Africa tour day 3, Maria Ratschitz Convent

We had the absolute pleasure to stay with Mission head Sister Irmingard and the other wonderful Nun's from Maria Ratschitz. This is an amazing and very spiritual landscape set in the trees below the mountains of Dundee. The property is mainly used as a hospice for the the surrounding community struggling with AIDS and TB. Sister Irmingard has also just began seeing the need for supporting the youth in the area. Wanting to see a significant difference in the number of HIV/AIDS cases she has realized that education and relationship building with the youth is making a huge impact. It was wonderful to see the love and care that the sisters have towards this very marginalized and often discarded population of people (HIV/AIDS/TB) Below is a bit of history from Maria Ratschitz.

The Revival of Maria Ratschitz:

With no priest residing at Maria Ratschitz, the uninhabited old Trappist buildings turned slowly into ruins. The church also greatly deteriorated. In 1996 a large and anonymous donation from Germany was received for the express purpose of restoring the church of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows. The Diocese immediately commenced work on the restoration of the church and the Monastry. Architects, engineers, contractors, artists, restorers, religious brothers and other people of good will from South Africa and from overseas were means in the hand of God to complete the material structures of the mission. On the 20th August 2000, the Jubilee Year, a Solemn Service of Rededication was held at Maria Ratschitz.

Spiritual Spring at Maria Ratschitz:

At the beginning of 1998, the first three Franciscan Nardini Sisters arrived at Maria Ratschitz. In August of the same year, also a priest moved in. Visiting the Families encouraging people for meetings, prayers, celebrations, Christian education and other activities were signs of a spiritual restarting. People from the nearer village, especially youth, came to celebrate the new-year eve (1999) with a special night vigil in the building church that it was still occupied by scaffoldings. Then on Easter Monday (5th April 1999) the same people was climbing the mountain, and on top of Hlatikhulu, the old cross of the Trappists was raised up again; the celebration of the Eucharist on that high place was a kind of mandate for the new evangelization.

Now Maria Ratschitz Mission got his Parish Priest caring for his flock. The sisters have set up a care centre and Hospice. They train care-givers for home-based care-giving and run the education programs in order to face positively and even to stop the HIV/AIDS.