There is a time for everything… a time to begin, a time to end
In mid-June, our brother novices of the Missionaries of Africa invited us to practice with them the hymns for their closing Mass for the spiritual year 2019-2020.
We were happy with this gesture of collaboration. The novices of the Sisters of the Annunciation of Bobo (SAB) were also involved. It was done in a real family spirit. During the rehearsals, we learned different hymns: some in the local language of the novice, others in French and English.
The actual holiday was on July 11. On that day, they combined three events: the closing of the spiritual year, the “declaration of intention” pronounced by the novices in front of Father Luc Kola, Provincial of West Africa, and the ministry of the lector, given by Monsignor Paul Ouédraogo, Bishop of the Diocese of Bobo Dioulasso.
It was touching to hear the commitment of the 14 novices expressing their desire to follow Christ according to the charism of the Missionaries of Africa. It was encouraging for us novices who are still on the way to see young people like us who have taken one more step in their lives.
During this Eucharistic celebration, we were involved in different services: reading the Word of God and universal prayer, offertory procession and choir.
We were very happy to see our Lavigerie Family growing. Our Archbishop of Bobo was happy to be invited to this celebration and he emphasized very much that all the baptized are missionaries. Towards the end of the Eucharistic celebration, Father Manu, master of novices, told us about the different countries where the novices were sent for their stage for two years. There were two more interventions: a word of thanks from the novices and an expression of joy from the Archbishop who ended by blessing their sending.
After mass, we were all invited to a meal followed by informal talks and all kinds of dances to which we contributed very well.
