Apostolic Life

Our Activities.

He summoned those he wanted they were to be sent out to preach with power to cast out devils. Mk.3, 13:14, 9:35. The purpose of our religious life is apostolic. Jesus founded the church to continue His mission in the world. “Mission” is at the very heart of our profession of the evangelical counsels. We try to be living witnesses of God’s love and strive to associate ourselves with God’s work of redemption, in being open to the present needs of the local and universal church, for the fulfillment of her mission among the people we serve by being pastorally minded in all our activities and give priority to any apostolic work demanded by the church. As a diocesan congregation, we exercise the apostolate under the authority of the diocesan Bishop guided by the Mother General in line with our constitution. (Constitution art No6, 7).

“Here I am among you as one who serves” (Lk.22, 27). Consecrated women are persons at the service of Christ, a service of love for the benefit of their fellowmen and the betterment of their lives. A service of love for the salvation of the people’s souls and the development of their country and of the whole world. We Sisters of the Holy Rosary are therefore engaged in every kind of work as per the need of time.

The Pastoral Ministry / Activities.

He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk16, 15-16, Mt 28:18-20). By our vocation we try to be living witnesses of God’s love and the coming of the kingdom through getting involved in and being dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel to the people. We consider pastoral work as very important for our congregation because we are committed to the spiritual lives of individuals, sharing with them their sufferings and aspirations. We are fully involved in parish ministry, the youth, small Christian communities, Sunday school children, giving catechetical instruction and getting involved in all Catholic Christian movements at parish level. Some of us are in pastoral counseling and others render their services at the diocesan Pastoral Training Center as director and trainer. ( Constitution art No8).

The Education Ministry.

“After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers listening to them and asking them questions. He taught them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority.”(Lk2, 46, 4, 31). Our founder Monsignor Marcel St Denis had a vision, he put education as apriority because he believed that for a person to get to any profession has to be knowledgeable and education is the gateway to it. Marcel St Denis believed that Education is in a special way the concern of the church and that it has a duty of proclaiming the way to salvation to men and women revealing the life of Christ to those who believe. We Sisters of the Holy Rosary are convinced that our presence in schools is a genuine apostolate flowing from our religious commitment to God, the church and people. Our main concern is to meet the pastoral and catechetical needs of pupils and staff, giving them a real Christian outlook on life rooted in their culture. We emphasize on witnessing to God’s love for staff and students by our personal dedication to promoting justice and ecumenical spirit in dealing equally with them. Fostering leadership among students and taking special care to prepare them for their future role in the society. (Constitution art No111).

The education institutions in the Diocese where we teach and administer are as follows: 

  1. Nkhamenya Girls Boarding Secondary School is at Holy Cross Parish in Kasungu District. It accommodates over 600 students and is administered by our sister.

  2. Kaseye Girls Boarding Secondary School is a newly opened school in St Michaels Parish Chitipa. It has 100 boarders two of our sisters are teaching here and is also under our management.

  3. Katete the Immaculate Conception Girls Boarding Primary school in Champhira, St Theresa Parish is our biggest primary school. The school intake capacity is 550 for day scholars and 150 boarders. We also have the boarding for 60 orphans that are taken care of by our congregation. Both the Headmistress and the Boarding Mistress are our Sisters.

  4. We also teach in primary schools like St Mary’s Girls full Primary School, Kaseye St Bernadette Girls full Primary School, Lunyangwa Girls full Primary School, and St Maria Goretti full Primary School in Nkhata-Bay St Joseph Parish.

 Healing Ministry.

 He appointed the seventy two whom he sent ahead of him to cure the sick and proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand for you. (Lk1, 1, 9) in our healing apostolate we try to be conscious of how we are truly continuing and partaking in the hearing ministry of Christ, through our presence to the sick and our loving care for them. We try to witness to the personal love of Christ himself, his loving concern for the physical and spiritual needs of the patients. (Constitution art No112) At present we run five Community Hospitals, two Health Centers and a Rehabilitation Unit with special care to nursing the sick, Mobile clinic outreach, Primary Health Care; Mother & Child care; Nutrition and Rehabilitation Units, Home Based Care for HIV/AIDS patients and many other need arising.

 The following are the community hospitals and health centers which we are managing. 

  1. Kaseye Community Hospital; is in chitipa District, has 103 beds and carry out other services as the Primary Health Care; Mother & Child care; Nutrition and Rehabilitation Units, and goes to the outreach for the clinics.

  2. Atupere Community Hospital; is at St Stevens Parish in Karonga. A newly opened hospital with 80 beds they also administer Primary Health Care; Mother & Child care; Nutrition and Rehabilitation Units, and goes to the outreach for the clinics.
  3. We also have Mzambazi Community Hospital at Euthin Mzimba District, Mzambazi with 72 beds, the Primary Health Care; Mother and Child care; Nutrition and Rehabilitation Units, and the mobile the clinics.
  4. Katete Community Hospital is also in Mzimba District with 70 beds and other departments as the Primary Health Care; Mother and Child care; Nutrition and Rehabilitation Units, and the mobile the clinics.

  5. In Kasungu the Central Region we have Nkhamenya Community Hospital that comprise of the Primary Health Care; Mother and Child care; Nutrition and Rehabilitation Units, the theater and the mobile the clinics. Nkhamenya has 70 beds.

  6. There is the St Patricks Health Center in Rumphi district with 29 maternity beds and goes for the outreach clinics.

  7. St Anne’s Health Center at Chilumba in Karonga district has 50 beds with other units as the Nutrition and Rehabilitation Units, the Primary Health Care and the mobile clinics.

  8. At last we have Lusubiro Nutrition and Rehabilitation unit at St Marys Parish in Karoga District. Lusubiro started as an orphan care project but has now sprit to three independent projects for instance, Miracle, the Nutrition and Rehabilitation Unit, the Orphan Care and Vocational Skills.

The Lusubiro Nutrition Center existed due to feeding problems. At present it accommodates …… malnourished children and a number of….orphans. In this program Lusubiro deals with intensive feeding of orphans, other venerable children, nursing mothers and the aged. We organize and carry out nutrition feeding centers and CBCCS and encourage food security.

Social Ministry.

A deep compassion for the needs of others is the very first condition that urges Jesus to action. “My heart is moved with pity” (Mk 8:2, Mt15:32) and in Luke’s Gospel chapter (10, 25:35).The Samaritan was moved to compassion and acted with love. In founding our congregation Monsignor Marcel St Denis was also deeply moved by the spiritual and human needs of the people. We try to live according to the spirit of our founder, by being responsive to the human needs and help building a more human world through getting involved in the mission of the church in our country and make the Good News true in our daily life.

As a response to the human and social needs of our people, we run the following institutions. 

  • St Patrick’s home craft center was opened in view of boosting up the lives and homes of girls and young ladies who did not go further with their education. St Patrick’s offer courses in home management; food and nutrition; child care; and house keeping. Textile and design; textile and technology and entrepreneur, hints on gender, human rights and counseling are also taught.
  • Lusubiro orphan care and vocational skills. In this program we provide needs to the needy orphans inform of food, shelter, clothing, transport and basic necessities of a child in life.  We give support to the sick, aged, street children, widows and refugees in terms of food shelter, transport, and clothing. The center also provides vocational training to low educated orphans and other vulnerable group in tailoring, carpentry and joinery.  
  • St Magdalena handicapped center. The center is in the hands of the diocese though under our institute’s management. There are at present 100 children both boys and girls attending classes at a near by Primary School. The center offers almost all of the needs a child need since it is a boarding for the handicapped.