Skip to main content

About

Loué Jésus-Christ!

Welcome to Loving Africa! 

In 2021, I spent five months serving in Gabon, on the west coast of Africa. Mine time there, living at the Mission Ste. Thérèse de l'Enfant Jésus, in the "professional capacity" of a nurse (I spent more time in the kitchen than the clinic!), was an experience I would like to share. Here you will find my story, and all the people and things that made up that stories: our dear priests, Canon Fragelli and Canon Sigros, the seminary candidates and oblates, who were my brothers for five months, and the postulants: my sisters! Feast days, Forty Hours Devotion, processions and birthdays make up this story, but there is also the day-to-day experience: Mass, clinic work, meals, French class, choir practice... 

Each day, each hour, was a thread that wove this tapestry, one I hope you enjoy seeing as much as I enjoyed making it--or rather, being the one Our Lord used to make it.

In Christ the King,

Sarah

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Tribute to Canon Fragelli

Canon Henrique Fragelli, who rebuilt and revitalized the Mission Ste. Thérèse de l'Enfant Jésus since 2012, died this morning in Brazil. His health had been fragile ever since contracting covid in May 2021, requiring a prolonged hospitalization and a double lung transplant. He had recently established a new mission in Rio de Janeiro at the invitation of the archbishop; today, as was noted by the Prior General of the Institute to be the first day of the month of St. Joseph, patron of a happy death, the Lord called him back to Himself.  I can only imagine the mourning at his beloved mission. For my part, I have a few personal memories: -- Canon working with me to arrange my mission trip; offering me his arm when I nearly collapsed upon my arrival and later calling my mom to let her know I had arrived; teasing me: about my ridiculous facial expression when he was taking a picture, about making hamburgers because I'm American; urging courage and patience with learning French; simpl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Let the Little Ones Come to Me

The day after Ascension, we had Mass in the afternoon. It was a votive "Mass for the Sick", for Canon Fragelli, whom we had heard that they wanted to take to a hospital in Florence. "I hope he's back before I leave!" states my journal.  Later, closer to the evening, Canon Sigros asked me if I had a key to the dispensary. I didn't. He asked if I had something for "disinfecting", as one of the littler altar boys (three of them were hanging around Canon that afternoon) had a large, superficial cut on his arm. I jumped at the opportunity and told Canon I could do something. He replied with, "I want this boy disinfected".  The wound was large, taking up most of the boy's forearm, and while it wasn't deep, it was four days old and I guessed it hadn't been cleaned. My supplies were less than I would have hoped, but they were sufficient. I was able to clean the wound with soap and water, rinse it, and put antibiotic ointment on it. I ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ascension Thursday

  As I have been reading through my journal again, I have rediscovered that many of my best and favorite stories and pictures are from May and June. The feast of the Ascension is one (not a lot of story, but quite a few pictures).  The evening before the feast, Canon Sigros wrote the feast day schedule on the board. It was kind of a combination of a Sunday (10 a.m. Mass, then lunch on the terrace) and Thursday (Adoration), while being very much a day of its own. Additionally, he printed the day's menu and the "functions liturgiques": a list of everyone involved in the liturgy, and what each one's role was. To my great amusement, my very Scotch-Irish name made it in: I think Canon was taking cue from how they do things at the Institute seminary, and wanted to have some fun. He did plan a very festive lunch for after Mass. Alas, he had bought a bottle of Malibu rum and wanted us to make a cake from it, but we didn't have any eggs at that point. So we had ice cream. ...
Post a Comment
Read more