In relating stories of Saints, I like to cover the whole range of the Canon - including all eras and races where the faith has spread. Our Blessed for today brings us into Africa and the 20th century.
Blessed Marie Clementine Anwarite Nengapeta was born in Wamba (D.R. Congo) in 1939 (a contemporary of many of my readers). Her birth name, Nengapeta, means "riches deceive." Her parents were both heathens, but she was baptized in 1945 on the same day as her mother and two older sisters - she was given the name Alphonsine.
When her sister Leontine Anwarite took Nengapeta Alphonsine to register her for school, the Sister that took the registration mixed up her name and recorded it as Alphonsine Anwarite, effectively wiping out her birth name. This did not seem to have any negative impact on the child as she aspired to be a nun from a young age. Although her mother was against her becoming a nun, she ran away to the convent, taking her vows in 1959 and taking the religious name Sister Marie-Clementine.
In 1964, rebellion broke out. The rebels opposed westerners but also indigenous monks and nuns because they suspected them of being in cahoots with foreigners. On November 29, 1964, they arrived at the convent and loaded all 46 nuns onto a truck. Sister Marie-Clementine was separated from the other Sisters and the Chieftain attempted to rob her of her consecrated virginity. Marie-Clementine resisted and the chieftain murdered her in cold blood. She died on December 1, 1964.
She was beatified by Pope St. John-Paul on Aug. 15, 1985.
No comments:
Post a Comment