In the Footsteps of St. Louis Marie de Montfort
"Footsteps Online"
Easter/Pentecost 1996 (Volume 1, Issue 2)
Montfort Missions in Malawi, Africa
St. Louis Marie de Montfort was called to preach the Gospel, to be a "missionary", and was given the title of "Apostolic Missionary" by Pope Clement XI. His followers also preach the Gospel, and work to establish the Reign of Jesus through Mary throughout the world. They are to be found in over 30 countries today. Members of the Province of Great Britain & Ireland have been working in Malawi for many years.
In East Africa, Malawi, previously known as Nyasaland, has been the missionary territory of the Montfort Fathers for the past 95 years. In May 1901, three Montfort Fathers entered Malawi and marked their arrival by nailing to a baobab tree a medal of Our Lady to whom they consecrated their future work.
They had arrived in a country of over 25,000 square miles, peopled with members of the great Bantu family - Atumbuka, Anyanja, Angoni and Yao tribes each speaking their own tongue, but united in the same beliefs and subject to their own tribal customs. To work effectively, the first missionaries and all following them, had to learn the language of the area in which they settled and become acquainted with their customs and beliefs.
Perhaps some of us may think that the missionary priest has, as his first priority, the conversion of the African from a purely non-religious state to a new life as a Christian. This is not so. For already among the people there has existed the belief in a Spirit powerful and creative, who rewards and punishes and to whom sacrifices must be made. The missionary, either priest, Brother or Sister, becoming aware of this, must, in a way understood by his audience, introduce the teaching of the Church - the existence of the true God, Creator, Redeemer, Head of the human race, having the right to impose his commandments, just as the African chief does in his own village. From the African belief in the spirit, the notion of the human soul, spiritual and immortal, is easily arrived at. Their idea of sacrifice, in which they take part in order to placate the "spirits", lends itself to the teaching of the sacrifice of the Mass and of the Holy Eucharist. To this we would add what is most natural - the affection of the African for his mother. This characteristic is of great help in fostering our Congregation's special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Christ. The Malawians' appreciation of Mary's true role is shown by their praying the Rosary, attending the Marian devotions in October, and joining in great numbers the Legion of Mary.
Gradually the number of Montfort Fathers, Brothers and Sisters increased with volunteers from our Provinces of France, Holland, Italy, England and America. With such help, new parishes were planned with out-churches - Mass centres far from the main church, where Mass is offered every month and children and catechumens are prepared for the Sacraments.
The work of the missionary is primarily spiritual, but often through necessity it demands capabilities in material matters that help fulfil these spiritual needs. Of such a nature is the building of churches and schools in the parishes. Considered as one of the priorities of the earlier years was the building of schools - firstly in the bush far from the parish house. Here the children learned to read and write, and a simple catechism with prayers and composed in the African language was taught to the children.
Later on, funds became available which enabled us to build primary schools giving a six-year course of education, and this was followed by Secondary schools. In all this work, the Montfortian congregations, the Fathers and Sisters, were involved in the building and staffing of schools. The Government in the early days assisted by paying the teachers, but the Missions built the schools and provided the school furniture from donations from overseas.
Thanks to the educational facilities of the early days we now see Malawian men and women holding posts of responsibility both in Government departments and in companies established in the country.
Our missionary activity has always been geared to the founding of the local Church with structures as are required for an African diocese, i.e. the building of minor and major seminaries, the recruitment and training of African priests. With this in mind the Montfort Fathers built and staffed for many years a minor seminary in our Diocese of Zomba; other dioceses did the same. There are now Junior Seminaries in each of the seven dioceses in Malawi. Six of these dioceses have a Malawian Bishop, and in October this year the Major Seminary of the country will have a total of 100 candidates for the Priesthood.
Having assured our African Bishops of adequate support for the local Church, we now work on the formation of Malawian young men wishing to join our congregation. We have our own seminary in Malawi where candidates stay for three years, followed by a Novitiate in Uganda, then further studies in Nairobi, Kenya. On August 3rd this year, we will be blessed with the ordination of the first three students who will join us in our pastoral work.
For several years the number of Brothers, Sisters and priests helping in Malawi has dropped significantly, and this has affected the scope of our own work; most parishes are carrying on with two priests only - some places have only one priest. However, with the hope of a continued intake of African Montfort priests, Brothers and La Sagesse Sisters, we should be assured of giving greater service to the people of our parishes.
Worthy of mention here is the work of the daughters of Wisdom whose devoted co-operation has been invaluable since the start of our work in Malawi. In the early days the Sisters gave a great service and wonderful example by their presence in a leper colony. This was followed by their staffing hospitals, clinics and secondary schools. The Sisters also invited young women to join their Congregation - the success of this project has now proved itself by the fact that there are sufficient Malawian Sisters now able to take full responsibility for their Congregation in Malawi. Bishop Auneau, a former Montfortian Bishop in Malawi, had chosen as his motto the phrase written by St. Bernard: "Look to the Star, call upon Mary." In this brief history of our Montfortian presence here, I feel that Mary has answered our prayers and blessed our work. May St. Louis Marie de Montfort continue to protect and guide his missionaries in Malawi.
Fr. Lawrence Littlefair, S.M.M.
