Farwell is Not Goodbye – Sisters Of St Brigid Bid Farewell To Garankuwa Church
“This day was made by the Lord. Let us rejoice in it!,” exclaimed Mrs Rachel More at a farewell function for the Sisters of St Brigid at the Christ the New Man Church in Garankuwa. The parish, founded in 1982, marked the farewell to the Sisters with an all-day function starting with a parade into the church before Holy Mass.
Once inside the church, the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) chairperson Mr Lekwape welcomed everyone present including the visitors and the nuns from other congregations. In a short speech, he remarked that at the end of the day`s activities, all should leave “with the intention to spread the Good News” to everyone they encountered wherever they found themselves.
In his homily, parish priest Fr Harrison Mulenga CSS explained that the day was a bitter-sweet day as the parish was celebrating the presence of many of the old Sisters of St Bridgid who had lived at the church many years before. “At the same time, we`re sad that the occasion marks their departure as a congregation from our church,” he said. Present at the function were parishioners of the two other parishes in Garankuwa, the Holy Cross and the Maria Mater Ecclesiae churches.
The Sisters of St Brigid have been part of the Christ the New Man Church since 1983, when they were invited by late Stigmatine Fathers priest Fr Michele D`Annucci CSS to come and occupy the newly-built convent at the Christ the New Man Church. In the ensuing years, the Sisters worked hand-in-hand with the Stigmatine Fathers not only to manage the pastoral mission of the church but to also play a leading role in the management of the church’s extended projects including a crèche, a community advisory centre, an accommodation facility and a conference facility.
This is added to the other external projects that the church was a part of, most significantly the Bethesda Special School, also in Garankuwa.
Fr Mulenga also highlighted the fact that during their forty years at the church, the Sisters had played a major role in the formation of the clergy, including countless priests and even future bishops. “You were instrumental in helping to shape the lives of many of our priests. Some have even gone further to become bishops. They are Bishop Robert Mphiwe of Rustenburg and Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp,” he said.
Opening the second programme for the day, MC Mr A Mokone went down memory lane and gave a funny profile of each of the five Sisters who lived at the church for many years. He also asked that each of the various groups directly involved with the Sisters to stand up and be recognised. They were amongst others those who had attended crèche at the parish`s Kreste Morena Creche under Sr Deborah and those who had been involved with Sr Raphael in her various activities.
A parish youth representative thanked Sr Deborah for her role in youth affairs. “You taught us the confirmation and the altar-servers lessons with the utmost patience and generosity. For that we will always be thankful,” he said. He also added that she had also become the first “socialite nun” in Garankuwa. Concluding his statement, he said that the colour green, which was the colour of the Sisters of St Brigid, symbolised hope. “In spite of your absence, we will remember you as Sisters who always encouraged us to live in hope and to aim for greater milestones as a parish. Your future absence will be our constant reminder,” he said.
The parish chairperson of the Catholic Women`s Association (CWA), Mrs Rachel More gave a brief background of the Sisters` history at the parish. She related stories of how the nuns had turned the church into a safe space for children in the local community. “We knew as parents that if your child was not at home during the weekend, he or she was here at the church with their other mothers being the Sisters,” she said.
She also mentioned that it was not only the children who had come into the care of the Sisters of St Brigid, but some of their mothers too.
“Many of the women parishioners of our three Garankuwa churches and beyond were students under the Sisters of St Brigid at the St Anne Convent School in Modimong, near Rustenburg in the nineteen sixties and the nineteen seventies,” she pointed out.
She made a special mention of the late Brigidine nun Sr Kizito Tseleng, who was also stationed at the Christ the New Man Church in the 1980s and 90s. “Sr Kizito was the engine of the Sisters at our parish. She used to make me laugh a lot because she used a special tsotsitaal term to dissuade anyone intending to deviate her from her goals. She would say: “O ska mbaiziza”, meaning don`t deter me from my actions,” she said much to the audience`s rapturous laughter.
She also articulated how Sr Kizito used to express her standpoint when met with difficult situations. “She would say: “My baptism left an indelible shield on my life eternally and forever. By this she meant that any difficulty she faced was already dealt with by her having been baptised as a toddler,” she explained. In conclusion, she thanked the nuns for everything that they had done for the parish and the larger Church in Garankuwa.
Next to speak was the Mother-Superior of the Sisters of St Brigid, Sr Francis de Sales. In her speech, Sr Francis gave a short outline of the origin of the nun`s congregation. “A lot of people think that our congregation was founded in Rustenburg. As a matter-of-fact, our congregation had its early beginnings here in Pretoria, before spreading further into the North-West province including to Rustenburg,” she explained. In her short speech, she expressed gratitude on behalf of the congregation for all the love that they had received from all the parishioners of the Garankuwa parishes, and the church hierarchy in the archdiocese. “Farewell is not goodbye. We are still with you in spirit,” she said.
A presentation of gifts to the nuns followed. A twist to the presentation took place, where a former parishioner approached the podium to make an unexpected but much-welcomed announcement. He stated that from henceforth, he would make a monthly contribution of one thousand rands towards the Sisters’ upkeep. This was met with another rapturous applause from the audience.
He was followed by Sr Raphael Sakala, a long-time nun at the parish, who stated that the day had been altogether overwhelming for the nuns, and that they would forever remain thankful for all that the parish had done for them in return.
In his vote of thanks, Mr R Nkome highlighted that the Christ the New Man parish had been fortunate in having the Sisters of St Brigid present at their church. He also pointed out that the Sisters` departure pointed to a subject which needed to be addressed within parishes today.
“We need to find ways of encouraging our young people to consider the priesthood or becoming a nun as a lifelong vocation. The void that the Sisters are leaving needs to be filled by our own young people,” he said.
After the formal activities, the Sisters and everybody present were treated to a sumptuous lunch which went on well into the early evening at the church.
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