Lavigerie, an apostle of charity :On becoming bishop, Father Lavigerie took the motto “Caritas” and as his episcopal coat of arms, a pelican – this bird which feeds its young with its own blood!
His life illustrated the motto and coat of arms he had chosen. Arriving in Algiers, he addressed the Muslim Algerians: “I claim the privilege of loving you like sons …” At the bishop’s house he welcomed orphans and he founded two missionary societies to help them – the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (White Sisters). He required their members the same compassion that he himself had towards the Africans. “For our love to bear fruit, we must see Our Lord Himself in the patients we care for and in those touched by our charity and our patience.”
Is that what you experience in your missionary life? Do your gestures and your apostolic attitudes give witness to the One who sent you?
