English 
The “Feast of the Thanksgiving” held in Monza on June 11 of this year was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Lay Associates Group of Italy. This occasion reminds us that evangelization is a duty for all of us, because we are baptized: some cast the nets over the ocean, some on the ground pull the ropes so that the salvation may reach everyone, like fr. Manna used to write. The fire of the mission continues to involve many lay people who welcoming the gift of a missionary vocation choose to give their own capacities, their free time, their energy, their profession and talents: these are the Friends of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate; the Lay Associates choose to give their own life, moved by the same charism and spirituality of the sisters.
This journey of our large missionary family goes back to the seventh General Chapter, held in 1994, when the proposal was made to verify if in every organism there could be the possibility of starting an experience of sharing our missionary charism with the lay people close to us in different ways: through collaboration, friendship, sharing of ideals.
Starting on February 28th, 1998, the prayer and formation meetings of the group of Italy were held bimonthly in Monza and Pozzuoli. The two groups studied the apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici and reflected of the identity and the mission of the laity in the church and in the world. In 2021 also in Rome a group started to meet regularly.
Here the sharing of the members of the group:
Experiences and sharing of the members of the Lay Sisters of the MSI (Lay Sisters) group of Pozzuoli (Naples), born in 1998.
How the Lay MsI group of Rome was born. From a parish missionary group they became lay MsI knowing the spirituality of our founders.
Testimonies of the Lay Community of Milan on the occasion of the twenty-five years of foundation of the group in 1998
