Feast Day

Golden Anniversaries for the founders of St. Maurus’ Abbey

The 15^th of January holds a special place on the calendar for Benedictines throughout the world. This day celebrates the Feast Day of St. Maurus and St. Placid, the first students of St. Benedict. Our Benedictine community here at Hanga tend to lay more emphasis on this day than most other abbeys though, because St. Maurus is the namesake for our Abbey: St. Maurus’ Abbey.

As the year long celebration of our 50^th Jubilee continues to unfold, this years’ Feast Day of St. Maurus marks the golden anniversary of the profession of the first four monks of Hanga. Of the three founding monks who are still living, two were in attendance for today’s mass in Hanga; Fr. Gregory Mwageni, who celebrated the mass, and Br. Joseph Kinunda. They were both recognized for their significant role in the founding of this monastery and their continued commitment to the growth of this Benedictine community. The remaining founder, Br. Bonaventure Malibiche, was unfortunately unable to attend today’s celebrations due to work commitments in Mbeya.

This year’s Feast Day of St. Maurus and St. Placid was a joyous continuation of our 50^th Jubilee celebrations, which will commence on the 20^th of August this year.