Our chapter in the light of the Scriptures
The Acts of the Apostles recorded a conflict which will be solved at the “Council of Jerusalem”, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Starting from the “Council of the Apostles in Jerusalem” as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, Sr. Celina Natanek offers us a biblical reflection that she hopes can inspire the process of our next General Chapter. The experience of the transforming love of Christ transformed the small community of disciples, frightened and locked in the cenacle, into courageous witnesses, open to others, filled with the Spirit who sends them to the ends of the world. This is what the Evangelist Luke presents to us in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1). This book can inspire us in our chapter context, in particular the account of the meeting, called the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15, 1-29) between Paul, Barnabas and their companions sent…
Preparation for the 26th General Chapter 2023
From left to right: Fr. Yago Abeledo, Sisters Franceline Hien, Juliana Karomba, Selina Wavinya, Maria Carmen Ocón, Maamalifar Poreku, Carmen Sammut, Mapendo Masirika and Jocelyne Morin From January 23 to 27, 2023, the Preparatory Commission for the General Chapter met in Rome with the objective of discerning important topics or points that concern the life and mission of the whole congregation. The chapter theme: “The transforming love of the risen Christ calls us to walk together without fear, to deepen our charism in collaboration with others and to widen our tents to give birth to a new creation.” The commission included Sisters Maamalifar Poreku, Jocelyne Morin, Franceline Hien, the General Council and the co-facilitators, Father Yago Abeledo, M.Afr. and Sister Selina Wavinya of the Sisters of Mercy from Kenya. For the first three days we worked to identify the subjects to be treated from the reports of the pre-capitular…
Prayer for the 26th General Chapter 2023
Triune God, Source of inspiration and communion, We praise you for sharing your boundless love for us through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his whole life for humanity. He leads us in his mission to be docile to the creative newness of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for our beloved Congregation which, for 153 years, has been rooted in the passion for Christ and his mission in the heart of Cardinal Lavigerie, our founder, of Mother Marie-Salomé and our sisters of all generations. We thank you for calling and sending us as women apostles, among the countless messengers of your Word, to Africa and among its peoples everywhere. We entrust to you our next 26th General Chapter. May the breath of your Holy Spirit inspire us during its preparation and lovingly guide our discernment and our journey together. Faithful to the Gospel and to our charism, may our…
Logo for the 26th General Chapter 2023
As the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa we are preparing for the 26th General Chapter to be held this year. The theme of our General Chapter is: The transforming love of the Risen Lord calls us to journey together without fear, to deepen our charism in collaboration with others, and to expand our tent, giving birth to a new creation. This theme in turn sends us to our Constitutions n° 22: “Our whole life is a participation in Christ’s Paschal Mystery as we make our own the Servant’s attitude of unconditional, self-surrendering love. To begin again each day, to endure in difficult situations, to accept suffering, partings and diminishment, all this becomes a source of life in him. Thus, in Christ, the First-born of a great multitude, we move towards the final gathering of reconciled humanity, where all will proclaim: ‘Jesus Christ is Lord to…
MSOLA Prechapter in Nairobi 25-30/9/2022
We celebrated the Pre-capitular Chapter of the ECA Entity, East and Central Africa, from September 25 to 30, 2022, at the Retreat Center of the Passionist Fathers in Nairobi (Kenya). We were the 3 sisters of the leadership team: Victoire, Harriet and Angela, and 15 delegates from 7 countries: Burundi, Rwanda, D.R. Congo, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Among us, there was Sister Mapendo from the General Council, 2 other MSOLA invited to render service: Sister Pascaline who was the secretary of the Pre-capitular Chapter and Sister Magda the translator from French to English and 3 others from 3 different congregations who helped us by rendering various services: Father Joachim Zoundi, SJ, the moderator, Father Jean-Paul Sakoto of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, the translator from English to French and Sister Céline Mbuli of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy who will be one of the moderators of…
The mission makes us live – Pre-chapter NOUA
From October 23 to 29 in Ouagadougou, the Pre-capitular Chapter of the North-West Africa entity, NOUA, took place. It brought together 17 sister-delegates, including the entity leadership team. We had the joy of welcoming two sisters from the General Council: Juliana Karomba and Marie-Carmen Ocon from Rome, as well as Marie Ange Ndayishimiye, translator and Clementine Mukampabuka, secretary. The preparations for this meeting took place long before, and ended with the Ignatian retreat accompanied by the writings of our venerable Mother Marie Salomé. The retreat was led by our sister Angela Kapitingana. We are grateful to her. 26 sisters took advantage of this retreat. Many other meetings and events also occurred: First of all, the first vows of 5 novices and the perpetual vows of Sister Agnieszka brought together a number of NOUA sisters. It was a great joy to meet again after several years without meetings because of the…
Pre-Chapter in Montreal, 22-26 August 2022
In Montréal, from August 22nd to 26th 2022, we have celebrated our American Pre-chapter with leaders Maite Sanz de Pablo et Florence Mwamba Malunga and many sisters from Canada and the United States. Here are some extracts with the sisters’ reflections: “This moment of grace allows us to look together how have lived the orientations of the General Chapter 2017 and the orientations of our post-capitular Chapter: “Bearers of hope, listening to the voice of the Spirit, let’s move forward together towards the peripheries.” “GRATITUDE: … Finally, the real gift of gratitude is that the more we are grateful, the more present we become. This is our boundless wish for our gathering.” “LIVING SOME CHANGES OF SEASONS: The change of seasons has been characterized by the changes in our own being as persons, as we continue to grow in age. Ageing brings a lot of challenges to many of us.…
A Look at the Women of Africa
After spending many years in West Africa, and living in several communities in France, Marie-Vincente Brouca is now at the St Charles Retirement Home in Verrières-le-Buisson. With ever sparkling eyes, she tells us about her missionary life in Mali and Burkina Faso. As soon as I arrived in Bamako, I marvelled at the beauty of the Malian women! In the years that followed, I had the chance to work with them, in a Social Center teaching French and embroidery. In fact, they taught me much more than I knew myself. Among them were Muslim women, much freer than in North Africa and some Christian women. Then I was sent to an African Congregation to train young women in religious life. There, although they only had a few rudiments of French, I saw that they knew how to live and express themselves, not to mention their faith which amazed me. Then…
Meeting of the “Our Lady of Africa Family”
In order to consolidate the family spirit among the sister congregations, the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) organized a day of meeting of the MSOLA General Council with the Superiors General of the Family of Our Lady of Africa. This meeting took place on May 7, 2022 in Viale Trentaprile. Some new Superiors participated for the first time. In a time of prayer, each Superior General lit a small candle and we entrusted to Mary: our world, Africa, our Congregations and our meeting; Africans at home or on other continents; all those who do not know Jesus; those who experience abuse; peoples in distress; the apostles of today and young people so that they might hear the call of Christ. In linguistic groups, French and English, and then in plenary, we shared the experiences lived in our Institutes during the Covid 19 pandemic and also the…
How beautiful it is to be together
By Sr Donatira Tusiime, Goma, D.R.C. Warm greetings from the community of Goma. I would like to share with you the joyful experience of living fraternity and communion as a Lavigerie Family “FALA” in the diocese of Goma. The Lavigerie Family is a group composed of 5 very active branches. FAMAG. Family of Missionaries of Africa of Goma “Relatives of sisters and fathers”. FAMA. Fraternity of Former Missionaries of Africa AMA. Friends of Missionaries of Africa Missionaries of Africa and Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa Each group has its own objective to reach but what unites us as FALA is three words of Cardinal Lavigerie; Apostle, Love and Africa. When I see these committed lay people, I am always impressed by the fact that they see themselves as apostles. They try to live this, starting with their families, their neighborhoods as well as their witness in daily life.…