We are in Kenya where, after a few days of rain, even the sky has thinned out its clouds, to illuminate Saturday, November 9, 2024, the day on which we gave thanks for the canonization of Saint Joseph Allamano with a Eucharist celebrated at the University Campus of Nairobi.
By Michelangelo Piovano *
After his canonization, which took place in Rome on October 20, and the various celebrations in Italy, a great celebration of thanksgiving was a must in the land where Allamano never physically arrived, but where he arrived with his mind, his heart and all his strength through his missionaries. A land he dreamed of, knew and loved, a land in which he knew that the seed planted by the first four missionaries, who left in 1902, would bear abundant fruit. And so it was.
Thanksgiving Mass at the University Campus in Nairobi (Capuchin TV)
Photo album: Francisco Martínez
Celebrating the Fruits of Mission in Kenya
His holiness, now officially proclaimed by the Church, had been manifested here from the beginning. It was sown day by day by the dedication, zeal, work and passion of his sons and daughters. “Good done well, without making noise”, is the slogan and charismatic words written on capulanas and colored scarves for this day of celebration. Though, at a certain point, the silent good cannot remain hidden, needs to appear, to be proclaimed and announced as a reason for the glory among the peoples.
And today we celebrated this good, this “glory” with its many flavours and colors of our mission in Kenya. Every encounter, every gesture, every said word, every look, every person was nothing but the expression of a ripe season with all its fruits and we could not help but give thanks to God and to the one who in some way was the instrument, as a good sower, as a good father and shepherd, Saint Joseph Allamano.
Since the morning, young missionaries, novices, professed students, deacons, priests, brothers, sisters and lay people have been arriving at the Regional House in Nairobi. There is a festive and joyful atmosphere, some are meeting again after many years, some have been in formation together, others have worked together in other distant mission lands. As the Superior General, Father James Lengarin, recalled at the end of the celebration, these are the fruits that Kenya has given and continues to give to the Church and the world, so many missionaries who continue to keep alive the dream and charism of Saint Joseph Allamano: to announce the Gospel, to make Jesus and his love known.
Celebration of the Thanksgiving Eucharist
We then arrived at the University Campus of Nairobi where everything had been prepared with a lot of work for the celebration of the Thanksgiving Eucharist. There is a festive atmosphere, the dances, the songs, the last details are readied so that everything goes well, done well, as Allamano wanted.
At 10.00 sharp the procession with over one hundred priests, the presence of our General Council, almost all of our Kenyan bishops from the dioceses of Marsabit, Mararal, Isiolo, the bishop of Muranga, of Meru, the archbishop of Nyeri and the Apostolic Nuncio, they head towards the altar where nine years ago, in 2015, Pope Francis celebrated the Eucharist when he visited Kenya. Our students and deacons serve at the altar on this day of celebration that will remain in everyone’s heart.
The Gospel of St. Mark is proclaimed (Mk 16,15-18), Jesus’ mandate: “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature”. With these words, from the Shrine of Our Lady Consolata in Turin, Allamano sent his missionaries. Many listening to his words went; Christian communities, parishes, dioceses, priestly and religious vocations, bishops and lay people who are witnesses of this Gospel, believed, lived and announced in many languages and nations, came to existence. Proof of this has been the prayer of the faithful pronounced in Swahili, Kikuyu, Kimeru, Samburu… all the languages of the peoples in which the Gospel has been inculturated, bringing life and consolation.
The Miracle of Sorino Yanomami
At the end of the celebration, the testimonies and words of thanks from lay people, sisters, superiors and bishops. But one of them in particular touched the heart of all, that of Sister Felicita Muthoni, a Kenyan Consolata missionary sister, who, working in the Catrimani mission in the Amazon forest, almost thirty years ago, gave first aid to Sorino Yanomami, miraculously healed through the intercession of Blessed Joseph Allamano, who, thanks also to this healing, was proclaimed a saint.
Sister Felicita spoke of that February 7, 1996 when she found Sorino with his skull torn off by a jaguar, the first aid she gave him and the firm decision to send him to the hospital in Boa Vista so that the impossible could be attempted, despite having more than 200 natives around her who were against her decision. Sorino had whispered to her that he did not want to die and that he wanted to live and so she took that bold decision, but certainly inspired by Him who promised his disciples that, if they had faith, they could do even greater works than those accomplished by Him. And so it was. Sister Felicita’s faith propelled her to take refuge in the mission chapel to raise a heartfelt and urgent prayer to the Lord, through the intercession of her Founder: “Sorino must heal, he must return to full health to be able to live and survive in the forest, among his people, to be able to hunt and fish, and so that the life of the missionaries may also be preserved”.
And so it was, and after 28 years, Sorino still lives his life in the forest with the strength and health of an elderly man. Sister Felicita continues by saying that the miracle of Sorino is a miracle that involved, in addition to the intercession of Saint Joseph Allamano, also the commitment and collaboration of his sisters from different countries, of the doctors and people who have been close to him. A miracle that is the expression of a mission blessed by the Lord. A miracle that today we may contemplate in the missions of Kenya and many other parts of the world where we are present. A shared mission that when it is done with faith, in unity of purpose and in favor of the most needy becomes grace, life and consolation in the many activities at the service of education, health, dialogue, marginalization, hospitality, justice and peace.
Saint Joseph Allamano continues to enlighten us
At the end of the celebration a great fraternal banquet, prepared for all and served with love and kindness, a banquet that, after the Eucharist celebration, is a prelude of the one in heaven. Saint Joseph Allamano was with us: present in the looks, hearts, gestures of service, life of all those who today desired to thank God for him. Thanks for a mission that is not over, but that continues in the life of those who immediately after left for their homes and communities with the desire to continue to announce the Gospel and walk on the path of holiness enlightened by the charism of Saint Joseph Allamano.
Kenya, a land also sanctified by the holiness of Blessed Irene Stefani, Blessed Leonella Sgorbati and Blessed Carola Cecchin, as the Archbishop of Nyeri recalled. To their intercession, to that of Saint Joseph Allamano and of the Virgin Consolata we entrust all of our communities and every missionary. The “good done well”, that has been done, and that will be done, will continue to be seeds and signs of consolation.
* Father Michelangelo Piovano, IMC, Vice Superior General. Nairobi, 9 November 2024.
