Last January 29th we celebrated the anniversary of the foundation of the Consolata Missionaries, sons and daughters of Saint Joseph Allamano. Today, February 16th, we celebrate his Easter, which happened 99 years ago, and in this way we begin a period of preparation to celebrate February 16th 2026 in which we will celebrate the first centenary.
By Venancio Mwangi Munyiri *
If last October 20th 2024 we felt privileged to have witnessed the proclamation of our Founder as a saint, now, as Pilgrims and Witnesses of Hope, we are moving towards that privileged celebration of his Easter.
In communion with Saint Joseph Allamano, Blessed Irene Stefani, and Blessed Leonella Sgorbati, all the Consolata Missionaries, Lay People, Family Members and Benefactors who have preceded us in the Heavenly Kingdom, let us proclaim together Psalm 100: “Sing joyfully to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with joy, come before him with exultation. Know that the Lord is God: he made us and we are his, his people and the flock of his pasture. Enter his gates with hymns of thanksgiving, his courts with songs of praise, praise him, bless his name; for the Lord is good, his love is forever, his faithfulness from generation to generation”.
With this psalm, short but so significant for us, let us acclaim the Lord together for allowing us to know Saint Joseph Allamano and for having made us participants in the mission and charism that God entrusted to him, so that, faithfully, we may unite with him among the saints of God. Let us joyfully serve the most humble, announcing Jesus Christ to them with the testimony of our life, remembering the words of our Founder: “Speak and evangelize people with the holiness of your life”. We know that what we are today is by the grace of God and, for this reason, we must not tire of invoking his name in our works, activities and institutions. Let us not neglect personal and community prayer. Let us enter where the Spirit and the cry of the people call us today, to rediscover the freshness of the ad gentes in the present times, with the same fervour dreamed of by Saint Joseph Allamano and following the example of so many missionaries who have left their mark since the foundation of our Institutes.
Let us give the best of ourselves, configuring ourselves with the essence of the Consecrated, Religious and Missionary Life, following the example of Christ Jesus: «Who, though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped; but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men» (Philippians 2:6-7).
Let us bless God for every missionary vocation, born out of the Consolata Charism, so that the work
that God and the Virgin Consolata began in Saint Joseph Allamano may come to completion.
These are my wishes for each of you and your communities at the beginning of the centenary of the Easter of our Founder (February 16, 2015–February 16, 2026), which coincides precisely with the Jubilee Year in which Pope Francis invites us to be “Pilgrims of Hope.”
* Father Venancio Mwangi Munyiri, IMC, Regional Superior, Colombia.
