Perpetual vows of Pascaline Katungu
On April 30, 2022 in Goma, DRC – Sharing of Pascaline Katungu “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will be our messenger?’ And I answered: ‘Here I am: send me!’” Is 6, 8-9 Yes, the voice of the Lord resounded in my heart, he called me from my mother’s womb. Today I say a definite yes to his call. Since childhood, I have felt within me the desire to follow Christ more closely in religious life. He alone prepared the ground. He shaped me through my biological family, teachers, priests and catechists, neighbours and all the people God put on my path. Then he formed me through the sisters of my religious family. Since 2005, the year when I first started to visit the MSOLA, until today. I give thanks to God! It pleased God to call me to be…
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.…
‘Come and see’ at the MSOLA house in Malawi
This article is an extract from MVA/MSOLA Network Letter n° 25 “Come and see” is a stage when a young woman who is interested in religious life comes to stay in our community. Just as Jesus did with his disciples when they asked Him “Master where do you stay,” He told them to “come and see” (John 1: 39). Here is a testimony shared by young Sphiwe Gervazio who stayed at our house in Lilongwe with three other girls, from 17th to 20th December 2021. Dear sisters! Receive our greetings from the warm heart of Africa! We are very grateful to God for the warm welcome we received from the sisters, the joy and peace we have experienced, the kindness and openness they showed us during our stay in their community. We came to the sisters and witnessed how they live their religious life. This increased the desire to join…
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…
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:
He has filled the hungry with good things
On July 3, 2021, in Gogo, diocese of Manga, Burkina Faso, our sister Julienne BOUDA vowed to follow Christ in obedience, chastity and poverty, according to the charism of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. The sisters on mission in Burkina, Faustina from Ghana, the novices and the postulants came to be with our sister at this important moment in her spiritual journey. There were family members of our Burkinabé sisters, friends of the community, the family of Sr Julienne and many parishioners. Two Sisters from Gogo came to support their compatriot in her commitment as well as several other sisters. The Lord, who was the first to be involved in Julienne’s life, got ahead of us in all the preparations. The sky blessed us with a calm rain the day before, but on this day the weather was fine and even the temperature went down a little.…
