing, we did not have sisters ready for such a task and moreover I had promised them that they would go to Italy.
Sr. Savina accompanied the young women on this long journey, which was also tried by many difficulties, but she had entrusted herself to Our Lady of Pilar. The postulants first went to Alba to get to know the various ministries and then they went to Rome for the novitiate.
Sr. Savina also recalls another episode in which she felt a particular grace of Our Lady when she asked for the recognition of the presence of the Congregation in the dioceses and the recognition of the name of Pious Disciples. Many difficulties followed, and finally, when she was able to speak with the bishop of Bilbao, she shared the following:
“Getting to the Bishop was quite difficult, but we succeeded, when we arrived at the office, the bell rang for the midday Angelus and he recited the Angelus, we answered in Latin, as was the custom at the time.
The Bishop had come from León, a tall, strong, imposing man. He sat down and read all our explanation, including grammar mistakes, because we didn’t know Spanish well. He was silent for a while. After that, Sr. M. Frances took the floor and said that she had already met him in León, when her brother was ordained a priest, so they exchanged a few words about this event, then she said: “I have to think about it; I have to talk about it in the Council, then we will give you an answer. I give you my blessing, for you and for your community.”
We left, we waited, asking everyone for a grace without giving any explanation as to the reason! Finally one day the answer came, God had really taken our prayer into consideration: everything was in order, we were asked to be at peace and to do our work as usual. After this, I thought that Our Lady had contributed also because I had always thought of her, ever since that Angelus that turned out to be providential at the beginning of our meeting, opening the doors to dialogue!
In 1949 Sr. M. Savina was recalled to Italy. Her time in Spain was coming to an end, but not her YES, what she had experienced had been an inspired response to Mary’s Yes; always ready to “depart”, without fear, like the Blessed Virgin in the Visitation, always beginning “from Bethlehem”, always meditating on events and uniting them to the Cross of the Lord. A response that has borne fruit in Spain and, let us pray to God, will also give many other vocations of the Disciples of the Divine Master in this beautiful country.
[1] Sr. M. Savina was born on July 16, 1912 in Staffoli, a hamlet of Santa Croce sull’Arno, in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany. The year after her perpetual profession (August 21, 1942), she was assigned as superior in Spain and, before the borders were closed due to the Second World War, she arrived in Bilbao where she remained for three years without being able to have any communication. In 1946 she was confirmed in the vocation of PDDM by the Founder himself, who said: “I am ready to restart the Congregation even with just one“. Savina returned to Italy in 1949 and died there on July 29, 1999.