[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 137 (Tuesday, October 25, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO ADDOLORATA IMMACOLATA GILI--DEDICATION OF MAMA GILI'S PLACE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 25, 2005

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, it is with great enthusiasm that I ask my 
colleagues here in the House of Representatives to join me as I rise to 
honor the memory of a very special person, the late Addolorata 
(Dolores) Immacolata Gili, and to offer my congratulations to her 
family and friends, and to the people whose lives she touched in my 
Congressional District of Orange, New Jersey. Mama Gili, as she was 
affectionately known, was being honored on Saturday October 22, 2005 
for her faithful devotion to God, her community and humankind. She was 
the proud mother of five children, Helen, Florida, Claudia, Caesar and 
Joseph Jr., and the ``adoptive'' mother to many people in the Orange 
community.
  She emigrated from Atripalda, Italy to the United States in 1909 and 
initially stayed with her brother, Umberto, in Brooklyn, New York. 
After moving to Orange, New Jersey, to live with another brother, she 
met her future husband, Joseph F. Gili, whom she married in 1913.
  Always a true believer in the omnipresent power and love of God, Mama 
Gili knew that her life would be guided by His principles of service to 
others. She opened her home to many Italian immigrants as they 
transitioned to a new life in the U.S. She also always made time to 
lend an ear and give devout advice to people in her community.
  Even though she prematurely lost her husband and endured the 
hardships of the Great Depression as a single mother, her faith never 
wavered. In 1953, she returned, for the first time, to her hometown in 
Italy where she had a providential meeting with a Franciscan priest. He 
showed her a picture of the Holy Face of Jesus from the Shroud of 
Turin. After seeing this image, Mama Gili dedicated her life, until her 
death in 1985, to spreading the Word about the Holy Face to those in 
her community.
  She was honored by the Italian Tribune newspaper with the Woman of 
the Year award in 1965 for her work with many charities and, for 
helping both to establish the Capuchin Franciscan Friars and to 
organize the Third Order of St. Francis in Orange. This past Saturday, 
she was again being honored with the dedication of Minton Place between 
Lincoln Avenue and Scotland Road in Orange, NJ. Renamed ``Mama Gili 
Place'', this memorial will be a tribute to her steadfast dedication to 
her faith and community.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Mama Gili's friends and family on their 
efforts to keep her legacy alive. I also wish them continued success on 
their journey towards her Beatification/Canonization to Sainthood.

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