Father Louis Gravrand, a French Priest ordained this 29th June 2020 has been appointed to our Mission in Kenya. He has arrived for the feast of Assumption!
Blessed be God!
Karibu Kenya!
Joy of the new Baptised!
On 24th December 2018, six catechumens have received the grace of Holy Baptism: 3 children and 3 adults.
What a joy for these souls to wear the new vestments of Christ's grace on this Christmas Eve!
Look at this joy on their faces, after the ceremony!
New Kenyan Priest!
On Thursday 13th December 2018, at Holy Cross Seminary in Goulburn, Australia, Rev. Fr. John GITONGA MWANGI was ordained Priest for eternity by His Excellency Bishop Bernard FELLAY.
He is the second Kenyan priest of the Society of Saint Pius X, after Rev. Fr. James KIMANI NGARURO who was ordained in Nairobi five years ago.
On the same day, another Kenyan seminarian, Mr. Joseph MANYEKI KARIUKI, received the minor orders of exorcist and acolyte. God willing, he will become priest in two years time. Another seminarian, Rev. Mr. Martin ANOZIE, from Nigeria, was ordained a deacon.
Three ordinations, three Africans: it is the first time that such a ceremony takes place in the history of the Society of Saint Pius X. What a joy and what an honour for our African missions to see the achievement of priestly vocations!
On this occasion, the District Superior of Africa, Rev. Fr. Henry WUILLOUD, and the Prior of Kenya, Rev. Fr. Nicolas BELY, travelled all the way long to Australia in order to attend the ordination ceremony, as well as the first solemn Mass that Rev. Fr. John MWANGI celebrated on the following day.
Visit Holy Cross Academy: Give a chance!
Some parents make hudge sacrifices for their children to come to Holy Cross Academy.
The school fees are quite low compared to the quality of the school with its new building, but nevertheless it demands some efforts from the parents.
A young mother has brought her daughter to the school. A fatherless daughter, which is unfortunately common in this slum. Ladies become pregnant while they're still very young, and the father varnishes to avoid the "burden".This lady was earning a too small salary for paying her house rent, food, water (bought from a tank in the street), electricity and school fees.
In order to help her, the Missionary Sisters have invited her to clean the chapel every week, so that the money she earns can pay the school fees for her daughter. At any price, she wants her daughter to remain at Holy Cross Academy and to learn the good behaviour of the Catholic life!
Visit Holy Cross Academy: Encourage!
Some pupils have come from far. Five minutes walking from the priory, there is a terrible slum, where alcohol is consumed at any time of day and night, and where drunkards are lying here and there. What a sad ambiance for the poor kids who grow up in this place. Some of them have found for a long time the way to the Priory and would never miss a Sunday Mass.
Last year, while visiting this area, the Missionary Sisters have met a two-year old child who was left outside the whole day with his six-year old brother. Their mother had abandoned them for a long time, and their father is working all the day long in order to find the minimum subsistance for his kids, and maybe a little bit of alcohol for himself...
Thanks be to God: this year, these two small boys have joined the benches of our school, with the help of some generous visitors who have been touched by their story...
We were in need of an assistant cook: why not ask their poor father?
Now, the family has revived. The father has become eager. These two children, who were spending most of their time amid the rubishes of a chanty town, can now make impeccable genuflections when entering the chapel! And every morning, the father proudly holds the hands of his two boys when they come together to Holy Cross Academy!
Deo gratias!
Visit Holy Cross Academy: Teaching!
Holy Cross Academy opened six years ago with 20 pupils only: today, they are around 200!
The Missionary Sisters are working every day at the school, taking care of the pupils during recreation times, and teaching them catechism, plastic art and French classes.
They also hold a club for young baptised girls who wish to deepen their Christian life by discovering the lives of the Saints.
Another club is organised for those who like singing, so that they can practice some hymns for Holy Mass. Another club is teaching general culture.
Father Peter teaches Latin. Brother Rémy conducts rehearsals for altar boys.
This way, the children have everything at their disposal to become true Catholics. And it works!
Bathed in this ambiance at the rhythm of the liturgical year, they make hudge progress in their Christian life and transform themselves little by little.
Aren't we heirs of an eternal Kingdom? To be aware of our Heavenly Father's love helps us to have a higher outlook on the moral misery of the environment.
The pupils of Holy Cross receive some tea & snacks in the morning and a hot lunch at midday.
During lunches, the pupils are silently listening to some classical music or gregorian chant.
It is well known that Africans are passionate for dancing. When the lunch music is a little bit too agitated, then folks and knives catch the beat, and also the legs, and eventually the whole body!
Visit Holy Cross Academy: Prayer!
At the end of every school day , all students gather together in the chapel to pray the Holy Rosary. It's now a good habit well established.
From time to time, parents come to tell us that their children have learnt how to pray. They even reveal that, if they have the misfortune to forget the evenin prayers, their children will loudly remind them that they cannot go to bed without saying good evening to the Good Lord first!
The same applies before travelling or before meals: wa can't start without a prayer!
It happened one day that a pupil couldn't be present in the chapel at Rosary time. When his mother came in the afternoon, he insisted that he cannot leave the school without having said his Rosary. His poort mother had to wait for him to say his Rosary in the chapel all by himself!
International pilgrimage to Fatima
They have joined the African group organised by Fr. Antony ESPOSITO, with nationals from South Africa (16), Zimbabwe (9), Reunion Island (2) and Uganda (1), for a two week trip to various sanctuaries in France and Spain before reaching Fatima.
In Fatima, this group of 38 people have found:
- the Africa District Superior, Fr. Henry WUILLOUD,
- Brother Rémy, who came on his own with his family,
- the Kenyan seminarians John MWANGI and Joseph MANYEKI, who are currently studying at Holy Cross Seminary in Goulburn, Australia,
- 4 Missionary Sisters of Jesus and Mary, who travelled on their own from Nairobi,
- Sister Martha, a Kenyan Oblate posted in Switzerland
- a larger group of about 65 pilgrims who came from Gabon,
Little collection of anecdotes: Children teach their parents lessons often!
It is amusing to see that a well-learned lesson in catechism sometimes benefits parents as well as children. It is parents themselves, who tell us how their children often remind them of their religious duties. A few short anecdotes:
One mother tells us that, since her child has became a student at Holy Cross, they do family prayers every single night. It is the child who demands that they be done!
Another child, jumping into a taxi with his mother, makes the sign of the cross and begins a prayer: "Mum, we must never get in a car without saying a prayer for the trip, accidents can happen so quickly!"
Another mother discovered the existence of Purgatory. It was her daughter who explained it to her. Since then, the mother often examines her conscience and makes very exemplary efforts to live a Christian life! And as for her daughter, she will one day know how to face the Protestants.Another, more theological student, explained to her mother that there are two hells: "Yes, mum, when one says that Jesus descended into hell, he did not go to see the devil!"
As for modesty, we do not make it a habit of insisting strict guideline on dress codes; but rather we follow the well-known missionary principle of initially welcoming people into the Church as they are in order to attract them to the Faith. But with children, Faith is put into practice almost automatically. A Mum was getting ready to go out shopping in fairly flimsy clothes and her child stated: "But, Mum, you can't go out in pajamas, it's offensive to the Good Lord!"
Another day, a child who had not attended the daily rosary with his classmates - no doubt due to unfinished class work or a visit to the sick bay, refused to leave the school without praying his rosary. When his mother came to look for him at home time, he declared: "Wait, Mum, I cannot leave school without saying my rosary!" He immediately went to the chapel, and his mother had to wait for her little boy to say his rosary all on his own. Do you think she got impatient? No not at all! The following day she congratulated the Sisters: "Since our children started in your school, they know how to pray!"
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