Season of creation in Nouakchott
On the occasion of the Season of Creation 2022, the Muslim-Christian dialogue group of Nouakchott organised a common prayer by the sea on Wednesday 21 September. We sat side by side on the sand, 5 Muslims and 6 Chris-tians, contemplating the immensity of the ocean before us. We were inspired by the suggestions sent by the Sea-son of Creation 2022. During the spontaneous sharing about what was coming up in us, as we contemplated the ocean and the people around us, listening to the birds, we felt confirmed that creation unites us as believers of different traditions. God has given human beings the responsibility to care for all created beings. We experienced the Kingdom of God already here, feeling brothers and sisters, called to care together for creation and to praise God for the air we breathe, for the water that gives life, for the earth that sustains and nourishes…
A Muslim lives the charisme of Lavigerie
A Muslim lives the charism of Lavigerie We share with you a marvel of God’s action, the presence of his Kingdom among us. Yahya Sall, a young Muslim from Mauritania, fights for the rights of undocumented and out-of-school children, as well as planting trees in his neighbourhood, supporting migrants and foreigners, widows and children. Through our sisters in Nouakchott, he has become a reference person in the neighbourhood for those who are voiceless and without support. He himself says that he is now a missionary: “What touches the human being also touches me”. Sensitive to the suffering of others, recognising that he himself is limited, he believes that God is beyond our limits and that with Him everything is possible. When a poor family or a sick mother turns to him, he replies that he personally has no means of helping them; but he promises to tell all the people…
The Tabaski festival in Burkina Faso and Mauritania
Le Tabaski est célébré par les sœurs avec leurs amis musulmans dans les différents pays. Voici deux témoignages. Les SMNDA fêtent le Tabaski à Ouagadougou Comme chaque année, la Commission diocésaine pour le dialogue islamo-chrétien s’est préparée à aller saluer nos frères musulmans le jour de la fête de la Tabaski, 9 juillet. Avec joie, les sœurs Clémence, Agnès, Georgette (de passage), Leticia et les pré-novices, Ancile et Emily se sont jointes à la commission pour les différentes visites. Nous étions très heureux de vivre cette journée de rencontre et de fraternité. J’ai été très touché d’être appelé par mon nom par l’Imam Alidou Ilboudou qui prêchait à l’Université de Ouagadougou. Il me tendit la main pour me saluer et nous remercier de notre présence. Les photographes en ont profité pour nous prendre en photo. Les photos ont commencé à circuler rapidement sur les réseaux sociaux disant qu’une religieuse catholique…
A more humane world in harmony with nature
The request for an article on the MVA in Oran found me as I was preparing a meeting at the library. What is close to my heart and what I would like to invite others to do with me is to continue to develop our commitment to a more humane world in harmony with nature. For this purpose, I asked a Malian student Félicienne Diarra, who had just finished her studies at the University of Oran in a “specialty” and defended her Master in Environmental Process Engineering. She told us about the production of biogas through the treatment of organic waste (vegetable peelings, sludge from treatment plants, etc.). She chose this theme because according to her the world is facing a challenge that threatens its existence. The waste is piling up (and in the streets of Oran for several days of the garbage collectors’ strike it has become drastic and…
And may the friendship continue!
The International Day of Living Together in Peace takes place on May 16 each year. It was established on December 8, 2017 by the United Nations. It is devoted to living together, that is to say the acceptance of differences, respect and recognition towards others in a spirit of peace. This date was not really known to us, the Sisters of La Marsa, in Tunisia! It was Sofia, one of the daughters of our friend Najoua from the city of Kef, in the north-west of the country, who told us about it. Sofia, 16, is the leader of a club of young Keffois aged 15 to 18 who meet regularly “to improve the state of our society and the spirit of our generation and to spread a healthy mentality in our environment “. Sofia had the idea of inviting two White Sisters from La Marsa to come and testify about…
“Go to my vineyard, you too, and I will give you what is right”
I am Sr. Marie Ange Ndayishimiye, I am Burundian missionary in Mauritania. I am in my third year on this desert land, warm and endearing. I thank Jesus Christ who, by his goodness, made me hear his words of sending on mission: “go to my vineyard, you too, and I will give you what is right. “I went there, body and soul, and since then I have had no regrets. Mauritania, in addition to its dunes, is a beautiful country where certain ethnic groups raise cows, camels, sheep, goats, etc. In some places, such as Rosso, and in other villages, rice and vegetables are grown and, above all, there are places planted with date palms. Come and you will see how good the Lord is! There are a good number of Muslim families who ask us to pray for them. My presence here, like that of the whole Church, is…
Totus Tuus Maria
TOTUS TUUS MARIA: All yours Mary … We share with you our experience of this month of May with Mary, Our Lady and the International Day of Living Together in Peace! Mary at the heart of our fraternity It all started on April 29. We met for the Eucharist in honor of Our Lady of Africa at home in Hydra with our brothers the Missionaries of Africa, the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Ouagadougou, the Sisters of the Annunciation of Bobo-Dioulasso, the Sisters of Marie Reparatrice of Uganda–members of our sister congregations present here in Algiers. We prayed especially for our future young sisters The evening was extended by a festive meal and a joyful sharing. On Saturday April 30, it was at the basilica that we honored our Lady. The Rosary, the Eucharist and the meal briought us together in the diocese with the four bishops of Algeria.…
“Sister Claire-Michelle, you have been a Link! »
Interview of Sr. Claire-Michelle by Sr. Nicole Robion It was Easter Sunday. Claire-Michelle recounts what she experienced that afternoon. In November 2019, a friend of the “Live and Love” movement, from Palaiseau, told me: “A Syrian family has arrived in Verrières, housed by the town hall. Can you contact them? » I thought to myself that she really had a high idea of what I could do! Did she naively think that I was able to take care of them? The accommodation of the host family was a 15-minute walk from Maison St Charles where I live. I went to see them on December 14, 2019. They were sleeping on mattresses. I found the husband, wife and a little girl of school age and a young child walking on all fours. We spoke in English. He was a journalist in Syria. I invited them to visit us in St Charles.…
Speaking the Tunisian language changes everything!
The Tunisian Arabic lessons given by the White Sisters have a long history! After the courses given by the White Fathers at IBLA, the White Sisters organized a basic plan of more intensive courses from 1937. A Learning Centre was founded in 1957 in Montfleury (a district of Tunis) as well as a library for secondary school students. Intended initially for young White Sisters studying literary and dialectal Arabic, with training in Islamology, the language centre has gradually opened up to other foreigners living and working in Tunisia. The first candidate was a doctor who felt the need to speak Arabic with patients and their families. The Learning Centre ensured the teaching of Tunisian Arabic to foreigners and training in Tunisian culture. In 2017, the “Maison d’Etudes de Montfleury” closed its doors and the Tunisian Arabic lessons were transferred to Tunis, to the premises of the Prelature, near the cathedral…