Focolare Movement

They could have been the last moments of my life

Mar 11, 2003

Giving Witness

I live in Rio de Janeiro: one of most beautiful cities in the world. For some time now I have been living the Word of Life and taking it to various people with Chiara’s commentaries. One evening, I left work later that usual, yet I didn’t want to go home without consigning the last copy of the Word to a family I visit every month. So I called my mother to let her know I would be late. But in order not to be too late, I took a taxi. In the rearview mirror I saw the face of the driver who said, “You got in the wrong car, this is a stolen taxi and now you’re coming with me.” I shuddered: “A kidnapper, where will he take me?” The taxi left the city. We pulled up in front of a Motel, a house of prostitution. He made me get down and pushed me into a room. He remained in the hall and I sat on the bed and thought “what will happen to me?” It could have been the moment of my life … Then I remembered I still had the Word of Life and so I began reading it slowly. That person came in and shut the door. Sitting down beside me, with his arm over my shoulder he asked, “What are you dooing?” I told him it was a commentary on a phrase spoken by Jesus’ in the Gospel which I tried to put into practice. “Read it to me out loud!”, he said aggressively. I think I lived that moment in solemnity, reading each word with love. I hadn’t finished reading when he wripped the page out of my hand and said, “Go on go, get out, you’re too good!”. The Word saved my life. M.A.C. – Rio de Janeiro (From “I Fioretti di Chiara e dei Focolari” – San Paolo Editrice)

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A precious legacy: Chiara Lubich’s ‘Paradise ’49’

The first presentation of Chiara Lubich’s book ‘Paradise ’49’ took place on the 22nd of May 2026 in the Paul VI Hall at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. The book is a collection of writings in which the Foundress of the Focolare Movement bears witness to and shares her mystical experience from the years 1949 to 1951.

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The first presentation of Chiara Lubich’s book ‘Paradise ’49’ took place on the 22nd of May 2026 in the Paul VI Hall at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. The book is a collection of writings in which the Foundress of the Focolare Movement bears witness to and shares her mystical experience from the years 1949 to 1951.

Chiara Lubich: “Do you know where we are?”

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