December 7th
Why is this an important day?
Fifty years ago on this day, Apollo 17, the last of the Apollo Program’s missions to the moon, was launched…
But you don’t have to go that far to find reasons why December 7 is an important day.
In Milan, for example, Christmas trees are lit on this day every year and nativity scenes are prepared, precisely because the city is celebrating its patron saint St. Ambrose; for the Milanese it is a particularly heartfelt and important event, which has gone beyond a religious festival to become a popular and cultural event as well.
But it is not only in Milan that the beautiful Christmas lights are turned on: throughout Italy the Christmas season officially begins with the Vigil of the Immaculate Conception, which, despite being a religious holiday, is one of the Italian state holidays, so it is a perfect opportunity to get together as a family and decorate one’s home or wander around the Christmas markets.
In Puglia, a land that holds many traditions and rituals, the Dec. 7 holiday, with Mary as the protagonist, is highly anticipated and is celebrated by lighting a huge bonfire; it is one of Puglia’s oldest traditions that involves young and old alike. This sign has many meanings, like any symbol, but fire has always meant family unity, the so-called “home hearth.”
And perhaps it was Mary’s idea to make an invitation to a girl from Trent, also on the same December 7, in the midst of World War II…, and then, in the greatest essentiality, to give her life to God. A gesture as small as it was concrete, but one that lit the “fire” in the hearts and lives of many, and continues to do so today.
So December 7 has become an even more important day: in Rocca di Papa the comet star is lit every year, a symbol very dear to the members of the Focolare Movement, who recognize as the official date of its foundation… guess which day…? That very one, December 7, to commemorate that essential gesture of Chiara Lubich (the girl from Trentino). This day, throughout the world, where families and hearth communities are found, is a day of celebration, a time to return to what is truly important, a day when, individually and all together, we renew our commitment to always keep the fire of Love burning among all.
Happy Feast Day!!!