Since the beginning of our marriage, Alessandro and I have had a married couple as an example of life and faith: Settimio and Licia Manelli, parents of Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli, founder of the Friars and Sisters of the Immaculate.

Padre Pio prophesied to the newlywed Licia and Settimio: "You will have more than twenty children!" And they had twenty-one. The books written by the children of these extraordinary parents have always accompanied us.

Licia was for me a reflection of the light of Mary. In a certain way, Licia's testimony helped me to understand the beauty, the greatness, the humility of Mary as Mother. Reading the sacrifices that Licia made in caring for her children gave me the strength to endure the difficulties of having “just” seven children.

How many times have I said to myself: "How can I complain about the frenzy, the sacrifice, the turmoil I was experiencing, while Licia didn't even have a washing machine, and bread had to be made at night! In the greatest poverty...what a great example!

Let us live our vocation as Mothers by looking at how the great Mothers of Saints lived their motherhoods, we will discover that the secret of the beauty of their lives has a name: MARY.