Canceled yesterday due to bad weather the procession of Sant’Annibale Maria di France: given the weather conditions, the rector of the Basilica of Sant’Antonio Father Mario Magro He deemed it appropriate to postpone the procession, usually participated by hundreds of faithful devotees, to date. The celebrations are therefore prolonged on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the canonization of the founder of the rogationist fathers of the heart of Jesus and the daughters of the divine zeal, which took place on May 16, 2004; That day, Pope John Paul II enrolled him in the register of saints together with his friend Luigi Orione, two workers of the vineyard of the Lord united by love for Messina. An extraordinary holiness in the ordinary his who smells of life, golden like the puts transformed into the bread that feeds the many poor in the Avignon neighborhood. It was the bishop of Sanremo Ventimiglia Msgr. Antonio Suetta To preside over the solemn mass – concelebrated by the Rogationist religious and canons of the chapter of the protometropolitan basilica of which Father Annibale was also a member – in which the highest civil and military authorities participated and a nourished representation of city confraternities.
“A precious occasion especially if placed in the context of the Jubilee we are experiencing” said Bishop Suetta underlining the beauty of this saint, “in love with the Word of God to whom he was inspired for his apostolate who educated young people, ignored the poor, made it built reception structures and prayed”. Prayer, charity and mission are the three cornerstones left as an indispensable Father Annibale, said Suetta, in a time when the vocations seem to suffer. Also Father Mario Magro He reiterated the value of the holiness of the Canon of France in this Holy Year: “We are all pilgrims of hope in a world that urgently needed credible signs of charity, justice and truth”. At the end of the Mass, a representative of the Diocesan Interconfratern Center read the act of entrustment to the Saint, the children of the Sant’Annibal Institute sang for him and the Gardenie were blessed. The procession of the relic bust of Sant’Annibale will take place today after the mass of 6 pm.