Hope filled the grounds of the Holy Cross Novitiate in Lake Saaka, Uganda, on 16 July, as five novices of the Province of East Africa made their First Professions. Their First Vows were received by Br. Cleophas Kyomuhendo, C.S.C., Novice Master and Assistant Superior of the Province of East Africa, while Fr. Lawrence Mwenya, C.S.C., Pastor of Holy Cross Parish, Dandora, presided at the Mass, with Fr. Peter Qorro, C.S.C., Vocations Director, and Fr. Benedict Mugisa, C.S.C., Assistant Novice Master, concelebrating.

In the days leading up to the First Professions, Fr. Lulu Gabriel, C.S.C., who works for Holy Cross Family Ministries, had directed the novices’ pre-profession retreat during which he emphasized that each one had his own God-given “light” to offer as a Holy Cross religious.

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The celebration continued after Mass with a delicious lunch that stretched into the evening social, with Holy Cross religious and other invited guests sharing their joy and gratitude.

After a brief time visiting family, the newly professed proceed to McCauley Formation House in Nairobi to continue their formation and to study theology at Tangaza College. Taking their place at the novitiate are five new novices, who were officially received into the Novitiate on 22 July, in a liturgy presided by Fr. Benedict.