Community life

br. Edoardo

Bose, December 2013
from the Letter to our friends n° 57

On 25 June one of the first brothers, Edoardo, passed away peacefully — the first death of a brother in the community. Br Enzo, visibly moved, in his sermon thanked God for the gift of br Edoardo’s life and of his monastic vocation, faithfully lived. “Edoardo came from a noble and wealthy, a prestigious family and divested himself, coming to know poverty, hard work, living with the diffidence of the Church and without support or backing. He knew the cold of Bose, the lack of so many essential, not superfluous things and never complained. In his discreet manner he also suffered, without ever showing his difficulties, but always obeying, even when it cost… Edoardo was a faithful monk, persevering in his monastic vocation to the end, here in Bose, then in Israel, then again in Bose until his death. He was faithful, and for the Gospel this alone is decisive. God pardons and forgets sins; what he asks is simply fidelity, perseverance, being in the midst of one’s brothers without fail. To his fidelity Jesus has responded with fidelity, calling him to where he is. Besides relatives and friends, present at his funeral were several sisters of Cumiana, br Adalberto and br Andrea of Dumenza, sr Anne-Emmanuelle of Grandchamp, and don Angelo Casati of Milan.