Missionary Month: all to all of sr. Trinitas
Pope Francis proclaimed an Extraordinary Missionary Month in October 2019 and placed it under the theme Baptized and sent: the Church of Christ in mission in the world”. He invites all the baptized to live this time in four dimensions: the encounter with Jesus, missionary witness, formation in mission and missionary solidarity. Throughout this month we invite you to discover some missionary testimonies of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. Today, we present to you the portrait of Sr. Trinitas (1912 – 1999) who lived “all to all” during her entire missionary life. Sr. Trinitas worked in Malawi as a nurse, midwife, matron and she trained many nurses and midwives to help the women. She believed that “God’s Word would find its way into healthy bodies.” Her love for the people made her creative in helping the poor. She had discovered that about 60% of children under age…
Missionary Month: Sr. Marie André du Sacré Coeur
Pope Francis proclaimed an Extraordinary Missionary Month in October 2019 and placed it under the theme Baptized and sent: the Church of Christ in mission in the world”. He invites all the baptized to live this time in four dimensions: the encounter with Jesus, missionary witness, formation in mission and missionary solidarity. Throughout this month we invite you to discover some missionary testimonies of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. Today, we present to you the portrait of Sr. Marie André du Sacré Coeur (1899-1988) who lived her missionary life as a woman apostle for the defense of women’s rights. Sister Marie André du Sacré Cœur had a doctorate in law when she entered our Congregation in 1922. Thinking that her studies in law would not be useful in Africa, how wrong she was! Just after her perpetual vows, she was sent to help the Missionaries of Africa understand…
Encounters and places that changed my life
To announce Jesus is urgent.” Such is the cry, the call always being renewed by Sr. Finita Martinez Canovas, a Spanish Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa. In her testimony, she shares her journey of encounters and her inner journey where the difference between cultures and religions forces her to stay awake. My thanksgiving becomes more concrete and explicit through this reality of the Encounter. Yes, that is what I lived: invigorating energizing encounters, full of light that launched me onto new paths. The Meeting with Jesus: It was at the age of 18, it upset my life filling it with meaning, consolation and orienting it to new horizons: first my Christian vocation, then the call to religious-missionary life. What a beautiful experience! The encounter with other peoples, cultures, religions through the people around me: First it was the great Congo-Zaire. What brave people, open, frank. With this people…
Uganda: Our Sisters’ dreams come true
For here the Proverb holds true: “One sows, another reaps” (Jn. 4.17). How true this Scripture text is we could witness in Kisubi on the 1st of October when participating in the Centenary Celebrations of St. Theresa’s Girls’ School founded by our Sisters in the year 1915. This celebration came shortly after another celebration on the 27th August when we were invited to join the feast in Lubaga in honor of 60 years existence of St Michael Lubaga Hospital Training Schools established in 1956 with the support of our Sisters. The hospital was one of our first foundations in Uganda. Both institutions are two of our Sisters’ dreams come true. Our Sister’ dreams: The first dream was that many Ugandans might have access to good health care services, and today we can rejoice seeing so many young people well trained, nursing and caring for the sick and at the…
“I have loved everything in our Africa.”
“I have loved everything in our Africa, her past, her future, her sunshine, her mountains, her skies, the vast horizons of her deserts, the deep blue waves that bathe her shores.” Charles Lavigerie “Love the peoples to whom you are sent” Charles Lavigerie
Can women be Apostles?
“In spite of the zeal of the Missionaries, their efforts will not produce sufficient fruit if they are not seconded by women apostles working with the women. Men cannot give this service themselves, only women have free access to pagan women and are able to maintain charitable relations with them; help them in their trouble and so touch their hearts. This apostolate does not stop with the women, for a woman is a fountainhead because she is mother.” Cardinal Lavigerie underlined the importance of woman’s place in the world and in the Church. He saw her as an agent in the transformation of society through her role as “head” of the family, parallel to that of man. Hers is a ministry of love and of humanity. “Women are destined to be the most effective missionaries of the African peoples” 1871
Break down all unjust structures
We join with other women in their aspirations and their struggle to be recognised in their dignity. Today women are called to unite in an effort to bring about the integral liberation of the human person and break down all unjust structures. Let us participate actively in all these efforts to make our world more human. This is also true for the Church. May it give women their rightful place; may it welcome and encourage women’s initiatives. Bishops of Uganda – 1997: “The absence of an adequate education was and still is a big obstacle to the full liberation of women. A community or a Church which ignores the educational promotion of their women will neither grow nor have a positive influence on the population, as it should have.” Mgr Mpundu – 2nd Synod for Africa – 2009: “Denial of equality to women is an affront to…
Friendship is the soul of dialogue
Friendship is the soul of dialogue. True friendship demands equality among people. It is not compatible with feelings of superiority or attitudes of condescension. Cardinal Leon- Etienne Duval of Algiers (1904-1996) True to its origins, the Congregation pays special attention to the believers of Islam. God, who is at the heart of every person, leads them in ways known only to him. We respect their way of faith different from ours, in the hope that we are all on the way to the Kingdom. In the various countries of the world where we live, we seek to promote an attitude of openness between Christians and Muslims through our activities and our friendship.