Missionary Month: Sr. Marie André du Sacré Coeur
Pope Francis proclaimed an Extraordinary Missionary Month in October 2019 and placed it under the theme Baptized and sent: the Church of Christ in mission in the world”. He invites all the baptized to live this time in four dimensions: the encounter with Jesus, missionary witness, formation in mission and missionary solidarity. Throughout this month we invite you to discover some missionary testimonies of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. Today, we present to you the portrait of Sr. Marie André du Sacré Coeur (1899-1988) who lived her missionary life as a woman apostle for the defense of women’s rights. Sister Marie André du Sacré Cœur had a doctorate in law when she entered our Congregation in 1922. Thinking that her studies in law would not be useful in Africa, how wrong she was! Just after her perpetual vows, she was sent to help the Missionaries of Africa understand…
Saint Therese of Lisieux and the Missionaries of Africa
Maurice Bellière, a Missionary of Africa, and Therese of Lisieux never met. Their correspondence made an important addition to her spiritual autobiography “The Story of a Soul”. Maurice’s vocation generated a missionary desire in Therese and the Church declared her Patron Saint of the Missions. Beginning of the friendship between Father Maurice Bellière and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux Maurice Bellière was in his second year of theology at the Diocesan seminary when he wrote a letter to the Prioress of the Carmelite convent at Lisieux begging her to, as he said – “entrust to the prayers of one of your sisters, the salvation of my soul so that she may obtain for me the grace of remaining faithful to the vocation which I have received from God.” Young Therese, who had joined the Carmel at age 15, was chosen by the mother superior for that undertaking. That is how a…
Final Commitment of Sr. Georgette Ouedraogo
On April 27, 2019, Sister Georgette Ouedraogo from Burkina Faso made her final commitment in the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa and was appointed to Lilongwe, Malawi. “The Lord has done marvels for me, Holy is his name.” Let us all give thanks to the Lord for the gift of his grace, the grace of his presence and his concern for our Congregation, for each member and especially for me today. I thank the whole family of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa for welcoming me so that together we can be bearers of hope. What joy and what grace! May the name of the Lord be praised! Celebration! an opportunity to strengthen ties It was a great joy that our sisters from Mali, Bobo and Ghana joined the cathedral community to accompany me on April 27 in my final commitment at…
Vocation story : Every person IS a Mission in our world
“Every person IS a Mission in our world, by the very fact of being in this world.”
Sister Mia Dombrecht is a Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa. She shares with us about her missionary vocation; what it means to be a missionary, joys and challenges of missionary life and the place of God in her life journey.
Songs for the 150th Jubilee
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of our Lavigerie Family, there was a contest for songs composed for the jubilee. Here are some of them.
MSOLA network Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation – Encounter and Dialogue
MSOLA in the JPIC-RD network Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation – Encounter and Dialogue The JPIC network of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa was created in 2011 to help the sisters integrate the dimension of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) into all their apostolic commitments. The network helps to intensify the sisters’ commitment to the service of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation and make it the “common thread” that runs through all their missionary commitment. The network promotes communication and collaboration on JPIC issues at all levels of the congregation. In 2015 the JPIC Network also includes the dimension of Encounter and Dialogue with other religions and cultures, which has been lived in the congregation since the beginning and is an essential aspect of our charism. At our 2011 Chapter we reaffirmed that called to be ‘all things to all people, for…
Joy shared: my first religious profession
“This is the day that the Lord has made, let it be for us a day of feast and joy.” Ps 117, 24 The dream come true The 30/04/2018, was an unforgettable day in my life in which the Lord filled me with his joy and inner peace. I was very happy to move towards the altar with the processional hymn that spoke to me so much: “Naja kwako Bwana, unipo keem tumishi wako” which translates: “I come to you Lord, receive me, your servant”. I said to myself, the dream nourished for years is realized today, the offering of all my being to God in the service of my brothers and sisters. I was delighted to pronounce my vows for the first time in complete freedom and confidence; by pronouncing them a strength and inner assurance inhabited me. Welcome into a new family What has also given…
Final vows of Vickness Muleya and Linah Siabana
On April 8, 2018 at the parish of Kabwata, Lusaka, 9 Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa from different countries Africans joined family members, Missionaries of Africa and diocesan priests in the joyous procession with song and dance, to accompany our sisters Linah Siabana and Vickness Muleya. During the Eucharistic celebration presided over by Archbishop Mpundu of Lusaka, the two sisters pronounced their perpetual vows. In his homily, the bishop expressed his deep concern for missionary vocations. He stressed the need for missionaries and encouraged the whole community to continue to promote and support missionary vocations. During the celebration, traditional dances were performed to accompany our sisters to the altar. As a sign of the sisters’ maturity and their willingness to fulfill the mission in trust in God, the women smeared their foreheads with flour. Sr. Florence Mwamba, canonical authority of our entity, representing our Superior General, prepared…
Beatification of the martyrs of Algeria
The celebration of the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions and martyrs on Algerian soil took place on Saturday 8th December 2018 at the Shrine of Notre Dame de Santa Cruz in Oran, Algeria. Among the beatified, we find Fathers Charles Deckers, Jean Chevillard, Alain Dieulangard et Christian Chessel – our four brothers, Missionaries of Africa, who were assassinated in Tizi Ouzou in 1994, and the monks of Thiberine, who were kidnapped and assassinated in 1996. “They all died because they had chosen, by grace, to remain faithful to those with whom they lived and shared services, and had become neighbors. Their deaths revealed that their life was at the service of all: the poor, women in difficulty, disabled, young, all of them Muslims. (…)These beatifications say that hatred is not the right answer to hate, that there is no inevitable spiral of violence. They want…
An MSOLA in Togo, a novelty, a call!
An open door to Togo: In December 2017, I had the opportunity to go to Atakpamé, in Togo and participate in the ordination of Father Amorain Kwami Welagnon WAYIKPO – one of our brothers of the Missionaries of Africa. At the same time, it was a great opportunity to share with the Togolese people about our charism and our mission. Our Togolese brother Amorain, Missionary of Africa: On December 30, Amorain was ordained a priest in the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul of Kougnohou. It was a very beautiful celebration during which the bishop, Mgr. Nicodemus Anani BARRIGAH-BENISSAN, called him to persevere in his vocation by being faithful to prayer, living in humility, loving the mission and the people among whom he is sent. Our brother Amorain was sent on a mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the end of the celebration, I sang the Sancta Maria…