The growth phase.

On November 21, 1966, the Domus Aurea community, now Mater Verbi, was opened, and the first 46 novices took up residence there. Work began immediately on securing and renovating the warehouse (now Emmaus) in front of the farmhouse. On February 2, 1967, it was inaugurated as a warehouse, workroom, and even a dormitory because there were so many novices that the Mater Verbi house was no longer sufficient.
1967 was the year of the first harvest: potatoes, vegetables, tomatoes, and melons. Trees of all kinds began to be planted. To support themselves, the novices, in addition to working in the fields, brought good news to their families; this was the work of "diffusion," which in those years was practically the only source of income for the young religious family. In 1968, the vineyard was planted. A few workers, with the help of farmers from neighboring families, skillfully handled bulldozers and tractors with strong, sure hands, and gradually transformed the rugged terrain, creating roads and paths, filling in depressions, leveling embankments, and preparing the ground for planting. The discovery and channeling of the spring allowed the lower part of the land, which had been a swamp, to be reclaimed. A farmer, with his wife and young son, came to live in the village. He stayed near the "vaccheria" and cared for the animals: cows, rabbits, chickens, and pigs. A true small farm.
On June 24, 1968, the cornerstone of the new Domus Aurea was laid on the hilltop; in April 1970, the prefabricated building was ready as a new home for the novices and immediately welcomed small prayer groups and spiritual retreats for young people. From 1970 to 1973, the Mater Verbi house was given over to the Missionary Sisters of Labor, who housed a group of elderly people there. "The Madonna Village is beginning to take on its true form," wrote the founder: "We have given our novitiate house to the Missionary Sisters of Labor for a shelter, and the novices are occupying the new house with the church dedicated to the Sacred Heart. We will soon give another section to the Sisters of Verona for their small disabled children, and then a third lot to the Indian Sisters for a hospital, and so on until we have given away the entire hill. The plain below will be for the parish, and only a few cultivated areas will remain for us."
In 1971, the old barn, called San Gabriele , near the main entrance, was renovated and subsequently made available for shorter or longer periods to those in need. Since 1982, and even more so after the 1994-1995 renovation, it has housed a community of our elderly and sick Sisters: the community of the Virgin Annunciata.