Meet The Artists of Our "All May Be One" Mosaic

Where are you from?

We are originally from the province of Ravenna, in north central Italy, but eleven years ago we moved to Peru, in the Andes mountain range, and live in a small community near the province of Cajamarca which is at 10,000 ft above sea level.

Our family consists of me and Simone, with our three children. Since we were 20 years old, we have been in charge of the “Don Bosco Art Workshop & School" and of the successive group of artists who have been formed there and are now part of the family of artisans, known as "Mosaico Don Bosco". We live and work together in the arts and in service to the neediest of the area. The parish was entrusted to Fr. Alessandro Facchini, an Italian priest, in 2003.

Following in his footsteps, we young people from his parish decided to support him for months or even years, giving a little of our life to the poorest.

The adventure of our youth has become for us the adventure of life, without much financial security or public recognition, but compensated for by the many dreams, adventures, graces and friends.

What is your mission as artists?

The "Art Workshop" was born from the needs of the community, educational and above all the need for Christian formation, and to give a family or reference point for many young people in difficult situations.

The first idea was to create a parochial school where young people could have a future, a job in art and continue to help in the charity work of the mission, allowing for the vocation to be cultivated in the heart.

In these years, thanks to the meeting with Fr. Marko Rupnik of the Aletti Center in Rome, the Workshop has gradually been transformed into a center for Liturgical Art:

The decoration on the wall should be such that, when a person enters the church or is in front of a sacred image, you perceive that you are in an inhabited space, which seeks to transmit through art the presence of God and his communion..

Where did you learn to create mosaics from?

In the early years it was a search, both for technique and style. I (Matilde) studied painting and mosaics and graduated from the "Accademia di Belle Arti" in Ravenna, Italy.

Then after meeting with Fr. Marko Rupnik and his team of laity and religious artists, they have accompanied us and trained us in liturgical art, both in Italy and from afar. It is a totally new mosaic style, contemporary and at the same time spiritually inspired.

The "Atelier de Arte Espiritual Centro Aletti" takes from the memory of the tradition of iconography of the Eastern and Western Churches. To understand the mosaics of the Aletti Center it should be emphasized that their intent is to try to restore liturgical art with the ancient criteria: look with the eyes of an ancient iconographer and work with contemporary languages.

That is why it is a deep union with the memory of the Church and a great sense of contemporaneity. In the mosaic of the Aletti Center there is a totally modern language.

For us in Peru it is a continuous process of maturation, learning from our mistakes, growing in knowledge, inspired from the works of Rome and seeking to find our own style. We are on a journey of conversion….

How does art play a role in your Christian vocation?

Many artists have realized that daily work with stone changes you, and at least forces you to be questioned, because the stone does not obey your will like a pencil or a cell phone screen could. The stone itself teaches you patience, and will often humble you, testing you in the resignation of your will.

“Learn not to impose our will on our lives, on those who live next to me, on the matter… offer our will to God. Like Jesus did." (Fr. Rupnik)

Is there something that makes this mosaic unique or special?

Making the mosaic is a type of choral work where there are no protagonists but a harmony among many diverse objects and people. This reflects the Church and at the same time fills us with gratitude in our hearts.

In other words, we are given the grace of working together, in a network of beautiful relationships; we must accept not being perfect, learn to listen to the advice of elders, let ourselves be corrected in art so that we can then do it in our lives.

"Because matter passes through love and so it happens with people." (Fr. Rupnik)

What has been your experience working on this mosaic?

Working with the Newman Center & and the SCV Brothers from St. Agatha- St. James Parish community in Philadelphia has been a new experience.

To arrive in the United States after three years in our small community in Peru has been a kind of blessed “Shock,” full of life, inspirations and encounters that, as European, I was lacking.

To find priests, brothers, FOCUS missionaries and volunteers working together with young university students willing to trust us, and listen with an open heart able to be moved, was unexpected for me.

I am an introverted person, fearing confrontation and not being able to live up to expectations. But, as it always seems to happen in these occasions, I leave with a heart full of joy and gratitude. That is why, when making the mosaic, we seek to live in the community or parish where we work, because the mosaic work is very tied to the people who will contemplate it each day.

What is the symbolism in the mosaic of the characters? Of the saints and those who are they not saints?

The inspiration comes from the Pope’s private Chapel, Redemptoris Mater, in the Vatican. It has a mosaic made by Fr. Rupnik, at the request of Saint John Paul II, in which the wall of the Parousia reveals characters dressed in white, marked with the Tau symbol of Salvation and the wounds of Christ: men and women on the way to the risen Christ, in Heavenly Glory.

When I studied the life of St. Cardinal Newman, I noticed what St. John Paul II wrote about him: "Newman's path has been a pilgrimage to Truth." With this in mind, I began to imagine a pilgrimage of saints and witnesses of Christ, linked together, on a single path "towards the Father,” walking with Christ and in Cjhrist.

It’s a path towards the Truth, walking in the word that comes from the Father like an opened scroll of white and gold: word and Spirit. The Saints, under the mantle of Christ, as a single body that is the Church, walk towards the Father and his outstretched creative hand, which is always open and generous.

On the path of holiness, we are all there, represented by the three different people in the background. Inspired by the steps of Christ and the lives of the saints, we walk along the journey of life. A nurse represents all those are work attending those suffering in the hospitals, especially this year; a college student represents the youth around the Parish who need a spiritual home; an older woman represents the Parish community who resides in the area. Each represents a different ethnicity, as it is a multicultural community.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha walks with them, amongst the first Native Americans to become Christian, and she grasps Christ’s cloak so that no one will be lost along the way. Next is Venerable Fr. John Tolton who represents the path of conversion of the African-American people.

At the front is St. Katherine Drexel points to God the Father and St. John Henry Newman is seen in an attitude of adoration. Christ points to the Father with an outstretched, open hand. The wound in his hand reminds us that every path to holiness must pass through the Paschal journey: each one of us has our own wounds. We must discover our wound in Jesus’ or we will never be able to heal it.

"The wound of Jesus remains and reminds us that his love is eternal, that everything passes and love remains." (P. Rupnik)

Is it difficult for you to leave the mosaic with others?

No, it isn’t difficult. Rather, it is a Grace to be able to leave a work for the Church in a community that will appreciate the art and be moved to understand it.

How would you like this work to impact the community here at the church and Newman Center?

I think it’s in an important place within the Center & Parish, but also open to visitors. We always imagine who will come and how they might enjoy the work, praying and contemplating it. Those who pass by on Chesnut St. may approach it, curious to see it more closely… Those who look fondly at the image from the kitchen window of the Parish rectory may remember ‘the small peasant community in Peru’ ... it is good to think about this and to be able to return one day to contemplate the mosaic.

How can others know about your mission?

We do not have a website, but the SCV brothers have our contact information. I think the simplest and most natural way is to see a work and then through ‘word of mouth,’ those who know us will transmit who we are and what we do, with our flaws and virtues like everyone else on the journey of conversion.