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The late
Fr. Peter Rinaldi, SDB was an authority on the Shroud of
Turin and co-founder, with Fr. Adam Otterbein, C.SS.R,
of the Holy Shroud Guild. He was also the nephew of
Blessed Philip Rinaldi, third successor of St. John
Bosco.
Fr.
Rinaldi wrote the following testimony about Mama Gili
after her death.
I knew
Mama Gili through many years, and my one regret is that
my contacts with her were all too few.
I recall
that when I first met her, I felt immediately that I was
privileged to know a saintly soul. On that occasion
we shared together the ideas and the plans we both
had to promote the knowledge of and devotion to the Holy
Face of Jesus. I was amazed at her insights into this
devotion, and, too, at all she was doing to promote it.
I fondly
recall, too, her memorable visit to our shrine at Corpus
Christi Church, Portchester, New York, with Fr. Dante.
She was enthralled at all she saw, and was actually in
tears before the life-size image of the Lord from
the Holy Shroud, almost unable to detach herself from
it.
To me,
the proof that Mama Gili was truly a privileged soul,
whose closeness to the Lord was total and complete, was
the way she faced the ordeal of her long and painful
illness. She truly identified with the Suffering Savior,
accepting her illness as a precious gift from Him.
One
final point: the impression this remarkable woman left
in King Umberto II of Savoy with whom she occasionally
corresponded. With a unique gesture, His Majesty chose
to travel all the way from New York to her home just to
visit with her. Whenever, years later, I met the King in
Portugal, he never failed to ask me about Mama Gili, "a
saint, if ever there was one, "he said to me on one
occasion.
I
totally agree with Italy's former King. May I add that I
often turn to Mama Gili in prayer. She was in life and
is in heaven a person very dear to the Heart of Christ.
(Signed)
Father Peter M. Rinaldi, SDB
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