Bishop Simon – The sturdy pioneer and first Oblate Bishop

With A steadfast faith, boundless hope and enthusiastic love, Fr Jean-Marie Simon, with 4 companions arrived at Pella on 4 September 1882.

Here in Pella, Fr Gaudeul and Br George, African missionaries of Lyons, have welcomed them. The various registers, like baptismal and marriage were handed over to Fr Simon. Then he was introduced to the catholic families.

After 3 weeks the African missionaries of Lyons departed, accompanied by Fr Simon and the youngest chaplain brother.
On his return Fr Simon wanted to get down to work immediately, but the enemy has already sown evil weeds in the field. Three of his companions could not endure the hardships and loneliness of this desert wilderness and in spite of Fr Simon’s encouragement and warnings they left Fr Simon with only one (Fr Jouaux) alone behind. This was the beginning of many trials to follow.

Within six weeks his remaining companion had to leave him on account of health reasons although he did not lack courage and generosity.

Fr Simon, a young priest, 24 years of age remained alone in the semi desert. It was then that he has said: “Now I have only just God” but Fr Simon is an Oblate of St Fr. De Sales, He will bring the sacrifice. His motto is “TENUI NEC DIMITAM”: I hold and will not let go. He turned to his God: “Your holy Will, will be done. In all things I trust in You.”

Thus he went into solitude. The few people who were there moved away with their flocks. “Where are the 400,000 inhabitants of Lyons with seminaries, colleges where he lectured, hundreds of children who played around him? Now only a dream.
For such a contemplative life Fr Simon had no appeal. He decided to go to Springbok to visit the few Catholics there and to offer Holy Mass for them, but he had no decent trousers to mix with civilized people. A traveler offered him a gift of trousers and Mrs Malone, an Irish lady, filled his canisters with some food.

Back home he bestowed his time on studying, gardening and hunting. Porridge and rice 3 times a day for months on end urged him to go hunting, though not a hunter.

It must have been during this time that he carved the crucified Jesus with his pocket knife. In 1984 when 3 pillars of the Cathedral tumbled down, this pocket knife was found in the third pillar with a note: “this is the knife I have used to carve the Image of Christ on the Cross.”

The knife was placed back in the pillar where it was restored. When the second group of missionaries arrived, Fr. Simon advised that they should first try to be self providing. Fr. Simon realized that the water table of Pella is very high.

Being aware of the high water level, they took precautionary steps to lead the water from underneath the church into a deep well and from there; the windmill threw the water into big reservoirs.

They dug wells and cultivated beautiful vegetables, planted fig and pomengrate tees. The water of the springs, they gathered into a big dam to irrigate wheatlands.

August 1883 announced new missionaries, amongst them 3 Oblate sisters, Sr Francoise-Marie, Superior and responsible for the house-keeping, Sr Louis-Augustine as teacher and Sr Paule-Joseph, who could master Dutch, undertook catechism classes.
It was only a four roomed apartment, so who sleeps where? The most spacious one was given up for the sisters. It served as bedroom, dining room and community room, tins served as mugs, artfully cut jars as glasses. The lid of a soup bowl was the washing basin.

6 missionaries could no longer live in such a cramped space. A convent for the sisters had to be build.

Thanks to the “Encyclopedia Des Arts And Mitiers” which Fr Becoulet brought along, they found the required information regarding the architecture. The inexperienced builders lacked building tools. 1886 the old rectory which served as school and church had become inadequate for the increasing number of Catholics. Pella needed a Church.

It was time to depart. The new missionaries looked at the wagon with a sceptic eye. Could this rickety old dumpcart ever bring them to their destination? The coloured drivers terrified them.

Well, they chose to be missionnaries; bravely they mastered their feelings and climbed into the wagon which was to take them where they longed to be, to work for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, the wagon rumbled out of O’okiep on to the sandy track leading through the wide stretches of wilderness and dunes to Bushmanland.
At night the Fathers slept under the stars and froze under their frost covered blankets. Father Bécoulet could not be convinced that this was Africa where the unforgiving fierceness of the summer sun had sapped the vigour of many a missionary who had come before them.

After four days of torture they arrived at Pella on 28th August, 1883.

As to beds, there were only two in the Mission, two too many, for all the missionaries chose to sleep on the floor, the typical dung floor, in true missionary style. Finally the question was settled and the delighted “bedless” ones stretched out their blankets on the planks of dismantled packing cases. Everyone slept soundly. Father Bécoulet alone was restless. Was he dreaming of snakes and scorpions and all the monsters of the dark continent? Suddenly he was up and out of his home made bed: “My God, must I be a victim on the very first night of my missionary life”? When he discovered that he had forgotten a few nails in the planks and that the sting was not venomous, he calmly crept back into bed and slept the sleep of the just till morning

The packing cases served another more useful purpose. The only chairs in the Mission were made from them. A few tin cans were transformed into mugs, and several bottles what had been cut as artistically as possible, served as glasses and funnels. It was all rather quaint but essentially practical.

Missionary life began in all its rigour. The simple four room house was at their disposal. The largest room, three metres square, was ceded to the Sisters while the Fathers occupied two other rooms which together were barely as large as the first. The fourth room was the workshop and storeroom combined, as before. As Sister Paul Joseph knew Dutch, she was placed in charge of the Catachism class. Sister Louise Augustine helped in school, and Sister Francoise-Marie, the Superior, took charge of the cooking and cleaning. The Priests were thus free to start building.

Thanks to the “Encyclopedie des Arts et Metiers” which Father Bécoulet had brought with him, they found all the information they needed, but they lacked everything else. The primitive scaffolding which they set up proved dangerous. Father Bécoulet, a vivacious man, disappeared several times through the bottom of an opened cask of sizeable proportions. It cost them strenuous efforts and not a little mirth to pull him out of the trap.

Father Simon, in turn, was hit on the head by a beam, and kissed the dust a few feet away. Their third associate Father Ceyte, inadvertently walked on an unsteady plank, he could not help making a perilous leap and landed on the back of his unsuspecting hodman. Both plunged into the mortar.

These little incidents kept up their spirits during the two years that they struggled on with the building, which was now nearing completion. Only the plastering remained to be done. For some time Father Simon had noticed certain rocks that were very similar to the limestone of France. Why should they not try burning a few of them. They therefore made a hole in the ground on a slope and set a few iron bars inside to serve as a grate. Then they filled the hole with the stones and kept a good fire going under the grate for thirtysix hours. Two days later, the contents of this improvised kiln were cooled and beautiful light weight stones was the result. They would soon see if this was lime, for if it were, the stones would be reduced to a paste when sprinkled with water. They made the experiment and waited in great expectation, but nothing happened. They thought the question was settled and turned away in great disappointment.

Father Simon happened to have a sack in his hand. Without any other thought than to get rid of it, he threw it on the heap of stones that they deemed worthless and walked away. A few hours later he went back to get his sack. Imagine his surprise and joy when he saw that the stones he had covered had been transformed into a fine powder, white as snow. This was quicklime of the highest quality.
The manufacture of lime became practically an industry in Pella. The lime kiln was constantly pouring forth smoke as the inhabitants were burning lime to transport as far afield as Springbok and O’okiep where they would sell it at 75 cents a sack.

There were great celebrations. The sisters wrote in their diary: “We rejoice in the visit of a Bishop but is utterly embarrassed to receive him – no available room. We give up our room.”

He was highly satisfied with his visit. In 1885 the area which was for 3 years granted under proof to the oblates of St Francis de Sales, is now elevated as Apostolic Prefecture A token of confidence and for the missionaries a first concrete token of their permanent establishment.

On May 2, 1898 the Orange River Prefecture was elevated to Apostolic Vicariate by Pop Leo xiii. On May 4 followed the appointment for Fr Simon as First Vicar the title: Bishop of Thaumacos.

On 29 June 1898 Fr Simon departed for France where he was consecrated as Bishop on 21 September in the famous Cathedral of Troyes.

In the mean time Fr Wolf took upon himself the timber work to make a chair and throne as a surprise for the Bishop and replaced the wooden ceiling with pressed steel plates ordered from England. The Whirl staircase was also done by him.

Sister Mary-Lydia (Lydia Carolus) was already admitted on 23 August 1905. Under the guidance of Sr Francois-Mary she learned the virtues of St Francis de Sales.

The Bishop’s efforts were most successful. The following year we accepted at the Mission twenty children who were partially subsidised by the Government and partially supported by their parents. Gradually the parents became attached to the Mission especially as classes continued without interruption except during the school vacations. The older folk settled permanently in Pella and let the younger ones leave with the flocks. In 1909 there were about five hundred people living at Pella and the school had a regular enrolment of sixty or seventy pupils.

The boarding school was soon to bear fruit. On 6th January, 1886, Johanna Hayes, a past pupil, entered the Congregation of the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales. In religion she was called Sister Rachel de Sales. Four years later, on 29th January, two more past pupils were admitted to the Novitiate. They were Sister Marie-Bethanie and Sister Noëmie de Chantal. (Sister Rachel de Sales and Sister Marie-Bethanie were the daughters of Mr Jan Hayes who in 1873 visited Father Gaudeul in Springbok and who was responsible for the foundation of a Catholic Mission in Pella).