The Church of Saint Austin is the oldest Catholic Church in the region of ... The site of the Mission is quite large an...
April 2015– N°6
Ste Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus
A little visit to Saint Austin The Church of Saint Austin is the oldest Catholic Church in the region of Nairobi. The foundation stone was laid by the Holy Ghost Fathers on April 20th 1913. Without a doubt, whenever we go there we feel as if we have come home. On the wall of the nearby presbytery, the motto of the Holy Ghost Fathers is inscribed: “Cor unum anima una”. This is also the motto given to our Congregation by Bishop Bernard Fellay. The site of the Mission is quite large and includes the church, a school, a cemetery for religious, and several large playing fields. It is a very peaceful area. An ideal spot for many of our Community outings - or to take our schoolchildren to!
The Church The first time we took the schoolchildren to St Austin’s was to make the Stations of the Cross in the church. The bas-relief stations are particularly beautiful. The children also enjoy looking round the inside of the church. Beautiful churches, in the traditional style, are not very frequent here! The second time we took the children was in the month of November to pray in the cemetery for the souls in purgatory. We did not have the intention of revisiting the church so soon, but the children insisted: “Sister, why are we not going to visit this beautiful church?”! Without a doubt, beauty speaks to the souls.
The cemetery The cemetery at Saint Austin’s is reserved for priests and religious. It is truly a privilege to be buried in such a peaceful surrounding. The tombs have been grouped according to their different Congregations with a different cemetery cross for each Congregation. The whole cemetery is well looked after with many flowers growing.
In the cemetery is the tomb of Edel Quinn. Her amazing life is truly inspiring. Less than 30 years old, sick and on her own, she left her homeland to spread the Legion of Mary throughout the whole of East-Africa. Her strong Faith in the love of God and her limitless confidence in the protection of Our Lady helped her to overcome all the obstacles in her path… During eight years, until her death on May 12th 1944, she spread the Legion of Mary throughout an incredibly large area of Africa.
Open spaces
Finally, at St Austin’s, there are the large playing fields. In seeing such large playing areas our school-children can’t stop themselves from running around everywhere full of joy. Habitually, they don’t see such things in their shantytowns. They are more used to piles of rubbish and lots of dusty or muddy paths, depending on the season…
The advantage of such wide spaces is there is nothing for them to break or damage! And now they plead for a visit to St Austin’s before each school holiday break, so that they can breathe some fresh air...
A Lourdes grotto at the convent Built by our Chaplain, Father Rainer Becher, it currently houses as statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel! But very soon we shall receive a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. Dear Benefactors, we always remember to place your special intentions at the feet of Our Blessed Lady in our lovely grotto!
May Our Lady of Africa protect you all!
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