Charism
OUR
CHARISM
The
evangelisation of the peoples of Africa, so that they might know Christ and
proclaim him in their turn.
Important aspects
of our charism
Born
in Africa, we are religious missionary women, apostles consecrated and rooted
in Christ through the life of prayer and service, called and sent on God’s
mission to the people of Africa. We are women among women for the
transformation of society. We are sent to
proclaim the Good News in international and inter-cultural communities. In this
way of living together, we witness to the love of Christ that unites all people
beyond boundaries. We try to live close to the people to whom we are sent,
learning their language, respecting and appreciating their cultures, beliefs
and customs. As much as possible, we share their daily lives and seek to
understand what is important for them. Thus we enrich each other.
Spirituality
ASPECTS OF OUR SPIRITUALITY
We follow the Ignatian spirituality lived
according to the charism of our congregation and it characterises our way of
being missionary.
The
conviction that God is at work everywhere through his Spirit makes us recognize
every place and, even more so, every person as "holy ground." Nothing
is profane and we can truly "find
God in all things".
Of
course, we need times set apart for prayer, for listening to the Word of God,
but our contemplation is equally nourished by the events of everyday life. The
basic inspiration of a truly apostolic spirituality is that it delivers us from
the dichotomy between contemplation and action. We treasure this sacramental
view of reality which is the key to unity in our lives.
We
are also called to "find all things
in God", that is: to see how everything, every person, every reality
has a special place in God's loving plan. This conviction transforms our way of
looking at reality and can make us into true bearers of hope in the midst of
any situation. We are invited to enter creatively into God's vision for the
world and to collaborate with the Spirit in making God's vision a reality.
"Be apostles, nothing but apostles, or at least,
be nothing else except with this in view."Our
spirituality is one of being sent, of, ’going out beyond our comfort zones in
order to meet other peoples, other cultures. Missionaries are frontier peoples
this remains part of us wherever we are
We are called to become all to all because we have
said to the God of all: we are all yours.
This is the deep meaning of the consecration for mission, in the footsteps of Christ,
who was totally free and availability for his mission because he belonged
totally to the Father.
Our Motto
OUR MOTTO: CARITAS: CHARITYOn becoming bishop, Father Lavigerie took the motto "Caritas" and as his episcopal coat of arms, a pelican. The Pelican is a bird which feeds its young with its own blood.His life illustrated the motto and coat of arms he had chosen. Arriving in Algiers, he addressed the Muslim Algerians: "I claim the privilege of loving you like sons " At the bishop's house he welcomed orphans and he founded two missionary societies to help them - the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (White Sisters). He required from their members the same compassion that he himself had towards the Africans. "For our love to bear fruit, we must see Our Lord Himself in the patients we care for and in those touched by our charity and our patience"(Lavigerie). Mother Marie Salome and charity Our first superior general, Mother Marie Salomé, invited the Sisters to live "this charity in its twofold objective: God and neighbour. I would like to see it become, so to speak, the passion of our apostolic life and seize everything within us, our thoughts, our desires, above all our heart, to turn everything to this single aspiration: to love God and neighbour. "
