VIRGO FOLONARI – a life for the new generations
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She went to Heaven on 22 October. From the
earliest days of the Focolare, Virgo dedicated her life to the young girls of the
Movement.
One of eight brothers and sisters, Virgo’s baptismal name was Camilla. She was a very
vivacious person who loved music, walking in the mountains and reading the lives of
saints.
She was 17 when she met the Ideal of unity during her summer holidays in the Dolomites
with her brother Vincenzo and her sister Giulia.
There she encountered a remarkable group of people gathered together in a
mountain chalet. They were all talking about God and everyone, even the youngest girl
there, was listened to with great attention. Virgo was very impressed and she wondered who
on earth these people were. When they got back to the hotel, she asked Giulia, who already
knew the focolarini, who they were. Giulia replied: "They
are people who have understood that the Gospel is true and that we must live it."
For Virgo it was if a light had been turned on. That evening they read the testament of
Jesus and she felt in her heart that this was something worth giving one’s life
for.When she was 19 she felt God’s call to give the whole of her life to him.
That same day Chiara Lubich gave her a new name: "Virgo,
which means ‘virgin’, spouse of Jesus." |
 Virgo with Chiara at one of the
Mariapolises
in the 1950’s. |
She went back
a number of times to the Dolomites. It was in these mountains that the first Mariapolises
were held. They were annual summer gatherings that brought together people who wanted a
deeper understanding of the Gospel ideal of unity. There were many families present with
children. Chiara asked one of Virgo’s brothers, Vincenzo,
to look after the boys and asked Virgo herself to look after the girls. In 1964 Vincenzo
died in a tragic accident: when the frogmen where searching Lake Bracciano for his body,
Virgo felt even more strongly her responsibility for the members of the new generations.
In 1967 Chiara called her to the Movement’s Centre and entrusted to her the young
girls. Together with Chiara she worked passionately to lay the foundations of the Gen 3
Movement, the Movement of the third generation. With great dedication she took on the
responsibility for their formation.
In 1984 there was a new development in the movement when Chiara launched the Youth for Unity Movement. This saw the start of
projects on a world-wide basis which eventually took the Gen 3 girls and boys to the
United Nations for the debate on the rights of minors. They also went to the summit
meeting of the heads of the World Council for Religions and Peace (WCRP) at Kyoto, Japan,
where they presented thousands of signatures for peace. In Stockholm, during the year of
cinema and television they presented their proposals for "Television for a United
World".
Every five years Supercongresses are held in
Rome. These are huge international gatherings which, with the help of the media, offer the
message of unity to an incalculable number young people all over the world.
Today there are more than 15,000 Gen 3 girls and 120,000 Youth for Unity. Virgo had a
special gift for understanding these adolescents, and especially for putting them in the
forefront so as to bring out all their hidden creative talents and the totality of their
giving in living the Gospel. |
Virgo with a group of
New Youth. |
In February
1998, the first symptoms appeared of the illness which was immediately diagnosed as
terminal. "Over the last few months Jesus has visited me in
a very special way, giving me the proof of his infinite love...". This
was how she told the news in a letter to the Gen 3 all round the world. She continued:
"If we believe this, whatever circumstances we find
ourselves in, whether in health or in sickness, nothing changes, because love fixes us in
God."
Since her death, many, many letters have arrived from boys and girls all over the world.
Inka, 15, from Bombay, writes: "Thank you for the beautiful gift you have given us,
the greatest gift: the gift of your life."
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