A former pupil of Mandello and her new crib figurine: ‘For the crib project, in truth, another Sister was planned: Sister Eufemia, an important figure in the community of “Santa Giovanna Antida Thouret”, appreciated by many in Mandello del Lario for her constancy, commitment and the quality with which she tackled the various tasks associated with her role,
She was a figure appreciated by the Sisters, who saw in her an elder sister, capable of taking charge of all their needs and responding to them effectively.
Sister Euphemia would have represented very well the value of being at the service of others.
But something had not gone right, and out of my hands had come a petite, slender figure, not at all related to the Junoesque Euphemia.
A moment of bewilderment, the hypothesis of redoing everything, then the saving consideration:
‘If the great Leonardo made mistakes in painting the Last Supper, so much so that he is considered primarily responsible for its degradation because he used a painting technique on the wall that was suitable for wooden boards, should I, who is not a costume designer, be worried about the outcome, far from the project? No way!’
So I decided to keep the form intact and give it a new meaning: no longer the effectively obliging Sister Euphemia. But who?
Eventually the epiphany came to me: not only was the statue reminiscent of Sister CAMILLA in appearance, but she, who in my opinion had always been a secondary figure in the community, could embody a value of the highest order: that of a deeply lived faith.
There are several testimonies to prove this. A little girl from the past, who repeatedly expressed to me her love for the Sisters of ‘Saint Jeanne Antide’, who repeated to me that we were fortunate to have been accompanied by them in our growth, recalls with a moved voice an episode, which seems to me an example of how in the life of each of us certain events can leave an indelible trace in our experience.
Sister CAMILLA, witness to a deep faith and the importance of prayer
I faithfully transcribe her words: ‘I was a child, Sister Camilla did not have much to do with me. I was much more related to Sr Eufemia, Sr Antida, Sr Emma. We had not yet made our First Communion. I seem to remember Sister Antida sending me on an errand to the kindergarten, I don’t know.
I certainly met Sister Camilla who took me, I don’t even know why, to their chapel, accompanied me in front of the tabernacle and made me put my hand on the tabernacle, on the lock to be precise, telling me: ‘Put your little hand here. Feel? Jesus is inside’.
Do you know that every time I go to church and look at the tabernacle, I remember this fact?
At that time, who would go and put their hand on the tabernacle? Nobody dared.
Even now that I am old, every time I go to church, this memory comes back to me’.
Adriana Lafranconi, 31 December 2024
excerpt from www.claudiobottagisi.com/2024/12/ritratti-mandellesi-suor-camilla
