PROMINENT ASSUMPTIONIST Fr. JÉRÔME MASUMBUKO TSONGO-NDARA (1934-1981)
First African/Congolese Assumptionist, Pioneer, Educator

Jérôme Masumbuko Tsongo-Ndara was born in the village of Kamituga in the province of North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on September 20, 1934. His father had relocated his family to this mining region when he found work there as a nurse. Having completed his primary education, Jérôme entered the minor seminary in Musienene, where he first met the Assumptionists and stayed from 1947 to 1954, with a special emphasis in Latin, after which he attended the major seminary in Baudoinville (Moba), run by the White Fathers, for his philosophy studies from 1954 to 1957. For some time, the young Jérôme had been thinking about Assumptionist religious life, even though the Congregation had a firm policy of directing all vocations to build up the local clergy.

O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary bestowed on the human race the grace of eternal salvation, grant, we pray, that we may experience the intercession of her, through whom we were found worthy to receive the author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.

(Collect for the Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God)

Happy New Year from the Assumption family!

From October 14-16, 2016, the Assumptionist family celebrated their tenth anniversary of their arrival in Togo. The celebration was highlighted by the diaconal ordination of the first two Assumptionists from this region. There was also a large number of visitors from Burkina Faso who attended the celebrations. There were five important moments during these three days of celebration…

The evening of October 13, during Vespers, in the presence of the superior general, Fr. Benoît Grière, and his vicar, Fr. Emmanuel Kahindo, six young men were received into the candidacy program: Casimir, Expedit, Jean-Olivier, Maurice, Billy and Romaric. This event captured the ongoing hope present in this new foundation.

On Friday evening, some 250 people gathered at our parish, Our Lady of the Assumption, to commemorate the ten years of our presence in Sokode (Togo). We had asked a handful of witnesses to say a word at this occasion: Fr. Benoit Griere, Superior general (provincial of France at the time), one of the principal players in the foundation in 2006 together with the provincials of Africa and Madagascar; Most Rev. Ambroise Djoliba (in video format), bishop emeritus of Sokode, who welcomed us into his diocese; Most Rev Celestin-Marie Gaoua, the current bishop and the pastor of the mother church when we arrived; Rev. Alfred

I am anxious to encourage you to make a gift of yourself to Our Lord, more particularly at Christmas. The triple incarnation of Jesus Christ in the manger, on the altar and in our own soul is a mystery that should consume us completely. Christmas, a symbol of spiritual childhood, is the expression of a mystery of faith that became a reality of life, of incarnation and of growth in his own existential rebirth. Alleluia!                                                  
Emmanuel d'Alzon