With the Saints　　　

Missionaries on board, 1926

　　　I (Renato Tassinari) met Father Cimatti for the first time.　　　

　In the autumn of 1925, at the Salesian school in Finale Emilia, I (Renato Tassinari) met Father Cimatti for the first time. 　I was 13 years old, in my second year of junior high school, and Father Cimatti was 46 years old, principal of the famous Valsalice High School in Turin, and had just been appointed head of a group of Salesian missionaries who were about to depart for Japan. 　He told me such an amazing story about Japan that I wondered, "How can he know so much about Japan when he's never been there?" 　I never dreamed that a few years later I would also go to Japan and spend 35 years at Father Cimatti's side.

　　　You are lucky　　　　

　1929 was the year of Don Bosco's beatification. It was certainly a year of joy and enthusiasm for the Salesians, and many young confreres dreamed of going to the mission fields in 1929. This was also the talk of the town at the convent in Kyari. In September, as I was preparing to take my first vows, Fr. Cimatti visited the novitiate. Fr. Cimatti had returned to Italy for the General Conference and was busy recruiting missionaries, especially young ones, to accompany him to Japan. 　He had received permission from his superiors to visit the four novitiates and select two newly professed confreres from each. I was one of the two chosen from the Kyari novitiate. I was very surprised, but I thought it would be an incredible opportunity to go to Japan with Father Cimatti.
　Shortly before I left Italy, on a December night in Milan that year, an elderly member said to me:
　"You are fortunate, for you will be living with a saint in Japan."
　I was delighted, but at the time I still didn't fully understand what he meant. This is because, although Father Cimatti was an attractive but distant figure to me at the time.

　　　Eight seminarians, their average age 18　　　　

　On December 14th, they set off from the port of Genoa on a German ship, eight seminarians with an average age of 18, filled with hope and enthusiasm. What was he going to Japan for? Father Cimatti knew. His plan was to train missionaries and priests to work in Japan as his collaborators. We were the first group, but every year since then new people have come along. However, it took many years for us to mature as missionaries. We arrived in Miyazaki on January 27th, after a 43-day voyage.
　Father Cimatti had carefully planned our study program: we were to study philosophy as well as Japanese language and Japanese affairs. Father Cimatti walked from church almost every day to give spiritual lectures and teach natural science subjects, his specialty. We were blessed to live with Father Cimatti. Little by little we discovered and touched the greatness of his personality, but he hid his virtues behind humility and mediocrity.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　From "The Road with Father Cimatti"

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　Cimatti Museum
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Father Marsiglio
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　May 6, 2025 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　

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