Our lives and our communities are constantly evolving. There are moments when this evolution invites us to pause, to read the signs of our time, and to courageously renew the way we live our mission, our community life and our relationships—both within the community and with the wider community around us.
Such a moment came on 28 August, the Feast of Saint Augustine, when the Como community moved into its new home in Monte Olimpino. More than simply a change of address, this move marks a new stage in the life and mission of our community and our Province: an invitation to step into a new space, open ourselves to new relationships and discover fresh ways of being present.
For more than a hundred years, San Carpoforo Institute has been a significant presence in Como and in the history of the Religious of the Assumption, accompanying generations of children, young people and families through education. Our community life has been closely woven into this mission. Today, while still remaining deeply responsible in the school mission, the move gives both realities greater space and autonomy: the school continues its educational mission, while the community can live more fully within the neighbourhood, the parish and the wider society.
And what a joy it has been to begin discovering this new world!
Already, Monte Olimpino is becoming a place of belonging. A greeting in the street, a warm smile, a wave from a balcony, a neighbour checking on us, a conversation at the gate, or a basket of tomatoes shared with us… There is a beautiful sense of life being shared—not simply living alongside people, but gradually becoming part of one another’s ordinary world.
The parish is just a stone’s throw away. Within the same pastoral unit are five priests, while the community of the Dorotea Sisters is only a few minutes from us. These close relationships are opening possibilities for encounter, prayer, collaboration and friendship. Sharing evening celebrations, feasts and birthdays, accompanying one another, and simply meeting in the ordinary rhythm of life are already enriching our sense of community.
There is something beautifully providential in the theme chosen by San Carpoforo Institute for this new academic year: “No Limits.” While the school invites its students to discover their possibilities and not allow themselves to be confined by limits, we too are discovering new horizons for our presence. Our Assumption mission does not belong to one building or one particular setting. It can take new forms wherever life opens a space for encounter, education, service and relationship.
Monte Olimpino is helping us to experience this in a very concrete way. It is giving us the courage to read the signs of our time, to try something new and to discover that restructuring can also be renewal.
The new house is becoming a space where our community can breathe more widely, where relationships can grow, and where the joy of our consecrated life can be shared in the midst of ordinary life.
What began as a change of place is becoming a new expression of our Assumption presence: a wider space, a deeper belonging, and new horizons with no limits.
