Encouraged by the love received by our families, we wish to share with the readers of our site, the sentiments of affection, extracted from the emails sent to us, by our parents who have enthusiastically accepted the invitation to live in the Novitiate, after the sudden “coming out” of our religious call in the Society of Jesus, a significant and intense moment of knowledge, fraternity and prayer on the weekend of 23 and 24 March 2019.

«It was important for everyone to be able to deepen the meaning of this experience. In order to understand the meaning of this choice, each one must make a journey in his own role. Sharing moments like these personally helps me overcome difficulties and makes me feel even closer to your life choice. The words of Fr. Augustine and the other formators have consolidated in me the certainty that, in this journey of life, you have alongside the great masters who, independently of your final choices, will improve you as a person “.

«After six months I could see my son again and it was already a lot. Knowing personally the families of the other novices reassured me. I missed a lot of information but what I saw was much more than what I learned. I saw the formation of a community with strong ties. I saw a serenity in my son and in the others who, although very different, shared the new life with joy, in this “new family” ».

“These days spent together in simplicity of heart turned out to be precious to feel part of the journey that these beautiful boys are doing, beautiful because illuminated by the love of God. We could admire the wonderful panorama and the sea from the terrace of the Novitiate with the eyes of our son who showed us the details he is used to seeing and listening to in silence, the birdsong he hears every morning. We walked through the well-kept spaces that he walks through, where he prays, meditates, works, studies, meets, confronts, jokes, sings, eats, in which he grows laboriously and serenely in discernment. We went to learn about the spaces and the people with whom our son collaborates in his apostolate. We have seen the fraternal embraces among the novices and the spirit of service and collaboration that has been created among all – novices and trainers -, all careful to take care of the house and the extended family that lives there, albeit with different assignments and roles, punctually and carefully distributed. There have been moments of community in which we have prayed together and we have shared and known more deeply the organization of the days and the journey of the novices, discovering also the meaning and the surprises that can be reserved ».

«When we arrived the first thought was to hug our son and spend some time with him, talking looking into his eyes. Then the experience was enriched: it was an exchange of stories and emotions with the other parents, the novices and the trainers that deeply involved us in the path our son is making. A moment of grace in which we could read how his vocation is really a call that questions our whole family “.

«We admired the commitment of the novices to let us enter the daily life of the Novitiate. A useful moment for parents, especially for those who, like us, find it hard to understand the underlying reasons for these choices “.

«These young people yearn for God and try to follow Jesus on his way. They know that if they trust only themselves and don’t count on the strength of our friend God, their projects will be lost. I am happy that I was able to participate in this meeting of my son’s “new family”.

«I met all those who share life with my son in the Novitiate community. Everyone is precious in a unique way. The way of acting of Ignatian spirituality is particularly necessary today, considering the situation of the world. I am very happy because with the help of their teacher they are learning to discern in the Holy Spirit what is really important and what they are called to “.

«Spending these two days with the novices of the 1st year gave me the opportunity to come into contact with a new and partly unknown reality. The thing that struck me most was the atmosphere of serenity and joy that reigns between them and with the trainers. I immediately felt at home, or rather I felt that a new, very extended family was welcoming me. I didn’t hear any more distinction between my son and the other boys. I felt like the mother of all of them and it was a wonderful feeling ».

And we sons, we are deeply grateful to the Lord for the gift of our families that have helped us to grow and to discover our vocation. Supported by their prayers, in this time of the Novitiate we are called to become through Jesus “knights of God” for the world, ready to serve him in obedience in the human of every city, aware that everything that is related to our vocation, a bit like the soil of the burning bush, in which we cannot enter because it represents something too much special.