Mgr Celestin Hakizimana, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Gikongoro, has called upon Christians to seek redemption, display unwavering faith, and practice respect and love during his Assumption day message that was delivered mass that was held in Kibeho on Tuesday, August 15.
He also urged the believers to emulate the Virgin Mary, whom he said experienced temptations and severe sufferings but remained faithful to God.
Hakizimana said this while addressing thousands of Catholics who converged in the small town of Kibeho in Nyaruguru District to celebrate Assumption Day on August 15. Church leaders estimated the crowd to be between 20,000 and 30,000 people.
The holy mass was celebrated in different languages including Kiswahili, English, French, and Kinyarwanda to ensure many pilgrims follow the proceedings. The pilgrims came from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, South Africa, Central Africa, Kenya, the United States of America, Europe, and other parts of the world.
Bishop Hakizimana described Mary as "a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ” and "a model of hope, love, faith, perseverance, and forgiveness.”
Many of the pilgrims trekked long distances from different parts of the country, spending many days and nights before reaching the place, to pray at the ‘Holy Land’ of Kibeho.
"We are here to thank God and to implore the Virgin Mary to intersect on our behalf to help us overcome challenges and temptations that we face in our lives," Constantin Nsenga, a Burundian who walked for about seven hours said.
Marie Claudine Umuja, from Ruramba Sector of Nyaruguru District, also said that she has never been disappointed in her prayers through the Virgin Mary.
"I have prayed for work, prayed for my family, prayed about literally every project I have ever undertaken, and the divine mother has never let me down," she continued.
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The Assumption of Mary is the belief that after her life on earth was over, the Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God, was taken body and soul into heaven. Assumption comes from the Latin word "Assumptio," which means "to take up."
Holy Mary is believed to have made an appearance at Kibeho on Assumption Day in 1982, after which, Pope Paul II, head of the Roman Catholic Church at the time, declared Kibeho a holy land and formally recognized the apparitions of Holy Mary in 2001.
Other apparitions accepted by the Catholic Church occurred in Portugal, France, and Germany, in addition to Rwanda.