The shrine of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.
Click picture to enlarge
Read more ...

OUR FOUNDRESS
Sister Marie Gertrude

Show God your love for him by your zeal
and by charity without limit.
More about our Foundress

Reflections

Alleluia! Jesus is risen

A very good friend and benefactor from America, Mr. John Harwood died recently. He helped our schools in KwaNgwanase, Schauderville, Somerset East, Johannesburg and Pretoria among others.. Here is the eulogy he wrote for his own funeral.

In this special time of Easter, let's use it as a reflection on death anad resurrection..

Farewell Address

Thank you all for coming today. I regret that a previous engagement prevents me from joining you.

I will start by expressing my gratitude to each of you for the pleasure and joy you brought to my life. And if I have offended any of you – and some of my puns were pretty offensive – please accept my regrets. I have tried to abide by the dictate of the Hippocratic oath: “First of all, do no harm.” I haven’t always succeeded.

This is not a day for mourning. I have led a long and undeservedly happy life. I never had a game plan. My life was like crossing a shallow stream by clambering from one stone to the next. I’ve gotten to the other side without getting my feet too wet.

On the way, I’ve met many wonderful people and been able to make some modest gains in serving others. I never sought wealth or fame or power, and I’m happy to say that I never found them.

Many years ago, I encountered a brief passage in Tolstoy that ever after influenced my dealings with others: “Every person is a messenger of God to someone else.” I thought with wonderment: will I ever meet someone who has a message for me? The answer is a resounding “yes”. Some of you here today have been that messenger for me. (Fortunately, none of the messages came C.O.D.) And I would like to think that once in a while I was a messenger to someone else. In any event, that statement greatly enriched my life> “Everyone is a messenger of God to someone else.”

That’s Lesson I I have to share with you today. Life can be a sort of spiritual internet or a celestial cellphone if we let it be. But this will only happen if we apply Lesson 2: “The Lord gave us two ears and one mouth so that we might listen twice as much as we speak.” Not infrequently in conversa-tion, we use the time while the other party is speaking to prepare our next line. In doing so, we may miss an important message.

That’s the end of today’s class. I’ll close by saying that for many years I claimed that I would not die until I came up with an epitaph equal to W.C. Field’s “On the whole I’d rather be in Philadelphia.” At last I’ve succeeded: “I’ve finally found my niche in life.”

Goodbye, dear friends. Now eat, drink and be merry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

”Welcome to our website!

I hope you enjoy reading and get a flavour of some of what has happened in our congregation in the last couple of months. Flossy has been received as a pre-novice, Chinenya as a novice, and at the other end of the scale, we celebrated the jubilees of two of our sisters who between them have dedicated 140 years to God. Srs. Bartholemew and Margaret Mary both celebrated 70 years of Religious Profession in January. In February our congregational leader, Sr. Anne Patricia was elected onto the executive of COMSAM – the Confederation of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar. The rest of us continued with our normal ministries – more of that in the coming months, but first, some of the highlights!

MSA News

SR. ANNE PATRICIA ELECTED TO THE EXECUTIVE FOR C.O.M.S.A.M.

Executive for COMSAM. From Left to Right
Fr Jean Claude from CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC,
Sr Sidonie from GABON, Sr Regina from NORTH SUDAN, Mere Marie Therese from SENEGAL (President), Fr Julio from ETHOPIA (Vice -President), Sr Anne Patricia Flynn from SA, Fr Rene Claude from MADAGASCAR (missing from photo).

Sr. Anne Patricia, our congregational leader is on the executive of LCCL in South Africa – the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life. She was asked to go, on behalf of LCCL to a conference of COMSAM (Confederation of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar) which takes place every three years. The conference was held in Uganda in February and while there, Sr. Anne Patricia was elected onto the executive of the continental body.

“We celebrate Sr. Bartholemew’s 70 Years of Profession as a MSA”

“Assumption sisters from Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown as well as many friends traveled to Port Alfred on 23 January to celebrate the Sr. Bartholemew’s 70th Jubilee. Her nephew Canon Liam Stevenson came from Ireland for the occasion and was the main celebrant while Bishop Joe and Fr. John from Port Alfred and Monsignor Clarke concelebrated.

Flossy being received as a pre-novice on 29th January 2012. Seen here with Sr. Micheline. Flossy has been with us for a year and feels God is calling her to become a Missionary Sister of the Assumption. She joins Elizabeth, our other pre-novice.

Flossy with Sr. Chinenye and Sr. Geraldine. Sr. Chinenye left Johannesburg shortly after this function and was received as a novice on 11 February in Mthatha.

We celebrate Sr. Margaret-Mary's 70th Jubilee

Fr. Finegan celebrated the jubilee Mass for Sr. Margaret-Mary’s

Sr. Barbara at shop buying a camera to take pictures for the website!	Religious Congregations in Maryvale gathered at Focalari for Christmas lunch.
Sr Geraldine and Sr Consolata CPS at Association of Religious of Mthatha	Sr Loreto browsing before ARM meeting
Sr Loreto after the Mass to launch the new translation of missal

 

Latest PICTURES

Please click on a picture to enlarge

Sr. Anne Patricia delivering the LCCL(SA) Report at the Conference

 

Cistercian Fr Siyum from ERITREA congratulating Sr. Anne Patricia on
election to the COMSAM Executive

 

Abbot Theodore OSB from TOGO. His Eminence Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala

 

 

Composition photograph of the celebration for Sr. Bartholomew

 

Sr. Bartholomew and her nephew Canon Liam Stephenson from Ireland

 

Sr. Margaret-Mary reading her letters of congratulations

.

Sr. Margaret Mary Celebrates her 70th Jubilee

 

Christmas Party held on the 16th December 2011

Sr Rita welcoming children and guests at the start of the day with Richwell Mashele, a local Tsonga lad, who acted as interprereter

 

The children receiving their Christmas presents before lunch. Helping give our the presents are Project staff members, Monica Mashele, on the left, and Gift Kwinica, on the right

 

A group of the children enjoying the concert

The front of the Programme photographed against the children's
Jungle Gym

 

Two 'Happy Snaps"