Thousands prigrims in Kibeho to commemorate Virgin Mary’s apparition
Over 20 thousand believers, especially christians are from the night of November 27, 2023 gathering at the Our St Mary in Kibeho Church to commemorate the apparition of the blessed Virgin Mary who appeared to two girls ar a boarding school in 1981.
The event will be marked by the holly mass and specific commemoration of Virgin Mary by worshipping her statue for memory.
Today, Kibeho is best known as a place of apparitions and pilgrimages. The first apparition of Mary was on November 28, 1981, when Alphonsine Mumureke, a young student of the Kibeho High School, saw a lady of incomparable beauty who presented herself under the name of “Nyina Wa Jambo,” which means “Mother of the Word.” Alphonsine immediately recognized her as the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Our Savior Jesus
Amid the event, Mgr Célestin Hakizimana, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Gikongoro, thanked Nyaruguru District officials for partnership in the holy event, which is among events that made the district very known and visited .
He said, “It helps to preach the mission of the Virgin Mary that started in Kibeho. It will help those who make pilgrimages to Kibeho .”
Some participants understood the faithfulness of the virgin Mary after seeing her statue and the message she spiritually addresses to believers.
“We usually come to Kibeho but even those who could have not known the place before are coming to find out. Mary’s image makes everyone curious to know what happened to the place.”
According to André Karambizi the the pligrimages to Kibeho is concrete signs that show that tourism in Nyaruguru can thrive by leveraging on it through building infrastructures.
Among the pligrims, the majority are Rwandans, yet there are also others who came from other countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, US, England, Spain and Portugal.
THE RWANDA SUN
