Sr. M. Clelia Arlati
Vitalina Arlati was born on July 10, 1923, in Osnago, a village in Brianza in the province of Lecco. She was reflective, reserved, responsible, insightful, willing to sacrifice, fervent in faith, very committed in various services, and rich in personal qualities. Several times a year, theaters were held in the Women’s Oratory, organized during wartime in the afternoon, before sunset. The hall was filled and people of all ages were there! And Vitalina was the presenter.
Osnago used to live solely on agriculture, but in the early twentieth century, the Galimberti family arrived in the village with the intention of creating a new and promising weaving workshop, which turned out to be of great social value. The women who managed to enter the new company benefited immediately. Vitalina joined as an employee and was highly appreciated by the company’s owner.
Vitalina met the Pious Disciples for the first time in 1942. They passed through the village to distribute good literature, and she was impressed by the name of the Institute. Invited the following year for spiritual exercises, she got to know the Institute better and clearly felt that those were the sisters she had been seeking for some time. Their name had immediately fascinated her and made her taste a sense of intimate joy: “Pious Disciples of the Divine Master! Something mysterious, even if I couldn’t define what I felt, I felt happy!” she testified.
Two more years passed, and after the war ended, with her parents’ consent, she prepared to enter the Institute. When she left, all her Catholic Action companions, of which she was a part, came to the station to bid her farewell. Accompanied by her parents and her sister Augusta, she arrived in Alba on February 10, 1946, after a troubled journey, which was supposed to last a few hours but instead lasted almost fifteen! It was indeed in the early post-war period.
The house that welcomed her still bore the marks of the recent war: many windows had paper and cardboard instead of glass, and abundant snowfall covered the streets!
From her testimony, we hear her words: “I entered in February 1946, a rather crucial period for the Pious Disciples; however, the serene atmosphere and the atmosphere of prayer and industriousness that prevailed made me happy and at ease. When on April 3, 1947, there was the canonical erection of our Institute and for me and my companions, the entry into the novitiate on the same evening, I felt the certainty and joy of a vocation that would fill my life. Still a novice in Alba, I experienced the moment of Pontifical Approval on January 12, 1948, and twelve days later, on the 24th, the death of Master Timoteo Giaccardo. Two circumstances so different yet so close due to the mysterious action of God. Circumstances that shed new light on the embraced vocation, of which I enjoyed the certainty of choice, and for which I will never thank the Lord enough.”
On April 4, 1948, Low Sunday, she took her religious vows and received the name Sr. M. Clelia, and on April 4, 1953, Holy Saturday, His Excellency Bishop Carlo Stoppa of Alba presided over the Rite of Perpetual Profession.
For several years, Sr. M. Clelia was dedicated to study, then in 1954 she was asked to take care of the postulants. In 1956 she was novice mistress, and they were very fond of her! Sr. M. Clelia was skilled in shorthand, having practiced it as a secretary, but immediately upon entering the Congregation, she used this gift in her mission. Since 1946, she had been transcribing with the language of signs, in a German stenographic system, the meditations of Mother M. Lucia Ricci, the Founder, the first Pauline priests, and all those who put their voice at the service of evangelization were recorded by her pen and pencil with great professionalism. In this regard, our religious Family enjoys a vast and rich archive of her stenography, and it is a “miracle” to think that her handwriting used in industrial and commercial contexts imprinted a spiritually rich content regarding meditations, lectio, the founding of houses, etc.
A sister, originating from the same village, who knew the same shorthand system, dedicated herself to transcribing this precious charismatic heritage.
In the General Chapter of 1957, Sr. M. Clelia was elected general secretary and will be a precious help and support to Mother M. Lucia Ricci, the superior general, and to the entire Congregation.
The scrupulous care in preserving the documents relating to the life of the Congregation has proved fundamental in reconstructing the history of the Institute. She performed the service of general secretary in a most dedicated manner, she offered herself in sacrifice and persevered in her contribution even for the personal correspondence, which was truly extraordinary, from Mother M. Lucia.
In the III General Chapter of 1981, she was elected general counselor. Her passports bear witness to her travels to Spain, Portugal, Poland, the United States, Canada, Venezuela, Australia, India, thus having contact with many sisters and realities of the Institute.
After finishing this ministry, she accompanied Mother M. Lucia in precious services to the Institute. She drafted the 1984 edition of the Constitutions, the first phase of the Cause of Mother M. Scolastica Rivata. She also collaborated with the general Postulator of the Pauline Family, Father Stefano Lamera, especially for the causes of Blessed Timoteo Giaccardo and Blessed Giacomo Alberione.
The personal relationship with Mother M. Lucia Ricci was not just one of apostolic collaboration but rather a relationship of spiritual daughterhood that recognized her ministry of guidance and formation. This is evidenced by the fact that after each spiritual exercises course, she presented her regular spiritual report and welcomed suggestions to progress in the path of sanctification. She had a particular sensitivity to Eucharistic adoration, as she stated in her personal notes: “I felt a particular attraction to Eucharistic adoration … Blessed Father Timothy, to help us understand the necessity and value of our Adoration, used this expression: You are placed to pray to obtain.” She lived adoration with the awareness of a strong apostolic dimension that made her sensitive to the various needs of priests, rulers, teachers, and operators of social communication engaged in the spread of the Gospel.
She spent the last years of her life in Camaldoli, then in Sanfrè, and finally in Cinisello Balsamo, where, lovingly cared for by the sisters, she concluded her earthly pilgrimage on November 28, 2011, while the liturgy of the beginning of Advent invoked the coming of the Lord Jesus! Sr. M. Clelia, through her writings in every form: by hand, typewritten, and in shorthand, has entrusted us with a precious legacy of the Institute’s charisma and our history.
Sr. M. Clelia, who now dwells in God, remember the Congregation celebrating its Centenary! You who have experienced some significant stages of our history, who have listened to the indications of the Founder, and who have worked for the beatification causes of Mother Scolastica and our Blessed ones, now help everyone in the path of sanctification and apostolate. Thank you for your life and donation!