In our opinion, Mother Eugenia is one of the greatest lights of our times, the little prophet of a new Church, in which the Father is the centre and apex of all mankind, and in which unity is the highest ideal of spirituality. She is a light given by the Father to the world at this time of chaos and darkness, so that we may see the road that has to be followed.
She was born in San Gervasio d'Adda (now Capriato San Gervasio), a small town in the province of Bergamo, Italy, on 4 September 1907, in a family of peasant background.
She received only an elementary education. After a few years working in a factory, she entered the Congregation of Our Lady of the Apostles at the age of 20 years. It was here that her great charismatic personality developed, leading to her election as Mother General of the Congregation at the age of only 25.
Quite apart from her spiritual qualities, her work in the social field alone would suffice to ensure her a place in history. In twelve years of missionary activity she opened over 70 centres - each with infirmary, school and church in the remotest spots of Africa, Asia and Europe.It was she who discovered the first medicine for the cure of leprosy, extracting it from the seed of a tropical plant. This medicine was later studied and developed further at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
She encouraged the apostolate of Raoul Follereau, who, following in her footsteps and building on the foundations laid by her, is regarded as the apostle of the lepers.
During the period 1939-41 she conceived, planned and brought to fruition the project for a "Lepers' City" at Azopte (Ivory Coast). This was a vast centre, covering an area of 200,000 sq.m., for the care of leprosy sufferers. It remains even today one of Africa's and the world's leading centres of its kind.
In recognition of this achievement, France conferred the highest national honour for social work on the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, of which Mother Eugenia was Superior General from 1935 to 1947. Mother Eugenia returned to the Father on 10 August 1990.
Her most important legacy to us is the Message of the Father ("The Father speaks to His children"), the only private revelation made personally by God the Father and recognized as authentic by the Church after ten years of the most rigorous examination. We reproduce at the beginning of the text the statement issued by Mgr Alexandre Caillot, Bishop of Grenoble, following the investigation.
It is noteworthy that the Father (in 1932) dictated the Message to Mother Eugenia in Latin, a language totally unknown to her.
In 1981 this Message came to our notice, and in 1982, its fiftieth anniversary, we published it in Italian.
The many miracles of grace worked by the Message have led us to disseminate it gratis, especially in prisons, barracks and hospitals. In addition to English, it is available in French, Italian, Spanish, German and other languages.
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