Closing of the Jubilee of 125 years of Evangelisation in Burkina Faso
A report from our communities in Burkina Faso The festivities started in 2023 found us finally on February 16, 2025, at the Shrine of Notre Dame de Yagma. The Eucharistic celebration was presided by Pope Francis’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The theme was “The Church, Family of God in Burkina Faso: 125 Years of Evangelization, Assessment of Pastoral Options, and Prospects for a New Beginning.” The faithful came from all over the country, as well as delegations from other countries. Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers, created cardinal a few months ago, came with a 13-member delegation. A Missionary of Africa, Father Guy Sawadogo, a young M. Afr in training, a sister of the Immaculate Conception from Ouagadougou, and another sister of the Annunciation from Bobo-Dioulasso were part of the convoy. “A great field to harvest, a vineyard to gather, God now calls for his harvest! A…
Enjoying life to the full in Belgium
Highlights of our sisters’ life in Belgium The Olympic Games As you know, this summer (2024), the Olympic Games were held in Paris. What a pleasure to see all these athletes giving their all after months and months of training. But what you may not know is that in Eureka (the house where our sisters live), there was also an event taking place! The Tour d’Eureka 2024 by bike! And be proud, because the yellow jersey was won by Sister Alice Geron! While Sister Marie-Louise Mortiaux excelled in endurance and won the medal for best endurance! Well done to them both! Jubilees 2024: 65 years of vows by Greta, Madeleine and Bob On 15 August 2024, we were delighted to celebrate Madeleine Dierckx and Greta Van Audenhove’s 65th anniversary of their vows. Father Bob Dierckx was also celebrating his jubilee, 65 years as a priest, so we…
Jubilee Celebration in Brussels
From our Sister Monique Bonami What a joy it was on Saturday August 19 to gather around the 3 jubilarians of the year: Sr Irma Declerq: 75 years of religious life, Sr Patricia Massart: 65 and Sr Marie-Paule Schiltz: 50. Early in the morning, our coordinator Claire and her husband Kim went to pick up Irma in Oostkamp (Bruges). Patricia came from Eureka (Evere) and Marie-Paule is on site: Evere St Joseph where we have 4 sites. An elevator breakdown gave us the opportunity to go not to the chapel, but to the dining room of the Sisters of the 3rd floor, which was well decorated for the occasion, and it was more familiar! Father Luc de l’Arbre, Miss. d’Afrique, celebrated the Eucharist, which began with the beautiful hymn “Jubilez, criez de joie”. We continued alternating between French and Flemish, ending with a song in Alur, a language of…
Golden jubilee celebration for Sister Bijundi Bashige
Report by Sister Mariette Macozi, for the Kinshasa community Following the announcement of Sister Bijundi’s appointment to Bukavu, we were looking for a simple way to say goodbye. The conditions being right, we combined her farewell with the celebration of her 50 years of religious consecration as MSOLA. The small number in our community was not an obstacle for us to mark this important day for our sister. Given the limited space available to welcome a large number of guests in our home, we approached our brothers the Missionaries of Africa to welcome us to their home for this important celebration. Once we had obtained their agreement, we asked their young people to help us lead the mass. Many people responded positively to our invitation. We had initially asked Father Ange Kufwakuziku, SVD (Director General of the organization for the Reclassification and Protection of Street Children – ORPER) to…
Jubilee celebration in Cartierville, Montréal
Monday, October 24th, was a feast day in Cartierville! Of the 21 Jubilarians of our Entity, 14 were physically present, led by our centenarian, Sr Gisèle Dubois! Sr Lise Giguère came from Beauport, thanks to Mrs Bénédicte Lasselin, their accompanist. We were also happy to welcome Sr Marcelle Morin from Ottawa and Sr Felicia Nowak from Winooski. And we also remembered Sr Françoise Bruneau who died on June 10th this year. On entering the Providence Hall, an autumn ambiance surrounded us with a shimmer of colours, ochre and bronze, carrying us away in a dance of tones. The beautiful layout of the centerpieces invited us to gather around these well-prepared tables, with tablecloths and napkins bearing the names of the jubilarians. Also note the small corsage bouquets for each of the jubilarians. Indeed, a lot of imagination and affection have gone into this celebration. To the left of the altar,…
In joy and thanksgiving
Consulted for the meaning of the word “jubilee,” the little Larousse tells us: “To express great joy”! Yes, but what joy? That of the kids playing ball in the yard? That of the girls who tell stories of their last judo lesson? or that of the lucky winner of the national lottery?… Well no, the joy we experienced in the community of Sceaux on Thursday, October 6, 2022, is on another level. That day, Sr. Agnès Nouyrigat and 4 members of her family; Sr. Rosemarie Bordes (who had already celebrated her jubilee on August 15 in the nursing home where she lives); Father Emmanuel Lengaigne (Provincial Superior of the Missionaries of Africa) and the entire community of Sceaux were gathered to celebrate the jubilee of Agnès (50 years) and Rosemarie (60 years). Quite naturally, the preparation for this great day was organized around these two themes: joy and thanksgiving.…
25 Years of Missionary Life of Sr. Maria Carmen Ocón
On December 7, 2021 Sr. Maria Carmen celebrated 25 years of missionary commitment among the sisters, families and friends. Next day the celebrations continued with our brothers the Missionaries of Africa, Fr. Stephen Ofonikott, Fr. Stanley Lubungo, Fr. Stéphane Joulain who also celebrated 25 years of commitment with their missionary oath. The ceremony presided by Bishop Claude Rault took place at the Generalate. Here is an extract from an article on Sharing Trenta Aprile that Maria Carmen was kind enough to share with us. My vocation story begins with a spiritual experience through God’s words to Abram in Genesis 12: “Leave your native land and your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you”. Since then, it has been a journey in which the verbs “leave”, “go” and “show” have been an essential part of my life experience. LEAVING: I have always found it difficult and…
Statues of Joseph and Mary Unveiled in Worldhouse
The Worldhouse received a gift from the sisters – statues of Joseph and Mary on August 24th, 2018 when the MSOLA celebrated their jubilees of religious profession. Worldhouse is the former Molenweide Care Home in Boxtel in the Netherlands, where a community of Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa has already been living for many decades, first with other religious, later including laypeople.
25 years of the Lord’s faithfulness, Srs Gisela Schreyer and Marie-Alice Terrettaz
On September 17, 2016, Sr. Gisela Schreyer and Sr. Marie-Alice Terrettaz celebrated their silver jubilee of religious missionary life in the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. Sr. Marie-Alice had made her first profession on September 8, 1991 in Butare in Rwanda, Sr. Gisela made hers on March 15, 1992. Since both shared formation time in the postulate and novitiate and now live at the Generalate in Rome, their decision to celebrate together was not difficult. Each had the joy of welcoming members of her family who joined the sisters at the Generalate. Father Joe Buholzer member of the Missionaries of Africa presided at Mass and gave the homily on the selected text Luc 5:1-11: the miraculous catch and the call of Peter to become “fishers of men.” The first reading was taken from 2 Timothy 1:6-9a. Symbols to express…
Jubilees in the Netherlands!
Women apostles for Africa since 70, 65, 60 and 50 years! “Today, together with our sisters in the Netherlands – Boxtel, we are grateful to God for His uncountable graces. In a special way, for the gift of religious vocation and faithfulness of our sisters who have celebrated their jubilees and to whom we are saying “congratulations”! 70 years of religious life – Sr. Wil Hansen, 65 years of religious life – Sisters Angela Brekelmans, Tonnie de Bekker and Annnie de Groot 60 years of religious life: – Sisters: Marianne Kemmeren, Theresia Brattinga, Bertie Lintsen and Greet de Vries 50 years of religious life – Sr. Marie MacDonald A decoration for our sisters : To our great surprise, the Mayer of Boxtel, Mr. Mark Buijs, came not only to congratulate our sisters for their jubilees, but also to thank our sisters who, after 20 to 50…