Prayer at the Makiso Cemetery (6 May 1980)

On Tuesday, 6 May 1980, the Holy Father knelt in prayer before the tomb of foreign missionaries in the Makiso Cemetery in Kisanga.

Kneeling in this cemetery on the tomb of the missionaries who have come from afar, Lord, we pray to you.

Blessed are you, Lord, for the testimony of your missionaries! It was you who inspired their hearts as apostles to leave their land, their family, their homeland forever, to join this country, hitherto unknown to them, and to offer the Gospel to those they already considered like brothers.

Blessed are you, Lord, for sustaining their faith and their hope at the time of sowing; and throughout their apostolic work; to have given them resistance and patience in the fatigues, the difficulties, the pains and the sufferings of all kinds.

Blessed are you, Lord, for having strengthened their attachment and their confidence in the sons of this people, to the point of estimating them very quickly also capable of a baptized life and of opening the way to religious life for them, to priestly preparation, with the tenacious will to found, with them and for them, a local Church, from which we are reaping the fruits.

Blessed are you, Lord, for all the graces that came through their word, through their hands, through their example.

They consecrated their life to its end for the mission, and they left their mortal remains on this earth; some after a life shortened by work, some even after a life risked and offered as martyrs of the faith. The grain of wheat had to fall into the ground and die for it to bear much fruit.

Lord, make the Church watered by their sweat and blood come to full maturity. Thanks to them, others can reap today in joy what they sowed in tears. May many rise among the sons and daughters of this country, those who must take over, so that your name may be glorified in this land of Africa.

Keep us from forgetting these pioneers of the Gospel, in memory of the heart and of prayer. We hope that you have welcomed them into your paradise, forgiving them the weaknesses that may have marked their lives like those of all humans. Give them the reward of good and faithful servants. Let them enter into the joy of their Master. Give them eternal rest and let your light shine on them forever. Amen.

© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

 Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana