By Prince Henderson, ECM Communications Officer
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| Fr. Vincent Mwakhwawa, The National Pontifical Missionary Societies of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi Led the Occasion of Laying of the Foundation Stone for the Shrine |
Nsanje Parish of Chikwawa Diocese of the Catholic Church has taken an initiative to construct a Shrine at a place where the first Missionaries buried a medal of the Blessed Virgin Mary underneath a Baobab tree they planted upon their arrival in Malawi from Holland in 1901.
Parish Priest for Nsanje Parish, Fr. Michael Hussain said the first Missionaries who were the Montfort Fathers came all the way from Holland through Indian Ocean connecting to Zambezi River then Shire River on a mission to spread the word of God in Malawi.
“By burying the medal of the blessed Virgin Mary, these missionaries only wanted to symbolize that they were dedicating all their missionary work to Mother Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is against this background that Parishioners of Nsanje Parish, would like to construct this place as a historical place,” said Fr. Hussain during a Missionary Sunday celebration, a day aimed at promoting missionary works in the Catholic Church throughout the whole world.
He said this project should not be regarded as a project for Nsanje Parishioners or Catholic faithful alone but should be regarded as a national historical project as it carries the country’s historical facts in terms of Christianity in Malawi.
“We will put up a simple structure for the mean time but our plans are that we build a Chapel at the side where people will come to pray, then a hostel and we may even think of constructing a school,” he said.
The National Pontifical Missionary Societies of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, Fr. Vincent Mwakhwawa who laid the foundation stone concurred with Fr. Hussain that indeed the place is a historical one and keeping its history will be ideal.
He said the first missionaries came to Malawi to preach to us the word of God and they are still preaching to us through various means hence time has come for Malawians too to become missionaries to others. It was for this reason that the Catholic Church set aside the month of October as Missionary month where Catholics world-over celebrate World Mission Sunday and as such encouraged to pray Holy Rosary daily.
His Lordship Peter Musikuwa who led the Holy Eucharistic Mass in his message from the Holy Father “Missionary Church, Witness of Mercy” centered on the missionary activities done by the Church as true visible signs of God’s mercy.
He said all that the Church does in taking care of the spiritual and bodily life of people on earth is a witness of Mercy. This witness comes from the joyful encounter with Jesus Christ. Thus, he called upon all to open up their hearts to Jesus Christ and then to the needs of other people.
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