The renewed Friars Minor of Naples together with the Sisters of the Poverelle, in Scampia – .
When you knock on the doorbell in via Marfella 12 (a small street close to Capodimonte, in Naples), you will always be answered by a reassuring voice that greets you with “may the Lord give you peace”. Beyond the gate of the convent of the renewed Friars Minor there is truly peace, for anyone who crosses it, for a meeting with the community of Franciscans known in the area as the “friars of the carriages”. Beyond the gate, in fact, the community that has chosen the radicalism of Saint Francis of Assisi (he has been in Naples since 1976) lives in disused carriages and on providence alone. «We are and make ourselves an instrument of providence», explains Brother Massimiliano, the guardian of the community. Thirty-six years old, a vocation developed in Carini, Sicily, at the age of 19, in a “scout house”, he adds: «I don’t like labels but, in fact, living in carriages becomes prophetic: fraternity becomes testimony in a world in which it is always more difficult to carry on relationships and a goal that can help the families who come here.” Many, in truth, on Saturday mornings, looking for material help and many who find in the carriages a «network of relationships, but also – adds Fra Massimiliano – a space. Our mission is that the carriages become a theological place, a place of God where others can, through the sacrament of reconciliation or simply the encounter with brotherhood, find a listening ear.”
In addition to Naples, four houses in Colombia (Bogotà, El Retiro, Guática, La Cruz), one in Tanzania (Pomerini) and two in Sicily (in Palermo and Corleone) where the community was born as a radical choice after the Second Vatican Council . «After the first steps in Palermo, one of the most important stops was Corleone – recalls the guardian – because in the 70s the bishop of Monreale asked the friars to commit themselves in a place tormented by the feuds of the mafia families and there become an instrument of dialogue and peace”.
A radical choice that struck the other two temporarily professed friars, Samuele and Stefano: different stories, a single vocation. «In Brazil first and then in Mozambique – says Brother Samuele – after graduating in geology, the discovery of poverty: seeing such poor children with nothing on, but so happy chasing the rim of a bicycle, questioned me. I was 24 years old and maybe I was looking for happiness in the wrong place.”
For Fra Stefano it is the illness that becomes salvation. «I am 38 years old and I come from a simple family – he says -. I was a house painter, but I was throwing my life in the garbage. I was working in Germany, I fell ill there and was forced to return to Italy for treatment and here I encountered faith, but above all I was made a promise: to have a family bigger than I could imagine.” Today Fra Stefano follows many families in Scampia. The promise came true. «With them we organize moments of sharing at the Vele: we bring the shopping and try to pray, listen and alleviate many loneliness».
One of the disused carriages of the renovated convent of the Friars Minor, in Naples – .
Currently the community of Naples is also involved in two evangelization paths in the area: the “10 words” and the “7 signs” and the path of “Faith and psychology in dialogue” through a biblical-theological and psychological reading of the deadly sins. Fra Massimiliano is also the spiritual companion of the preparatory community of the Seminary of Naples: his testimony at the recent diocesan vocational vigil with Archbishop Mimmo Battaglia.
The day in the convent is marked by very precise times: at one in the morning there is night prayer; at six morning lauds, forty-five minutes of prayer and meditation, then Mass. Afterwards, everyone dedicates themselves to community work: some to the apostolate and some to study. After lunch, recreation and rest and, from 3.30pm to 5pm, afternoon prayer. Then personal study or external apostolate. At 7pm the Rosary, at 9pm Compline. In this tight program “fraternity, meeting and relationship” are substantiated, the three guidelines along which the commitment of the Rinnovati is developed. From this year also «the ecology of the common home – explains Brother Samuele – a theme dear to Pope Francis and, before him, to Saint Francis of Assisi». Days of sharing with the territory because «a healthy environment is also the product of man’s interaction with the environment: in addition to training, the first step is to be guardians of beauty, so we try to keep what surrounds us clean first and foremost» . And the convent is an oasis of greenery and peace.
This summer, as a project, Croatia: a camp in Zagreb, serving disabled children and, in particular, in a hospital with children with rare diseases. «We will be in tents for ten days and we will animate three realities: a hospital, a Roma camp, a Croatian neighborhood with fragility». And the future? «The creation of a secular brotherhood of lay people who live moments of prayer with us and for next year a journey on conflict mediation – explains Brother Massimiliano – we would like to deal with justice and injustice in the place where we live». But why, today, should a young person choose to live by providence, poverty and service? «To not be satisfied with surviving but with truly living».
