The exhausting days of missionary marches in Africa are followed by days of contemplation and silence in Alexandria. I reflect on what we have accomplished in the past ministering to our African fellow man. I reflect on the ways in which we can make the smile blossom again on the face of the African fellow human being. I reflect on indelible experiences and recall unforgettable images. I relive intense emotions, I relive unforgettable moments. I bring forth all those looks; looks of love and faith. Those voices are ringing in my ears again, voices of hope and expectation for a better tomorrow. The dreams and desires of all those who approach me, waiting for a helping hand and a word of love, weigh heavily on my shoulders. And indeed, sometimes the difficulties seem insurmountable, the obstacles insurmountable, the problems insoluble, the reserves of strength scarce. But even in this moment of weakness, the humble effort is not suspended. The desire to give again flares up when I think of our missionaries, those beacons of faith, perseverance and love, scattered throughout the African continent, who light the way of hope and mark the path to life in Christ, far from the reefs and darkness of hard living. This time, however, the rejoicing of the soul is even deeper and the gratitude to the Almighty for the blessing with which He covers our Church even greater. For this time in the baggage of memories and impressions from yet another missionary journey on the African land, a special place is occupied by the ray of light that burst forth on March 13, Orthodox Sunday, in the Parish of St. Anthony the Great Monte, in a corner of Uganda, where, by the grace of God, I founded the Orthodox Monastery of St. Mary of Egypt. The seed fell in the fertile African land, the land where centuries ago the Christian monastic ideal first appeared. I am sure that this seed will not take long to germinate and bear fruit. I am sure because I have left three native nuns,Mary, Thaboria and Theosemni, to cultivate the field of faith and love. Three nuns who served in the spiritual nursery of the Holy Patriarchal and Crusader Monastery of Panagia Chrysopigi in Chania, Crete. In this historic monastic habitat their souls discovered the authenticity of life, as it is vividly reflected in the worship and tradition of the Orthodox Church. Their minds were exercised in the Greek language, in the native church music and in monastic handiwork. And I must extend warm thanks to the Brotherhood of the Monastery of Panagia Chrysopigi, my sweet island of birth, because they transmitted to their African Sisters the genuine monastic ethos of our Orthodox Church. They helped them to discover the God who dwells within us. With these precious spiritual and moral resources, these three nuns are returning to their native land to build, like the bee builds its honeycomb and the bird builds its nest, a spiritual hearth.
A hearth that honours the “enlightened by the grace of the Cross” St. Mary of Egypt, one of the most outstanding female ascetic figures who remained in the consciousness of the Orthodox Church as a model of a unique and luminous change of lifestyle. Her life is a timeless example of the total search for Divine Love. Her life is a striking example that the all-good and all-compassionate God is working his own plan of salvation. Her life is a tangible example that man can experience victory over death and personal resurrection. Of course, responding to the needs of their time and place, the nuns do not return with the desire to follow the ascetic path of isolation and introspection. They return with the expectation of practising the asceticism of love and giving;with the expectation of reviving feminine monasticism in its native form. When women’s convents were also the first institutions of social welfare. When the practical application of the charitable principles of the Gospel was transformed into social charity. And let us not forget that Africa is a woman; a woman is a victim of poverty and violence; a woman is a refugee from enemy invasions and civil conflicts; a woman is a vigilant guardian of her children. It is to this woman’s needs that the Holy Monastery of St. Mary of Egypt in Uganda comes to minister. It comes to serve as a sanctuary of moral care, a refuge of spiritual rebirth and a calm harbour of physical relief for the African mother woman who is being tested. In short, the nuns, motivated by “love one another” and a sense of duty to “neighbor”, come to create an experiential link of reference not to individual being, but to common being. And the journey of love towards God’s creation continues with South Sudan as the next stop. There the newest state in our world is being established. There I entrusted Archimandrite Innocent Byakatonda with the responsibility to reach out and assist the Christian fellow human being of the region who may have suffered for years, but succeeded in gaining the right to a Christian state. With each passing day, my thoughts fly mentally and stand beside all these scavengers of our Patriarchate’s mission. Every day that passes my prayer is fervently recalled that they may always have strength of body and soul for the glory of Christ.
† The Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa
Theodoros II
