Interview to Sr. Monique Racine

Sr. Monique Racine

Sr. Monique is Canadian. After many years in Canada she requested to go back to Africa for one year. She has been in Lusaka community, in Zambia and has just returned to Canada.

Marie Ange Ndashimiye: Best Experience: Reflect on your entire experience with the MSOLA Congregation. Recall a time when you felt most alive, most involved, spiritually touched, or most excited about your involvement. Tell me about this memorable experience that you have had with MSOLA. Describe the event in detail.

Monique: My best experience was in 1958 after completing my novitiate in Canada. I was chosen to travel to Algeria for my religious formation of one year with an international community of young sisters. It was an expensive venture to travel that far in those years, though somehow cheaper by boat. Just the fact that the MSOLA had invested to pay for the journey helped me to understand that I was really accepted to go on with my formation with this Missionary Congregation.

Marie Ange: What made it an exciting experience?

Monique: I was so happy to discover that other sisters from other countries had the same dream I had, that is to live and serve in Africa.

Marie Ange: Who was involved?

Monique: The team of the novitiate, the Canadian Provincial Council and the General Council in Algeria were all involved in my first appointment and later on during my temporary commitment.

Marie Ange: Describe how you felt.

Monique: My novitiate was a time for testing whether I could fit into the MSOLA expectations. Therefore, some of my doubts disappear as I left Canada to Algeria.

Marie Ange: Describe what you did as a result of the experience.

Monique: My first mission was on Chilubi Island, Zambia. After learning the local language, I was asked to work at the out-patients of the hospital.  As a sister of temporary vows, I still had many questions concerning my future as MSOLA though I could not imagine myself returning to Canada and plan my life in another way.  I was very happy in Chilubi among the sick and their families. It happens that most of my years in Africa have been among those who are suffering.

Marie Ange: Now, what are the things you value deeply about MSOLA? WHEN YOU FEEL BEST ABOUT BEING A MSOLA, what about yourself do you value. What is the single most important thing that MSOLA has contributed to your life?

Monique: The Ignatian spirituality is a treasure I discovered at the novitiate and I keep referring to in my daily life, especially in periods of change and uncertainty. My Congregation, our Chapters and our Entities are of great help in order to find myself at the right place in freedom and peace. I would be on the wrong path if I try to look for peace within myself and God alone. We do help one another to grow as individuals and at the same time as a Congregation. I believe it is a good step to maintain our charism alive.

Marie Ange: What do you think is the core value of MSOLA? What values give life to the Congregation? What is it that, if it did not exist, would make MSOLA totally different than it currently is?

Monique: In various places of our missions we pay attention to different religions with more emphasis on what unites us. At the very beginning of our foundation, Cardinal Lavigerie wanted that the MSOLA and MA from different countries would live together for a better understanding of various cultures and beliefs. Our elderly sisters in Europe and America have similar experiences with those living in Africa; they often meet people of different faiths and countries though they enjoy knowing what is happening in Africa.

Marie Ange: What would you tell those who have recently joined our Congregation?

Monique: I would advise them to share willingly with others of their respective community in order to learn from different nationalities, and to accept any mission away from their own country. Other missionary institutes work in Africa but they own other charisms. Our specific charism is the concern for Africans wherever we live.

Marie Ange: Any challenge lived?

Monique: Challenges are not only in the past; it is an ongoing process. I became more aware of cultural and generation gaps during my first mission in Chilubi. Miners were returning home from the Copperbelt with money, radio, bicycle ; they had a different outlook on life from their families after working and sharing neighborhood with other tribes. Old village women and men were reluctant to accept the ideas and manners from the new comers, even from their own sons and daughters. The words of St-Paul (1,Cor.3,6) helped me understand my approach as a missionary: “I planted, Apolos watered; but God gave the increase.” I am unable to reconcile beliefs or generations gaps. Therefore, I let God do His work!