Notes for a our history

Speaking of our association is to speak of Don Luigi Longhi. Without him we would not even us. Don Massimo Hounds was close to Don Luigi long before the birth of the association. And it was at the side of Don Luigi when the association was born and it & egrave; been part since then. This is why we asked him to write the first contribution in this regard.

It really was a great entrepreneur, don Luigi, as defin & Igrave; Massimo Gramellini in his brief article in & ldquo; The Press” Turin in the days of his death. A businessman who was not of things, but men. Things needed because they could provide answers to needs & agrave; very concrete men around him, near or far, and only for this. And among men had chosen the pi & ugrave; poor, the pi & ugrave; unfortunate, those who had nothing and no one, not even a reason to live. Psychiatric hospitals closed and sick places in the middle of a road? Li took with s & eacute;, looked after them, made them feel at last people, important people in the midst of others who were with him. And they reciprocated with their affection and their total dedication. As he had always done, since its permanence in the leprosarium of Poxoreu in Brazil. A & nbsp; year and a half in their midst, and we would stay for life; then the Bishop called him back to the diocese, and Don Luigi returning, with regret, and is sent to the new Parish of St. Peter in 1971, in that parish where, in 36 years of service, will become & agrave; the great entrepreneur of the goodness & agrave;, dell & rsquo; reception, Labour continuous and silent.
Never tried clamor around s & eacute; and his boys, don Luigi. But the things did not go to anyone sbandierarle. Only those who helped him disbrigare practices,& Nbsp; Pay and prospects, and solve grits knows how many good things did Don Luigi.
From the small room on the ground floor of Casermone, right input, until the new house for his boys, and the New Church, like him l & rsquo; he had dreamed, one for his God, who accompanied him in all his works.
His relationship with things, with money, with donations and inheritance & agrave; that gradually found himself to have and to receive from people who had understood the style, was very simple: a big thank you to donors, and then to pay debts (his, what & egrave; home, or for his boys). Don Luigi has seen from his hands a sum of money impressive, certainly several billion lire, that were used to build the house and, in parte, Church, and allow the Community & agrave; to live. Not one of these lire & egrave; remained attached to his hands. Don Luigi & egrave; died poor, as poor has always lived. In his room for him were those that kept things pi & ugrave; Precious: the relics of the saints, preserved in reliquaries recovered here and l & agrave; in old churches, and, that I know, a small diamond in the rough, that a seeker, un & rdquo; Miner & rdquo;, among the poor in Brazil had wanted at all costs to accept that as a thank you, and he had always preserved as a relic pi & ugrave; precious.
Of course, As to the matter of things to do, people to listen, by consular, to direct toward the good increased, its time to follow the & rsquo; administration of the house and everything else was missing; and then here comes that l & rsquo; Association Don Luigi NPO. I remember being a notary by the parties Piazza Zumaglini for the necessary practice, along with other people, some of which are already & agrave; pass over. L & rsquo; Association became cos & Igrave; the bank where they were put money and donations received, and together l & rsquo; entity that paid the debts small or large that gradually Don Luigi contracted, not without having heard the opinion of the Steering Committee. Then actually & agrave; did as seemed right, and that the Committee knew gi & agrave; outgoing. If you moved any objection on costs, the answer pi & ugrave; common was that Providence would have just done, and in this don Luigi was never denied. Remember, when I spent to see him and I left something, pi & ugrave; once told me & ldquo; This servir & agrave; to pay a little’ Bread & rdquo;, because & eacute; & Egrave; true that Providence provvedeva, but you occasionally give her some help. I remember his paper bag that held in the pocket of the smock perpetually out of the belt, as you probably took him to the leper colony, and as the porter & agrave; for life along with the wooden clogs. The paper bag could hold a few thousand lire, as well as sums pi & ugrave; consistent.
L & Igrave; put everything and l & Igrave; brought out the need for the thousands of requests for necessary things for his children and for the many poor who knocked at his door. I think that & rsquo; Association has dealt and continues to deal with large digits; those pi & ugrave; Small, say Minute (pocket money of his boys) were given no publicity & agrave; and in silence, with the recommendation constant spend them well and to make savings. Don Luigi wrote them all (I do not know when and how to find the time to do it) and reported on a notebook where for each of his boys c & rsquo; had revenue (retirement, working, da invalid & agrave;…) and outputs, those that just came from the famous card envelope, true crossroads of trade, like most Bags & ugrave; Listed. Cos & Igrave; was for the money of the Church: l & Igrave; several people helped him. I remember Carla (Zanlungo) constantly striving to keep the balance of the house with extreme precision, where the voice & ldquo; poor passing & rdquo;, followed by a digit, was one of those who sought more & ugrave; often. After her, others learned to do the same thing, because & eacute; He had too many other things to do.
Also because & eacute; the resort & agrave; when Don Luigi was called into question were varied. One was the jewel of Molin Camillo Rongio, where some people now live permanently, cultivating the campaign and raising cattle. It was one of the places that Don Luigi loved pi & ugrave;, this & egrave; demonstrated by the things that l & Igrave; has realized, because & eacute; it was a place for anyone who spoke of the Lord, nestled in a hilly landscape of great beauty. And as he had realized the dream of a Church as he wanted, cos & Igrave; a be & ograve; even the dream of making that place as a kind of Holy Mount of the twentieth century, involving artists from near and far to make the Stations of the Cross, gi & agrave; twenty years ago, and, in this 2014, la Via Lucis, inaugurated in September of this year. Also had thought to turn what was once perhaps a woodshed in a small church, completely painted inside and out by the famous icon painter Papetti. Don Luigi wanted to spend his last years at Molin Camillo: he said it often, and lately, feeling tired and not pi & ugrave; able to withstand the strain of every day, said that he would go willingly to make the pastor of Curino, leaving the rest to those who could carry it forward. Unfortunately this desire not pot & egrave; realize for the & rsquo; sudden onset of illness that port & ograve; to grave; in compensation Don Luigi & egrave; buried in the small cemetery of Rongio, together with pap & agrave;, the mother and her older sister. At least in death & egrave; could return in the middle of these rolling hills that he loved so much, next to Molin Camillo and not far from the home of his, where & egrave; grew up and where he lived the moments when he could leave his boys & nbsp; for a few hours or days. & Nbsp;
Then there & rsquo; & egrave; the windlass Tronzano, a & nbsp; Santuarietto with three houses around, amid the rice fields. L & Igrave; Pastor was an elderly priest whose father Louis was a friend and a little’ guardian, Don Emiliano Menara. Alla his death, Don Luigi got to take care potersene, and turned it into another corner of the spirit, refurbishing and carefully everything & ograve; that there was, inside and outside the Church. For a certain period of time some boys of the Community & agrave; lived to windlass, where stood a poultry. The thing had a term (around 2007) even for a furious storm that ruined a bit’ all the structures that had been made for such a breeding.
But if needs were manifested elsewhere, then you went elsewhere. In the last years of his life, I remember two of his trips to Thailand, to help design an orphanage or house of the young that a gentleman of Milan, I believe, wanted to build down there & ugrave;, Had asked Don Luigi, certainly after seeing his house CITY, to help him do something like over there & ugrave;. And here are two trips to distant lands, with the aim of always: do some’ of good for those who had more & ugrave; need.
L & rsquo; Association, after the death of Don Luigi, tried to prop up what he had done with difficulty in her life totally dedicated to others. There were difficult years after his death, both for the feeling of orfanaggio that all felt inside, both because & eacute; We wanted someone who tried to make things go as they went with him this, which was very difficult.
After about a year of permanence, the three young (Paul, Mattia and Alberto) dell & rsquo; Arsenal of Peace of Turin, founded by Ernesto Olivero years & rsquo; 60, & nbsp; who had tried to take & nbsp; the role and tasks of Don Luigi commissioned by the Bishop Father Masseroni, renounced to continue and returned to Turin. It must be said that they have had the courage to try, and that have remained friends, even if you see them more & ugrave; often.
Since then l & rsquo; Association, requested and obtained from the Bishop's responsibility to carry on what Don Luis had done in life, has worked and continues to work because & eacute; the spirit that animated Father Luigi can somehow continue over time, in the hearts and memories of those who knew him and those who loved him. & nbsp; & nbsp;
                                                           

Don Luigi was a man d & rsquo; action. He knew that the work d & agrave; dignity & agrave; all & rsquo; man, and & egrave; the high road even for the recovery of those who fell in the thousand dramas and deceptions of the world today. So he tried & ograve; very soon to create work around s & eacute;. First, the & nbsp; work of the collection of iron, rags and paper for the poor of the leprosarium, who started with virtually his arrival at & rsquo; Aravecchia, as a form of self-financing (Today would not be pi & ugrave; possible, because & eacute; Municipalities have been replaced in this collection ongoing to try to solve the problem of waste disposal; but cos & Igrave; doing they took a chance & agrave; to do it in dozens and dozens of people, that with their wagon load of cardboard or iron, honestly earned that little money to live. Then maybe if they drank, but at least worked with dignity & agrave;; today, in our Italian bureaucrats, you have to have a pound of cards, permits and licenses to go to collect and sell a & nbsp; quintal of cardboard or iron being & ldquo; in order & rdquo;). Joined this job, born the recital, that preceded or accompanied & nbsp; collection in every country where it was going to work. A recital very nice, and it would be wonderful to be able to replicate now, at a distance of forty & rsquo; years from the first releases. Words and music written by the boys, emerging talents to accompany a & rsquo; good work. Men and women who have made their way in life, because & eacute; have learned in those years the gift of s & eacute; and its liability agrave; towards the other. Luciano, Stupid, Adriana, Mino, Claudia, Celestino, Nanni…and many others that I missed the name, not the memory.
But this work could impromptu s & Igrave; become a real job (I & egrave; even today for some of the Cooperative), but needed a job that commit pi & ugrave; people and that's categorizing some’ even the less gifted. And then you pass on the first attempt of organized labor: in the basement of Emiliano, not far from home and Church. Assembly work, such as those which are still held. Jobs where there were production, you had to make many; the quality & agrave; also passed in second & rsquo; order (I think the composition of plastic flowers). And then, going to empty housing and cellars, amidst so many odds and ends, sometimes came out some furniture of a certain value. And so in Sottochiesa / doorstep, crowded furniture, and some kids learn & rsquo; art of restoration with the & rsquo; help of someone who understood all these things a little. The furniture is put back on track were then sold, and represented one of the sources of funding for the Community & agrave;. The furniture was old, pi & ugrave; that ancient. The pi & ugrave; beautiful Don Luigi held them for the common parts of the house, because & eacute; thought was right that his boys, used to live where the beautiful c & rsquo; was little, learn to appreciate and respect even beautiful things.
Today the Cooperative, currently housed in the old Cascina Pensotti (another legacy to Don Luigi) transformed with a shed next to real workplace, manufactures timer for the firm and ELBI, despite the crisis of recent years, & Egrave; managed to maintain fairly stable, the number of employed. Here work & egrave; became precision, because & eacute; the product has to work perfectly machines. But, by dint of doing things, all or almost can succeed. We work some of the & ldquo; boys & rdquo;, now no more & ugrave; these, and also different people, that & Igrave; is the possibility & agrave; that would not work elsewhere, especially today. E’ a daily miracle that is able to move forward today. The occupations of the cooperative, in time, are also somewhat’ mutate. For a few years they won the & rsquo; assignment of gravediggers in the Cemetery of the CITY; and a job that instead you always & egrave; that of removals (James, Pasquale and others have become skilled in disassembling and reassembling furniture: they always work well done and cleaned, at excellent prices. Try it) that allow to solve, sometimes, problems which would be difficult to solve, in the style of Don Luigi: ricuperiamo cuisine here, but we know that we have to take the & agrave;, where a family in need; and cos & Igrave; for cabinets, beds, Kitchens, fridge etc.. We could say that thanks to them often demand (of those who have little or nothing) and l & rsquo; offer (of those who have too much and wants to discard) meet happily.
A part of the farm Pensotti & egrave; has for years been home to the city's public dormitory;& Nbsp; I believe that the City it would pay a rent and l & rsquo; Association Santa Teresa would guarantee operation. But there was always the Straits, and perci & ograve; we are looking for new solutions: In this month of November 2014 & Egrave; opened the new male dormitory in an arm of the Convent of Biliemme, that the City has made available with a & nbsp; thirty-year loan, and Caritas, along with the company Edil-GS has arranged with taste and intelligence, with a capacity & agrave; accommodation pi & ugrave; wide.
L & rsquo; Association is now studying how to use the space vacated by the dorm, and no shortage of ideas, always trying to think and act in the line that would choose Don Luigi, if he were here today.
Regarding the Molin Camillo, Also l & Igrave; we would really appreciate ideas for what & egrave; a & rsquo; oasis of silence and peace. The beauty of nature, together with the beauty of & rsquo; s art & Igrave; you & egrave; expressed, could make this place an ideal place for a small house of spirituality & agrave;, for youth and adults, and back cos & Igrave; in the ranks of places, big and small, which go under the name of & ldquo; places of religious tourism & rdquo;. But it takes a lot of things that for the moment there are no. Especially missing someone who can guarantee a significant presence every day (in practice, that the clothes & Igrave;). Up to that Providence does not doner & agrave; a person with these talents, the dream bisogner & agrave; leave it in the drawer.
Cos & igrave; you try to do, the part of the & rsquo; Association, the spirit and l & rsquo; legacy & agrave; spiritual father Louis, while ensuring that its sites are preserved and adapted for purposes that could be shared by him. E & nbsp; Association in the presence of some of the & nbsp; sisters and brothers of Don Luigi are a guarantee in this sense.

(Don Massimo Hounds – Vercelli, 23/11/2014)

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