CL in the world

From Trivolzio to Rochester

Two letters to Fr Giussani. Thanks from Fr Jerry for the gift of a statue of St Riccardo, now in St John’s Church, a few steps away from the Mayo Clinic. And testimony from Fr Angelo after a Massin honor of the saint from Lombardy

January 17th, 2003
Dear Fr Giussani: I am writing to express my heartfelt gratitude for the precious gift of the Saint Riccardo Pampuri statue. My own experience of physical healing and deep awareness of the meaning of his presence has brought me to recognize the Mystery in ways I had never imagined before this experience. I am deeply moved by your generosity and desire to have the presence of Saint Riccardo in the Church of St John the Evangelist here in Rochester, Minnesota, in light of the fact that our immediate neighbor is the world-famous Mayo Medical Community. Since the arrival of Saint Riccardo, I continually send people to him from around the USA and the world, people who come to our church from the Mayo Medical Community. To give you some perspective about the number of patients in our city and our church, there are 2,000 doctors at Mayo and there is always a steady flow of patients who seek out our community and church. It has become common for me to invite patients to have a visit with Saint Riccardo about their physical condition. It may be a person who has just discovered a brain tumor or another who is preparing for major surgery, or someone who receives the message of no more medical assistance in light of a threatening disease, so they come for comfort. Also, there are doctors who have begun to share with me that they ask for the presence of Riccardo as they meet their patients, looking at and being open to the wisdom of the Mystery. There are patients who speak of coming to visit with Riccardo because their hearts are filled with gratitude in light of some very positive news they have received through their experience of medicine at Mayo. The stories are endless and the possibilities have just begun.We are locating Saint Riccardo in a particular place in our church and we are making a brochure available about his history; the quote that you gave will be put permanently near the statue of Riccardo. I am confident, Fr Giussani, that I cannot even imagine what possibilities exist as you offer this gift nor am I able to see what you see in how the presence of Saint Riccardo will be so profound and life-giving. I am very grateful for the special assistance of Fr Fabio and Giorgio Vittadini in facilitating all of the necessary steps that brought Saint Riccardo to our church. Again, thank you for this friendship through your charism that effects and touches my life and the lives of so many other people. I continually need direction from you as a father and humbly acknowledge our friendship. I continually need to be challenged to live this companionship on the path that is before me here in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. I remember you everyday in front of the presence of Saint Riccardo here in our church, asking for the blessings of your health and being grateful for the charism that you have received and so openly respond to in announcing the Good News of Jesus Christ. With affection and love
Jerry Mahon, Parish of Saint John, Rochester, Minnesota

January 25th, 2003
Dearest Monsignor Giussani: Thank you for coming on Wednesday, January 22nd, once again to celebrate Holy Mass in honor of St Riccardo Pampuri in this church where his body is kept. Thank you for having made Pampuri known throughout the world, pointing him out as the Christian who helps us to understand that sainthood is not a privilege of a few, but that we all, if we wish, can become saints if, like Riccardo, we too put God at the center of our lives and try to do everything with love as we go about our daily tasks.
While you were celebrating Mass, I was thinking back over my 15 years in Trivolzio. I arrived in 1988; Pampuri was Blessed, and I knew about him, but I would never have thought that devotion to him could have spread so far. As soon as I got to Trivolzio, I concentrated especially on the youth program and parish activities… then in 1989 I had the privilege of concelebrating with the Pope the Mass for the canonization of Riccardo Pampuri in St Peter’s Square.
In our church, people came to pray to the saint, but this was only local devotion on the part of the Fatebenefratelli, the order to which Riccardo Pampuri had also belonged. Then, in 1995, the turning point came: after a miracle, you pointed St Riccardo Pampuri out to the people of Communion and Liberation. Ever since then, more and more people have been coming from all over the world to ask the doctor for health, graces, and healing of the body and to ask the saint for help in understanding their vocations and the meaning of life to be lived with love.
The young people, the many young people who come here, feel him to be a friend who, like them, had toils and tribulations, one to whom they can turn for help in living their lives. A girl, some time ago, told me that on Saturday evenings, when she told her father, who did not go to church, that she was going to Pampuri, he thought she was going to a discotheque. When he found out that Pampuri was a saint who granted graces, he asked if he could come along with her too.
Families with lots of children come here to ask St Riccardo for strength in their everyday lives. Some months ago, I found a statue of St Riccardo, which was for sale, broken. Some of my co-workers were worried, but that evening I found an envelope in a box with the money for the statue and this letter: “We were trying to see the statue better and we broke it by mistake. So we broke our piggy bank and are paying. We ask Fr Angelo and St Riccardo for forgiveness. Best wishes, ciao. Sandro and Emanuel. Forgive us and may St Riccardo bless us.” St Riccardo has certainly forgiven and blessed these children, and I would have liked to thank them for their honesty and the example they gave us.
Here today, a sanctuary has been raised, and it has come about through God’s plan... All I have done is not put up any opposition to what He, the Lord, wanted. And the Lord, through St Riccardo’s intercession, continues to grant graces.
Monsignor, I repeat the invitation I extended to you at the end of Mass: come here whenever you wish, to pray to St Riccardo and to celebrate Holy Mass.
I remember you every day to St Riccardo Pampuri, that he may be close to you with his aid and protection and that you may be a guide in our midst for many years to come, and I ask you to pray that I may always be open and hospitable to everyone who comes here.
Fr Angelo Beretta Parish of Saints Cornelius and Ciprian, where the body of St Riccardo Pampuri is preserved, in Trivolzio (Pavia), Italy