We were delighted to welcome our Archivist, Lochlann Unger, who led a rich and engaging presentation tracing the intertwined beginnings of the OLA and the SMA. Drawing on early accounts, letters, and archival material, he brought us back to the courage and conviction of those first missionaries who set out with little certainty and much resolve. He spoke of the vision of Bishop de Marion Brésillac, who founded the SMA in 1856, and Fr Augustine Planque, who succeeded Brésillac and went on to found the OLA in 1876.
The story Lochlann told moved from Brésillac’s years in India and his eventual resignation over the caste system, through the early missions to Sierra Leone and Dahomey, through yellow fever and conflict and the slow, costly work of establishing a presence in West Africa, to the eventual emergence of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles. The presentation held together both the fragility and determination of those beginnings.
A number of SMA Fathers joined us for the occasion, the shared patrimony of our congregations runs deep. There was a sense of familiarity and recognition throughout the afternoon, that comes when you are among family. Stories were revisited, connections renewed, and the distance between past and present felt, at times, surprisingly close.
It was, in every sense, a lovely time of sharing.
