You Chose Me: Three Young Men Join Pallottine Community

By Br Lindani Maxwell Mzelemu

Special days are to be remembered always. On the 7^th of May 2021, it was a special day for the Pallottine Community at Holy Trinity Formation House at Step-Aside in George. Three young men were officially received into the Postulancy stage of Formation. Postulancy is the first stage in the religious life where one gets a chance to discern his vocation.

Br Lindani Maxwell Mzelemu writes: On this day I was privileged to be one of these three brothers who were admitted to this stage of formation. I regard this day as one of the most important days of my life.  I will always celebrate this day with honour and dignity because this is where I began my journey of being a member of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (SAC).

We began with the Holy Eucharistic celebration presided by Fr Bosco SAC, who also facilitated the rite of our admission to the Postulancy Stage. In his homily he quoted the words of Jesus, ‘You did not choose me but I chose you’ (John 15:16). He told us that Jesus is the one who chose us to be here and he has good plans for us.

We all know that you can choose whatever you may like in life, but you don’t get to choose your family. God is the one who chose our families for us.  Jesus chose us and he gave us the Society of the Catholic Apostolate as our home.  This is our new home.

Culturally when the newborn baby is born in the family,  the Father of the house performs a ritual to officially introduce the child to the ancestors. The main reason for doing the ritual is to plead to the ancestors that they should look after and protect the child.

On this day we were officially introduced to this home and to the elders of this home and I felt introduced to Saint Vincent Pallotti the great ancestor of this community. St Vincent Pallotti is the founder of this home whom God entrusted to look after me and nurture my vocation.

Many people think of the religious life as a difficult life. It is not a difficult or abnormal life. A human being is a social being, meaning one cannot live alone. The religious life embraces that virtue of man. We live a community life here. We pray, work, play and eat together. There are many religious communities devoted to many different saints. Pallottines are devoted to Mary Queen of the Apostles.

There are many Religious Communities  – one may ask why I opted to join the Pallottine Community.  The reason why I chose to be a Pallottine is that they make three sacred promises which are; obedience, chastity and poverty. These sacred promises are common in every religious community, but they are known as vows while Pallottines don’t vow, but make promises and that’s what makes them unique.

Another thing that made me choose to be a part of this loving community is that they also add the following sacred promises: consecrated celibacy, perseverance, the sharing of resources and a spirit of service.

Thanks to God for the gift of the Pallottines community.

As we begin the Postulancy stage of Formation we ask God to accompany us and we also ask Him to call more young men for this community, people who are ready to empty themselves and serve God.

“God sent you as workers into his harvest that through your ministry, faith may be preserved and love may grow.” – St Vincent Pallotti

For more information on becoming a Pallottine contact

Step Aside
Erf 215, CJ Langenhoven Street, Blanco, George
PO Box 515, George, 6530
Tel/Fax: +27 44 870 7640
Cell: +27 74 424 4004
Email: