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Thursday, 13 January 2011 |
 I transfer to some photographs of our African mass taken by Mary Hollingdale's husband during the mass. As it has been announced for the last two months, the second African mass took place on Sunday, 2 march 2011 in our parish. The turnout was very good. Africans from different countries came to participate in the celebration. They came from Hitchin, Hatfield, Bedford, Letchworth, Stevenage…
To help all the Africans to participate in the celebration, the priest conducted the mass in English. He read the Gospel and preached in English, but the first reading was in Swahili from East Africa while the second was in Shona from Zimbabwe.
 Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Indian Ocean coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. Although only 5–10 million people speak it as their native language, Swahili is a national, or official language, of four nations, namely Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Shona, or chiShona, is an African language spoken by nearly 80 percent of people in Zimbabwe. There are clusters of Shona people or Shona speaking people in Botswana and Mozambique, and in almost every country that shares borders with Zimbabwe.
The singing was in two languages: Swahili and Shona from Zimbabwe. The mass started and finished in the parish hall with a procession. It was very interesting to see all the youngsters in the procession and throughout the mass dancing on the rhythm of the African drums and the beautiful melodies of the songs led by the Swahili and Shona choirs.
After the mass everybody gathered in the hall to share drinks and a meal brought for the circumstance. In the end people were happy. It was a good and joyful way to celebrate the epiphany of the Lord and to begin a new year. Our next celebration will be on Sunday 6 march 20011, at 2pm.
Fr. Jean-Marie, aa.
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