It was a blessing to host 120 matriculants from Mariathal Mission School in Ixopo, South Africa from Friday 17th to 19th May 2024. During the three-day visit, the young people joined the Monastery community for prayers and meals and interacted with the brothers. They also had inputs from different speakers both members of the monastery community and lay faithful.
Reverend Father Siyabonga Mbeje CMM, the Provincial Superior of Mariannhill, celebrated mass for the learners and the monastery community in the Monastery Chapel on Saturday morning after which he welcomed the matriculants on behalf of the province and the monastery. When asked about the purpose of hosting these young people, Brother Tendai Gandanzara CMM the Monastery Administrator responded by saying, “The whole purpose of having them around is to share our experiences as Missionaries of Mariannhill with the young people so that they can come to know that there are still people who live within the monasteries following the evangelical counsels and we are normal people like any other people, we are not strangers we can intermingle with other peoples like them” he also continued by saying “besides showing our lives as religious, we are also taking this time as members of the monastery to teach and equip them for life as they are left with a few months before they exit high school, so we are wanting to share with them how serious one needs to be in order to face the challenges of life.”
The happiness on the faces of the matriculants could only express how impressed they were by being around the place which the great man Abbot Francis founded. They did not only appreciate the beauty of the buildings, but also appreciated the hospitality and spiritual welfare that they experienced. One of the Matriculants jokingly said that she felt heavenly when she heard the brothers singing during mass that morning. A number of them knew that Mariathal Mission was founded by Abbot Francis in 1887 and having been at Mariannhill Monastery deepened their knowledge of the history as what they had once imagined was now a reality.
Among other activities, the Matriculants had a sport encounter with their counterparts from St. Francis College which is only 80 meters away from Mariannhill Monastery and they emerged victorious. On Sunday, as early as 6am, the Matriculants joined the other learners at St. Francis College and celebrated the solemnity of Pentecost at St. Joseph Cathedral, Mariannhill. Later that day in the afternoon, they departed for Mariathal to continue preparations for their matric exams.
Thank you Mariathal Mission School for visiting our Spiritual hub, Mariannhill Monastery.