Cameroon: Consecration of the Seminary chapel in Ngoya

On January 27th of every year, our seminary community in Ngoya, Cameroon, solemnly celebrates the liturgical commemoration of our Father Renovator, Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz. This year the celebration was held a little earlier – on January 21st – as the Ordinary of our Diocese, Bishop Sosthène Léopold Bayemi Matjei, was scheduled to travel to Brazil.

This year the commemoration of Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz, Patron of the Marian Formation House, has been made more memorable by consecrating on the same day the new chapel dedicated to him. The existing chapel, located in the first of two buildings constructed for the formation purposes, has become inadequate. Hence, it was necessary to build a new chapel. Its construction, supervised by Fr. Krzysztof Pazio, MIC, took a year to complete.

We invited to the ceremony representatives of all religious communities serving in Ngoya, our friends, and acquaintances associated with our community, as well as the builders of the chapel. Bishop Sosthène Léopold Bayemi Matjei, who comes annually to our festival, opened the celebration by striking three times with his crosier the chapel’s closed doors, which were opened then. Everyone went inside to participate in the Eucharist; they filled the chapel to the brim. There were about 50 people present. It should be said that the existing chapel could barely accommodate the house religious members, to say nothing about the guests who often come to visit.

In his homily, the bishop emphasized that the consecration of the chapel, in which we participated, reminds us of the baptismal consecration, through which we have become the temple of the Holy Spirit, and our heart a place of prayer and meeting God.

During the consecration, the rite of anointing the altar attracted our particular attention. The bishop poured some chrism oil on the Mensa and then spread it across its entire surface with the palm of his hand.

After the solemn Mass, everyone went to our seminary refectory for a fraternal agape.

Paweł Rawski, MIC