March 25, 2022, First profession of four sisters
After the Novitiate, by their first religious profession, the young professed become members of our religious family. They received the cross, which explains two meanings: • The great love of Christ for them and for all of us. The acceptance of the cross expresses their free choice to follow and walk each day in the footsteps of Christ. • Their belonging to the religious family of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, which they have freely chosen. During the offertory procession, the four young sisters presented to the Lord four symbols: Bread and wine: so that their lives may be an offering, pleasing to God at all times. The “canary” (an earthen vessel filled with water): symbolizes the life received and given freely from the Lord as their lives to the service of their brothers and sisters. The map of Africa: symbolizes the place of our mission in…
Final vows of Sister Scholastique Makita Mutanda
“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labour in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” [Ps 127:1] Sharing from Sister Scholastique These words spring from my heart today, in thanksgiving for the work of God in my life. Without his mercy and his infinite love, I could never have reached such a commitment with my own strength. The Lord will remain faithful to me and I know that without his grace, I could do nothing on my own. This is why I am grateful to the Lord for the gift of my religious and missionary vocation within the Church in the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. Truly, Jesus is faithful to anyone who trusts him. When I think of my vocational journey, I see that the Lord has been a faithful companion in my vocation.…
Vocation “is about making God’s dream come true”
Pope Francis released a message on Thursday for the for the 59th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which this year will be on 8 May, and has as its theme “Called to Build the Human Family.” Pope Francis says that when we speak about vocations, we are speaking about making God’s dream come true. He encourage every person in the Church to give the very best of themselves. In his message, the Pope reminds us that we are called: to be protagonists of the Church’s mission; to be guardians of one another and of creation; to welcome God’s gaze; to respond to God’s gaze; and to build a fraternal world. Here is the full message: Dear Brothers and Sisters, At the time when the cold winds of war and oppression are blowing and when we frequently encounter signs of polarization, we as a Church have undertaken a synodal process:…
The formation of the sisters in the spotlight
“… It is necessary to continue our training. The times of spiritual and professional deepening will only bear fruit if they are linked to a continuous personal effort, which knows how to exploit the means, even modest ones, within our reach. (Constitutions No. 86)” From the beginning, our congregation has been very attentive to the study path of the young people who wanted to join us. Alongside doctrinal studies, there has always been a mandate to form us in professions that could enrich our apostolate with specific methodologies and tools for our mission. First and foremost there has always been the study of local languages and dialects. At the beginning it was Arabic and the dialects of North Africa and some sisters had acquired such a mastery that they became teachers and professors. As for the professions, at the beginning they were all provided with practical courses to face the…
Final vows April-May 2022
We thank God with and for our four sisters who will soon make their final vows: Sr Pascaline Katungu from Goma DRC appointed to Arusha Tanzania. She will make her vows on 30th April 2022 in Our Lady of Africa Parish, Katoyi in Goma DRC Sr Scholastique Makita from Kinshasa appointed to Malindi in Kenya. She will make her perpetual vows on 30th April 2022 in Saint Gabriel Parish Yolo Kinshasa DRC. Sr Priscille Nisubire from Burundi appointed to Butare in Rwanda. She will make her perpetual vows on 8th May 2022 in Kiganda parish, Archdiocese of Bujumbura, Burundi Sr Anna Wójcik from Poland appointed to Lilongwe in Malawi will make her perpetual vows on 29th May 2022 in the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul and Our Lady of the Rosary in Kanie, in Poland. We wish them to be a good instrument in God’s hands for His…
Awakening the family Spirit
Collaboration is a process that enables people or individuals to work together to achieve a defined and common objective. Our Ukusijoni Common Project at the service of the refugees from South Sudan is a great and challenging mission. To accomplish this, we are privileged to be part of the team that consists of three Missionaries of Africa and the three of us MSOLA. We were sent together to achieve a common goal in participating in the Mission of Christ among our brothers and sisters now known as refugees. To be able to live this mission in a life-giving way, we got the opportunity to come together as the two institutes to spend some time together in Nairobi and to get some fundamentals that would help us in our ministry. Indeed, we treasured this time of formation. It gave us an occasion to see as a team the vision and the…
Volunteers in Dar-es-Salaam
Volunteering with one of our communities is a way to get to know our charism better and to have an experience full of faith and conviviality. Here is the account of the experience of two girls who wanted to spend a few months as volunteers in our community of Dar-es-Salaam We are two young business school graduates. Before beginning our professional life, we wanted to take a few months to share what we had the chance to receive during our studies. We have chosen to take part in a project to support women entrepreneurs in Dar es Salaam. We are therefore leaving for 3 months to meet the Tanzanians, and particularly the four women that we accompany. Each of them has a project with a social or environmental goal. During this stay, we are fortunate to be welcomed by the Community of the Sisters of Our Lady of Africa: the…
Come and see – from 29th to 31th July 2022 in Poland
From 29th to 31th July 2022 in Lublin (Poland) Weekend for women aged 18 to 35 years, wishing to discern their vocation, to get to know our congregation better.For those willing there is a possibility to come earlier or extend the stay. In the programme: meetings with other young people who are discerning their vocation meetings with the Missionary Sisters of the Our Lady of Africa from the Lublin community presentation of the charism of the Congregation and learning about the missionary work of the Sisters time for personal and community prayer with the Word of God And all this in an international and intercultural atmosphere. Useful information: Cost: Voluntary contribution Registration: Until 24 July 2022 Place: the house of The Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa ul. Powstańców Śląskich 30/32, Lublin (Poland) CONTACT AND REGISTRATION: Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa sr. Gosia Popławska E-mail: powolanie@siostrybiale.org Tel:…
Remain in my love
A testimony from the Juniorate of 2021-2022 The Juniorate is a time of discernment that novices spend in the General House in Rome. In these five months, they follow the formation of preparation for the final vows. “Taste and see how good is the Lord.” Our Juniorate project was marked by the symbol of a tree rooted in the African world. By its roots it is oriented towards the source from which it receives life. We expressed our desire to be rooted in Christ, our source. We desire to live this time well and take advantage of our growth in order to better commit ourselves to the mission. This desire accompanied us during our journey, and allowed us to receive and taste the fruits of our various experiences. Indeed, this stage of the Juniorate allowed us to be away from all our apostolic and community activities, with a view to…
Our best wishes to the Junioristes of 2021-2022!
PREPARATION FOR FINAL VOWS: THE JUNIORATE The juniorate stage is primarily a time to go more deeply into the spiritual life, a time to allow each sister to receive from God the grace: