On November 16, 2025, the Sending Forth Mass was celebrated at 10:30 AM in the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Bardhaj (Shkodër, Albania), led by the Orionine priest, Don Emilio Valente. The event took place in a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and immense joy filled those present. From the start of the homily, the priest declared:
“What we are experiencing today with the presence of the Guides of the Prayer and Life Workshops in our parish is not in vain. We know some of them because they have been conducting Prayer and Life Workshops here for several years. They teach people to pray, according to the charism left by the Founder, Father Ignacio Larrañaga. Teaching people to pray is the most important thing.”
All the Guides from Albania enthusiastically gathered around the new Guides for this occasion.
The new Guides are: Lidija Nushi, from Prizren (Kosovo), Valentina Mandi (from Shkodër), and Aferdita Doda (from Lezha). They attended the Guides’ Preparation School with Sister Simonetta Fenu, who honored us with her presence at this Eucharist along with the PLW European Zonal Coordinator, Mercedes Rodríguez Arévalo, and Maria Eulalia Barbeta Estrada, Secretary.
The day before the Sending Forth Mass, Sister Simonetta herself prepared a beautiful prayer meeting and testimonies for all the Guides at her sisters’ convent in Shkodër. It was a very beautiful gathering, in a truly familiar atmosphere. Among other things, Mercedes reminded us of the importance of the “Style and Life of the Guides” book (by Father Ignacio Larrañaga). After the Mass on November 16, there was also a fraternal agape (fellowship meal) in Shkodër, where we had the opportunity to get to know one another and prolong this atmosphere of joy that springs precisely from the source of the Eucharist.
The presence of Mercedes, Eulalia, and Sister Simonetta has revitalized the experience of the Prayer and Life Workshops for all of us and has allowed us to resume our journey with renewed vigor.
Finally, I would like to remember our esteemed sister, Sister Simonetta, who started the Prayer and Life Workshops in Albania 28 years ago but has been transferred to Monza this year. With immense gratitude for what she has been and continues to be for us, we wish her all the best in her new Mission to which the Lord has called her, assuring her of our humble prayers.
I do not think I can summarize it better than with these words from our beloved Founding Father:
“I have found the hidden path to peace and true happiness!”
