The Holy Year 1975 is of special significance to the Keimoes Diocese Pella. The Mother Mission is celebrating the centenary of its foundation as a Roman Catholic Mission Station.
PELLA was originally founded in 1814 by christian Hottentots driven out of Warmbad in South West Africa by the activities of the notorious Jager Afrikaner. The London Missionary Society named the place after the ancient town in Palestine which became a refuge for persecuted christians.
Although the London Missionary Society could not endure the sufferings and privations of the barren wilderness for long, others came. But the Bushmen of a generation ago were a fierce people and they did not suffer the missionaries to stay at Pella unmolested. When the minister and his family were murdered, the Society abandoned this christian outpost. Unrestrained the savages now ran wild and Pella was plundered. When Thomson, the traveller, and his companions arrived there starving after their Thirstland Trek in 1824, they found the place deserted. To stay their hunger, they made a meal of raw zebra skin bruised between stones.
It is interesting to read the diary of the Oblate Sisters (Pella): “25th May, 1906: Death of Bamboz, a centenarian, who took part in the Bushman raids in the vicinity of Pella and drove out the protestant Ministers. At a day’sdistance, the missionaries were caught in their flight and assassinated. The tombs can still be seen on the way to Springbok.
After a seditious life, Bamboz arrived at the Mission in a deplorable state. With regular meals and the good care of the sisters he soon recovered and at intervals he wandered off to the mountains and freedom. With time he was converted and died a fervent catholic.”
About 1869 the territory of Namaqualand and the North-West was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of the Cape Bishop Leonard and his Co-adjutor thus applied to the African Missions of Lyons for help in evangelizing these territories.
Father A. Gaudeul and Brother George were sent from France. They settled at Springbok, hoping to establish a flourishing Mission there in view of the large number of catholics who worked in the mine. However, they had scarcely arrived when all their hopes vanished. The mine was abandoned and all their parishioners disappeared. They were in the greatest perplexity when providence led a certain Mr. Hayes to Springbok. He was the head of a large catholic family at Aggenys, near Pella, and had brought two of his daughters to be baptized.
Father Gaudeul spoke to him of his sorrow at having to abandon his Mission at Springbok. Mr. Hayes then invited him to his farm and told him about a magnificent property nearby with abundant water, where he could settle and establish a Mission.
As he listened, hope rekindled in the heart of the zealous missionary. Without delay he would set out with Mr. Hayes to see this property for
himself. To his great joy, he found it as it had been described, a superb site for a Mission. He returned to Springbok and hastened to write to the authorities at the Cape. His request was speedily granted. The government retained actual ownership of the land but promised to reimburse them for all expenses incurred for any improvements made at Pella, should it ever have serious reasons for revoking their rights
to the Mission property. This is all set down in writing. He had a copy of the document in his possession. After acquiring the property, Father Gaudeul and Brother George did not stay long in Springbok. They eagerly set out to begin the new mission.
When the Lutherans got wind of these activities, they wrote to the Cape and made strong objections, but their letters arrived when everything had been settled. There was weeping and gnashing of teeth, but the die was cast. Pella, the first roman Catholic Mission
in the territory was founded.
Father Gaudeul and Brother George immediately set to work, When the old protestant rectory had been enovated, it served as chapel on Sundays and as classroom on weekdays.
A small building of the utmost simplicity was their dwelling. The flat roof was covered with mortar about six inches thick. To make these terraces somewhat waterproof, they were coated with fresh manure. The same process is also used on the floors of the rooms, even in church, because it has the advantage of diminishing dust that inevitably rises from earth floors. The odour is noticeably unpleasant only for
two or three days, but then anyone who has lived in Namaqualand for a while, ceases being particular and accepts these ’Namaqua wall-to-wall carpets” as a matter of course.
The kitchen was a separate building, or rather a separate ruin. Pella had never seen a stove before. Wood is kindled on a kind of platform surmounted by a chimney with a large cowl. The pots are held up by traverse iron bars. This flaming brazier gives the impression of a forge or a furnace.
Behind the kitchen was the bread oven, the work of Brother George and bearing the marks of his originality. These two devoted missionaries defied poverty and privation. Together they worked for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
By 1878 the inhabitants of Pella had increased to one hundred of whom fifty catholics.
On the last Sunday that Father Gaudeul was at the Mission, he confirmed twelve children and had them make their first communion the same day. It was a measure of prudence as there was no reason to expect an early Opportunity for them to receive the sacrament of strength. Father Gaudeul was then already a Prefect Apostolic.
Thus they laboured and sowed the good seed which was to bring forth a hundredfold. Then they were called away by their Congregation who saw fit to concentrate their missionary efforts on a less extensive territory. The day of departure and farewell dawned. On 25th September, 1882, everthing was ready. At two o’clock in the afternoon, the wagon was there with its beautiful team of twelve oxen, and the entire population of Pella had come to the Mission: men, women, children, whites, non-whites, all had come to bid a last farewell to their
beloved and valiant missionaries who had done them so much good for seven years.
No one could restrain his emotion. Even the men’s faces were wet with tears. The children sobbed and pressed close to the friends they were about to loose. Father Gaudeul spoke a few more affectionate words to these people whom he had begotten in the Faith. He gave them a final blessing with tears in his eyes and his voice broke when he shook hands and took with him Brother George who seemed almost paralysed with sorrow. “Come back, Father. Come back, Brother!” were the last words they heard as they swiftly drove away.
When the Vicar Apostolic of the Cape, Bishop Leonard, heard that the Society of African Missions of Lyons had decided to recall its subjects from Namaqualand and the North-Western Cape, he made a trip to Europe to find a Congregation willing to assume the responsibility of evangelizing these districts. God willed that he should turn to the revered founder of the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales, Father Louis
Brisson. His request was granted, and the new missionaries would leave Troyes (France) on 14th July, 1882.
To be continued…….