The history of the parishes in the Diocese of Eshowe
In 1929, Bishop Thomas Spreiter decided to start a congregation of African sisters with the help of the Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing. Rome gave its official approval on December 5, 1933. The date is still remembered as the foundation day of the congregation. Candidates were initially trained at Inkamana, but the novitiate was moved to Mbongolwane in 1937 as the conditions there seemed to be more favourable. The community grew steadily, making it necessary to find another place which was big enough to support the increasing number of sisters. In 1943, Fr. Theodos Schall who was then the administrator of the Vicariate Apostolic of Eshowe bought a 195-hectare farm named "Good Luck" near the Nhlazatshe Mountain. It was situated about thirty kilometres west of Mahlabatini in the socalled white farming area, just outside a large Zulu reserve. The Benedictines opened a mission there on January 1, 1946 and gave the place a new name: Twasana.
Bishop Aurelian Bilgeri purchased another farm near Twasana in 1949. The land owned by the mission was thus increased to 325 hectares. This was thought to be sufficient to generate enough income for the community of Benedictine Sisters of Zululand whose motherhouse was to be established in Twasana. Temporary dwellings were erected making it possible for the sisters to move from Mbongolwane to Twasana in January 1946. A permanent doublestorey convent building was completed in September 1954. Another extension became necessary in the early eighties. The contract was awarded to Thomas Construction, one of the larger building companies in South Africa, and completed in 1983. The new wing has space for thirty sisters.
After the priests' house had been built in 1950, Bishop Bilgeri made arrangements for the construction of a new church. Mark Hussey of Pretoria was asked to draw up a plan. Construction work began in July 1961 under the supervision of Bro. Dietrich Schmid. He completed the church early in 1963. It was blessed by Bishop Aurelian Bilgeri on April 28, 1963. The Twasana parish is relatively small. In 1990 it had only two outstations and about 1100 Catholics. Much of the parish priest's time is taken up by his work as chaplain to the sisters.
The sisters who live in the mother-house at Twasana are involved in a great variety of occupations. Apart from administering the Congregation and conducting the formation programme, they run a clinic, a secondary school and a hostel. They also keep a large farm, a vegetable garden, wattle plantations and orchards. Benedictine brothers had been in charge of the farm until early 1989. Bro. Herfried März (1911-1979) spent twenty-seven years (1947-1973) at Twasana. When Bro. Oswald Benk died in April 1989, the Abbey of Inkamana was unable to send a replacement, so the sisters had to manage the farm on their own.
The development and expansion of the Twasana Mission School was a major concern to the sisters. They introduced a Std. 7 class in 1953 and a Std. 10 (matriculation) class in 1990. In 1991, the school had 680 pupils, 270 of whom were boarders. Because the old school and hostel buildings had become totally inadequate, the sisters started a major fundraising drive in 1988 to build new classrooms and boarding facilities for the increasing number of children who wish to attend the school. The Twasana Mission School was officially named Saint Victor Secondary School in 1988. This was done to honour the memory of Sr. Victorine Mandl (19021963) who had been the superior of the Twasana Sisters from 19341961.
It was in 1942 that the first group of Benedictine Sisters of Zululand took their final vows. Between 1942 and 1990, a total of one hundred and twenty sisters professed their final vows as members of the Congregation of Twasana. Sixteen of them had died by 1990 and thirty-seven had left the convent. Thus the community had sixty-seven finallyprofessed members in December 1990. In January 1985, the sisters elected for the first time a member of their own community as superior general of the Congregation. Since the Congregation was established in 1934, there have been five superiors general.
Superiors General of the Twasana Sisters
The Benedictine Sisters of Twasana
| finally prof. | temp. prof. | novices | postulants | candidates | |
| 1930 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 1935 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 1940 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| 1945 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 10 |
| 1950 | 15 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 1955 | 36 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 1960 | 41 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| 1965 | 49 | 24 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| 1970 | 60 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| 1975 | 74 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 1980 | 66 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| 1985 | 58 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 1990 | 67 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 1994 | 71 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
Parish Priests of Twasana
Assistant Priests at Twasana
Benedictine Brothers at Twasana
Benedictine Sisters of Twasana, Vryheid, RSA
St Victor Senior Secondary School
Twasana Primary School
This page was last updated on Thursday, 17 May 2001 23:01:04
