Pilgrimage to Kibeho
The pilgrimage started on 29th August, with a
long journey from Jinja to Kibeho, Rwanda. Traveling through Uganda took almost the whole day, with a stop at Uganda Martyrs
Catholic Parish Mbarara for Mass at around 3pm, and then lunch.
At about 6pm, we set off from Mbarara, through Kabale to
the Uganda-Rwanda border at Katuna-Gatuna. We reached this place around 9pm and
were cleared fairly quickly, so we could start our journey into Rwanda. For most
of us, it was the first time being in Rwanda. Our first impression was of admiration for the properly maintained roads, the strictness of the speed
limits and the lights that guide the way. It was a quiet drive up to Kigali,
around midnight, where we had a delightful supper at Centre Saint Vincent
Pallotti. At this point, everyone was exhausted from the long hours of
travel, but we had to embark on a yet longer drive up to Kibeho, close to the
Southern border of Rwanda (with Burundi).
We reached our destination at about 6am (Rwandan time) on
Saturday 30th August. The sun was already out, and it shone gently
in the sky, casting its rays on the beautiful shrine that stands on the holy
ground of Kibeho. There was a cold, gentle breeze in the area that swayed the
many flags that decorated the place: white and yellow for the Catholic Church, blue and
white for Our Lady. The entire place speaks of the great faith of the people of
Rwanda.
We had a bit of time to refresh and move around before we went in to join the local community for morning Mass at 7am. The Mass was concelebrated by four priests, including our priest. The main celebrant made an effort to include English in the Mass to favor those of us who didn’t understand Kinyarwanda, but sometimes we did get lost. Regardless, the beauty and symbolism of the Shrine made up for this, seeming to preach a homily of their own.
On the right side of the Altar, there is stationed a large
statue of Our Lady of Kibeho. She stands with her arms joined in prayer,
looking out at her children. She wears a white tunic, and a blue veil that covers
most of her body. Her feet are hidden by a large shower of flowers. Next to
this elaborate scene, a large candle quietly glows, reminding us all of her
continued maternal presence. It was, after all, at Kibeho, that this same
Blessed Mother announced that “I love you! I love you so much!” as her
parting words to the seers, and to all her children.
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| Inside the Shrine Chapel |
The entire chapel is built to recall the seven sorrows of our Lady, a devotion she encouraged during the apparitions: the building is covered with seven roofs, behind the Altar are seven stained glass windows, and at the front, seven windows still, with the middle one in the form of a letter M beneath a rose window (with seven petals) overlooking the sanctuary.
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| Back View of the Shrine |
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| Pilar Behind the Shrine |
After the Mass, we had breakfast at a nearby Ugandan
restaurant and then settled in at our temporary residence in the convent of
some religious sisters who stay in the area. At around 2pm we had lunch and
went back to the Shrine where we were told the story of the apparitions of Our
Lady of Kibeho by one of the guides. Perhaps very important was how much he
stressed that Our Lady didn’t appear at Kibeho for only the people of Rwanda,
but for all her children, for the whole world.
Her message was a call to repentance and return to prayer. “Repent while there is still time!” she warned during one of the apparitions. We were also told that Our Lady’s feet were never seen, but were surrounded by flowers. During the apparitions, the seers would actually notice that the onlookers would seem to appear like flowers surrounding the Beautiful Lady. The flowers were in three categories (the following summary is my own reflection based on what our guide explained):
- those closest to Our Lady’s feet were the souls that were sincerely devoted and honest in their faith; these flowers shone brightly and had a sweet fragrance
- the next after these were duller of appearance—these were souls who prayed with hypocrisy, and had grown lukewarm, souls that only remembered God in times of trials but then forgot about him afterward;
- last and farthest away were the wilted and worn out flowers, souls that persisted in sin and were thus alienated from God.
It should surprise one how these flowers, even the worn-out ones, are within the vision (the sight) of the Blessed Mother. It is as though, for all their (our) ingratitude and sin, their Mother still looks upon them. And she mourns their sin—even as the seers sometimes saw the Lady sorrowful—wishing that they would return to God and regain their divine radiance and fragrance. Our Lady wants all of us to be beautiful flowers adorning her presence, filled with the sweet aroma of a holy life fully dedicated to the Lord.
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| Exterior View of the Parish Church of Kibeho |
The evening of Saturday ended very somberly as we
were led to the parish Church of Kibeho. A few minutes away, it is an old
building on top of the hill. You’d immediately imagine it’s a structure that
has seen (and braved) many things, and you’d be right. Perhaps what you'd not imagine is that this holy place was the site of a deadly massacre of 25,000 people in
April 1994, during the Rwandan genocide.
These innocent victims had gathered in the Church, seeking refuge from the ongoing genocide. However, their murderers were not afraid to launch an attack on the house of God with grenades, firearms, fire, machetes and clubs, ending the lives of thousands of children, parents, men and women. In the Church (in what used to be the sanctuary and the Sacristy), one can now quietly and slowly walk past the many skulls and bones, and scorched clothes of those who perished during that deadly ordeal. The entire experience is macabre and haunting. Many people try link these horrific events to a prophesy by Our lady (who appeared from November 28, 1981 to November 28, 1989), in which she spoke of an apparent misfortune that would come suddeny due to the sins of the people: “The world is very unwell.” “The world races to its loss; it risks falling into the abyss.” “If you do not repent and convert your hearts, you will all fall into the abyss.” “Fait and unbelief will come unexpectedly.” However, there is really no direct link between Our Lady's mysterious warnings and the horrifying events that occurred in Rwanda in 1994.
What is a fact, however, is the horrible reality of human sin, and the great depths to which it can reach. It is also a fact that if we do not repent of our sin, we risk losing our souls to the abyss, to hell for all eternity.
I remember that sad evening, with the sun so far in the west, the air all aound as chilled as our spirits had become from the horific sight of the so many bones, so much suffering. While many in our group forced back tears or words of pain, one sister close to me said, quietly, “We do the same thing, just differently.” This left a great impression on me. At Kibeho, Our Lady asked us to repent. I must repent and turn away from these different ways in which I daily commit the same atrocities to my brothers and sisters.
On Sunday 31st August, we had Mass in the Chapel of Apparitions, followed by the Way of the Cross, leading up to the Adoration Chapel where we had some time for Adoration and intercessory prayer. After lunch, we set off on our journey back to Kigali. We sang, accompanied by guitar the whole journey, reaching Kigali at about 9 or 10pm. The next day, we had Mass in the Chapel of the Centre Saint Vincent Pallotti, and set off for Uganda. It was about 7 or 8pm when we reached Ibanda, where we spent the night. Our pilgrimage concluded on Tuesday 2nd September, when we finally arrived home.
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| Front View of the Shrine |
At Kibeho, Our Lady is known as Our Lady of Sorrows. Mother Church has always venerated her with this title because suffering is inescapable in our human experience. Not even Jesus, her Son who was also God, escaped it; neither did she! Neither will we.
It will come to us in many ways, but we have Mary for our Mother, and that means we have someone who has been through what we go through. We have someone who can comfort us and help us find peace amidst it all. We have someone who can help us understand that by accepting this Cross, this suffering, and joining it to the sufferings of her Son—and to her own—we can gain from it great fruits of love, joy and peace. At Kibeho, too, our Blessed Mother called herself Nyina wa Jambo—Mother of the Word. That Word is Jesus Christ (John 1:1), the Savior of the World. That Word is our Peace (Micah 5:5, Ephesians 2:14).
Mary, Mother of Sorrows: Our Lady of Kibeho, pray for us.
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