Newsletter · November 2026
May Our Lord Jesus Christ be forever praised!
The summer has long passed and now we have arrived in autumn. With the feasts of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day we are reminded of how quickly the gift of time passes. It seems just yesterday it was June and we were embracing our 18 newly-professed on their day of consecration to God. How time races by and day by day closer to eternity, where our loved ones wait patiently for us and for whom we particularly remember to pray in these two beautiful feasts of November.
The building of our church and convent wing is coming along well and taking shape! We hope that for June of 2027 the section of the Church will be ready. The walls, roof, choir-loft, and bell tower are all built and we recently saw the apse be put in place. The cloister and the rooms are coming along well and stairs have been installed leading to the different levels of the Church.
Construction of the new church in Vigne
*US dollar amounts are calculated at the current exchange rate.
Follow the building of the new church in Vigne and see the latest photos.
We have much need of a bigger church because with the arrival of families from all over Italy and some from as far as Brazil our chapel no longer is able to hold the ever-growing number of faithful. Especially for Sundays, we take up the chapel and two adjacent rooms with faithful and Sisters. Recently, we have installed two television screens to help supplement the participation of the faithful during Holy Mass.
Holy Mass in the chapel and adjoining rooms, Vigne
Also for our school it was necessary to find another location to meet the increased number of the student body, in particular, our boarding students. St. Joseph came to our rescue and we were able to purchase a three-story house right by us. We use one floor as a boarding house and two floors for the school to provide lessons for a range of different grades. Deo Gratias!
School Divin Maestro, Vigne, Italy
Shortly after the opening of the school there was another big event which took place: that is, the arrival of our pre-postulants! Our pre-postulants come from various parts of the world, this year we have a number of 9 different nationalities. This year, to have enough room for the pre-postulants, we were obliged to rent an apartment building in Vigne. Five professed and twelve pre-postulants live in this house, which is a ten-minute walk from the Mother House. One of the rooms has been transformed into a chapel and to our great joy the Holy Eucharist will come to abide on the 14th of November.
Since the pre-postulants live in Vigne they have the opportunity to work in the apostolate. They help to teach in the school and monitor recesses. A group of them also come to the Mother House to help with cleaning and cooking.
Pre-postulants, Vigne
Also in this month of November we normally go out to pick from our olive trees. We had an abundant harvest this year. As a way of thanksgiving we celebrated in Italian fashion, that is, we all had Bruschetta, which is to eat the freshly-pressed oil over top toasted bread and sprinkled with salt.
Olive harvest
We thank Our Dear Lord for all these graces! Be assured of our prayers and also for your loved ones, especially those in eternity as we remember them in this month dedicated to the Holy Souls.
May the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts reward your generosity!
News and letters from our communities around the world, sent by e-mail.
Subscribe
English English 
Français
Italiano
Deutsch (Sie)
Español
Polski
What is a Stella Matutina Camp?
“Stella Matutina” — the Morning Star — is one of the oldest and richest Marian titles, one we use in the Litany of Loreto.
This phrase, drawn from Ecclesiasticus, is applied to Our Lady as the one who appears just before the dawn: visible while it is still dark, heralding a light greater than herself, and giving hope and direction to those still traveling in the night.
The spiritual image
She precedes, she does not replace. The morning star is not the sun. Mary’s whole significance, in this title, is that she points beyond herself to Christ, the “Sun of Justice” (Malachi 4:2). A camp is Marian in method, but ordered entirely to Christ as the end.
She shines in darkness. The morning star is seen before the light comes, when things are still obscure. Mary announced Christ’s coming before it was fully manifest — and by her ongoing role guiding souls through life to heaven above.
She gives hope to those still journeying. Sailors and travelers used the morning star to know dawn was near even while surrounded by night. If things may be dark now, the light is coming, and Mary, steadfast with love and hope, leads us to the light.
Smallness and humility. Unlike the sun, the morning star is faint — a small, quiet sign rather than an overwhelming one. Through Mary, children and youth are naturally drawn to littleness, hiddenness, and quiet fidelity to virtue in a spirit of love, grace, joy, and fraternal charity.
The camp’s spirit
Formation ordered to Christ through Mary — devotions, recreations, and daily life at camp through Mary point to the Sun she precedes.
Our Hope and joy living in the world — through our faith, hope and joy, we carry our examples into the world the way the morning star gives courage to travelers still in night.
Rising early — morning and night prayers, early Mass, Angelus, rosary, a rhythm of life tuned to the natural day as a symbol of the spiritual one.
Quiet, humble witness — the star is small and precedes something greater, and so we teach humility and fidelity to virtue preparing the way through Our Lady to Our Lord.
Mary as model and guide — our model of virtue and formation of character cultivating purity; our guide to the light, to the Most Sacred Heart; to God Almighty, author of Heaven and Earth. Deo Gratias!
If you are already on our email list, please sign up once again so you may give us your language preference. This will help us serve you and our growing international community of friends and benefactors. Thank you so much!
Deo Gratias!
The Consoling Sister
of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus
