We also lived and celebrated it with our elderly women who are in our care,  with the staff and with the faithful of the Parish, who gave their contribution of appreciation with a simple writing.

To live the Celebration in harmony, the Superior General, Sr. Paola Dotto, sent all the organisms  of the Congregation the needed help  to prepare us adequately for the Feast.

In our Community "Gesù Bambino" of Duronia, on 21, 22 and 23 April we prayed and reflected on the Word of God and on the writings of Father Gregory, before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, solemnly exposed.

Our elderly women also participated with us and were happy to hear passages from the life and writings of our beloved Founder.

 In the parish, our parish priest don Gino organized the Triduum on days 27, 28 and 29 in preparation for the feast of the Coronation of the Blessed Mother, by inserting the figure of Father Gregory.

Let us add a brief thought on Father Gregory who in this period provoked us so much to live the preciousness of our religious life with more intensity. For Father Gregory the will of God was truly the daily bread, the cross of Christ his support and the sweet mother Mary his guide. Only a profound and humble spirituality, and a charity beyond the ordinary manner could support the project so demanding and so moving that God asked him to carry out.

The contribution of Prof. Umberto Berardi, our parishioner and admirer of Fr. Gregory...

The community of Duronia (CB) of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart on 30 April 2022 feast of the Coronation of the Blessed Mother, wanted to remember the figure of the founder of the Congregation Father Gregory Fioravanti on the two hundredth anniversary of his birth within a solemn concelebrated Eucharistic celebration by the bishop of Trivento (CB) H.E. Msgr. Claudio Palumbo, by the parish priest of Duronia, Don Gino D’Ovidio and by don Antonio Adducchio, vicar and rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption in the district of "Santa Maria" in Duronia.

The sisters working in the “Villa Serena” retirement home in Duronia thus intended to remember their founder hoping that the cause of canonization at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will continue favorably in its passages.

Meanwhile, they wish to continue to keep alive the memory of their Venerable Founder who was born on 24 April 1822 in Grotte di Castro (Viterbo) with the name of Ludovico who will then change to Gregory once he becomes a Friar Minor in the footsteps of Francis of Assisi.

After a very extensive preparation in the theological and philosophical fields, he was assigned to teach the clerics of the Franciscan convent in Venice and was subsequently chosen to hold the position of Minister Provincial.

Towards the end of the summer of 1859, the meeting with a young French woman, Laura Leroux, who later became Sister Giuseppa, changed the life path of Father Gregory. He first wrote the regulation for the Tertiaries of the Missions of the Seraphic Father St. Francis and then obtains the founding decree of the new religious institute, which will later take the name of "Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart".

Father Gregory not only assumes upon himself the responsibility of running the Foundation, which is experiencing immense initial difficulties, but he does his best to prepare the sisters for the missionary task of service to others wherever there is a request in this sense.

After a return to the post of Minister Responsible for the province, he returns to devote himself completely to the sisters, to strengthen their vocation and to the organization of missionary service, which also extends outside Italy to other countries.

Therefore, the Community of Duronia (CB) of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart also wanted to place, the figure of its founder at the center of the attention of all the inhabitants of the parish, emphasizing the most relevant aspects of his personality.

Placing this commemorative event within a Eucharistic celebration had the meaning of remembering a man with such an exemplary life, but also of remembering him to the Lord in prayer with gratitude and profound gratitude.

The great mission of service to others carried out by the Congregation in all these years would not have been possible without the great faith of Father Gregory Fioravanti, his demanding formative itinerary for the sisters, his complete abandonment to the will of God, his responsibility in organization and direction of the Order, the ability to cope with the difficulties that have arisen, the generous dedication to all the needs of the Institute but above all the passion for service to the needy in the spirit of evangelical charity. 

The sisters working on the path indicated by him also from the small parish of Duronia (CB) hope that the memory of Father Gregory Fioravanti on the two hundredth anniversary of his birth will be an example of Christian life for all and of a vocation at the service of others which certainly represents , together with love for God, the most important goal of everyone's life.

A Parishner. (Prof. Umberto Berardi)

From a collaborator: Rita Ciolfi

My name is Rita, worker in the rest home in Duronia (CB).

With joy, my husband and I participated in the online celebration

On 24/04/2022 of the Founder of our Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

We were struck by this exceptional figure of Father Gregory, exceptional in his great humility, tenacity and perseverance in fulfilling God's will despite the great difficulties he had to face.

We wish all the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to live with joy the charism of their Founder.

From another operator: Maria Izzy

The first time I heard about Father Gregory Fioravanti and Duchess Laura Leroux when  I was in Assisi, a guest of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. During the days I spent in their house as a guest, the mother superior and the sisters of the community told me the story of the foundation and the great difficulties that the Congregation  had to face from the beginning; I was struck by Father Gregory's tenacity and courage in following step by step he lived  the project of God that was taking shape, and   the charism  given by God to  the Duchess Laura Leroux. Relying on the Lord's hands, everything takes shape and can reach the most distant places in the world where there is a need for comfort and hope.

I have returned to Assisi many times, and each time it has been a precious pause for me that has helped me to disconnect from everyday life, allowing me to experience moments of constructive solitude made of prayer, silence and listening to St. Francis and Fr Gregory.

In difficult moments, I remember those peaceful days with sweetness and hope and I draw strength from them.

From the community of Duronia