Riccardi

April 20, 1958 Looking through the issues of Citta’ Nuova magazine, the periodical founded by Chiara Lubich in 1956, right from the very first issue you discover a treasure chest of her writings and spiritual thoughts. There you can truly experience the atmosphere of the day, rapidly conveying facts and news at first hand from the countries in which the Movement was putting down roots. This is what we see in the editorial signed by Chiara (shown by three asterisks) of 20th April 1958 with the headline “Jesus at Expo '58" Writing in an incisive and effective way, the author outlines the impressions she had on visiting the Expo in Brussels in the Spring of that year. She starts by describing the Atomium, the symbol of the atom which “towers over almost all of Brussels and can be seen from many parts of the city. It sets the tone for the Expo, which displays the discoveries and the products of the atomic age”. Chiara had gone to Belgium for Easter Week.

Castelgandolfo, April 29, 1999 On the 29th April 1999, during the global appointment with her ‘family’ spread throughout the world, Chiara gave her most recent experience of her relationship with God, in prayer. The “for You” said to God before each action is demanding, calling for mutual love, first of all, to reach unity, so as always to be able to give Jesus to the world, following in Mary’s footsteps, imitating her, being made into her people. This year we are giving special attention to deepening our relationship with God, and our prayer. It is our duty to live this every day and I too, of course, am doing the same. One day I had proposed, like others I hope, to “pray always”, as Jesus says and wants, by offering every action to him, preceding it with the words “for you”. Through the grace of God, I had been especially faithful to this commitment. So at the end of the day, in speaking with God, I asked him if he was

July 1949 Chiara Lubich tells of the special pact of unity made with Igino Giordani (whom she called ‘Foco’) on the 16th of July 1949, the prelude to her mystical experience that summer.  19. We were living these experiences when Foco arrived in the mountains. 20. Foco, who loved Saint Catherine, had always searched in his life for a virgin he could follow. And now he had the impression that he had found her among us. So one day he proposed to make a vow of obedience to me thinking that by doing so, he would be obeying God. He also added that in this way, we could become saints, like Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane de Chantal. 21. In that moment, I didn’t understand the reason for the vow of obedience or this unity between two people. At that time the Work of Mary didn't exist and we didn’t speak of vows. Moreover, I didn't share the idea of unity between two people because I felt called to