Final Vows of our sister Yollande
You’re Invited to Unite in Prayer in Celebration of the Final Vows of Sister Yollande With hearts full of gratitude and joy, we invite you to join us in prayer as our beloved Sister Yollande makes her Final Profession of Vows, committing her life fully and forever to the service of God. Though not all of us may gather in person, we ask you to be present in spirit and prayer. Let us unite in prayer on 19th July 2025. For those who cannot attend in person, the celebration will be broadcast live on Facebook. via this link: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AWG5ADBRK/
God’s love is wonderful
From left to right: Sisters Nodjitelsembe Solange from Tchad, Cyarisima Divine from Rwanda, Nitunga Jovanie from Burundi and Mbaihamdene Valérie from Tchad. Four Sisters pronounced their first vows in Bobo-Dioulasso, on December 8, 2024. : Sisters Nodjitelsembe Solange from Tchad, Cyarisima Divine from Rwanda, Nitunga Jovanie from Burundi and Mbaihamdene Valérie from Tchad share the experience of the day. Yes, God’s love is wonderful. These words remind us of how God walked with us until the day of our commitment, not by our merit but by His unconditional Love towards us. It is with great joy that we share with you the experience we lived on the day of our first profession. On December 8, 2024, we publicly pronounced our “Yes” to follow Christ, which as our dream since we felt His call. We feel happy to belong to our dear Congregation: The Missionary Sisters of Our Lady…
Meeting of the Lavigerie family in Kenya
Meeting of the Lavigerie Family: Missionaries of Africa (M.Afr), Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) and Missionary Lay Associates (LMA). From Sr. Julienne Bouda, Ukusijoni, Uganda On 7th – 8th of February 2025, a meeting of the Lavigerie Family was held in Nairobi at Saint Charles Lwanga House. It was organized by the Entity leaders of both the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) and the Missionaries of Africa (M.Afr). This meeting was a family gathering to see how to live practically the Charter of the Lavigerie Family proposed to us by our two General Councils. Its aim was to unify the different groups of the Lavigerie Family: Lay men and women, MSOLA and M.Afr of Eastern and Central Africa, that is Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in view of the betterment of the Mission in Africa and for the Africans. We were reminded…
Our only goal is to make God known, loved and served
By Sr. Xaverine Mukatabaza, Malindi Community, Kenya “Our only goal is to make God known, loved and served” (Thoughts of Mother Marie Salome, no 167) Dear sisters, brothers and friends of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, It is my joy to share with you the experience of a of a 17-year-old girl who visited our community and stayed with us for three days. I begin with her words as she was sharing with me how she had perceived the sisters and our lifestyle. Her first impression she said: “What a joy to live with you sisters!” I asked her why? She responded that she could not imagine that we are from different countries. We are four sisters: Ghanaian, Congolese, Ugandan and Rwandese. She admired our way of living. She said, “You are like sisters from the same parents because of the love that you…
Being close to teenagers in Deli
On the occasion of the Jubilee of Teenagers, Sr. Nathalie Wendata Sedogo shares the work we do with young girls interested in our congregations. In our Missionary Vocation Animation, we are always in contact with teenagers. We organize meetings to share information and in Deli we have a group of young girls who meet regularly to discern their spiritual journey. We are delighted to have established once a month, a visit to the family of each young member of the vocation group. Indeed, every 4th Sunday of the month, all the members of the vocation group spend time with the family of each young person just after mass. Each person brings a dish so that we can have a community meal. We started with our MSOLA community. All the sisters were mobilized for the reception and animation. The young people asked us questions and focused on the…
I commit myself
Sr. Suzy Hadermann, CHS St Joseph – Evere, Belgium When I saw the theme proposed for this issue of Sharing Trentaprile, this sentence came to me spontaneously. You surely recognize it… It is a sentence from our vow formula, in n° 26 of our Constitutions: “I commit myself to collaborate totally in God’s work to proclaim his Kingdom in Africa” I find, summarized there, the commitment of our whole life for the Mission… our whole life, whatever our age, our state of health, our way of life, the place where we are sent… Collaborating totally… this means that no part of our day is outside this reality: our whole life is consecrated for the Mission. In everything we live, we are at work with God, we collaborate in his work, to proclaim his Kingdom in Africa. Collaborating totally means that God uses everything we experience, even the…
Jubilee of the World of Volunteering
The entire period of the Jubilee 2025 is characterised by a rich calendar of religious, cultural and social events. The Holy Year programme includes several ‘jubilees’ dedicated to different categories of people, identified according to their profession or their role within the family, the Church and society. The two days of 8 and 9 March are dedicated to the world of volunteering, as a reminder of the role played by non-profit organisations, NGOs, social workers and volunteers from all associations working for the benefit of the community. Today we also want to remember and thank all the volunteers with whom we continue to work on various projects. We do so with an article by our sister Elisabeth Biela, who has left her role in the Karlsruhe community as leader of the refugee ministry in collaboration with many other Christian and lay associations. Here are her thoughts on the occasion of…
Lavigerie Family of Kadutu
Posted by the Kadutu Community, DRC The Lavigerie family of Kadutu met on August 4, 2024 at the home of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa in Kadutu. Let’s start with a little history to understand who this group is. Since the celebration of the centenary of the death of Cardinal Lavigerie, a group of lay people have been touched by the vision of our founder, his actions, his charism, the ‘all to all’, his anti-slavery struggle to restore dignity to Africans, his love for Africa, his charity (Caritas, the Pelican) and his call to be apostles. All this was passed on to his missionaries to evangelise Africa. This group, called ‘Laïcs Missionnaires Lavigeriens’, was led by our sister Marie-Claude Berrod. The members met in the sisters’ community and were recognised by the diocese. They made their promise to the Church at a Mass celebrated…
Sisters of temporary vows on the path of transformation
From our Sr Sylviane Rouamba and Sr Domina Dusenge Dear readers, We send you greetings of peace and joy! As temporary vowed sisters of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, we are writing to inform you of our 2024 session and retreat in Uganda – the land of martyrs. The meeting took place from 28 November to 13 December 2024. It was divided into two parts: a week of deepening the theme of the 2023 General Chapter and a week of retreat. The first part was led by our sisters: Sister Angela Kapitinganga, Superior General of our congregation, Sister Jeanne d’Arc Ouattara, her assistant (who joined us on line), Sister Furaha Kamanyura Jeannette, leader of the ECA entity, Sister Élisabeth Villemure, Sister Revocate Kabahuma and Father David Sullivan, Missionary of Africa. The session took place in an atmosphere of openness, listening, sharing and trust.…
With Christ, in Africa, forever
Sr. Iwona Cholewinska, in La Marsa, Tunisia, shares her joy at her final vows For my final commitment I chose the date of September 8, to be able to always associate it with the birth of Mary and the birth of our Congregation. In distributing the invitations for my vows, I had this conviction that the people who will be present will be guests of the One who invited me to follow Him as MSOLA in Africa, because it is He, in fact, the author of this day. From the first preparations, the desire that inhabited me was that it be a celebration as simple as possible and it was fulfilled! Many of the people present underlined in their sharing this simplicity that was manifested in the liturgy, in the symbols and in the gestures. The celebration took place in the church where I was baptized, I…