«I present to you 24 children like you who were friends of Jesus, like you are, and who left a strong mark on their family, among their classmates and on all the adults who knew them». With these words Cardinal Marcello Semeraro begins his letter to children — on the occasion of the World Day dedicated to them which is currently taking place in Rome — contained in the book Children. Witnesses of the faith (Marigliano [Napoli], Libreria publishing house Redemption, 90 pages, 10 euros). The volume is edited by Father Luigi Borriello and Maria Rosaria del Genio.
“The first thing I want to show you is their affection for their parents, for their brothers, sisters, teachers and their parish priests” writes the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in letter, in a style of simplicity (“my name is Marcello”), pointing out that “some have lived closer to us over the years, others far away, but in Heaven we are all united, near and far”. And he states: «They took their affection for the Lord Jesus, for God the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Madonna and transmitted it to all those with whom they played, studied and lived».
«They also showed this great affection for Jesus who suffered for all men and they gave Jesus their small and large pains. They have all lived on earth for a few years and now they already live in Heaven and have been called to keep company with all the angels and saints and to become friends of all the children of the world, including you.”
Reading «that they had lived for a short time – the cardinal writes again in letter — I was sad, but then I thought that when everyone is born they have a task from God and we are happy if we do this task and leave a message for others. All these children fulfilled their task very early, and left an important message. You will see that each of them still continues to do their job such as: inviting people to pray, giving joy to those who suffer, helping to build things (for example wells) so that the other children are well. But why did they suffer? This question is difficult to answer. We can only say that they wanted to resemble their friend Jesus and Jesus first suffered for all men and then, going to Heaven, continues to work miracles to make everyone happy, even if some adults do not understand it because they are only happy if they have many money”.
With this style the cardinal presents to his very young readers “a boy and a girl, in alphabetical order, for each month of the Year of Children”. With a proposal: «Read their life, copy their thoughts and talk about it with God the Father, with Jesus, with the Madonna and also with the Holy Spirit. And even among the greats.”
Sharing a thought on Jesus in the Eucharist and on first communion, the cardinal pointed out that in common with these 24 witnesses all children have a passion for toys or their pet, and also for the telephone: «Many of them knew how to send secret messages to God like you use your cell phone.”
And so here are the lively testimonies – the essential biographies are presented in the book – of the saints Francis (1908-1911) and Jacinta (1910-1920) Marto who lived the Marian experience of Fátima; of the French Anna de Guignè (1911-1922), Maria Gabriella Taurel (1905-1912), Maria Lucia Chausset (1920-1926), Pierino D’Airelle (1905-1913) and Pierre Guy (1913-1925); the Brazilians Antonio da Rocha Marmo (1918-1930), Nelson Santana (1955-1964) and Odette Vidal (1930-1939); the Mexicans Carlo Betanzos (1919-1927) and Willy De Koster (1974-1984); by the Belgian Herman Wijns (1931-1941); of the Spanish Josefina Vilaseca (1940-1952), María del Carmen Gonzáles Valerio y Sáenz de Heredia (1930-1939) and María del Pilar Cimadevilla López-Dóriga (1952-1962); by the Irish Nellie Organ (1903-1908); of the Italians Gustavo Maria Bruni (1903-1911), Lucia Fiocchetti (1997-2006), Luca Passaglia (1999-2004); Antonietta “Nennolina” Meo (1930-1937), Silvio Dissegna (1967-1979), Teresa Ruocco (2004-2015) and Ulrico Sarti (1930-1942).
The book with the letter to children it also wants to be a proposal for direct dialogue. So much so that Cardinal Semeraro shares the postal address (00120 Vatican City) and the email address ([email protected]) of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
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