Thousands of Catholic Faithful and other people of good will from all walks of life including the former first lady, Madame Calista Mutharika, Senior Chief Kwataine and Member of Parliament for Ntcheu West,Mwayi Kamuyambeni, Saturday afternoon paid their last respect to the two Catholic nuns who died on a road accident at six miles,near Bunda turn off in Lilongwe on Thursday.
The remains of the two nuns identified as Sister Margherita Ravelli and Sister Anna Maria Guidotti who are all from the Sacramentine Congregation were laid to rest at Ntcheu Catholic Parish.
Before the dead bodies were lowered into the grave yard at exactly 13:00 pm, His Lordship Bishop Emmanuel Kanyama of Dedza Diocese led all those that attended the funeral into a Holy Mass as the main celebrant alongside His lordship Bishops Montfort Sitima of Mangochi Diocese.
In his homely during the mass,Fr. Henry Mkanda who is a curate at Corpus Christi Ntcheu Catholic Parish described the two departed sisters a loyal to God as they dedicated their lives in Him by praying and helping the needy.
“These two nuns were loyal to God.They dedicated their lives to God through prayers and we need to learn from them.Lets realize that we are the workers for God and we therefore need to be loyal to Him just like Sister Margherita and Anna did when they were in this world,”he said.
Speaking during condolence speeches, a representative from the Sacramentine Congregation, Sister Hellen Matchado described the demise of their two friends shocking and a big blow to the entire congregation and the Church in Malawi.
She said the two Sisters were supportive to the Sacramentine Congregation as they were spiritual and social pillars to their family members,friends and those closer to them.
Chairperson for the laity council in Dedza Diocese,Jim Gobede said as a diocese and Ntcheu Parish in particular,they learnt about the death of the two nuns with shock and described the incident as a great loss to the family of God.
Gobede was quick to challenge Catholic Christians in Dedza Diocese and people of good will to have faith in God saying it was God who offered free lives to the two Sisters and that the same God will receive their souls and lead them to internal peace.
Also adding her voice was Sister Florida Gundasi who represented the Association of Women in Religious Institutes of Malawi (AWRIM) who described the two departed nuns as hard workers and dedicative.
“Sister Margherita was just available at any time we have a meeting as AWRIM where she was even contributing positively. She was even a hard worker and somebody who strived to achieve a her goal,”she said.
Taking is turn, His Lordship Bishop Kanyama extended his condolences to the Sacramentine Congregation for the loss of the two nuns.
“On behalf of Dedza Diocese and of course on my own behalf,receive my condolences for the sudden deaths of Sister Margherita and Sister Anna Maria. Lets thank God for the gift of live he gave to the two Sisters and let us pray to the same God that their souls rest in peace,” he said.
Bishop Kanyama added, “They have departed amongst us in body but we are still together in spirit”.
For his part Senior Chief Kwataine said the socio-economic status of Ntcheu is changing due to a number of infrastructure developments that the Sacrament Sisters are doing especially at the Boma and losing some of them is a set back to the developmental progress.
Sister Margherita and Sister Anna Maria died when the vehicle registration number NU 5942 experienced a head on with a Minbus registration number SA7720.
Sister Margherita alongside a Sister Brendah who sustained a serious injury was escorting their friend Sister Anna Maria who wanted to connect from Lilongwe to Tanzania.
Sister Margherita who was driving the vehicle died on the spot while Sister Anna died upon reaching Kamuzu Central Hospital. Meanwhile,Sister Brendah is recovering well at the same Kamuzu Central Hospital.
Born on 29th January 1949,Sister Margherita held from Orio wa Serio,Bergamo district in Italy while Sister Anna was born 17th April1946 and held from Tiburtino in Italy.