Let me introduce myself. My name is Brother Angelo, I am 50 years old. I have 30 years of religious life behind me. At the moment I am Superior of the Vocational Residential Community  of San Maurizio Canavese, near Turin. The Community is part of an in-patient rehabilitation facility. The Brothers work within that structure. Together with our Co-Workers we seek, through our activities, to perpetuate the spirit of our Founder, St John of God, and the charism of hospitality.

I am also a vocational facilitator with the religious Province of Lombardy Veneto.

My vocational story begins in the distant year of 1980 when I found out about the Fatebenefratelli through the volunteers serving one of our homes. I was immediately attracted by the example and testimony of those monks working at the side of the sick, engaging in the most humble tasks.  I saw that the monks spared no effort to try and satisfy the patients’ needs and ensure that they lacked for nothing.  That was why I decided to go into a monastery and embark on the Monastic Life. I took my vows in 1984.

During my novitiate I was always given profound insights by my teachers as well as a solid and real testimony of Hospitality, prayer and brotherly life.

My teachers always taught me that we of the Fatebenefratelli have to spend hours in prayer and in the service of the sick. I was taught some profound lessons about the charism of hospitality.

Today I draw on my training and still try to pass on to others, especially to Co-Workers and all who work with us, the spirit of our Founder, who teaches us to place the sick person at the centre of things so as  to heal the whole person.   I have received and receive much from my Superiors too when they tell me that it is important to be close to our Co-Workers. We should welcome them, train them and work side by side with them so that they too can embody the spirit of Hospitality which characterizes our order. 

Prayer is of fundamental importance. John of God spent hours in prayer. He had a profound relationship with God. In everything that he did, he was mindful of this: “GOD BEFORE ALL AND ABOVE ALL THE THINGS OF THE WORLD”. 

I think it important, as members of a religious order, that our lives are given over to Christ and are lived in the service of others. We must be true witnesses to our Father’s merciful love. We must be joyful and happy to have given our lives to Christ. In order to do that we must cultivate a profound dialogue with Him. We should spend time in prayer. And spend time at the side of our Co-Workers and the sick. Another essential approach is to continue serving the sick directly and return to the wards as soon as possible.  From my experience as a superior I have noted that visiting the wards makes one sensitive to the needs of our patients and Co-Workers. It makes me feel even closer to the various problems that may arise and share with others on a daily basis the difficulties inherent in the complex task of managing a modern hospital.

I believe that even in the present day we can make John of God’s steps heard as he walks down the corridors of our hospitals and bends down to wipe away the sweat of a sick man