Rosanna Tabasso, originally from Pecetto, a small town on the Turin hills, is the first yes of the Sermig Fraternity. In the early years of the Sermig group, many boys and girls chose the path of consecration, but all left on a mission or embraced the life of a religious order consolidated in the ecclesiastical tradition.
Rosanna had come into contact with the group founded by Ernesto Olivero in 1972, when she was only 15 years old, and had immediately shown a strong determination, looking for an ideal for which to give herself totally. A few years later, he turned to Ernesto Olivero saying he wanted to consecrate himself to God, but to remain in the Sermig; Ernesto found himself unprepared and displaced in the face of such a request, also considering the fact that Sermig was a group of few people, of young foundation and without even a fixed seat. However, Rosanna's insistence convinced Ernesto to consider her request; he proposed to her to go to a monastery for two years to evaluate her vocation. We are in 1980 and she herself says:
from "Rosanna ... the first yes told by Flaminia Morandi"
The definitive sign on this yes and on the nascent Sermig Fraternity was shortly thereafter the arrival of the Arsenal, on 2 August 1983. Over the years the Fraternity has grown and today includes dozens of consecrated men and women who live in the world, as well as numerous families and young people.
Ernesto Olivero writes about her:
"Who is Rosanna? I have no words to say. I could say that Rosanna is the pillar of the Arsenal fraternity. I could say that she is mother, sister, spiritual friend of all friends. I could say that this adventure began with his yes, when I myself didn't know what the Lord had in mind to do with us. I could say that she believed in this adventure when she was little more than a teenager, who obeyed and went into seclusion to see if her desire for consecration to God in Sermig was true. I could say that it supports like an oak, with strength and competence, everything we do. I could say that she supports me and supports us all with her intelligent, attentive, faithful and discreet presence and with a very sweet smile behind her glasses. I could say that every day she renews her abandonment to the Lord in the midst of fatigue, misunderstandings and difficulties, suffering for me and with me, because the antipathies and hatreds that I collect fall on her. But the lightning rod Rosanna is in direct communication with the Lord and there is no storm to make her waver. Yet I still wouldn't have said anything about Rosanna ».
from the book A long way to God
Articles on the history of Sermig and the Fraternity:
- Called to look up: the testimony that Mary left of her life.
- Lino's hope: Lino's passage to the Arsenale in Cielo.
- Ten years of meeting: when the Arsenal of the Madaba Encounter turned 10 years old.
Peace and World Youth Events:
- Not slogans but keys to life!: the Youth Card.
- The home for young people: World Appointments as opportunities for good.
- The widow's coin: "hatred won't stop us, let's start again with love", from New Year's Eve in Padua 2017.
- Peace dialogue silence: the three words to work on daily.
- Let us educate ourselves for peace: peace needs reflections and even complex choices.
Reflections on the spiritual life:
- From crisis to trust: what changes in your life if you discover that God loves you?
- From fear to trust: trust in Jesus is not a belonging that divides.
- So close: our spiritual life begins when we convert to God's closeness.
- Beyond all risks: the start of a new year, time to take stock.
- Remembering: learning to look at our history as a sacred history.
- Our exodus: the story of Sermig as an exodus, of blessing.
- Elia, the prophet who meets God in silence: what the prophet Elia teaches us about the encounter with God.
- God walks with us: to learn to walk with him.
- Jesus is the way, Jesus is our way: walking with Jesus and in Jesus.
- We go out towards the peripheries of the human: welcoming is a daily training ground.