The First of Many

Orsola Rivata Sister M. Scholastica Rivata

Orsola Rivata was born in Guarene on July 12, 1897. She was welcomed into the world by her father Antonio and mother Lucia Alessandria and the next day, they asked the gift of Baptism for her. The family was then blessed by the birth of Giuseppina, Clotilde, and Giacomo. However, they soon experienced the pain of the death of their mother and little brother. Orsola grew up in the serene atmosphere of the family and took part in the activities of her parish, always with her gaze on the future.

We listen to her own account as she shares the story of how the Lord guided her to meet with Fr Alberione. In this encounter, she responded to the call and so became the first Mother of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master.

A voice calls

“Often my parish priest, Father Giovanni Agnello, invited Fr Giacomo Alberione for the Eucharistic celebration and preaching on solemnities. I listened to him very attentively, especially on the feast of St. Orsola, my patroness, a feast day for the Daughters of Mary.  It seemed to me that in celebrating he had a particular recollection”.

In search of a way forward to respond to the Lord’s voice who “calls” her, she received a suggestion:

“One day the parish priest, Father Antonio G. Morone, suggested to me:  ‘Why don’t you go to Alba to visit Fr Alberione? He is establishing a family where he gathers girls who are preparing for religious life”.

The name Fr Alberione recalled the figure of the young priest who had attracted her to a spirit of recollection, and she gave serious thought to the words of Fr Morone:

“What happened in me, in listening to these words, I can’t express fully. Without knowing anyone, the place or what will happen, I heard internally a voice that told me clearly: this is where I want you!  …  On a Saturday in 1921, on my way to Alba for the market, I went into a bookstore to buy a good book.

To my surprise I found this priest coming to celebrate in Guarene. I asked him for a title that interested me, and after thinking he replied that it was out of stock. Seeing him linger I thought he had doubts about the quality of the book and I commented: “but it is a good book”.  He replied with a smile: “I know it’s a good book. Love the Lord and Our Lady. Pray for me.” And, with a ‘Praised be Jesus Christ,’ he dismissed me.”

“On the following Saturday I went as usual to the bookstore where I met Sister Teresa Raballo FSP who led me to the Theologian. And I was again surprised to recognize the same priest who came to my parish and whom I had already met. He also showed that he recognized me. He inquired what my intentions were for the future, and after some answers he asked me:

– So, when do you intend to enter Saint Paul’s?

– If it was up to me. I would do so immediately, but family difficulties are holding me back.

– Hurry up, very soon.

He gave me a book of “Prayers” where there was the Chaplet of St. Paul that I then recited every day. I liked it so much.

Orsola did not ask Fr Alberione what the aims and name of the Institute were; she felt, however, a new interior light and a confident certainty that this was the place where the Lord awaited her.

You alone!

“When the Lord has designs upon a soul, He Himself leads it in the ways He wills. I never imagined becoming a sister, I wanted to lead a secluded life, together with other companions and to serve God in prayer and in a life of perfection. My father was thinking of something else and one day before going to Mass he said to me: “at the back of the Church there is a young man who has asked me for your hand. Look at him and see if you like him. He is a good young man of means; he would be good to you. You would be happy with him”. I did not give any importance to these words, but after Mass when I got home, I had a kind of fear. I entered the house and slipped into my room where there was a beautiful statue of the Sacred Heart. Instinctively regardless of what I was doing, I stood before the Sacred Heart and said to him: Lord, You alone, and that’s enough!  I went downstairs and went to my father to tell him: no, I don’t accept his hand. From that moment I changed a lot in how I worked, and I was not satisfied with mortifying myself, and I prayed constantly. I went to daily Mass, weekly confession, and Communion …”.

The help of a friend

“At the age of about 15 the Lord used a companion whom I met in a factory where silk was produced (Eufrosina Binello who as FSP will take the name of Margherita). I went everywhere with her: in the factory, in the dormitory, in recreation, in the refectory, for a walk, etc. We loved each other so much and prayed for a long time together in the evenings, after dinner, on the terrace or out walking. Our talks were only spiritual, and the head office did not bother us and was happy with us … After the factory work, I returned to the family and we didn’t see each other again, until about 10 years later at the market in Alba. As soon as she saw me, she immediately recognized me and told me that she had many beautiful things to tell me. Meanwhile, she led me to St. Paul’s. Passing near a bookshop she told me: Come I’ll introduce you to my companions and I saw that on the bench there was a small quantity of Gospels. I immediately bought one…”

Leave your country and go …

Finally, the day of departure arrived. On foot, accompanied by her father, Orsola leaves Guarene and goes down to Alba. The date was July 29, 1922:

“During the trip I ruminated on those words: This is where I want you! I pondered those words with much wonder and confidence. Lord, you are with me, I seek You alone and with your help I will always follow you. It seemed to me that he answered me, as in St. Paul: go and you will be told what you must do.” 

Women of the Gospel

Fr Alberione welcomed her, he discreetly and attentively followed her, noticing in her a gradual inner and practical maturity. One day he called her aside and gave her a book, “Women in the Gospel”, telling her to read it carefully and then, during adoration she read it at length, remaining an hour longer and then shared her thoughts with him.  But many temptations beset Orsola and made the reading of this book heavy:

“The devil then put me in a state of many suggestions, and I was afraid to attract the attention of those who were in church …  Then the style of that book seemed so bland that I was tempted to abandon it each time I read it…  with every page that I turned I wanted to toss it into the fire …  I had to read it quickly as the Theologian wanted me to, and it seemed to me that it never ended …  One day the Primo Maestro asked me if I had finished it and I said, “no” without mentioning my repugnance. Finally, I finished it and then understood the purpose for which I had read it.  This book spoke precisely of the Pious Women who, in the company of Mary Most Holy, served Jesus and his Apostles …  The Primo Maestro, when he first set us apart, in those early days spoke to us a lot about Our Lady and the women who followed Jesus … I think he read that book very well.”

The Adventure Begins

And so, November 21, 1923 arrived. Fr Alberione, who has matured his response to the promptings of the Spirit, gathered the entire female community and says:

“Set apart Orsola and Metilde for a mission that I will entrust to them. They will go to the Divine Master House. There, they will begin a new way of life: other will join them. We took the necessary things and headed to the House of the Divine Master, and on the first floor, the bedroom was quickly set up. We had readily accepted God’s will and this certainty made all troubles and worry disappear. On that same day the Primo Maestro asked me to accompany him to see how we had settled down.”

Shortly afterwards six more were added and on the day of St. Scholastica, February 10, 1924, the new Family officially began. On March 25 it was officially named: Pious Disciples of the Divine Master and Orsola, who became Sr. Scholastica of Divine Providence, was entrusted with the leadership of the group.  The number of Pious Disciples strengthened and, as Fr Alberione writes, they became “the happiest pasture of the Divine Master”.

Towards Egypt

With this growth many difficulties arose within the Pauline Family and with the new bishop of Alba. However, these are not paralyzing: on the contrary they are transformed into opening future horizons and in 1936 Mother Scholastica leaves, with Sr. Elia Ferrero, as the first presence of the Pauline Family in Africa. Sr. M. Luigia Santillo recalls: “I oversaw the Pauline’s cooking in Rome; One day during one of his visits, the Primo Maestro said to me: “Call Sister Scholastica for me. She came and listened: “Do you want to leave for Egypt? She replied with a smile: “Yes, Primo Maestro, I will go at once. He added: “Get ready.”

In Egypt, dialogue with Muslims wasn’t easy, but Mother Scholastica made progress by weaving simple human relationships. Many named her as “the good lady”. She knew how to read the situation with the eyes of God.

“At the moment only a little can be done with activity; they can only be helped with prayer and sacrifice … In some places however, where there is less radicalism, we encounter many well-disposed souls who are ready to convert to Catholicism; but these are relatively few! It requires a great deal of prayer, grace, to await God’s time. For us, this must be an incentive to work and sacrifice ourselves for the sublime task that falls to all of us … to spend ourselves totally for the salvation of souls.

Those who prepare themselves with prayer and activity for missionary life, do not fear the difficulties of the enterprise, however demanding they may be, indeed: sacrifice and holocaust, are two words that resound softly in their ears, as gentle touches that accompany them, increasing their charity out of all proportion.

Therefore, the diversity of languages, temperature, tastes, characters, customs, etc. are for them many cherished occasions of renunciation that they very willingly embrace. Then their happiness increases when they are able multiply the places where Jesus can have a new tabernacle, to be praised and prayed to by so many other souls who before, perhaps, did not even know him”.

The darkness of the trial

Returning to Alba in 1938, she collaborated with Fr. Alberione in the journey of obtaining the Church’s approval for the Pious Disciples. Meanwhile, she was nourishing the specific formation and development of the various works. It was during this time that Mother Scholastica lived the pangs of childbirth when she was harshly removed from guiding the Pious Disciples and she entered Gethsemane. In “good times and in bad” she always turned to Jesus, Master and Bridegroom and departs for the first stage of her exile:

 «… at the House of Villa S. Joseph they assigned me my room and when I was alone, in my prayer with the Lord, in the turmoil of thoughts and with a heartbreaking anguish, I offered everything to the Lord out of love. It was truly pure love, flowing from a bleeding and almost agonizing heart, like that of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, but also accompanied by a peace and serenity and a hope that accepted everything and offered in thanksgiving to God, what he would have liked, for the perseverance of the Pious Disciples in their vocation. In that House I wasted no time, neither in lamenting nor in futility.”

And Fr Alberione “sets her apart again”, showing her the way to carry forward the mandate: “… You have to be like the material that is used in the foundations of the House: you can’t see it, but the value of the building lies in the sturdiness of the foundations …”

Life triumphs

Scholastica lived with joy the day of April 3, 1947, when with diocesan approval the Congregation was welcomed into the Church. With this birth, she was able to say, writing to Fr Alberione:

“… It seems to me that by now I have given everything to Jesus, I have offered Him in sacrifice, if He desires to accept it, all that I held most dear: my dear Sisters and I would almost say daughters, whom I gave birth to in pain, penance, prayer, humiliation, vigils, and in hardships and sacrifices … Every day with the help of his grace I want to give Him generously and with perfect love all that He will want from His most miserable creature and even if temptations of discouragement, pride, etc. come to me, I also offer these pains out of love, always humbling myself before Him and all creatures for His sake, so that the host may be less unworthy of being offered in a single sacrifice with that of His Son and lived daily as an extension of the Mass that lasts throughout the day, according to the intentions of Jesus and those expressed in our Constitutions…”.

And when the Decree with the Pontifical Approval arrived on January 12, 1948, she rejoiced.

“Think of the explosion of joy that erupted from the heart of each one! We seemed to be dreaming! …  Deo Gratias. What a grace! It doesn’t seem true! This evening we sang the Te Deum with all our hearts and with all the fullest voice we had in our throats! The Lord has truly shown us his love of predilection, and we too want on the other hand not only to formulate good intentions for the future, but with the help of his grace, to be very docile to all his invitations of love, in the perfect fulfillment of his Most Holy Will, in an ever ready and generous obedience to all the desires of our Mothers and Superiors. May our Divine Master bless us all and give us his true spirit.”

Best wishes for today

Receiving the greetings for St. Scholastica she emphasizes that it is

*Feast commemorating the beginning of our religious congregation. This is the feast of joy for all the Pious Disciples and every day I recommend them all to the Divine Master! The elderly and the young because we all correspond as true and faithful Pious Disciples to the One to whom with all the enthusiasm of the soul, each of us has consecrated her own life.

* These beautiful occasions are arranged by God so that we praise Him who has blessed us so much and continues to bless us, to thank Him for calling us to such a beautiful vocation, and our promise to be always faithful to Him.

* The beginnings of our Religious Family were very simple; It is necessary to preserve what was exercised then: a spirit of generosity, of prayer, love for silence.

Those who want to become saints always have many opportunities, now as then, each in their own field: it will not be for all in the same way, but each one shows love for God in a sincere way, with the generous and faithful fulfillment of its duty, without measuring the sacrifice that fidelity can require; indeed, sacrifice itself becomes a source of joy, because it is a means of offering to the Lord as proof of our love.