Francinah Ramorei: A Hundred Years of Prayerful Life Celebrated in Archdiocese of Pretoria

by Daluxolo Moloantoa · Published September 9, 2024 · Updated September 9, 2024

Photos: Clement Menyuko

The parish of St Josephine Bakhita in Valboschoot, near Jericho in the North-West province recently celebrated a centenary birthday celebration for Mrs Francinah Motsididi Ramorei, a member of the St Anne sodality at the church. She has been a member of the sodality for over seventy years.

Mrs Ramorei was born on 18 August 1924. She was married in 1948 to the late Mr Jan Nakedi Ramorei. They were blessed with eight children, six girls and two sons. Out of the eight children, two have passed on. The couple were further blessed with thirty grandchildren, seventy-one great-grandchildren and fifteen great-great grandchildren.

“On her ninetieth birthday, we told her as her grandchildren that we were praying to God to grant her life until she reached her centenary.

Her response was that she will join us in prayer and ask God for this to happen. We’re happy that God has answered our prayers and granted us the opportunity to celebrate this milestone with her,” Martin Motimele, a grandson of the old lady said.

Mr Motimele added that when her parish priest pays her a visit at home to confer the Eucharist on her, she goes into prayer for at least thirty minutes before his arrival. “She says she wants the Eucharist to find her ready at all times. She is a prayer warrior, and does absolutely nothing without having prayed for it first,” he said.

The occasion was attended by her fellow congregants, members of the St Anne sodality at her parish and the St Anne sodality members from other parishes in the archdiocese of Pretoria, represented by the sodality’s archdiocese president Mrs Tebogo Petja and other executive members.

“We as her family wish that God will grant us the opportunity to celebrate a hundred and one years of her life next year. We believe that as in the past when we prayed for her centenary, God will grant us this wish. In her own words, there is nothing bigger than prayer,” Motimele said. A celebration was held at Mrs Ramorei’s home following the Mass service.