On International Women’s Day, I think of all women: I thank them for their commitment to building a more humane society through their ability to grasp reality with a creative gaze and tender heart. This is a privilege only of women! A special blessing for all the women in the square. And a round of applause to the women! They deserve it!

Pope Francis, General Audience of March 8, 2023.

The Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne Antide Thouret are always attentive to the role women play in society and the Church.

On this special day we want to give you a poem, “I am made of Scraps” by Cora Coralina, a Carioca poet.

Sister Daniela Contini reads it for us.

I am made of scraps.
Colorful bits of every life that goes through mine
and that I am sewing in the soul.
They are not always pretty,
not always happy,
but they add me and make me who I am.
In every encounter, in every contact,
I’m getting older …
In each patch a life,
a lesson, a love, a nostalgia …
That make me more of a person,
more human, more complete.
And I think this is how life is made:
pieces of other people who are becoming part of the people too.
And the best part is that we will never be ready or finished …
There will always be a patch to add to the soul.
So, thanks to each of you,
that are part of my life and that allow me to enhance my story with the remnants left in me.
That I too can leave bits of me on the roads and that they can be part of their stories.
And so, from piece to piece we can become, one day,
in an immense embroidery of “we”.