Tuesday, december 8, 2020, at 5:25 pm, celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, the Vice-Province of Cameroon, In this year of the jubilee of the 40 years of presence of the CM in Cameroon has seen its joy increase with the total and definitive consecration of two of its members : Tabela Merlin and Zibi Laurent Georges, who are completing their initial training at the Saint Cyprian Theological School in Ngoya.

The Mass, what do I say? The celebration was held in the courtyard of the St Vincent de Paul Scholasticate in Yaoundé. It brought together Vincentians, families, neigbours, friends and acquaintances. Rich in colour and sound, it was presided by the Visitor of the Vice-Province and concelebrated by twenty priests of the CM and elsewhere. It was the seminarians of the Saint Vincent de Paul Scholasticate who animated it with the sound and the piano and balafons of the soil, supported by the balafonists of the parish whose church adjoins our enclosure.

During his homily, the Visitor stressed the perfect coherence that exists in celebrating the issuing of his vows on the day of the celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which has a special resonance for the Vincentians. It is through the issuing of vows and therefore the desire to sanctify oneself personally, to be immaculate through the sacraments and a life in conformity with the commandment of love of God, and not through diaconal or presbyteral ordination that we are Lazarists. What a waste then if we had any other ambition than to listen to his superiors and to run for mission, to serve the poor, as we run to the fire. What a waste of wanting and doing other than being a Lazarist and doing what is expected of him, suggested the Visitor.

After Holy Communion, a special contribution was requested from those who had taken part in the Mass, to support the service of vocations and the promotion of the Vincentian charism which needs a little more than 600,000 CFA francs to organize a session of aspirants, of 28-30 december 2020. This pot produced the sum of 67,825 CFA francs.

In the end, the 250 or 300 people present at the celebration (including a considerable number of the Daughters of Charity who had also had the issue of vows for the first time of one of their own in the morning at their Provincial House) were invited to share the meal to prolong the joy of our family’s growth.

By Jean Pierre BESSALA, CM
Secretary of the Vice-Province of Cameroon