SMAs celebrate 200th birthday of Founder
By Damian Avevor
By Damian Avevor
The Society of African Missions (SMA) in Ghana, recently climaxed the 200th (Bicentenary) Anniversary of the birth of its Founder, Bishop Melchior de Marion Bresillac with a thanksgiving Mass at the Queen of Peace Catholic Church at Madina in Accra.
The main celebrant at the Mass was Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra and concelebrated by ten Priests including Very Rev. Fr. James Owusu -Yeboah, SMA Regional Superior, Ghana; Rev. Msgr. Hilary Senoo, of the Ho Diocese; and Rev. Fr. Charles Owusu Ansah, SMA, Parish Priest of the Madina Church.
Speaking on the life of the Founder and the history of the SMA, Fr. Owusu -Yeboah said Bishop Bresillac, was born on December 2, 1813, ordained Priest in 1838 and appointed Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Coinbatore in 1845.
His zeal for missions and the formation of the local Clergy which was opposed by his colleague Priests led to his resignation in 1853 and later recruited candidates to embark on Mission to Africa in Dahomey (now Benin) in 1855.
He said the Holy See advised him to form a Missionary Congregation for his mission and in 1858, Rome entrusted to the SMA the new Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone.
Having founded the SMA, he dedicated it to Our Lady of Fourviere in Lyons, France, thus making Mary the Patron Saint of the Society and of all Missionaries, he added.
He noted that after the death of Bishop Bresillac in 1859, the Mission of the SMA continued to establish and build vibrant local Churches with their own Clergy and hierarchy in most West African Countries including Ouidah (Dahomey) in 1861; Lagos, 1863; Ghana, 1880; La Cote d’Ivoire, 1895; Liberia, 1906; Togo, 1918 and Niger 1931.
Fr. Owusu -Yeboah said the process towards the Beatification and Canonization of the SMA founder was in the final stage and encouraged the faithful to prayer the Novena for that purpose.
He said the Church in Ghana since the arrival of the first SMA Missionaries, Rev. Frs. Auguste Moreau and Eugene Morat on May 18, 1880, has experienced great development in the field of education, health and evangelization.
He said the SMA from 20th century had seen new developments and realties with the recruitment of Ghanaian Rev. Fr. Michael Adrie as the first black African in 1983 and as the first African Superior.
He said since that time, Africans had been spearheading the mission of the SMA in Africa and other places and had taken over the leadership role of the administration of the mission and the Society in Africa from the French, the Dutch and the Irish.
He said the Society has about 106 African Priests, 15 Deacons and two Bishops with the Ghana Region having 20 Priests, calling on the faithful to help promote Vocation to the SMA and support the funding of the SMA administration and the formation of SMA Seminarians.
Fr. Owusu -Yeboah said the Achimota School was opened in 1927 through the instrumentality of the SMA; the Church opened a Teacher Training College at St. Mary’s Convent under the direction of the OLA Sisters in Cape Coast and the St. Augustine Training College also in Cape coast under the Management of the SMA.
Dilating his homily on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Fr. Owusu -Yeboah said Mary, having responded positively to God’s call to carry His son in her womb, became an intermediary between the Son of God and humanity and a co-redemptorist.
He described Mary as a model of faith who said ‘yes’ to the divine call though she did not fully understand, and urged the faithful to also listen and respond to God’s call and allow His Word to change their lives.
He entreated the faithful to always look up to Mother Mary “who is for us a source of hope as we strive to become more holy, more pure and responsive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the realities of our time”.
He reminded the faithful of the Christian duty to obey the rules and regulations of their communities to foster peace and unity, to be law abiding and disciplined.
Archbishop Palmer-Buckle commended the SMAs for their missionary work, saying that the history of the Catholic Mission in Accra would be incomplete without mentioning the SMAs, thanking them on behalf of the Archdiocese of Accra for offering their Regional House at Oshiuman for the 2014 Plenary Assembly of the Ghana catholic Bishops’ Conference.
He called on the faithful to support the activities of SMA and pray for the canonization of Bishop Bresillac.
The day also marked the Patronal Feast of the Ladies of Marshall, a fraternal Society named after Sir James Marshall, who was instrumental in espousing and championing of the re-founding of the Catholic Church in Ghana that led to the arrival of the SMAs in Ghana in 1880.
They presented sets of Cassocks for the Altar Servers to the Madina Parish as their contribution towards the growth of the Church and was received by Fr. Owusu-Ansah, who urged the Marshallans to continue to support the Church in diverse ways.
Present at the Mass were the Friends of the SMA dressed in the bicentenary cloth.
The main celebrant at the Mass was Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra and concelebrated by ten Priests including Very Rev. Fr. James Owusu -Yeboah, SMA Regional Superior, Ghana; Rev. Msgr. Hilary Senoo, of the Ho Diocese; and Rev. Fr. Charles Owusu Ansah, SMA, Parish Priest of the Madina Church.
Speaking on the life of the Founder and the history of the SMA, Fr. Owusu -Yeboah said Bishop Bresillac, was born on December 2, 1813, ordained Priest in 1838 and appointed Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Coinbatore in 1845.
His zeal for missions and the formation of the local Clergy which was opposed by his colleague Priests led to his resignation in 1853 and later recruited candidates to embark on Mission to Africa in Dahomey (now Benin) in 1855.
He said the Holy See advised him to form a Missionary Congregation for his mission and in 1858, Rome entrusted to the SMA the new Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone.
Having founded the SMA, he dedicated it to Our Lady of Fourviere in Lyons, France, thus making Mary the Patron Saint of the Society and of all Missionaries, he added.
He noted that after the death of Bishop Bresillac in 1859, the Mission of the SMA continued to establish and build vibrant local Churches with their own Clergy and hierarchy in most West African Countries including Ouidah (Dahomey) in 1861; Lagos, 1863; Ghana, 1880; La Cote d’Ivoire, 1895; Liberia, 1906; Togo, 1918 and Niger 1931.
Fr. Owusu -Yeboah said the process towards the Beatification and Canonization of the SMA founder was in the final stage and encouraged the faithful to prayer the Novena for that purpose.
He said the Church in Ghana since the arrival of the first SMA Missionaries, Rev. Frs. Auguste Moreau and Eugene Morat on May 18, 1880, has experienced great development in the field of education, health and evangelization.
He said the SMA from 20th century had seen new developments and realties with the recruitment of Ghanaian Rev. Fr. Michael Adrie as the first black African in 1983 and as the first African Superior.
He said since that time, Africans had been spearheading the mission of the SMA in Africa and other places and had taken over the leadership role of the administration of the mission and the Society in Africa from the French, the Dutch and the Irish.
He said the Society has about 106 African Priests, 15 Deacons and two Bishops with the Ghana Region having 20 Priests, calling on the faithful to help promote Vocation to the SMA and support the funding of the SMA administration and the formation of SMA Seminarians.
Fr. Owusu -Yeboah said the Achimota School was opened in 1927 through the instrumentality of the SMA; the Church opened a Teacher Training College at St. Mary’s Convent under the direction of the OLA Sisters in Cape Coast and the St. Augustine Training College also in Cape coast under the Management of the SMA.
Dilating his homily on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Fr. Owusu -Yeboah said Mary, having responded positively to God’s call to carry His son in her womb, became an intermediary between the Son of God and humanity and a co-redemptorist.
He described Mary as a model of faith who said ‘yes’ to the divine call though she did not fully understand, and urged the faithful to also listen and respond to God’s call and allow His Word to change their lives.
He entreated the faithful to always look up to Mother Mary “who is for us a source of hope as we strive to become more holy, more pure and responsive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the realities of our time”.
He reminded the faithful of the Christian duty to obey the rules and regulations of their communities to foster peace and unity, to be law abiding and disciplined.
Archbishop Palmer-Buckle commended the SMAs for their missionary work, saying that the history of the Catholic Mission in Accra would be incomplete without mentioning the SMAs, thanking them on behalf of the Archdiocese of Accra for offering their Regional House at Oshiuman for the 2014 Plenary Assembly of the Ghana catholic Bishops’ Conference.
He called on the faithful to support the activities of SMA and pray for the canonization of Bishop Bresillac.
The day also marked the Patronal Feast of the Ladies of Marshall, a fraternal Society named after Sir James Marshall, who was instrumental in espousing and championing of the re-founding of the Catholic Church in Ghana that led to the arrival of the SMAs in Ghana in 1880.
They presented sets of Cassocks for the Altar Servers to the Madina Parish as their contribution towards the growth of the Church and was received by Fr. Owusu-Ansah, who urged the Marshallans to continue to support the Church in diverse ways.
Present at the Mass were the Friends of the SMA dressed in the bicentenary cloth.
Concelebrating SMA Priests with Archbishop Palmer-Buckle
