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“A place where small miracles will take place”: Catholic Archbishop in South Africa at Opening of Marian Shrine

By Jude Atemanke

Johannesburg, 29 April, 2024 / 10:25 pm (ACI Africa).

The  Mother of Mercy Magaliesburg Marian Shrine of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg in South Africa is to offer an opportunity and grace for “small miracles”, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale has said.

Addressing pilgrims at the official opening and blessing of the Marian Shrine, Archbishop Tlhagale said, “This Shrine will be made holy by the gathering of pilgrims who seek to experience God’s presence.”

“This Shrine will become a place of reconciliation; of mending broken hearts; a place of deep-seated peace; a place of spiritual healing; a place where small miracles will take place,” the Local Ordinary of Johannesburg said April 27.

The Shrine, the South African member of Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) further said, “will be a warm welcoming home away from home. It will be a place of refuge from a world of harsh discrimination, of hate, of jealousy, and from a world where human hearts are simply cold.”

“The Shrine will be a place, where with the help of Mother Mary, pilgrims will gather spiritual strength, renew their faith and sense the presence of God in their lives,” the immediate former Liaison Bishop of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) Migrants and Refugees Office said.

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“For many of us who will make it a habit to visit this Shrine of Magaliesburg, the purpose will be to experience a heavenly mother’s unconditional love again – even if we ourselves are old and our earthly mothers are elsewhere. We will come here because our hearts long to be drowned in Mother Mary’s love,” Archbishop Tlhagale said.

The Catholic Archbishop further said, “This Shrine will be made holy by the constant and uninterrupted, unbroken cries of children calling upon their heavenly Mother to intervene on their behalf; to plead their cause to her son, the Redeemer of humankind.”

“This Shrine will be made holy by the feet of many pilgrims whose unshakable and deep faith gently propel them to visit the Shrine to seek comfort in the merciful heart of Mother Mary,” the 76-year-old Catholic Archbishop said.

He continued, “This Shrine will be made holy by the spirit of the many holy and saintly people of God who bear witness to each other and simply, like children in a family who seek to build their mother a house, many of us promised to build our heavenly Mother, the Queen of Heaven, a house in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg.”

“It is a fitting gesture for the Archdiocese of Johannesburg to build our heavenly Mother Mary, the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of Mercy, an earthly home here in the beautiful surroundings of Magaliesburg,” he emphasized.

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The South African Catholic Archbishop, who started his Episcopal Ministry in April 1999 as Bishop of South Africa Bloemfontein Diocese appealed for “generous support” to facilitate the completion of the Marian Shrine.

“We still need to build a chapel, tar the parking lot, build an ablution block and a road to the Grotto,” the Catholic Church leader said, and thanked partners and “all those who have generously contributed to the building of this Shrine of Mary, Mother of Mercy.”

Jude Atemanke

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.

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