Philip Rinaldi first met Don Bosco as a child when the saint visited his village Lu and was given accommodation in their house. The following write up speaks of how in this village there was a strong vocational culture especially amongst the mothers. An African proverb says that It takes a village to raise a child. Equally can be said about a vocation, for each vocation is born within that small Church we call family.
"The little village of Lu, northern Italy, with only a few thousand inhabitants, is in a rural area 90 km east of Turin. It would still be unknown to this day if, in the year 1881, the family others of Lu had not made a decision that had “serious consequences”. The deepest desire of many of these mothers was for one of their sons to become a priest or for a daughter to place her life completely in God’s service.
Under the direction of their parish priest, Msgr. Alessandro Canora, they gathered every Tuesday for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, asking the Lord for vocations. They received Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every month with the same intention. After Mass, all the mothers prayed a particular prayer together imploring for vocations to the priesthood.
Through the trusting prayer of these mothers and the openness of the other parents, an atmosphere of deep joy and Christian piety developed in the families, making it much easier for the children to recognize their vocations."
"Did the Lord not say, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt 22:14) ? In other words, many are called, but only a few respond to that call. No one expected that God would hear the prayers of these mothers in such an astounding way. From the tiny village of Lu came 323 vocations!: 152 priests (diocesan and religious), and 171 nuns belonging to 41 different congregations. As many as three or four vocations came from some of these families.
