Mariannhill St Joseph’s Cathedral was the scene of celebration and gratitude on Monday, 8 September 2025, as the congregation of the Precious Blood Sisters (CPS) marked 140 years since their foundation.

The liturgy, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was led by the local ordinary of Mariannhill Diocese, joined by two members of the Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries (CMM), Archbishop Siegfried Mandla Jwara of Durban Archdiocese, Bishop Thulani Victor Mbuyisa of Kokstad Diocese, and a member of the  Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit (OSPPE), Bishop Stanisław Jan Dziuba of Umzimkulu Diocese.

In his homily, Bishop Neil Augustine Frank drew the congregation into the vision of the founder of Mariannhill Monastery, Abbot Francis Pfanner, and the story of the five pioneering women who arrived in Mariannhill in 1885, known in those early days as the Red Sisters.

Reflecting on the vision of Abbot Francis Pfanner, Bishop Frank described him as a man of daring missionary zeal. “He saw the need, determined within the mission, he created the vision, he found the strategy to meet that need, he communicated the strategy. Four steps in his missionary endeavour.”

The member of the congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) recalled Pfanner’s boldness in shaping the Sisters’ identity: “Abbot Pfanner was daring in choosing the colour for their uniform: the red skirts, which received some protest from the more fashion-minded European ladies.”

“Abbot Pfanner convinced them of the need to be different from others, and then he theologised about the significance of the red, which was to be a reminder of the Precious Blood of Christ,” he added.

Reminding the sisters of their bold decision to leave behind the familiar in order to live and proclaim the Gospel in Africa, Bishop Frank OMI said, “It takes courage and perseverance to be a missionary.”

“The first five ‘sisters’ – the Red Sisters, as they came to be known in those early days – set as a priority the Gospel injunction: ‘Go out to all the world and make disciples of all the nations,” he added.

Reflecting on the universal call to mission in the Synod on Synodality, Bishop Frank OMI said, “The Synodality project, with its leading subtitle: Communion, Participation, Mission, calls all baptised people to engage with the mission of the Church.”

He insisted that the mission is not confined to religious communities but is entrusted to the whole People of God and called for the full participation of the laity.

“We need more lay volunteers to help, facilitate people’s encounter with the love of the Father, to help them direct their lives according to the living word of God, to model their lives on Jesus, to experience the redemption in the precious blood of Jesus,” the 59-year-old bishop affirmed.

Linking the courage of the founding Sisters with the contemporary call to Synodality, Bishop Frank OMI invited the Precious Blood Sisters to see continuity in the Church’s mission.

“The Spirit is the same, the ways of the world somewhat different. People still need to hear the word of life, to see the example of living faithfully, and to accept God’s grace,” he said.

In his concluding remarks, Bishop Frank OMI blessed the CPS Sisters with words of hope, saying, “Congratulations, dear Sisters. You have a solid foundation. And we are proud of it. May more young women hear the call, may they feel the pull in their hearts, and may they respond with generosity as did the first 5 ladies, and the hundreds that followed them.”

“May God bless you on this Jubilee Day. And may God also bless our CMM brothers for whom this day is a feast in their congregation. God bless you. Amen,” he concluded.