Gathering the fruits of our pilgrimage of Juniorate
Pilgrimage in the footsteps of Cardinal Lavigerie: Sr. Magdalena Orczykowska, Sr. Julia Alonso Martinez (animator), Sr. Iwona Cholewińska, Sr. Kandongo Kibole Yollande, Sr. Marietha Asimwe Joakim Rupia At the end of the Juniorate our sisters share their experience: At the end of this important and very profound journey, which is the beginning of another one, with Mary and with all of you who have been with me physically and spiritually, who have encouraged me and supported me on this journey of transformation, I turn to God as I say: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my saviour. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness. The Mighty one has done great things for me, holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age.” I am grateful to the Congregation which gave me this opportunity to grow, to…
Youth Is the Future
From Sr. Keneema Anosiata, Kinshasa Yolo, R. D. Congo It is a great joy for us to share with you our experience of Missionary and Vocation Animation here in Kinshasa. Indeed, we give thanks to the Lord who continues to send us young people to discern their religious vocation through our congregation. We see that the Holy Spirit is at work, because youth is the future. During 2023, we welcomed and journeyed with several girls. Some of them have come to know our congregation through our apostolic collaborators, others through social networks such as Facebook and our website. On this point, we would like to say a special thank you to Sister Amani who has never ceased to put us in contact with girls who ask her questions on Facebook about their missionary vocational journey. Others have come to know us through the testimonies of some of…
Inter-Congregational Ongoing Formation Program (ICOF)
From Sr. Hélène Mbuyamba, Arusha Community, Tanzania A brief history In 2014, five congregations came together to set up an inter-congregational ongoing formation program (ICOF). This initiative came from the collaboration of the General Councils of the following 5 congregations: Spiritan Fathers, Missionaries of Africa, the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, the Comboni Missionaries and the Society of African Missions (SMA). The Comboni Missionaries subsequently withdrew and the OLA (Our Lady of Apostles) joined the group. Today, these five congregations are considered the founding members. The vision and mission the founding members had for the ICOF program are: Vision: Integrated priests and religious in Africa who joyfully bear witness to the Gospel in their personal, spiritual and pastoral lives. Mission: To provide Catholic priests and religious in Africa with the opportunity, space and time for personal renewal to better serve the Gospel in the concrete…
Rich harvest… few labourers
“The harvest is rich but the laborers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to do his harvesting” (Luke 10: 2). Aware of this call from Jesus, we ask the Master of the harvest to send us workers for His mission in the Church and especially in our Congregation. For that to happen, we believe that MVA is part of our mission and we are only intermediaries. Therefore, we visit churches, schools and families to make our Congregation and it’s mission known and to share our charism through our presence and our words. We also collaborate with our sisters in Goma to follow up and do MVA in Aru, for Adjumani is nearer to that part of D R Congo than Goma. We network with the Missionaries of Africa, the friends and relatives of the Missionaries of Africa (FROMA) of West-Nile and other people…
Audience with Pope Francis
January 3, 2024…a long-awaited date because we had been invited in a privileged way to Pope Francis’ general audience. At 7 a.m., we were enthusiastically marching towards the Vatican…. Wow!! A huge crowd of people were lining up…. They were way ahead of us!!! Courageous, we were the last in line, but before long we were no longer the last, and the queue was moving along at a good pace. Our yellow card put us in a special place called “baisemains”. We were in row 4… a great row to see Pope Francis up close! In these words, Pope Francis reminded us that in the Christian life, spiritual warfare is for all people who want to commit themselves to following Jesus, who himself had to live and manage his own life. Here is what he told us: Last week, we introduced the theme of vices and virtues. It’s…
Hearts on fire, feet on the moove
From the Lublin Community, Poland The Extraordinary Missionary Month of October is marked by different events and activities in Poland. If there is a place where so much enthusiasm is shown for this missionary dimension of the Church, it is here in Poland. Parish priests and Catechists of schools make it their duty to give their people an extraordinary Missionary experience, especially during Mission week, which begins on World Mission Sunday. It is mostly the busiest month for Missionary congregations. And the MSOLA are not left out. Our community here in Lublin this year, received invitations to 3 different parishes, 6 primary schools and 2 technical schools. We, Lucy and Victoria found this a great opportunity to do Missionary and Vocation Animation and we seized all the opportunities. Mostly we were both able to honor these invitations together, though few times one of us had to remain in community…
With Mary, discerning and choosing
From our sister Nathalie, on behalf of the Deli community, CHAD This year, the MSOLA organized a vocational camp in Deli from 11 to 16 September 2023 at the Kapokier Rouge Center. Seven young women from four parishes participated. Our theme was “With Mary, discerning and choosing”. The whole community was mobilized to ensure a warm welcome and the smooth running of the camp. While other sisters cleaned up the site and the equipment, some of them transported the necessities to the Kapokier Rouge. Our sister Bernadette, who was staying with her family during her holidays, joined us to animate the camp. Each of the sisters had a time of animation, sharing, witness and exchange with these young people. On the first day we focused on the theme by looking closely at the figure of Mary. How she discerned on every occasion in the mystery of…
Lavigerie Family in Ouagadougou
Reported by our sister Helene Kavula Lavigerie Family recollection – Ouagadougou Section – Sunday, November 05, 2023 Apostolic zeal and dedication It was around this theme that the “Lavigerie Family” group met in Ouagadougou on Sunday November 05, 2023, for its first recollection since its foundation 15 months ago (August 2022). Led by Father Joseph Maoka, Missionary of Africa. The day began by inviting the members of the Lavigerie family present that day to be attentive to the Lord, who meets us in our daily state of mind, in silence. The Lord visits us in unexpected situations (1R19, 8-13). Apostolic zeal and dedication are rooted in various points developed in the course of the talk. Firstly, the Holy Trinity, through which we become aware that God is communion and has a plan to save mankind. That’s why he sent his Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh who reveals…
Transition session 2023
The transition session took place in Rome from September 6 to 29, 2023. Three sisters participated (two were unable to obtain their visa). They share some experiences. From Sr. Kordula Weber, community of Karlsruhe, Germany I would like to emphasize the place given in the program activities, to relaxation and friendship. The superior of the community organized an outing for us to the beach. He accompanied us “in the footsteps of Cardinal Lavigerie” to the Church of St Agnès hors les Murs, where he received the hat and his charge as cardinal. Visit of the Generalate of our Congregation. Sisters Leticia Garduño of the General Council, Gloria Sedes, and Magdalena Orczykowska of the juniorate. An outing to Castel Gandolfo allowed us to admire the palace inside and the immense park. The visit to Assisi in the footsteps of St Francis was for us an opportunity to strengthen the…
Sisters without a habit!
From sister Xaverine Mukatabaza, Malindi Community, Kenya I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:26) Sr. Edith and I were invited to Chonyi Parish in Mombasa Diocese. It was a great joy for us as MSOLA to participate in the session of WANA MARIA. These young girls had their retreat of five days and we were invited to give a session on Vocation. What a surprise to see sisters without habits! These young girls are used to seeing sisters with veils, so to see sisters without habits was a great surprise for them. They thought at first that we were members of the Catholic Women’s Association (CWA). One of the women accompanists of the group welcomed us with the following words: It is our…