F R A N S A L I A N S

A Brief History of the Parish

 

When the Black settlements were shifted from Westdene to Tseiblaagte, a small number of Catholics, who were the part of the present Stanislaus parish, moved to Tesiblaagte. Along with these people,  Fr. Rehor also moved to this place in 1928. It was done because it was difficult for the priests from long distance to come here and celebrate the Holy Mass. The land of the OLPH Mission was bought by Fr. Rehor for £ 290 . 6 Shillings and 10 pennies. Mrs. Theresisa Apollus was the first person to be baptized here on 15th September 1929 in the Parish. With the arrival of Fr. L. Wolf in 15th December 1929 the works of the Mission was sped up. After the death of Fr. L. Wolf , Fr. Martin Forster became  Parish priest here.  Fr. Jansen in 1950 took up the responsibility of the Mission. He built the presbytery, the hostel and the Matthias School. He served the OLPH Mission for a long time of period. During the course of time, the Catholic population grew up both in Tesiblaagte and Krőnlein, the Coloured area of Keetmanshoop. The corner stone of the present Church was laid on 1st May 1955 at the time of Fr. Jansen.

 

The Parish of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help has grown substantially in faith and numerically in strength due to the strenuous hard work of the Fathers belonging to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. The Parish has at present nearly 5000 Catholics and it is one of the biggest parishes in the diocese.

 

The faithful in the parish comprises of people belonging to different ethnic groups. The Church looks after the spiritual needs of the people in Tseiblaagte, Krölein, Noordhoek, Westedene.  The majority of the faithful are the Namas. There is also good number of the Coloureds, Owambos, Damaras in the Parish. The medium of communication is Afrikaans but the faithful sing different types of hymns from the various language groups to make the liturgy very active and alive.

 

The Parish Administration

 

At present the Parish is looked after by the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales and there are two priests involved the ministry. Fr. Philip Mangat MSFS is the Parish Priest and Fr. Joy Kaniyammattel MSFS is the assistant parish priest. The Parish Council, comprising of twelve members, looks into the pastoral needs of the Parish. The Parish is divided into 19 blocks with two block leaders and a parish council member as over seer for each block. The block has got a lot of responsibilities. Each month there is a Holy Mass conducted in the blocks. Each block comes together for prayer sessions, rosaries and also help the Parish in its financial endeavours. There is also a financial committee which looks into the financial aspects of the parish and the all the developmental activities of the Parish. There is also a deacon and a group of lay ministers who help the priests in carrying out the pastoral works in the Parish.

 

The catechism teachers help in the formation of faith in the young ones. There are classes conducted for the First Holy Communion Candidates and the Confirmation Students.

 

On Sundays, there are two Holy Mass in which the first one being in English mainly for the Children.  The time of the Holy Eucharistic Celebrations is on Sundays 7.30 am and 9.00 am. There are also Holy Mass on Wednesdays and Fridays in the evening at 6.60 pm and other days at 7.00 am in the morning. There is also the Benediction and the recitation of the Holy Rosary on every Sundays at 5.00 pm.

 

Organizations

 

There are different organizations which make the life of the Church very active. Choir, Moeder Kring, Die Pioneers, Mother’s Voice, Youth Group, Small Christian Communities, St. Vincent de Paul Society, The Laity of St. Francis de Sales.

 

Outstations

 

The Parish also has got four out stations namely, Koës, Naute Dam, Snyfontein and Blou Wes. They are served with the Holy Mass once in a month. The distance to these centers varies from 55 km to 130kms.

 

MSFS

 

We render our service at the Parish, and in 4 outstations, where we two have church buildings. We take care of the spiritual needs of the patients who get admitted in the hospital and also the spiritual needs of the inmates of the local jail, once a month.

 

We as MSFS need only to follow the foot steps of our renowned Patron SFS and of our charismatic founder Fr. Mermier, to make our work effective. As Pastors we need to remain gentle and compassionate at the service of the people entrusted to our care. We do the planting and leave the rest to God who will see to its growth. We look forward with optimism and trust in the help of God.