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…
Sr. Marietha’s final profession
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Yezakuzwe Marie, Mukamana Ernestine, Oligah Ainomugisha, MSOLA postulants, report from Arusha, Tanzania On the morning of 20th July, Sisters, family and parishioners arrived at St. John Mary Mzeeyi Maruku parish for the Mass. In a brief history of Sr. Marietha’s life, we learned that it was through the sacrament of the Eucharist that she had come to love Jesus Christ. In Tanzania, the religious habit is very significant and appreciated. The bishop explained why our dress is different from that of other congregations. We have chosen a habit that allows us to move around easily and to be close to the people. Later during a conversation, the choir director told us that he liked the way we mixed with the people. During his speech, Mr. Joakim Rupia, Marietha’s father, showed his gratitude to God for…
Missionary Vocation Animation in Gitega, Burundi
Sr. Victoire Niyonzima from our Gitega community, shares the work of the Missionary Vocation Animation in Burundi We have been blessed with young aspirants who came to follow two vocational discernment seminars. We divided them into two groups: the first for those who came first and had not yet reached their final year of studies plus those who still have one year remaining to finish their secondary education. The second group was made up of those who, during this academic year, have finished their studies and have taken the State Examination plus those who have finished their studies a while back. The first group of 13, were there from 24th to 27th July 2024. The second group of 22 was with us from 6th to 10th August 2024. For all these seminars we are grateful to God who enabled us to organize and carry out this project. Being…
Our Community Experience in Gumo
Postulants NIYOMWUNGERE Evelyne, TEBABO Philogène and AFUA Mediator Dear sisters, we are happy to share with you our community experience and our learning of the English language for two months. First of all, we are very grateful for the welcome of our sisters who allowed us to spend our time in Gumo in a good atmosphere. We were touched by their availability, their attention and their encouragement in our learning of the language. When we arrived, the sisters showed us the house and the community program. This put us at ease and we felt at home by sharing the community tasks. What struck us during the lessons was the fact that our teacher did not understand French. We did not understand each other’s English either. The teacher did his best so that we could understand him. We do not forget the help of our sisters who encouraged us…
Silver jubilee of Sr. Marie Kanyoni
A very beautiful atmosphere of joy and solidarity marked this celebration. Everyone took the success of this party to heart as if it were their own family. Sr. Marie at the centre From Sr. Marie Kanyoni Bangaya Ndusha, Bamako, Mali The day chosen to celebrate my Jubilee was 04/14/24 because this year, 03/27 (the date of my first vows) fell on the Monday of Holy Week. The second Sunday of Easter being Mercy Sunday, there were many activities planned at the parish; so only Sunday 14 remained. Once the date was set, the community (Sr. Vicky and I) saw how to organize the celebration before submitting the proposal to the council office of our Christian community. A week before the feast, Sr. Vicky and I were worried. But, three days before the planned date, I was pleasantly surprised to see the entire Christian community in motion for the…
Perpetual vows of Iwona Cholewińska
« All that I have and call my own You have given it all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours » St Ignatius of Loyola Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa together with the Cholewinscy family joyfully invite you to the perpetual vows of Iwona Cholewińska which she will pronounce solemnly on Sunday 8 September 2024 during the Eucharist at 12.00 noon in the parish church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Boby, Poland
The SMNDA and the emerging Congregation of the Sœurs de l’Immaculée Conception de Ouagadougou (SICO)
Sr. Delphine with two postulants of the SICO Excerpts from the diaries from 1924 to 1934 The opening of the postulate February 11, 1924, Our Lady of Lourdes. The Novitiate of the indigenous Sisters having been completed, Monsignor chose this feast of the Blessed Virgin to install there our six postulants. He blessed the robes in our little oratory, then celebrated holy mass, after which our happy girls were taken to their new home. (Diary 1924, p.51). The first vows On December 8, 1930, they told us about the joy in Ouagadougou: Big day of celebration for Ouagadougou. The 5:30 a.m. Mass, Monsignor received the wishes of the first Black Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. The lucky ones were seven in number. The Church was full, and everyone listened attentively to the monition that Monsignor addressed to the future professed women. At the end of the mass, each…
“God will do it again”
Srs. Maite, Marie Ange and Victoire with some students Sr. Marie Ange, in Nouakchott, Mauritania, has gone back to Burundi for a holiday with the family. While in Gitega she joined Srs. Maite and Victoire, who are there on mission, for some missionary vocation animation (MVA) in schools. Here is the report of her activities. During my leave in February 2024 I joined my sisters in Gitega to do MVA activities in the secondary schools. Sometimes we had about 1000 pupils in a large hall, girls and boys of all religions together and we always started with a song “God will do it again”, composed by Tchouva, that says “God will work miracles, he heals the sick, he raises the dead, he is powerful to save, he does not change … he sustains all things by his Powerful Word, more effective than a two-edged sword. Lord, say only…
The vocation group at the parish of Nouakchott
From our sister Mia Dombrecht, in Nouakchott, Mauritania This pastoral year, the parish vocational group chose “Burning Hearts, Walking Feet” as the theme for Mission Sunday in October 2023. At the start of the pastoral year, we met to listen to the young people’s interests and the topics they would like to cover throughout the year. A meditation on the call of young Samuel opened the year. In November, we organized a recollection by the sea to share on the year’s theme and on the Gospel of the Emmaus pilgrims. We tackled the subject of the missionary vocation. A diocesan priest and sisters from three missionary congregations were present to mentor around ten young people. In December, through sketches linked to the mystery of the Incarnation, the young people presented different texts from the Gospel. At the end, each one of them shared in a very moving way…