Perpetually Professed (or, They got married (to Jesus)!)
So yesterday I had the awesome opportunity to go witness two
Salesian sisters, Irene and Irene (no, I’m not joking), make their perpetual
vows. For those of you unfamiliar, there are different stages of formation for
women (and men) who are becoming religious (religious being a noun in this
case, not an adjective).
It takes a long time, okay? Like, years. Many years. There’s the aspirancy which
takes about a year, postulancy which usually takes one or two, and then
novitiate which takes about two years as well. After that, the women will take
temporary vows for one or two years. The vows for Salesians are chastity,
poverty, and obedience. Some other congregations may have other vows that they
take in addition to these main three.
Perpetual vows are the last stage when the woman becomes a
sister forever. And it’s basically like getting married. Except to Jesus. I
mean, they wear white, the family is there, they’re making an everlasting
commitment that should only be sundered by death, etc. Everything you need for
an awesome wedding!
Like many weddings, there was a professional photographer that followed the brides around, so I didn't get to take photos during the actual Mass. However, in the traditions of weddings everywhere, there was preparation before and a
party and some cake afterwards! So I got some pictures of that!
On our way to Mutuini!
As per usual, we have our patron saints watching over the school
THE NOVITIATE!
They had pretty flowers
So I took some pictures of them
Because that's how I roll
The two newly perpetually professed!
Selfie time
The gang's all here!
Lunch: Rice, cabbage, pot roast
AKA, freakin' delicious
Entertainment time!
Karate girls bringing their A game
Women from Dagoretti doing their thing
Can't forget the sisters!
EVERYBODY DANCE!
Two undisputed champions right here
Dagoretti choir (who also sang for Mass)
Srs. Irene and Irene saying a word of thanks
Sr. Gisele, the Provincial, saying a word to the sisters and their parents
Getting assigned to their new communities!
What's a wedding (to Jesus) without CAKE
The traditional cake cutting
Then our girls got their pictures with Sr. Irene
She was at Makuyu last year!
And to finish off the day...
PRESENTS!
I also took some video, so watch and enjoy as people
wish Srs. Irene and Irene luck as they go forward in their life as a religious!
Interesting Stories of the Week:
On Sunday, I was able to accompany Sr. Shanty to some of the
outstations for Mass. These are churches that don’t have a resident priest,
which means one of the sisters has to bring the Eucharist and give it during
the celebration. At the first church, there was this adorable little kid in a
pink toboggan who decided that since no one was sitting in the priest’s chair
behind the altar, it would be a good place for them to hang out. I’m sure Jesus
was probably laughing and pointing. “Let the children come! This is exactly
what I was talking about!” Seeing the kid flanked by altar servers and the
deacon was probably the highlight of my day (even though I didn't get a picture).
At the second church, there were these super cute kids
sitting in front of me who kept playing pinkie war. They were ridiculously
adorbs.
Even though she hasn't quite figured out smiling
Also, that second church (Saint Dominic Savio and Blessed
Lauran Vicuna Catholic Church – Salesian saint and blessed!) spoke only Kikuyu.
Kikuyu is one of the indigenous languages in Kenya and let me tell you…
…It does not look like Kiswahili.
Project Ideas!
As promised, I have asked the sisters what are some areas
that they would appreciate some assistance. So far the ideas are as follows
(not ranked in order of priority):
Television for the secondary school as they currently don’t
have one
Solar panels for the hostel to provide heating for water and
electricity
Textbook fund to add textbooks to the library (most students
don’t have personal textbooks as they are expensive)
As we work out details regarding the logistics of these
projects, I’ll let you know how we’ll move forward and what others can do to help!
This is a good read
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