Birthday of St. Luigi Guanella

Do people choose to take vacations? How to plan a Christmas vacation?

Anong your choice for the summer? Beach or mountains? 

According to a new study, most people from Manila prefer the beach to the mountains, while people from the province prefer the opposite. 

They say the way one is living with nature reveals something deeper about one’s personality. 

naka akyat na ba kayo sa kahit na anung bundok sa filipinas? Katulad ng Mount Pulag, mount banahaw

Don Louis Guanella, our Founder was born on this same day, 180 years ago, in Fraciscio, the place which was surrounded by numerous beautiful mountains, approximately 3000 meters in height. At this time, usually during the winter, you will see the snow falling on mountains and the water will be just frozen. The young people still admire the beauty of these mountains.

Fr. Guanella loved the mountains, their nature, his loving village and his relationship with the people very much (nostalgic), when he left Fraciscio (in 1854) to join in the Gallio School in Como. He said he became a bird in a cage. 

Fr. Guanella wrote a booklet called Montanaro in 1886 (he dedicated the book to the people of Valtellina, because they were hit by floods in Sep 1885 which caused many deaths and serious damage). In his booklet the Mountaineer, Guanella discovered the values of the mountain people that nature provided each one of them; in fact, he cites memories from his own childhood, his emotions, and family experiences. I would like to show you only three qualities of the mountain priest. 

1. Mountain priest is above all a man of God: ang pari sa bundok ay higit sa lahat ay linkgod ng diyos. Ang mga tao sa bundok ay mayroon malakas na pagka-relihioyoso. 

The mountain people (the people of the valley) commonly have a strong religious sense (and they say that because they live near paradise). 

Mountains are present also in the bible because the people of Israel lived in and around the mountains. In the Bible, Mountain is a place of God-experiences. The mountain was the place of encounter with God.  (it is because God appeared to Moses and spoke with him in Mount Sinai where he gave the commandments. The psalms speak about the Holy Mountain (Zion), it is Jerusalem (there is a Mount of Olives). In NT, Jesus climbed to the mountain many times to pray alone, sometimes with the disciples also on the scene of transfiguration). 

Fr. Guanella, a mountaineer had a special grace to relate with God as a father. God is my Father and he will never abandon his child. It was his personal conviction. Like the village Fraciscio surrounded by the mountains, the people felt that they are always watched over by God by his love. Kai sabi ni Guanella, “Ang Diyos ang guma’gawa” That’s why he was able to say, It is God who does! (in the moment of success) nagma’matyag ang diyos, hindi niya pinaba’bayaan ang kanyang mga anak “God sees me. God provides for His children.” This is the first secret of the mountaineer; the Divine Providence. 

Fr. Guanella wrote in the book called Mountaineer said, “My Mountains are very high, because from there I am able to contemplate Paradise in a better way. My hometown is dearest to me’. It is close to my heart. because we love God. God’s Providence is always with me, thus, nothing should scare us”.

Give your first place to God! Do not start /work/dream/plan without giving a place to God. Be a man of God, like this mountain priest, and never forget to say It is God who does!

2. Man of Communion: 

Guanella came from a rural family in which there were 13 children. He was the ninth child. The mountain people lived healthy relations among themselves as one family. in Fraciscio, all the inhabitants helped each other to ensure a good family and social life, they shared in the joys and sufferings of the others. He learned the family spirit in this context of the mountain village and his own family.

The motherly love of Maria Bianchi, affection of Catherine, his sister and paternal support of Lorenzo made him to be a loving priest, and a servant of Charity. 

They tell this was his original thought ‘bond of charity. What he learnt from his family became the dream later; Sisters, priests, lay persons, united by an unbreakable bond, charity that never fails.

Sabi niya: “We are united especially by the bond of charity, as the life of God poured forth into our hearts by the Spirit and the love of individuals who enjoy living and working together”. 

Family spirit: 

Do you know the image that Guanella is suggesting for the spirituality of his cong..? It is very timing to reflect upon the model of the Holy Family of Nazareth. 

Founder says it is the source/model of our fraternal life and our mission. The Constitution no 4 starts like this: The Charity of Christ has drawn us to form a community of brothers… 

we should feel like brothers and sisters around Jesus that is called the bond of charity.  among us. Though there are three persons in the family, the center of our community life has to be Christ. Who is Christ in the Community of Servants? 

3. Man of Charity: 

In 1892 the first issue of the bulletin of the Mother House in Como, “Don Guanella included all the poor people of every kind.” He does not have any distinctions. Today in more than 23 countries we care the elderly people, children and the abandoned. Among them primary care is given the special children we call them special children. 

Anyayahan natin ang mga mahihirap na may kagalakan, imbitahin natin sila, sa ating mesa, pagsilbihan natin sila ng may pagmamahal, dahil nasa sakanila si Christto. “Welcome with joy the poor, let them sit to your table and serve them with love, because they are Christ in the middle of you.”

Hard mountain (the mountain life is hard): anu sa tingin-ninyo ang dapat isuot sa pagakyat ng bundok? one thing is very important to wear when you climb the mountains? What is that thing? A pair of good shoes

His life of 73 years is not an easy, comfortable life. He took more than 40 years to arrive at the hour of mercy, to start the mission, he received criticisms, opposition, humiliations, 

In the mountain, there will be ups and downs. The important thing you have to remember that the mountain hike is hard climbing different than the other usual walk like we walk in himlayan. Fr. Guanella had this character of hardness of the mountain. 

From the mountain environment and his little family Louis Guanella learnt the spirit of hard work, dedication and perseverance. Mountain taught him the hardship of his life. “Providence had chosen and guided us. He granted me virtuous parents that instilled in me a spirit of hard work and sacrifice. From them I learned to keep busy all the time.”

In the beginning years of his priesthood, he was sent to a difficult mountainous parish in Savogno, a small village at an altitude of about one thousand meters in the mountains of the Valle Bregaglia. Guanella was not discouraged, because he was a son of mountain. He made dirt his hands and became “as a laborer, as a painter and even to some extent as a stonemason,” he enlarged the church; he built a roof over the laundry area and he builds a cemetery. 

The obstacles are not few in the path of hard mountains. At every stage, you have to encounter risks and difficulties. Fr. Guanella received much opposition and criticism from all the political and ecclesial authorities. The mountaineer lived out the value of work, dedication and perseverance. 

Any sickness, problems, death of your loved ones, say your selves, don’t be discouraged, simply say I am a follower of mountain priest. 

Dear priests, brothers and religious Sisters of Guanella. All are sharers and at the same time responsible of Guanellian Charism. Do not waste it! Live it effectively

We cannot live this vocation without love! But, there are so many forms to realize this vocation to love. Love the people around you without boundaries and love the poor without measure. 

Today you are united to all the Servants of charity that we have the same mission to grow the love in our societies, showing that God is the Father of everybody and doesn't abandon the abandonment of his family. 

I thank all the friends, ministries and children who participate in this celebration, because you manifest the joy of the entire people of God, appreciating the gift of the lay collaboration and certainly asking God to always send new religious vocations to his Church and to our Congregation.  

In this intercontinental mass, we are remembering the different confreres and sisters at the same time celebrating in various continents. I hope to receive from you a new strength for its mission of charity in the world. Our mission is universal. Our Founder said that the world is our country because charity has no boundaries. If each of us loves a person, especially the little ones, he makes grow all mankind in love.  

My best wishes are to be always conscious that we can do anything with the love of God.  Today you certainly feel yourselves strong and generous for the desire to give all your life to the Lord in this family. But it is not on our strengths that we can count, but on the fidelity of God, which always helps those who trust in Him.  

You may be accompanied by the example and the protection of Mother Mary, and the intercession of the blessed founder be with us for this Christmas.

Mother of Divine Providence

 have you ever seen Face cut-out boards? they are in the parks, resorts and other malls. There is a hole in the picture. You go there and put your face for the picture

• Avengers picture, Superman, Spiderman, 

• In the picture of Mother of Divine Providence, I see a face cut-out board. The face of Jesus. You cut it and try to imagine you are sleeping on the lap of your mother. 

• The church that preserves the image of this mother. God allows us to put ourselves in his place and rest our heads on her chest on every occasion of need. God allows you to take his place. 

• In every Airline, there are seat selection fees. People want to choose window seats to see the plane landing and taking up. People spend money to choose their seats to enjoy their travel. Some refuse to give up their seat even to PWD or pregnant women. For some people it is tough to share their seat with someone, they are attached to the place. 

In the Picture of Mother of Divine Providence, God allows us to use his seat in his mother. 

God has not forbidden us anything, he gave himself for us. Who would do it? Maybe some parents, but even there is the limit of human weakness. God is sharing everything with us including his mother. What she is telling us Do everything what He says. He said to love another. Mother of Divine Providence is the message of love over war and violence. are you able to give place to your neighbor? 

2. Bride: 

• Question of Br. Dien, there is no figure of the bride in the Gospel of this morning? Bride? 

• The bride is an interesting figure at the wedding. The image of the bride in the Mediterranean culture, it is not less to the bridegroom, she is the one who follows the bridegroom, going to merge with him in his life. During the wedding, suspense is the arrival of the bride. The groom should always arrive before the bride; the bride should come mamaya, otherwise it will be bad luck. She should be accompanied by the mother/father of the bridegroom. 

The relationship of the bride with the friends of the bridegroom is called accompaniment. 

He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. (Jn 3:29)

How can a Jewish mother command to the strange friends?  At the wedding at Cana, Mary presents the disciples and accompanies them, disciples, to the bridegroom: She says, “Do whatever he tells you”. 

The bride is following the bridegroom with trust and obedience. This act of mutual trust and obedience is not only necessary for a successful married life but also for any vocational discernment, revealing perfect, implicit and cheerful obedience. 

A group of young consecrated women had founded a home in the village for the elderly and for abandoned children, with the support of the parish priest Fr. Carlo Coppini, who died earlier that year. The Providence showed them Fr. Guanella, priest of prejudice, “hot-head man!” But they trusted simply like the disciples believing the words of Mary. (included Clare and Marcellina Bosatta), Because of the trust, they shifted from Pianello to Como,  Dear Sisters, do not be afraid to trust with strong faith when carrying on our Guanella’s works of charity.  

Nov 12, 2025; Thalavadi

Mother of Providence 

சத்தி டூ தளவாடி தீபாவளி பேருந்து 

கர்ச்சிப்பு கூடை, துண்டு போட்டு இடம் பிடித்தல், 

தேர்தல் எல்லாம் முதல்வர் எம்எல்ஏ சீட்டுக்காக இடம் பிடித்தல், 

ஒவ்வொரு விமான நிறுவனத்திலும், இருக்கை தேர்வு கட்டணங்கள் உள்ளன. விமானம் தரையிறங்குவதையும், விமானம் எடுப்பதையும் பார்க்க மக்கள் ஜன்னல் இருக்கைகளைத் தேர்வு செய்ய விரும்புகிறார்கள்.

சிலருக்கு தங்கள் இருக்கையை ஒருவருடன் பகிர்ந்து கொள்வது மிகவும் கடினம், சிலர் PWD அல்லது கர்ப்பிணிப் பெண்களுக்கு கூட தங்கள் இருக்கையை விட்டுக்கொடுக்க மறுக்கிறார்கள்.

• கடவுள் தன்னுடைய இருக்கையை நமக்காக விட்டுத் தருகிறார். 
• தான் தவழ்ந்த அன்னை மடியை நமக்காக தியாகம் செய்கிறார். 
• தான் பெற்ற அன்னையின் அரவணைப்பை நமக்காக பகிர்ந்து கொள்கிறார். 
• கடவுள் உங்களை அவருடைய அன்னையின் இதயத்தில் இடத்தைப் பிடிக்க அனுமதிக்கிறார். 

நீங்கள் எப்போதாவது முக கட்-அவுட் பலகைகளைப் பார்த்திருக்கிறீர்களா? அவை பூங்காக்கள், ரிசார்ட்டுகள் மற்றும் பிற மால்களில் உள்ளன. • அவெஞ்சர்ஸ் படம், சூப்பர்மேன், ஸ்பைடர்மேன், படத்தில் அவர்களின் முகத்தில் ஒரு ஓட்டை உள்ளது. நீங்கள் அங்கு சென்று படத்திற்காக உங்கள் முகத்தை வைக்கவும்

தெய்வீக பிராவிடன்ஸின் தாயின் படத்தில், நான் ஒரு முக கட்-அவுட் பலகையைப் பார்க்கிறேன். இயேசுவின் முகம். நீங்கள் அதை வெட்டி உங்கள் தாயின் மடியில் தூங்குவதாக கற்பனை செய்ய முயற்சிக்கிறீர்கள். 

கடவுள் நம்மை அவருடைய இடத்தில் வைத்து, தேவைப்படும் ஒவ்வொரு சந்தர்ப்பத்திலும் நம் தலையை அவள் மார்பில் வைக்க அனுமதிக்கிறார்.

தெய்வீக பிராவிடன்ஸின் தாயின் படத்தில், கடவுள் தனது தாயில் தனது இருக்கையைப் பயன்படுத்த அனுமதிக்கிறார்.

கடவுள் நமக்கு எதையும் தடை செய்யவில்லை, அவர் நமக்காக தன்னையே கொடுத்தார். யார் அதைச் செய்வார்கள்? ஒருவேளை சில பெற்றோர்கள், ஆனால் மனித பலவீனத்திற்கும் எல்லை உண்டு. கடவுள் தனது தாய் உட்பட அனைத்தையும் நம்முடன் பகிர்ந்து கொள்கிறார். 

'இயேசுவின் தாயும் நம் தாயுமான மரியா

இணைமீட்பர் அல்ல' - சொல்கிறது வத்திக்கான். திருத்தந்தை 14-ஆம் லியோ அவர்களுடைய அனுமதியுடன் இறைநம்பிக்கைக்கான கோட்பாட்டுக்கான திருப்பேராயம் (Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith) இன்று  (4 நவம்பர் '25) வெளியிட்ட 'மாத்தெர் போப்புலி ஃபிதெலிஸ்' (Mater Populi Fidelis) ('நம்பிக்கைநிறை இறைமக்களின் தாய்') என்னும் ஏடு, அன்னை கன்னி மரியாவை, 'இணைமீட்பர்' ('co-redemptrix') என்றும் 'துணைஇணைப்பாளர்' ('co-mediatrix') என்றும் அழைப்பதைத் தடைசெய்கிறது.

இதன் அன்னை ஒரு இணை மீடப்பாளர் அன்று மாறாக அவர் அன்றி நமக்கு மீட்பு கிடைப்பது கடினம், அவள் நமக்குச் சொல்வது என்னவென்றால், அவர் சொல்வதைச் செய்யுங்கள். அவர் இன்னொருவரை நேசிக்கச் சொன்னார். போர் மற்றும் வன்முறைக்கு எதிரான அன்பின் செய்தி தெய்வீக பிராவிடன்ஸின் தாய். உங்கள் அண்டை வீட்டாருக்கு இடம் கொடுக்க உங்களால் முடியுமா?

All Souls Day

The Church is perceived in three stages: the pilgrim Church here on earth, the suffering Church in the purgatory; and the glorified Church in heaven. This is the feast of the glorified Church.

1. How does the Bible understand death? The Holy Bible uses the following metaphors to bring forth the meaning of death: (f) ‘Sleep’ (cf. Jn 11:11-14. Mk 5:39). Describing Lazarus’s death, Jesus says, ‘Lazarus is sleeping.’ Death is understood as a long, deep sleep.

What do we do on All Souls Day?

Saint Augustine, in his Confessions, recording about his mother’s (Saint Monica’s) death, writes: “We thought that my mother would have desired to be buried near her husband. But she told us, ‘You bury me wherever you want to! My Lord is able to resurrect me from anywhere. But forget me not at the altar.’”

Monica’s words tell us three things: (a) At our death, our body does not matter to us anymore. The body dies, but the soul lives. (b) We must remember and pray for the dead; and (c) We will rise one day. The Lord will resurrect our body and soul.

The Sacred Tradition of the Church invites us to remember and pray for the dead. In the first reading, the author of Wisdom of Solomon says, “The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God.” The souls that are in our hands when we are alive will go to God when we die. They go to the safest place. Jesus says in the gospel reading, “All will come to me.” All will go to Jesus on the Last Day and all will obtain eternal life. The second reading invites us to be united with Jesus in his death so that we may be united with him in life eternal.

3. The memorial gives us three life lessons:

(a) Memento mori! Carpe diem!

Life is short. Life that is lived with our last step in mind is lived well. As the candle melts, our lives melt, and as the smoke of the incense disappears, we too disappear. But as long as we are alive, we give light, and we give fragrance. These brothers and sisters, whom we recall today, gave light, life, and sweetness to our lives. Remember death (memento mori)! and seize the day, every day (carpe diem)!

(b) Life before death!

Often times, we are preoccupied with life after death. But it is our life before death that defines our life after. Let us fix our minds and hearts here on earth and live our lives well, with gratitude and care.

(c) We are not alone – at death!

Death frightens us because we have to face it alone. But we are not alone in death. As we remember our near and dear ones, we will be remembered and prayed for. Death is a thin fence between our loved ones and us.

‘All will come to me!’ These are the words of Jesus and of the tomb! But we are not afraid. For there is life beyond the tomb. The empty tomb of Jesus is the answer to the tombs that we visit today. At this tomb, we will see the one who sees us (cf. Gen 16).

“Grant them eternal rest, O Lord! May the perpetual light shine upon them!

May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.”