Celebration of 150 years of Fr.

Giocondo’s birth - 1870 – 2020

Revive in us the foundational charism

remembering the person of P. Giocondo

Introduction
Lord Jesus we are here to praise and give you thanks for the life of
Fr. Giocondo and for the immense love with which you have guided
him throughout his life and for having given him to us as a brother
and founder.

Song (invocation to the Holy Spirit)

Guide: On the 27th of September 1870 the third son of Giovanni

Lorgna and Maria Fiasella, was born in Popetto. Born to two young
and modest farmers, but rich in genuine and solid faith. They chris-
tened him the same day with a beautiful name, bursting with joy:
Giocondo. One day the couple went on a pilgrimage to the sanctuary
of the Madonna del Gaggio. They heard the people singing a praise to
Mary whose refrain, as a joyous echo, repeated cheerfully:

All "Laugh, oh faithful, the cheerful name, which glorifies the world:
and long live Jesus, long live Mary! "

Reader 1 Both of them liked that refrain so much that they promised
the Blessed Virgin to give the name "Giocondo" to one of their chil-
dren, to entrust him to her and to leave him free to consecrate himself
to God. In fact they kept their promise.

Reader 2 Oftentimes, Maria Fiasella, seeing the Sanctuary of the

Madonna del Gaggio from the terrace of the house, raising the child
towards the Madonna, prayed with these words: ""I entrust my Gio-
condo to you: make him a saint so that he may do good and be the
joy of the world". For us who know what Giocondo's life was, this
prayer was truly a prophecy.

Reader 1 From the book of the prophet Isaiah (49, 1-6)

Before birth the Lord called me, from my mother’s womb he gave me
my name. He made my mouth like a sharp-edged sword, concealed me,
 Celebration of 150 years of Fr. Giocondo’s birth - 1870 – 2020

shielded by his hand. He made me a sharpened arrow; in his quiver he

hid me. He said to me, you are my servant, in you, Israel, I show my glo-
ry. Though I thought I had toiled in vain, for nothing and for naught
spent my strength, yet my right is with the Lord, my recompense is with
my God. For now, the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant
from the womb, That Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel
gathered to him; I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is
now my strength! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to
raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will
make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the
ends of the earth.

Guide: We pray, alternately, with the same sentiments of the psalm-

ist (Psalm 138), repeating after every two stanzas:
All Guide me, oh God, to the way of eternity.
Lord, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
You sift through my travels and my rest;
with all my ways you are familiar.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
Lord, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me
and rest your hand upon me.
All Guide me, oh God, to the way of eternity.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
far too lofty for me to reach.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence, where can I flee?
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;
if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.
If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea,
Even there your hand guides me, your right hand holds me fast.
All Guide me, oh God, to the way of eternity.
 Celebration of 150 years of Fr. Giocondo’s birth - 1870 – 2020

If I say, “Surely darkness shall hide me,

and night shall be my light”
Darkness is not dark for you,
and night shines as the day.
Darkness and light are but one.
You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works!
All Guide me, oh God, to the way of eternity.
How precious to me are your designs, O God;
how vast the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sands;
when I complete them, still you are with me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning is now and will be forever. Amen
All Guide me, oh God, to the way of eternity.

Moment of reflection and echoing

Song to P. Giocondo

Reader 3 Giocondo grew up. The environment was simple. There

was so much light between the blue sky and the lush of Lunigiana.
He felt God close to him, almost in his breathing.
Reader 4 Giocondo loved the nature very much, a reflection of God
in its beauty. Everything made him think with love. One day admir-
ing a flowering tree he exclaimed: "It is a wonderful sight, but the
souls of the upright are even more beautiful".
Reader 5 At prayer, the mother sometimes followed a discourse that
penetrates deep down in the heart. His mother spoke through his
heart, explained to him what to do and what to avoid, educated him
with the strength of tenderness. She had explained to him that the
poor passing to ask for alms, were an image of Jesus.
 Celebration of 150 years of Fr. Giocondo’s birth - 1870 – 2020

All Teach us to be merciful and compassionate women towards

wounded humanity.

Invocation to be read spontaneously

For the poor who live in oppression and injustice - Have mercy
For those unjustly condemned
For the unemployed and homeless
For the Refugees and persecuted
For the drug addicts
For the Abandoned children
For the Women suffering from violence
For those who are exploited in work
For the prostitutes
For those excluded from society
For the victims of human trafficking
Other invocations

Our father

Let us pray:
O Jesus, who by instituting the holy Eucharist, found the
way, in the infinite light of your wisdom, in the tenderness of your
love and effectiveness of your power to remain in our midst, even as-
cending to the right hand of the Father; deign to accept the consecra-
tion we intend to make of us, of our families and of our parish to
You, with all the enthusiasm of the heart.
O Jesus, every family that consecrates to you, feels the influ-
ence of your presence; participate in the merits of your passion and at
the source of life, no one is excluded. We will come to visit you O
Jesus, guest of our altars; we will attend the Sacrifice of the Mass
where every day you make yourself the sacrifice; we will communi-
cate with your flesh and blood, to transform us into You.
O Jesus, assist the tender children and youth, the vigorous
adults, the fragile old age and the dying poor; grant us your love and
to our dead your eternal peace. Amen. (P. Giocondo)

Final song