The Sermig in Superga

2 August 2021, almost forty years after its entry into the old military Arsenal of Turin, the Fraternity of Hope receives the basilica of Superga under management, a symbolic place of the city of Turin, but also known in the rest of Italy for its value historical, artistic, cultural and spiritual.
Its story begins on 2 September 1706 when the city of Turin was besieged by the Franco-Spanish army.
Vittorio Amedeo II, Duke of Savoy, climbed the hill to observe the city, swore to build a temple to the Madonna in case of victory: so it happened five days later.

Also here, almost 250 years later, one of the saddest pages in the history of this city was written: during the afternoon of 4 May 1949 the plane that was bringing home the footballers of Grande Torino crashes into the embankment located at the back of the basilica. None survived.

The friends of Sermig, accompanied by Mary Mother of Youth, left in the morning on a pilgrimage to the basilica. And it was as if they were not alone: ​​"Carrying the icon of Mary - says Daniele, the young man to whom the icon was entrusted from the Arsenale to Superga - is always very beautiful, because I imagine her next to me walking and who guides us with his three hands ». Together with those who have already known the Sermig family for some time, Superga was joined by those who had just arrived at the Arsenale: "Everyone was really celebrating, like in the family, both those who did not know him well, and those who had revolves around the Arsenale ». Among the things that struck the most, in addition to the charm of the Basilica, that community of volunteers and friends who came together to share this responsibility with the Fraternity. Because, in full “Sermig style”, this dream is entrusted not only to those who live there, but to all those who pass through this house and want to get involved.

"We enter Superga on tiptoe, respecting its history, the value it has for so many people," said Ernesto Olivero, founder of Sermig. «It will be us and the many who will accompany us.
And the many, not visible, who will be with us. The people we have met in these decades, the people we have welcomed, the people who loved us and those who hindered us, the people who preceded us and who today will rejoice with us: my Mary, Cardinal Pellegrino, Sun Luciano. Million of people".

«My best wishes - added the archbishop of Turin, mgr. Cesare Nosiglia - is that Superga returns to be an attractive pole for all the citizens of Turin, for those who honor the fallen and for tourists and inhabitants of the city who love this hill and make it a significant and important point of reference to support and promote ".

Piazza Giovani editorial staff
NP August / September 2021
 

Tiptoed…

“On tiptoe means not getting upset, not thinking that we have reached the top. And this is precisely the thought that I never want to hear inside Sermig: to maintain the humility of those who do a service, wherever they are "(Rosanna).
«To enter on tiptoe means to observe: on tiptoe you are fragile, you cannot run, you have to be attentive to what surrounds you, try to absorb it, understand it. Enter as if the other does not notice it, with delicacy and respect "(Daniele).
«It means following our style, or working in silence, involving others in doing Good. This is what a Christian does: he brings people together to do Good. We are used to working without waiting for recognition, because that is not where the satisfactions come from. Being Christian in a very simple way, without fireworks »(Gianni).

The basilica of the Madonna delle Grazie, as its history reminds us, once again wants to be a light of hope, which cancels the darkness in which this pandemic has plunged us.
In fact, the fatigue of these months has pushed us to seek a spiritual dimension, which many have found at the Arsenale. This, then, is the great dream for Superga, the fullness of an "integral life", trying to satiate that "hunger for God" that dwells in us, to fill that emptiness that everyone feels within himself. The desire of the Fraternity is precisely to "dialogue with the children, reopen the doors, bring people back to an authentic faith, bring the young back to that place, through encounters with people, dialogue and silence".