On July 31, the Community of the Procura General bade farewell to Mrs. Rita Ponziani, who after 42 years of faithful service, completed her work with us and began her well-deserved retirement. We had Holy Mass in the Procura Chapel which was presided over by Fr. Jaroslaw Rochowiak, a Salesian, with participation of the Staff, family members and friends of Mrs. Rita, and the Sisters. Sr. Magdalena Pinto, the Superior, together with her Sisters had prepared a beautiful liturgy and subsequent small celebration.
This is what Mrs. Rita shared from the past about herself:
Here I am arrived at the end of my 43-year working career, from which 42 years were in this house, which I consider my second family. I was born in Rome, on September 24, 1953, right in this area of St. Peter’s and I lived until 1986 in this very street, number 19. Thus I saw this house being built when with my friends we went for walks, but I never thought that it would be possible later, to come and work here. When I knocked at the door of the Procura, I was immediately welcomed by Sr. Hildegard Wurm who hired me right away. At that time, besides Sr. Hildegard, who was the Superior, there were also Sr. Mechtilde Pracht, Sr. Anaclet Auer, the bursar, and Sr. Monica Schneider, the cook. I was able to integrate easily thanks to the kindness and friendliness of the Sisters.
Mrs. Rita was a person very close to our Congregation, from the beginning, from the origin of this our first House in Italy, in Rome (1965). She witnessed the development of our Pallottine works in Rome, met many different and important people and our Sisters from all over the world and experienced important moments of our life in the Procura and the Generalate. “Seeing and hearing the people and the Sisters speaking in various languages, you have the impression that you are travelling around the world” – she was saying.
She and her colleagues working together in the Procura always did their best to create an atmosphere of hospitality and warm welcome to the people and guests coming to our house.
She mentioned: “I think we have succeeded to make the guests who arrive in this house feel at ease, in a familiar environment, because still before the guests leave they use to thank us for the welcome and the cleanliness of the house. I remember when large groups of seventy or eighty people came, and each time the group leaders booked for the following year…
Every year, we always met with the Sisters, all together, like a large family, to celebrate Holy Easter, Holy Christmas, and St. Vincent Pallotti, the Founder of the Congregation.”
At the end of the celebration, Sr. Izabela Świerad, Superior General, in the name of the whole Congregation, expressed her cordial congratulations to Mrs. Rita, her appreciation and gratitude for Mrs. Rita’s service, concern, dedication and all good that she has given to the guests and the Sisters.
Dear Mrs. Rita – she said – every person has her story, which is written day by day in their life … Being with us for 42 years, almost every day, in all these years you have written a great chapter of the book of our Congregation. You surely remain in our hearts, in our prayer, not only as collaborator, but as a sister, a member of the Pallottine family who has offered a great part of life in the service to God and for the good of others, sharing what is most precious.
We wish you good health, happiness, prosperity and the blessings of God. We hope that the moments that you have lived in this house remain as a beautiful memory in your life, give you joy and strength for the future. Thank you, Mrs. Rita.
“Today I know I’m going to miss all this, what I have experienced here, but I think I’ve done everything I could to give the best of myself.” Rita Ponziani
