The heart of the Gospel: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

The air raid shelter we were in was not safe. We always faced death. Another question arose: is there a will of God that is particularly pleasing to him? If we were to die, we would want to have put that very one into practice, at least in our last moments.

The Gospel gave the answer; it spoke of a new commandment, which Jesus calls his own: “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:12-13). We looked at each other – we were six or seven young women - and we said, “I am ready to give my life for you, I for you, I for you, all for each one”. Not that we were always asked to actually give up our life for the other. We could, however, share everything, our worries, joys, sufferings, the few things we had, our small spiritual achievements. It was a solemn pact, which was to become the foundation of the entire Movement.