By Martin Jumbam
First carried in L'Effort camerounais # 373, April 2006
The Douala and Buea chapters of the Apostolate of Divine Mercies, a relatively new apostolate in the religious landscape in Cameroon, held a joint meeting on Sunday, February 19, 2006, at the Our Lady of Annunciation Parish in Bonamoussadi, Douala. The nearly fifty delegates from the two branches reflected on the message of Saint Faustina and how to spread this message to the whole country. L’Effort camerounais met the President of the Buea Chapter, Dr. Mrs. Theresa Elad, for a chat after their meeting. Excerpts.
Madam, what brings you and your people here?
We have come to hold a meeting of the national executive of the Divine Mercy Apostolate. I had the glorious honour of being elected the National President two years ago. This apostolate owes its existence to Pope John Paul II, of blessed memory. It was he who is at the base of the message that Christ was giving to Saint Faustina through whom the Lord urges the world to come to his divine mercies. This message was given directly to a young barely literate Reverend Sister, today a saint, Faustina, in her convent in Krakow, Poland. She became the secretary for all the messages the Lord was sending to mankind, the messages of Divine Mercies.
What did the Lord say in those messages?
The Lord was calling on us, men and women of the world, who have fallen short of God’s mercy through sin, to come to him. He ordained that this message be spread around the world. The Lord used Saint Faustina, who, as I said earlier, was barely literate, to write down those messages. She filled volumes of what has become for us the Divine Mercies Diary. That diary stunned the Church and it took years for the Doctors of the Church to study those messages and ordain them as coming directly from the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Sister Faustina was raised to the honours of the altar and canonized a saint by Pope John Paul II, who is today with her in heaven.
How widespread is this apostolate?
Oh, it’s worldwide and we’re happy that it has also reached our country. It came to us thanks to the efforts of Mr. Mariana Weledji, an advocate in Limbe, who came across it during one of her numerous travels abroad. Although some people had heard of it before and were praying it individually, it is only when she brought it that we began to pray in groups, as it is recommended. We pray together, attend Masses together for the salvation of mankind.
How is it faring in Cameroon?
It’s spreading fast, thank God. It’s now common in all the parishes of Buea town. It has reached Kumba, Limbe and as far away as Nguti. Today, we’re in Douala to pray with our brothers and sisters here, to encourage them to go forward with the message of divine mercy. We are praying to Christ himself to give us the strength, the courage, the determination and the means to spread his message and bring his Word to the four corners of our country and beyond.
If I were to join your apostolate today, what would be expected of me?
You are simply expected to pray for mankind. The prayers of Divine Mercy are selfless. We pray for the fall of Satan, the Evil One. We say the Saint Michael the Archangel prayer. We pray the Divine Mercy chaplet and the prayer Christ gave to Saint Faustina. Above all, we pray the 3 o’clock prayer. Christ asked Saint Faustina to take time off whatever she was doing at 3 o’clock everyday to concentrate on his sufferings. He told her that wherever possible, she should go into a church for that moment of prayer. But, if it isn’t possible to find a church, we should take time off and meditate, even for a brief moment, on his sufferings wherever we may find ourselves. If we’re at work, we can retire for a few minutes to be alone and say a prayer and meditate on Christ’s sufferings for mankind. We meet every Friday afternoon at 3 o’clock all over the world and pray for an hour; this, in memory of the hour the Lord our Saviour died for our sins.
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