The memory of Lilia and of the poor who died on the street in Moscow

Last Sunday, there were so many poor people that, together with the Friends of the Community of Sant'Egidio, recalled homeless people that have died on the street in Moscow. In the parish of Saints Cosmas and Damian, it is the tenth year that the family of the community comes together to celebrate this moment of prayer and remembrance. In fact, since 2006, when Lilia (a 44-year-old woman that Sant'Egidio knew well) died of cold,  every year the Community remembers her and the other street friends that did not survive the harsh conditions and cold. So many moved faces, especially those of the poor and the youth that participated in the prayer.

"No one is so poor that they can not help someone else" - these words, spoken at the end of the prayer, introduced a collection for Mangunde, a small village of Mozambique hit in recent months by famine and that has already been helped from afar for several years now by the friends of Sant'Egidio in Moscow. Many poor people contributed to the collection by donating what they had. The memory of Lilia ended with a big lunch in the conference room of the parish.