In the Footsteps of St. Louis Marie de Montfort
"Footsteps Online"
Spring 2001 (Volume 6, Issue 2)
The Seed That Never Dies Continues to Grow
Last December there was great joy in the Archdiocese of Mbarara, Uganda. On the 9th and l0th consecutively the 'little flock' of the Montfortian family in Uganda celebrated the final profession and ordination to the Deaconate of John Mary Ahimbisibwe Ngabirano (John Smith to you and me). He is our first Ugandan Montfortian, which is surprising since this country is alive with the faith of the Ugandan Martyrs. So the Montfortian life has been a slow growing seed.
The pioneer of the Montfort Missionaries who opened the Ugandan chapter was Fr. Lambertus Terstroet of the Dutch province, currently working in Iceland. He had been a teacher of philosophy at one of the Major Seminaries in 1972. In 1974 Fr. Ben Faas, another Dutchman, arrived to teach Scripture at Kampala, at the National Seminary of Theology, Ggaba, where he spent 15 years. He also served a later period of 2 years, 1990-1992, as novice master at the novitiate of the African Delegation of Formation at Mbarara. A third Dutch Montfort Father arrived in 1979, Fr. Adrian van de Hulst, at the invitation of Bishop John Baptist Kakubi. He served as chaplain to the teachers' training college in Ibanda, and was the one who laid the foundation of the current novitiate at Mbarara, which is now the Montfortian Novitiate for all Africa.
Fr. Lambertus planted the seed by recruiting the first Ugandan novices, who had to come to England in 1975 to do their Novitiate at St. Joseph's Ashurst. Unfortunately at that time there was no sufficient structure to the Montfort presence in Uganda, and so when they returned they all drifted into the secular priesthood. This echoes something of the experience of Montfort with his first followers in France. The Montfortian seed in Uganda appeared to have failed on thin soil. This thin soil seemed to turn to rock, as Fr. Adrian made other unsuccessful attempts at novitiate with candidates from Uganda and former Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo). As most of these seeds withered, there were thoughts in Rome of abandoning the idea altogether, and the future was most uncertain.
In 1990 fresh hope dawned and another novitiate was begun in Mbarara, this time with seven novices from Malawi. Two new priests came with them: Fr. Charlie Beirne as assistant novice master, Fr. Matthew Jenniskens as superior, and Fr. Ben Faas was novice master. Although there were some thorns threatening the young seed, they sprouted and became the crop of the current Malawian Montfort Fathers: Frs. Blaise, Callisto, and Thomas. The seed had refused to die.
After this crop there was a little famine again until 1994 when another six Malawians were joined by a Ugandan, John. And so the soil became fertile again. To date three of these have made final profession in the Montfortian Family, one is already a priest, Fr. Andrew in Malawi. Then there were the other two, John Mary and Louis, who made his final profession in Malawi on 6th January 2001. They are both now deacons and awaiting ordination to the priesthood quite soon. And so the seed still grows thanks in part to the efForts of Fr. Charlie Beirne and Fr. Jack Sijm, who has since returned home to Holland. Currently the Novitiate is under the direction of Fr. Olivier Maire from France. Each year has produced at least two young religious who then go to Nairobi in Kenya to continue their theology studies. At present there are six novices in Mbarara: one Zambian, one Kenyan, one Malawian, one Ugandan, and two from Congo. The prayer of the whole Montfort Family for them is to produce a harvest that will last. May they be the living seeds who sacrifice themselves in order to produce a rich harvest.
And so John Mary's ordination gives us all great joy, and we give thanks to God that the perseverance of the Montforts and their reliance on Divine Providence has been rewarded. The soil is surely fertile in Uganda and the Church is now ready to receive Montfort's Wisdom, who is Jesus, the eternal and incarnate Wisdom of God. They are ready to receive the True Devotion to our Lady, especially in the light of the recent disaster at Kanungu where 1000 people perished, part of a cult movement for the restoration of the Ten Commandments. This catastrophe was due to a false devotion to Our Lady. The people love Mary our Mother, but with such false teaching they are easily misled. And so there is a spiritual vacuum waiting to be filled: 'Fear not little flock, for it has pleased the Lord to bestow a kingdom on you.'
The seed of the Montfortian life is bearing much fruit in Uganda already. Even though we are still a small flock there is still great work going on serving the poor and wretched in Mbarara. In juvenile prison and the rehabilitation of young delinquents. The scourge of AIDS and the orphans it has produced receive the help, the care and devotion of the community. The blind have their educational needs met through the provision of the Wisdom School for the Blind.
Uganda is a country trying to recover from social, political and economic trauma, the result of two dreadful civil wars. Now that there is peace there is a glimmer of hope. However, many challenges remain and call for many new labourers, for the harvest is ripe. The gift of our first Ugandan Montfortian is a cause for joy and hope. Yes the seed of Montfortian life in Uganda, and indeed all over Africa, is not dying, but growing...... 'Come and see where Jesus lives.'
