Our Lady of Good Counsel RC Church, 24 - 30 Bouverie Road, London N16 0AJ

ZIMBABWE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

May 2013 Vol 83

Readings/Zvidzidzo/Izifundo (6th Sunday of Easter)

First Reading; Acts 15: 1 2, 22-29

Second Reading Rev 22: 12 – 14, 16 – 17, 20

Gospel: John 14: 23 - 29

Pope’s Intentions for May General: Those administrators of justice may act

always with integrity and right conscience

Missionary: That seminaries, especially those of

mission Churches, may form pastors after the Heart

of Christ, fully dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel

A Messenger of Peace

.

Above is 8-year old Martin Richard, the youngest

victim of the Boston Marathon bombing on 15

April, holding an inspirational hand-made poster

that read:”No more hurting people. Peace” A true

child of Catholic Boston, he had just made his first

Communion. It is a tragic irony that he was a victim

of the reverse of the message of his poster. But from the rubble of this tragic event symptomatic of

our broken world, we unearth a jewel by way of the

words of Martin Richard which we should hold

close to our chest as a torchbearer to what our world

can and should be. But we should not view this in-

spirational message only in the context of far away

Boston but nearer home to our own country espe-

cially with looming election against the backdrop of

the violence of recent election, no less as highlighted

by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter

of 15 March 2013. “No more hurting people.

Peace – Martin Richard again. ~ Editor

Major Feast Days in May

(Month of Mar - see belowand page 3)

(It is important to realize that we can each achieve saint-

hood by following a different path—a path unique to

each of us, tied to our own unique call and the gifts

given to us by God. ~ Answer Your Call )

1 St Joseph the Worker

2 St Anathius, Doctor of the Church

3 Sts Philip & James, Apostles

4 English Martyrs

9 Episcopal Ordination Anniversary (1999)

Of Bishop R,C Ndlovu - Harare

12 Ascension of the Lord (Transferred)

13 Our Lady of Fatima

14 St Matthias, Apostle

19 PENTECOST SUNDAY

20 St. Bernadine of Siena

22 St Rita of Cascia

23 St George, Patron of England

25 AFRICA DAY &Gweru – Feast of Patroness

Our Lady Help of Christians

26 HOLY TRINITY SUNDAY

Chinhoyi: Feast of Patron – St. Kizito

27 St Augustine of Canterbury

31 The Visitation of the BVM,

Thoughts on May Month of Mary

“Mary is that Happy Ark, in which those who

take refuge will never suffer the shipwreck of eternal

perdition” (St Bernard of.Clairvaux)

‘They met upon the road to Calvary

Mother of all the living and her Son

Mute mutual compassion did reply

As deep to deep … that strong Immortal one

By whom we are redeemed before He’d done:

Inclined His head to John:

BEHOLD THY MOTHER

Meant it for you and me, many another’

(John Bradburne of Mutemwa)

Website www.zimukcatholics.org

Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/zimukcatholics

E-mail [newsletter] zvesvondo@aol.com

Chaplain Mgr Xavier Munyongani

Assistant Chaplain Fr Jabulani Magugu

ZCCEW Chair: Munhamo Gumbo Mberi

Editor Benjamin Takavarasha

Adieus Eastertide

[Mural of the empty tomb at Ssts Peter & Paul,

Ilford, East London, Easter 2013]

May finds us still in Eastertide, albeit, at the tail end.

During the season we celebrate an event which is the

very cornerstone of our faith ,as so succinctly put by St

Paul: "If Christ has not been raised then our preaching

is useless and your believing is useless". (1 Cor. 15:14):

For his part Bl John Paul II has this to say: “It is clearly

evident that Christ’s resurrection is the greatest event in

the history of Salvation, and indeed, we can say, in the

history of humanity . . .Therefore Easter is the Church’s

greatest Solemnity’ (General Audience 1 March 1989)

But as someone has said, Eastertide is not just a time for

celebration but also of reflection, on the latter hopefully

to have the awesome mystery etched into our being be-

yond Eastertide, even for a lifetime. With that in mind

we go back to the drawing board to the empty grave

where incidentally some of our Chaplaincy pilgrims

celebrated Easter Sunday with the Patriarch of Jerusalem

along with our Chaplain, Mgr Munyongani.. Yes, the

empty tomb of which Fr Robert Presutti LC describes

as:”Jesus’ empty tomb is the sign of the most complete

victory, the most complete love and the most powerful

presence”

With that in mind, we sit at the feet of two Poets as they

reflect on this enduring wonderment

At the Empty Tomb

“He is not here; for he has been raised as he

said. Come, see the place where he lay”. (Mt 28:2-7)

Stretching his erstwhile wounded palms need he

For behold the cloth that had embalmed him Divine!

Blessed them that saw and so joyously proclaimed

Who too like Thomas*, to see was joyously to believe.

~ B. Gararamasango

(in ‘Quatrains of Reflections’) )

The Empty Grave

We watch. We wait. We wonder. We pray. We stay a while longer and just stare. We face this tomb, so close at hand. No roar from the heavens will distract us now. Instead, we sense the earth moving beneath our feet. We hear a groaning, a moaning. The earth cannot hold this Body much longer. These bones, this Body, will rise again. And as we hear the earth groan, we listen for the sound of our nam ~ Unknown Author

The Regina Coeli

(A High School in Mutare Diocese—Regina Coeli—

takes its name from this prayer)

From Holy Saturday to Pentecost we sing or recite

one of the Church’s most joyful anthems, the Re-

gina Coeli (O, Queen of Heaven), customarily said

in place of the Angelus at twelve noon.

As Andrea F. Phillips puts it: “The idea is to re-

joice with Our Blessed Lady that her Son, after a

grueling passion and frightful death, is alive

again. While the prayer of the Angelus celebrates

Jesus’ Incarnation, the Regina Coeli celebrates His

Resurrection and “congratulates” the Mother on her

Son’s victory over sin and death.

Regina Coeli (O QUEEN OF HEAVEN)

Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.

For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.

Has risen, as he said, alleluia.

Pray for us to God, alleluia.

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.For

the Lord has truly risen, alleluia

May, Month of Mary

During this month we particularly celebrate the role

of Mary Our Blessed Mother. We have chosen, if

partly for want of space, to focus on the Hail Mary:

Each time that we say the Hail Mary we are repeat-

ing the very same words with which St. Gabriel the

Archangel saluted Mary on the day of the Annun-

ciation, when she was made Mother of the Son of

God. By extension, whenever we say the Rosary, in

any language, we are summoning divine power

beyond our imagination:

Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with Thee,

blest are thou among women and blessed in the

fruit of their womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of

God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of

our death. Amen./

Kwazivai Maria, muzere grasia, Mambo anemi

Makakomborerwa panavakadzi Akakomborerwawo

Mwana wemimba yenyu Yesu Maria Musande amai

vaMwari Mutireverewo isu vatadzi zvino napan-

guva yekufa kwedu. Amen/

Ekuhle Mariya, ugcwele igrasiya, iNkosi ilawe,

ubusisiwe wena esifazaneni,

ibusisiwe lenzalo yesisu sakho uJesu.

Mariya oNgcwele, Nina kaNkulunkulu,

usikhulekele thina zoni,

khathesi lasesikhathini sokufa kwethu, Amen.

We give a few examples from saints and other

Church stalwarts on the power of the Hail Mary:

St. Jerome tells us that "the truths contained

in the Hail Mary are so sublime, so wonderful that

no man or Angel could fully understand them."

St. Thomas Aquinas, the Prince of Theolog

ians, "the wisest of Saints and holiest of wise men,"

as Leo XIII called him, preached for 40 days in

Rome on the Hail Mary, filling his hearers with

"The Power of One Hail Mary can change

the world. In all our efforts and endeavors, we can

never underestimate the power of prayer, and must

always rely upon the help of God." ~ Bishop Tho-

mas Daily

St. Mechtilde, who loved our Lady very much,

was one day striving to compose a beautiful prayer in

her honor. Our Lady appeared to her, with the golden

letters on her breast of: "Hail Mary full of grace." She

said to her: "Desist, dear child, from your labor for no

prayer you could possibly compose would give me the

joy and delight of the Hail Mary."

Father F. Suarez, the holy and learned Jesuit, de

clared when dying that he would willingly give all the

many learned books he wrote, all his life's labours, for the

merit of one Hail Mary prayerfully and devoutly

said.

Cesarius recounts a similar incident. A humble

and holy monk lived in the monastery. His poor mind and

memory were so weak that he could only repeat one

prayer which was the "Hail Mary." After death a tree

grew over his grave and on all its leaves was written:

"Hail Mary."

Dr. Hugh Lammer was a staunch Protestant, with

strong prejudices against the Catholic Church. One day

he found an explanation of the Hail Mary

and read it. He was so charmed with it that he began to

say it daily. Insensibly all his anti-Catholic animosity

began to disappear. He became a Catholic, a holy priest

and a professor of Catholic Theology in

Breslau

Father Gabriel Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vati

can writes: One day a colleague Of mine heard the devil

say during an exorcism: "Every Hail Mary is like a blow

on my head. If Christians knew how powerful The Ro-

sary was, it would be my end."

But if such is the power of the Hail Mary as a

standalone, what must that say about the power

of the Holy Rosary in which the Hail Mary is a

sub unit and said at least fifty times in addition

to the Lord’s Prayer and Glory-bes, and what

with reflections on the Lord’s life. But that is

only humanly speaking, spiritually it must be

more than the sum of of its parts.

In this month of Mary let us say the Holy Ro-

sary more often than usual either alone or in

groups, and hopefully internalise the habit be-

yond the month of Mary, hoprfully making it a

life-long habit

Benjamin Takavarasha, Editor

Forthcoming Events

Medjuforje Visionary UK Visit: Ivan Dragice-

vic (He is one of three visionaries (out of six) that

is still having daily apparitions)is coming to St

Elizabeth RC Church Cookham on Sat 11 May

from 5.30pm-8pm, and to St Edmund Campion

School and Church Maidenhead on Sunday 12

May from 9am, ending with Mass at 11.15am.

Number of seats limited, so please register by

sending an email to: OurLadyinMaiden-

head@gmail.com, stating which day(s) you would

like to attend (Saturday and/or Sunday) and the

number of persons you would like to register. If

you have no access to email, please ring 01753

564587. For more detail see http://

www.faithandfriendship.org.uk/news-3/

Music Course 2013 is over 3 days from Friday 24

May 1800hrs to Sunday 26 May 1800hrs at Sports Connexion, Leamington Road, Coventry,

CV8 3FL Tel 02476 306155. Adults pay £20 and

deposit is £10. Children 10 years and below pay

£10 and deposit is £5. All deposits to be paid by

the 17/5/13

Sacred Heart Solemnity All Night is on Friday 7

June, one of the few occasions it coincides with the

First Friday of the Month. Venue:: St Mary & St

John Roman Catholic Church, Snow Hill

Wolverhampton WV2 4AD

Youth Congress 2013 is afternoon Friday July 12

until late afternoon Sunday July 14.

Venue: Whitemoor Lakes Activity Centre, just

outside of Birmingham, WS13 8Q

Gomo Carmel Feast Celebrations Our Lady of

Mt Carmel Guild is going to celebrate the Feast

Day of Our Lady of Mt Carmel on the 20th of July

2013 during the day at a venue to be advised

World Youth Day (WYD) with Pope Francis in

Rio Brazil will run between July 23 - 28) .

Ethnic Chaplaincies Pilgrimage to Walsingham

is on Sunday 8 September 2013

Pan-African Mass 2013 is on Sunday 15 Septem-

ber at 3pm prompt at St George’s Cathedral, Lam-

beth Rd, Southwark, London SE1 7HY. Chief

Celebrant TBA

Editor’s Note: The above last two events on con-

secutive Sundays in September are through West-

minster Archdiocese to which our Chaplaincy is

commissioned. As such, it would be advisable if

the NEC, guilds and centres avoid organising

events on those dates for practicality and protocol.

, Community News in Brief:

[Section of the Congregation in St Simon Stock Chapel

Aylesford on Sunday 21,04.13]

Community Death: It is with great sadness to record the

death of Mai Priscilla Juliet Shambare who collapsed and

died on her way from work on Saturday 13/4/13 in Rushden

Northamptonshire. Mai Shambare is survived by a 15 year

old son.. Coroner’s report was still pending as at going to

press. May she rest in peace

Our Theme: Our Chaplain Monsignor Munyongani has cho-

sen Lk 17: 51(“Lord increase our faith”) as our theme to-

wards our pastoral agenda, no doubt in tandem with the Year

of Faith declared by the Pope Emeritus.

Easter Vigils 2013: Leeds and London organised Easter Vig-

ils on 30 March Zimbabwe style for the fourth consecutive

year. While at Leeds it was business as usual, London moved

to a new venue in Hertfordshire for their Easter Vigil led by

Fr Dzadagu. As it happened the new venue, a Church, was

packed to capacity with people spilling over to the adjacent

hallway, apart from neighbouring centres of Luton and North-

ampton, with some coming as far afield as Leicester, Shef-

field and Birmingham.

Apart from the turnout which even surprised the organisers,

there is much more we would want to say about that Easter

Vigil, but for want of space, just one more: As we were

awaiting the greatest miracle ever, Our Lord’s resurrection,

we were treated to one as a precursor: two youngsters read the

6th reading of the night (Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4 ) between them

Tumai Zindonda 11 and Mutsaishe Dumbura 8, who read

well in Shona: British-born kids who not only had to be

taught the language in an environment where English is the

predominant, rather exclusive, language in crèche, school and

playground , but also the alphabet as well. We raise our hats

to the respective parents for their commendable work

Aylesford Day Retreat: The London Community organised a

retreat for Sunday 21 April at Aylesford (see above pic), the

venue for many retreats. And one we would recommend for

our our future retreats.

Cont’d page 5

[The Plaques of the Our Father in Ndebele and

Siswati at the place where it was first taught]

Aylesford Retreat Cont’d from page 4

Against all odds, not least it being a Sunday, there was

a good turnout. The Retreat was led by Mgr Munyon-

gani who delved into several aspects of our Catholic

faith, anchored here and there by newspaper footage

and pictures from his Easter Pilgrimage to the Holy

Land. After a break, the Retreat moved to the Chapel

of St Simon Stock, first for the Holy Hour before the

Blessed Sacrament, but (truth be told) which could

have been better organised, followed by Holy Mass.

On the whole, the place has a palpable prayerful ambi-

ence

Editor’s Note: The shrine at Aylesford is consecrated

to Our Lady of the Assumption and St Simon Stock,

and indeed the chapel we held Mass has the relic of St

Simon Stock.. But who is St Simon Stock? He was

born around that area of Kent, was a Carmelite who

lived in the Holy Land for any years., It was to him

that our Lady unveiled the scapular on 16 July 1251

making this promise: “Whosoever dies clothed in this

(scapular) shall not suffer eternal fire” This is why the

Gomo Carmel Guild have their feast on 16 July as one

of their guild members has confirmed with us.. Mem-

bers of the latter guild would also know about the

Prayer of St Simon Stock known as the FLOS CAR-

MEL, which for seven centuries been called a prayer

to the Blessed Mother never known to fail.

Pater Nostas: Following their pilgrimage to the Holy

Land in December last year (arguably the largest ever

pilgrimage group of Zimbabweans), the Gracious

Women made a request through our Chaplain to the

Bishops of Zimbabwe to have a plaque of the Our

Father in Shona at the place it was first taught to the

disciples (Mt. 6: 7 - 13). On 11 April that permission

was granted, which means a plaque in Shona like the

two above will soon be erected, with the text no

doubt approved by the Bishops. One of our Ndebele

speaking parishioners noted minor dialectic differ-

ences with Ndebele as spoken in Zimbabwe with the

above, suggesting the plaque was sponsored by a

South African group. Those minor differences apart,

perhaps we can now say our two major vernacular

languages will now be represented among many at

the Sanctuary of the Eleona at the Pater Noster

Church in Jerusalem.

Domation to Mutemwa—Cont’d page 7.

Jonh Bradburne with two lepers

Talk on Faith by Sr Aelred

(The following talk on Faith was delivered before our

Community Mass at the Poor Clares Convent in

Arundel, West Sussex on 10 February 2013)

We are in the Year of Faith, I suppose the challenge for

each one of us in this year of faith is to find a way to

deepen our own personal faith, to arrive during the year

at a deeper personal encounter with Christ, for in the last

resort that is what it is all about. Our faith is not in doc-

trines but in a person, 3 persons in fact, the person of

Jesus, and in God our Father and in the Holy Spirit. Pope

Benedict begins his letter of this year with the same

thought. He says our faith is a doorway to communion

with God Communion. Isn’t that what we all long for

deep down? Thank God for all the little moments of

communion which grace each day, it can just be a smile

from a stranger or a child we pass, a shared moment of

humour or sympathy, a friendly exchange with the girl at

the check-out desk in the supermarket ,,,,,. They are all

part of that Holy Communion which we celebrate soon

in this chapel.

So far we have said that our faith is a deep and integrated

part of us, the most precious thing in our lives and it is

not about a list of doctrines but about a person, Christ,

and our growing communion with Him. Now, Pope

Benedict says in that same letter that we are on a lifelong

journey of faith. I read, in my namesake St Aelred, that

faith is the carriage which takes us to our homeland. I

thought, that’s nice and neat, a good image. And then I

had this mental picture of a young women in a Jane Aus-

tin drama getting into a carriage and being carried off

happily by two horses . . . and I said to myself, no, too

passive! Then a much better image came to my mind.

I’m sure some of you ladies have made bread using dried

yeast? The dried yeast comes in a little foil packet, dry

and powerless as dust. But when you mix it with the

warm flour, add a bit of sugar and salt, a knob of marge,

and then warm the water, and mix it well and then knead

it for some time until the yeast is in contact with all the

flour and thoroughly distributed and integrated, and then

go away and leave it in a warm place for 40 mins or so,

what a transformation! It is twice as much as before, and

and is somehow alive and warm under your hands,

and when you knead it again and knock out of it all

the air it has created, it rises again undaunted! Don’t

you agree this is a much better analogy than the car-

riage!! We have to bring all the ingredients of our

life, to be in contact with our faith. Like the yeast in

the packet it is possible for different areas of our life

never to meet each other! We can be Catholic Chris-

tians in name only and live for all practical purposes

like committed atheists! So we have to make sure

that our relationships, our work, our family life, our

relaxation are in contact with the yeast of our lives

which is our faith

So how can we really use this year to narrow the gap

between the things we believe in our heads i.e. all

that is contained in the Creed and our daily lives? If

we had more time we could have a great conversa-

tion and share our experience and it would be very

wonderful, but I have to be brief and not go on too

long so I want to take one single thought and open it

up for you to take away and think about for your-

selves.

Cardinal Heenan was once interviewed by a radio or

TV presenter, this was years ago, and in the course

of the interview he was asked which doctrine of the

Catholic faith he found most difficult to accept? I

don’t know what the interviewer was expecting but

I’m sure he was not prepared for the startling honest

reply he got. Cardinal Heenan said, ‘the thing I find

hardest to believe is that Jesus Christ has an infinite

and unconditional love for me personally’. For years

that has stayed with me, it touched a deep place in

me, and maybe some of you could say the same, and

feel as I did a complete understanding of that diffi-

culty. I’m sure we all accept that our God is a God

of love and that he loved us enough to send his only

Son to redeem us, but somehow it is a big step from

accepting that as true for ‘all’ and applying it to my-

self. Do I believe that God the Father, his Son Jesus

and the Holy Spirit love me, Sr Aelred, just as I am?

Do I really believe that the whole infinite, uncondi-

tional love of God is focussed on me? Do I really

believe that there is no time, no place, no situation in

which God is not loving me? Not just when I am

nice but just as much when I am nasty. I probably

will dislike myself and will certainly need to reflect

and repent, but that faithful unconditional love of

God will not have faltered. St Augustine says that in

Heaven God will not love us any more than he loves

us now! It’s true that in these moments we often

don’t feel loved, but this is not from the Holy Spirit

who can only operate in the positive! Whatever pulls

us down into feelings of depression and hopeless-

ness is not from the Holy Spirit. It is a collage, a

smokescreen of our own deep inherited perceptions,

our tendencies to feel unworthy, unlovable, failures .

. . . . Cont’d on page 7

Talk on Faith cont’d from page 6

Our focus is on ourselves and we are not impressed

by what we see. When we feel like this, it is the per-

fect moment to call on that faith which the Church

holds and we ourselves hold, that God cannot stop

loving us individually without stopping being God

We have a work to do here; we have to open the door

to that love, and claim it for our own and not believe

the sad narrative of our lives we may have got used

to. This is the work of a lifetime and will require deci-

sions on all sorts of levels. It can be done at any age!

It is never too late to say to ourselves, ‘He made me, I

belong to Him, he doesn’t make rubbish, he looks at

me and all He sees is what is good and beautiful, He

sees what I want to be, not what I am failing to be’.

St Teresa of Avila says somewhere that if we only

really believe that God loves us, we would be on

roller skates (or the medieval equivalent) on our jour-

ney to God, we would whiz along! This won’t happen

overnight, it is work for our whole lifetime, but God

is always close. He doesn’t know how to be absent,

only to be present!

So this is what I want to leave with you today.

Deepen this article of faith by whatever means you

can find, the article of faith which says that each one

of us, of you, is loved by God as if you were the only

person in the world, and nothing you have done will

stop God loving you. Say to God, when you are wait-

ing at the bus stop or walking to work or driving to

the shops, “I want you, I need you, I love you.”

You’ve come to the house of St Clare for this prayer

time today and she is a good model. When she was

dying, she spoke to her soul, and said: ‘Go without

anxiety for you have a good escort for your journey,

for He who created you has made you holy and loves

you with a tender love as a mother to her child . . .’.

Now that is not just for St Clare but every bit as much

for us.

Let e finish with the lovely poem of George Herbert:

It is Just called Love

Love bade me welcome but my soul drew back,

Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick eyed Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me sweetly questioning,

If I lacked anything.

‘A guest, I answered, ‘worthy to be here’

Love said ‘you shall be he’

‘I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,

I cannot look on thee’

Love took my hand and smiling did reply,

’

‘Who made the eyes but I?’

‘Truth Lord, but I have marred them; let my shame

Go where it doth deserve’

‘and know you not says Love, ‘who bore the blame?’

‘My dear then I will serve’

‘You must sit down’ says Love, ‘and taste my meat’

So I did sit and eat

Sr Aelred

Community Mews Cont’d from page 5

Mutemwa Donation

The John Bradburne Memorial Society (JBMS) who

look atter Mutemwa want to express their thanks for

the £1000 donation from Hosiyedenga. They also

mentioned that two years ago the same guild made a

similar donations. This year, the donation could not

have been more timely with independent press reports

to the effect that Mutemwa is going through a difficult

financial black hole with heavy arrears in utility bills,

vist: http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/news/

zimbabwe/64910/leprosy-centre-in-difficulty.html

For any other group (centre/guild or section) or indi-

vidual who want to make a donation to Mutemwa can

do so by contacting Celia Brigstocke, Secretary, The

John Bradburne Memorial Society (JBMS), PO Box

32, Leominster, Herefordshire, HR6 0YB, phone

01568 760632, email info@johnbradburne.com

Medjugorje Pilgrimage April 2013

[Zim pilgrims on Apparition Hill]

Full story on page 8

[Press cutting (in part) on our Zim pilgrims]

Ten of our ZCCEW parishioners went on a pilgrimage

to Medjugorje from 19 to 26 April. Only two of the ten

were repeat pilgrims to the Marian shrine. One of the

pilgrims, a first time pilgrim catalogued the pilgrimage

which makes very interesting and informative reading

even to someone like me who has been there many

many times. Unfortunately due to space constraints we

cannot reproduce it here even in abridged form but will

post it in due course on our electronic notice board

especially for the benefit of those who are thinking of

going there for the first time.

From both the latter diarised account and interview

with some of the pilgrims, this was by all accounts one

blessed and most fulfilling pilgrimage. At page 7 the

group is pictured by Our Lady’s statue on top of Appa-

rition Hill, the place of the first Apparition on 24 June

1981. Unlike other Marian Shrine like Lourdes where

Our Lady appeared on the same spot, in Medjugorje

Our Lady appeared elsewhere in the place: Cross

Mountain, St James Church, etc, especially after the

Communist authorities had cordoned off the Apparition

Hill in a bid to stop the Apparitions. But The Appari-

tion Hill seems to take pride of place

Though a relatively small group, they were very

conspicuous, not just from the skin colour but also and

all the more so from their uniforms. Also word had

gone round about their singing from unscripted sing-

ing sessions in their hotel and elsewhere such that at

the English Mass on one occasion they received an

impromptu invitation to sing in their language: the

Offertory and Communion hymns. Such was the re-

ception that the same invitation was made at another

Mass. From my experience in my 8 visits to Med-

jugorje so far, I have no recollection at an English

Mass where a hymn was sung other than in English or

Latin. So perhaps this was a first! What is more, it

caught the attention of a journalist who covered the

story in a National newspaper, part cutting as above.

And as they walked around so many people requested

to have pictures taken with them - instant celebrities!

Last but not least, they were asked to record two

songs for Mary’s Meals, a charity that helps deprived

children especially in Malawi, who posted them on

their website.

Editor’s Note. Although this was far more dramatic,

it was by no means the first time Zim pilgrims had

attracted positive attention there: In June last year

when Fr Mabhena was Chief Celebrant on Corpus

Christi and gave a moving homily, some English-

speaking pilgrims were following him everywhere.

And when 4 of our lady pilgrims were heard singing

by a professional musician, he invited them for a re-

cording and the resultant cd was played on the coach

back to the airport - by popular demand! ~ Editor