The bombardments of the Second World War became increasingly intense on the city of Trent. The air-raid shelters were transformed into privileged meeting places for the first community that was coming together around Chiara and her companions. The poor, the orphans, the widows, the needy, were those who were close to the heart of that group of young women who wanted to solve the city’s social problems.

“We opened the Gospel and those words – although we were already familiar with them due to living the new charism – become illuminated as if a light were shining underneath; they set our hearts on fire and we were urged to put them into practice immediately. I read out this phrase for all: Love your neighbour as yourself (Mt 19:19). Our neighbour. Where do we find our neighbours? They were there, close to us, in all those people affected by war, the wounded, those in need of food and clothes, the homeless. And immediately we dedicate ourselves to them. We read: ‘Give and it will be given to you’ (Lk 6:38). We gave constantly and each time that love was returned. For example, there was only one apple left in the house that day. We gave it to the poor man who asked for food. And the next morning, a dozen apples would arrive, perhaps from a relative of ours. We would distribute those to others, and in the evening a case of fruit would arrive. The same happened over and over again. ‘Ask and you shall receive’ (cf Mt 21:22). When we prayed, we received.

[…] These intuitions gave wings to our newly embarked pathway. We communicated our experience to others and those who came into contact with this group of girls who were trying to live the Gospel, felt that they had encountered the living Jesus. The air-raid shelter where we would meet, however, was not  safe. We were always faced with death. Another question that assailed me was: is there a phrase in the Gospel that particularly pleases God? If we die, we would like to have lived that very one, at least in our last moments. And the Gospel reveals it: ‘This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Jn 15:12-13). We looked at each other  declared: ‘I am ready to lay down my life for you’, ‘I for you’ … all for each other. It was a solemn pact and it was to be the foundation on which the whole Movement rests. But since we are not always asked to give our lives, let us then live this pact by sharing everything we have with each other: the few material goods that we might possess, as well as the spiritual ones, the sorrows, the joys, the trials.

[…] After a few months, about 500 people from Trent, but also from the towns of Povo, Martignano and other surrounding areas, people of all ages, men and women, of all vocations, from the most varied social backgrounds, started to share in our ideal and to form local communities similar to that of the first Christians.

Meanwhile, the words of the Gospel gave impetus to our journey. They appeared unique and fascinating; they shaped our lives when translated into life; they were universal words which emanated light for every human being on earth. So the people of the newly-born Movement immersed themselves in living out these words; they felt nourished and re-evangelised by them, and thus a Christian revolution was ignited and set ablaze around them.”