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\u201cPopetti<\/em>,\u201d that\u2019s what Chiara<\/a> used to call them. It means \u201cchildren\u201d in the local dialect spoken in Trent. They were the children and youths who came into contact with the Focolare Movement at its beginnings in 1950. They were part of the community, followed what was happening and shared firsthand in its joys and sufferings. They also attended the summer Mariapolises in the Dolomite Mountains, always gathered around the group of first focolarini<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Luigi Liberati from Rome met the spirituality of unity<\/a> back in 1953. \u201cAll the people who had the good fortune of being near to Chiara were left with the certainty that she had loved only them. I still carry in my mind and in my soul that strong experience of feeling always loved and given first place,\u201d he says. His story presents an unpublished, lively, deep and intense picture: \u201cIn 1954 I attended my first Mariapolis<\/a>. Since there weren\u2019t too many of us, it was easy to be in constant contact with Chiara.\u201d Luigi recalls one story: \u201cThat day at Mass the words of the Gospel were: \u201c. . . whoever welcomes one of these little ones. . . \u201cand leaving the church, Chiara immediately said to us: \u201cpopetti<\/em>, everyone in the car, we\u2019re going up to the pasture to have strawberries and cream.\u201d So, all of us somehow managed to squeeze into that car, a Fiat 103. Chiara held the little ones on her lap, and then there was that nice bellyful of strawberries and cream.\u201d<\/p>\n As time passed this group of youths continued to grow and Chiara had the idea of keeping in touch by creating a small centre: \u201cAlmost every day some of us would meet there after school. We kept in contact with the others who were scattered all over Italy. Chiara came often, gave us advice and encouraged us.\u201d Our relationship with her was direct and filial: \u201cWhen she had an accident in 1957 and broke her shoulder, Paolo Carta and I went almost every day to the hospital where she was recovering. We would leave on her car parked outside the hospital, a small message that expressed all our love.\u201d<\/p>\n One day we felt the need of organising a national meeting, since we had grown so much in number. On that day we felt a responsibility that made us feel equal to the adults, and we held that meeting a sense of sacredness. This is how the seeds of the spirituality of unity began to be sown among the new generations: \u201cThrough all of this,\u201d Luigi concludes, \u201cGod was preparing for what would later happen in such an explosive way with the Gen<\/span> in the following decade.\u201d But that\u2019s another chapter.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/2013_08_02_05.jpg\")
During those early Mariapolises Chiara entrusted the group of children that was constantly growing in size, to Vicenzo Folonari, better known as Eletto: \u201cThat\u2019s where Eletto\u2019s spiritual stature began to show. With him I experienced graces I had never witnessed before. He began a dialogue with us, as the go-between, between us and Chiara. She loved us, guided and taught us, and Eletto helped us to translate everything she said into life.\u201d<\/p>\n
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