The remains of Don Primo Lucchinetti, a great friend of Don Guanella, have returned to the parish church of Mese, together with those
by Sister Tomasina Pozzi
by Fabrizio Fabrizi
"The good sown never decays, it never fades in people's memory, while God multiplies it immeasurably." With simple, luminous words, full of gratitude and comfort, Cardinal Oscar Cantoni, Bishop of Como, accompanied the transfer of the mortal remains of Father Primo Lucchinetti and Sister Tomasina Pozzi, which on June 9, 2025, were recomposed from the chapel of the Holy Family Institute in Mese, to the nearby parish church of San Vittore.
Mese is a small town of less than two thousand inhabitants in the province of Sondrio, separated by the Liro River from Chiavenna, the capital of the valley of the same name. In 1887, it was a village of just five hundred souls when Don Primo Lucchinetti (1864-1935) arrived. He served as parish priest for 45 years and made it the cradle of a prodigious history of goodness, born of his lively and active faith.
A native of nearby Piuro, he knew well how difficult life was for mountain people, with the limited resources of farm labor and the chronic lack of welfare. He began an intense apostolate, revitalizing parish associations, proposing solidarity and cooperative initiatives, founding a youth club, and even an amateur dramatics club. On this wisely cultivated land, a plant with good and generous fruit took root, blossoming from a simple seed of charity. In 1897, Don Primo opened a humble home for the elderly, the sick, and orphans, entrusting it to a few young women who founded the Pious Daughters of the Holy Family.
The work soon spread to Montespluga, Campodolcino, Sondrio, and in 1927 it reached Milan. Everywhere, the "Sisters of Mese" generously provided assistance and relief to the most needy and abandoned, leaving an indelible mark of charity: from 1898 to 1915, 120 children and 86 adults were cared for in the Casa Sacra Famiglia in Mese alone.
Due to the natural solidarity among the fellow villagers and above all due to their shared charismatic sensitivity, Don Guanella held the "merciful provost Lucchinetti" in high esteem and in 1912 wrote to Don Giovanni Bressan, secretary of Pius X, to obtain the prestigious honour for him. Pro Ecclesia et PontificeHe also appreciated the work of Mese, which he called "a sweet refuge for nuns and children" and for some time he made a house available to them for summer holidays in the high mountains.
In 1932, Don Primo Lucchinetti resigned from his parish for health reasons and, in recognition of his work, was named honorary canon of Como Cathedral. He died in his home in Mese on January 8, 1935.
But a singular passing of the baton was taking place in this small and vibrant institute, as in 1932 a twenty-two-year-old woman entered as a postulant who would become Don Primo's most famous disciple. Teresa Laura Pozzi came from a peasant family in Uggiate Trevano, a small agricultural village in the province of Como. Struck by rickets in her first year of life, she was miraculously healed through her mother's prayers to the Virgin Mary. Her entire life was marked by extraordinary qualities, beginning with her very early and intense devotion to Mary. Her humility was also extraordinary, combined with a human simplicity that often raised doubts about her intellectual gifts.
But the Lord had reserved for her far more wonderful gifts. Responding to a sudden and irresistible call to religious life, in 1930 she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in Borgovico di Como, but was dismissed due to her physical unfitness. She was not discouraged, she continued to nurture her desire to give herself totally to Christ, and in 1932 she was accepted by the Sisters of Mese. She immediately knew she had found her place, as she later wrote in her memoirs: "During the novitiate, my days were spent in all the offices of the house, but I had one that was a source of consolation for me: the task of caring for the hospitalized. These dear poor people filled me with such compassion; I saw in them the suffering limbs of Jesus, and at this thought I wept many times. Remembering those days, my heart still feels the joy because the suffering poor are my favorites, and in my humble prayers to Jesus I remember them so often, because even today I feel compassion for them."
This was the true virtue of Sister Tomasina, who had chosen her religious name in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas, whom she had turned to for success in her studies, aware of her limitations. But this simple nun, content with a hard-working and hidden life, was instead called to an exceptional witness. From 1937 until her untimely death in 1944, she was the victim of demonic torments consisting of spasmodic pain, blows and beatings, suggestions and visions, even nails driven into her flesh, which caused her enormous pain and profound spiritual prostration. But her Jesus did not abandon her and granted her tangible consolations in the form of frequent ecstasies, accompanied by sweats of blood that physically united her to the Passion. The supernatural phenomena and struggles with the devil continued until her death, as was witnessed by authoritative ecclesiastics. But the greatness of the "stigmatized woman of Mese" was the testimony of her total and intense adherence to Jesus: "Jesus, may my soul be a living Host; may my blood be offered to you to the last drop... May the virtues of my vows be the fragrant flowers of my altar and none of them exude the bad humor of passions."
In 2018, the "Sisters of Mese" joined the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence to live and bear witness together to the unique charism that bound Primo Lucchinetti and Luigi Guanella in holy friendship. These founders, described by Cardinal Cantoni as "authentic sowers of the Gospel and witnesses to Christ's charity, protagonists of a story of grace that continues to bear fruit even today."