Siamo ormai vicino al decimo anniversario del martirio della Serva di Dio Suor Leonella Sgorbati. Suor Angeles la ricorda con questo bellissimo video.
La S. Messa di commemorazione sarà celebrata dal Vescovo di Piacenza - Bobbio Sua Ecc. Mons. Giovanni Ambrosionella Chiesa di Rezzanello (PC) alle 16:30 di Domenica 28 agosto 2016.
Sr. Nazaria Muchungu, Missionaria della Consolata del Kenya, ha dato una bellissima testimonianza su suor Leonella.
BURNING
CANDLE
I came to know late Sr. Leonella Sgorbatti in 1990, when I was a
student in Nkubu Nursing College and she was the principal of the school of
Nursing. Sr. Leonella was without doubt a dedicated and hardworking sister who
knew her work and how to do it best. She was really an inspiring figure to me
in many ways and many students who went through her hands during the course of
training. She executed her work with diligence and with lots of love. She was a
woman who was always joyful a joy that was always contagious to those around
her. She used to joke with the students and from her jokes I came to learn that
she was a kind that one would always love to be near to. She used to have time
to listen to her “Kids” as she would refer to the students. She had Italian
nicknames for the students like, “Santa polenta frita, Birikina, etc” it was
with these joke that one got to know of her sweat nature.
Sr. Leonella was very
prayerful an attitude that left in me a deep
impression. Her prayer in most cases was accompanied by a lit candle in her
office, which would burn the whole day and evenings before she went to sleep as
long as she was around. While the candle was on in most cases the door would be
closed or slightly opened. At times the silence in her office would be
accompanied by silent music from a cassette. When this was so there used to be
a very silent, peaceful moment around the office. The students used to understand
that she was in prayer and avoided disturbing her unless if one was really in
great need of her attention. However, even when the atmosphere was prayerful
Sr. never failed to receive anyone who knocked at her door.
Sr. Leonella always told us that she used to pray for us and the candle and the silence that
accompanied her in the office assured me of the truth of her words. Whenever I saw
the candle, it made me reflect and on how she had ample time for prayer despite
the much work she had at hand. It also challenged me and reminded me that as a
Christian am also are called to be a light that illumines the darkness. Till today whenever I remember Sr. Leonella
the memory of the candle fill my mind. For me it was a point to ponder and that
I ponder on till today in my daily activity that prayer and work go together. She had incarnated the words of Fr. Founder
that the more the work the more the prayer was needed. As Fr. Founder told his
missionaries that in prayer we are able to accomplish much than when we work a
lot without prayer. Sr. Leonella drew her strength from prayer and it was
prayer that made her like Jesus ready and willing to pay the ultimate price for
the people of Somalia, of Africa. Like Jesus on the cross who pardoned his persecutors,
she died pardoning her killers.
With mercy and generosity drown
from her prayerful life she was always available
and ready to help anyone who needed her. When she realized that one was in need
she did not mind whether she gave you enough or excess. She shared generously
and lovingly. She was like the candle
that burned often in her office to give light; she too gave herself generously
to generate life in others. Her kind and encouraging words gave hope and
strength to the weakened spirit. Her positive attitude to life made people to
begin to see life differently especially at the face of suffering and
overwhelming challenges of life. She was always ready to assist and give hand.
Sr. Leonella’s life was a
life of prayer. She was always positive and what
puzzled me at times was that even what seamed difficult according to my little
world, was possible for Sr. Leonella. Her
positive attitude challenged me so much that at the moment when I received the
BBC news of her death while in Ethiopia a sense of sadness filled my heart
which was soon replaced by a sense of gratitude. Gratitude because I had met a woman whose
attitude towards life had made a difference in my life. I learned to positively
appreciate life and things around and more so to entrust everything into the
hands of the creator especially what seemed impossible.
