Back when I first knew the opportunity existed for me to come to Rwanda, I had two goals: attend the Feast of the Assumption Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Kibeho and help teach English at The Children’s Academy for a month. Those desires set the bookends for my trip (if you ever wondered why six weeks and why in this time frame).
The Feast of the Assumption (from now I a plan to just call it the Feast) has been a big deal in Kibeho since Mary began appearing to visionaries on November 28, 1981. I plan to share more about the visionaries in a separate post or perhaps on a permanent page on the website. For now, just know that initially Mary appeared to a young student at a local all-girls high school in Kibeho (Alphonsine) on November 28, and then made subsequent and repeated apparitions to Alphonsine and two more students (Nathalie and Marie Claire) over the next two years.
Leading up to August 15, 1982, there was apparently much anticipation among the people for Mary to appear to the visionaries and share her message. Expecting a message of great joy and hope on this special Marian Feast, they were shocked and frightened by the visionaries’ description of Our Lady crying inconsolably. The visionaries could be heard begging Mary to stop crying. Mary told the visionaries that she was so sad because the people were ignoring her messages of repentance, conversion, forgiveness and love. She appealed to her children to heed her messages and console her heart.
I wonder if this is part of the reason that the celebration is so big in Kibeho–that people come to console her heart. I know that there have been many stories of particular miracles and healings that have occurred at the Feast’s Mass over the years, which surely lead to some intrigue and desire to witness this event.
With that as a backdrop, my experience of the Feast began as I drove in to Kibeho yesterday evening. It was not uncommon to see people walking alongside the two-lane highway that stretches from Kigali to Kibeho, but mostly in the more residential areas. The final 20-mile stretch from Butare to Kibeho is winding and hilly and has very few homes. Still, there were many people walking along the road on both sides in the direction we were headed. When I wondered out loud why there were so many pedestrians with no visible homes nearby, my host (Fr. Jean Pierre) explained that they were pilgrims on their way to Kibeho. Knowing there is not much in the way of accommodations in the small town, I asked where they would all stay. He laughed as if it were obvious–they would simply sleep on the ground wherever they could find space.
All through town (the Cana Center, where I am staying, is on the opposite end of Kibeho) an incredible number of people were milling about the village. As we approached the Cana Center, I saw hundreds of people gathered to sing and pray in an open amphitheater area near the Divine Mercy Statue (again, more on this in later posts…I am just one person!). Much to my chagrin, more people kept arriving throughout the night to sing and pray, with me hearing at least one bus of pilgrims arrive at 2 am. My room happens to be on the side of the amphitheater; it was not a very restful night.
There are three priests currently in residence at the Cana Center, and we decided to walk together the roughly 2 km road to the Shrine. Thank God I was with them. After getting through the security checkpoint, I was able to walk with them through a narrow pathway that divided the huge crowds (Rwandan newspaper claims 100,000 people attended Mass today!) to head toward the Shrine were the priests were vesting.
One of the priests asked a worker if he could help me find a seat. He said I should just follow behind the procession and he would help me find a spot. I followed the procession of over 100 priests, 2 bishops and a statue of Our Lady of Kibeho on a raised platform carried by four men. When we got to the front of the procession they all went up to the altar (by the way, this was an outdoor Mass and the altar was on a high platform so everyone could see), and I was left standing in the aisle. This is where I stayed throughout the three and a half hour Mass.
Now might be a good time to point you to a story in The New Times of Rwanda. The story is actually very good. It also has much better pictures than I would be able to share. As a further bonus, I ended up making it in one of the pictures (12th picture from the top, I am in a blue shirt standing with my foot on the processional carpet).
I am so grateful to Mary for blessing me with the opportunity to be there today and to have such a terrific place to participate in the Mass. I ended up being six rows back from the front seats and had a privileged view of all that was happening. The people around me were so kind–one offered me a pad to kneel on (I did a fair amount of kneeling throughout the Mass because I didn’t have a chair to sit on) and another gave me an umbrella to protect my ever-reddening dome piece.
I fear I have already gone too long, and could keep on going. How about if I give some brief highlights:
–Singing and dancing. The offertory and distribution of Communion offered extended periods of music (the choir was fantastic), and the people around me stood and danced, sang, clapped and ululated (is that a word?). Being the conservative white male with no rhythm, I simply stood and rocked back and forth. No ululations from me!
–Consecration of bread and wine. A neat tradition in Rwanda (my hosts don’t know how widespread it is in Africa…it might be) is to give a sort of “golf clap” when the priest elevates the bread and then the wine during consecration. Back in 2010 when I first saw it, the practice struck me as a little odd. I have really come to appreciate it.
–Special offertory toward the end of Mass. On several feast days during the year, the custom is to bring various objects to give to the Shrine (they call it the Sanctuary). There was an incredibly long procession (more time for singing, dancing and ululating) of people who brought forward things of use for the Shrine–including wine, unconsecrated hosts, oil, candles, cleaning supplies, food to feed the hungry, linens, on and on…
–Sprinkling rite. There were maybe 10 priests with these long handles and what looks like a loose whisk broom on the end that absolutely soaks the congregation. Some priests really seemed to get much pleasure from throwing heavy water on the people, and the people seemed to enjoy it every bit as much. I saw some priests make several laps of the area I was in. Again, more time for singing, dancing and ululating.
–Mary’s special “miracle.” Right before the end of Mass, people looked up to the sky with anticipation. Sure enough, suddenly people raised their hands and cheered toward the sky. Looking up, I saw what could best be described as a disc in front of the sun that appeared to spin and maybe flicker a little. I could look straight at the sun for several minutes before some clouds passed in front. Then again the crowd would cheer and raise their hands to the sky and sure enough, there was the disc again. This happened maybe 5 or 6 times.
–Universality. While the Mass was primarily celebrated in Kinyarwandan, there were moments of French and English spoken as well. While speaking in English, one priest listed over 13 countries that were represented by pilgrims at the Mass. I always knew what was going on and what people were saying because it was, at the heart, a Catholic Mass. Yes, there were special elements that you don’t see every Sunday, but the Mass was the Mass. And today, 100,000 of us from all around the world were praying together on a Friday to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pretty cool. Didn’t feel like much of an obligation at all!
Mercifully, the Cana Center is quiet again. I can feel the lack of sleep starting to catch up on me a bit, and am eager to sleep through an entire night. I believe that tomorrow I will be able to start settling into more a routine, and maybe will even have some time to finally develop the Korta in Kibeho website!
Let me end with a shout-out to the Brewers, who have won 12 straight as of this writing. Go Crew!
God bless…