RUIRI ST MAXIMILIAN FRIARYRuiri Catholic Mission is situated in the Eastern part of
Kenya
RUIRI ST MAXIMILIAN FRIARY
Ruiri Catholic Mission is situated in the Eastern part of Kenya, near Meru town, within
the Catholic Diocese of Meru, and occupies a space of nine and half hectares. To reach the
Mission, you have to travel a distance of 250 kilometers from Nairobi, the capital city,
and then still 14 kilometers more from Meru town.
However, the existence of the Friars Minor Conventual in Kenya was back in 1984 under the
auspices of Rt. Rev. Bp Silas Njiru of the Catholic Diocese of Meru (now bishop emeritus).
He invited Friars from Poland to Kenya and officially handed over the Mission to us on
15th October, 1985. Since then, the Friars have been carrying out and serving the people
in various projects and activities. The first Conventual Franciscan Friars to come to
Kenya were: fr Dominik Wasilewski, fr Jan Lempicki and fr Rajmund Marszalkowski, all from
Poland.
In the Mission itself, there is a Parish, Friary, Retreat House, Postulancy House,
Dispensary and Sisters' Convent.
The Parish comprises of 16 outstations / Prayer Houses and fathers are full time in charge
of them. In the Center there is a parish church and a parish hall, which were built in the
years between 1982 -1985, and 1996 - 1998 respectively. The number of Christians in the
parish is 12,000.
Retreat House was built in the years between 1991 - 1994 and Rt. Rev. Bp Silas Njiru
officially opened it in 1995. It offers a spiritual renewal for those who feel they need
it, be it either a day of recollection or a retreat itself.
As human beings, when we strain ourselves physically and mentally, our
health deteriorates and an adequate rest is required for their well being. However, many
people forget the other important constituents in a human person - the spiritual part, in
which we relate to our Creator, God. Therefore there should be a harmony between the three
because failure of one will affect the other. Living amidst our preoccupations, we need to
have an ample time to develop a deeper relationship with our creator, hence such a place
provides for this. Nonetheless, each year approximately 1000 people do come for retreats
and a day of recollection. Mostly, they are the religious: priests, brothers and sisters.
However the diocesan priests or deacons as well as those who prepare themselves for
ordination do come for retreats. We notice a growing interest of lay people who come to
pray as individuals and organized groups. They want to encounter God in the company of St.
Francis and St. Clare.
This house is often busy with participants from different parts of the Diocese of Meru,
those mainly includes: religious congregations of brothers and sisters, priests,
seminarians, various lay groups for seminars.
We as Franciscan Friars feel very privileged to accompany people in their faith journey.
It is not us friars who direct people but it is the Holy Spirit who leads and guides them.
We are the ones who try to help people to find out where the Holy Spirit wants them to be.
Our task is to create a pleasant atmosphere and spiritual assistance in finding out the
will of God.
Apart from many religious, who come for retreats, which are preached as well as directed
we have just recently groups of lay people who belong to different denominations, who
wants to pray with us.
It is very much in our Franciscan spirituality to be open to other denominations. For
example St. Francis of Assisi went to preach the Good News to Muslims. We also are trying
to follow his example in opening the doors of our House of Prayer to non Catholics.
Candidates in the Postulancy House are introduced to the Franciscan Conventual Community
and fraternal life. Postulancy community should be a healthy community, so we promote:
discussions, confrontations, openness, atmosphere of freedom, mutual understanding, our
community should be spontaneous and watered with common and individual prayer. Candidates
are helped to live a more mature Christian life, to deepen their relationship with Jesus
Christ.
Candidates come with background, which look like baggage. This baggage is full of various
kinds of feelings: they feel embarrassed, ignorant, incompetent, doubtful, helpless,
uneasy, etc. Postulancy Master tries to unpack this baggage, so that a candidate will have
most natural relationship with Christ and all the people.
In the postulancy we help a candidate to be developed in the following areas of life: -
development of mature personality; - formation and integration of what offers secular
culture with richness of the Gospel; - deepening of religious and moral life; - deepening
of spiritual life; - formation to the community life; - we help to discover the value of
the Franciscan charism.
Conventual Franciscan Friars require 2 years of postulancy for the Candidates from Kenya
and Tanzania. Postulancy House in Ruiri is for the postulants of the first year, for the
second year our postulants are send to the Formation House in Arusha (Tanzania).
The dispensary was built between 1988 - 1990 and since its inception it has been run by
the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Assisi, who came from Zambia in
1990. The presence of the dispensary in the Mission has helped many people in the
surrounding area. It attends approximately 2800 cases a year. The common sicknesses which
are being treated are: typhoid, malaria, amoebiasis, ascaris, hookworms etc.
Personnel-wise there are two nurses, Sister in Charge and her Assistant, assistant
laboratory technician, a subordinate staff and a compound worker. From March 2004 when
Franciscan Sisters left Ruiri, Felician Sisters took over the dispensary.
tel. Retreat House
Tel. (+254 20) 353 80 67
E-mail:
tel. Postulancy House
Tel. (+254 20) 204 29 45
E-mail:
The Sisters’ Convent was built in the years between 1988 - 1990, as the residence for
the sisters who run the dispensary, as well as are assisting in the parish duties and
activities. From that time the sisters of the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary
Sisters of Assisi were occupied the convent till 2002, when they closed their community in
Ruiri and went to strength their formation house in Nairobi.
The house and dispensary were closed until, after agreement between Franciscan and
Felician superiors, and a new group of Felician Sisters arrived to run dispensary, teach
at schools and to help in the parish as well.
As human beings, when we strain ourselves physically and mentally, our
health deteriorates and an adequate rest is required for their well being. However, many
people forget the other important constituents in a human person - the spiritual part, in
which we relate to our Creator, God. Therefore there should be a harmony between the three
because failure of one will affect the other. Living amidst our preoccupations, we need to
have an ample time to develop a deeper relationship with our creator, hence such a place
provides for this. Nonetheless, each year approximately 1000 people do come for retreats
and a day of recollection. Mostly, they are the religious: priests, brothers and sisters.
However the diocesan priests or deacons as well as those who prepare themselves for
ordination do come for retreats. We notice a growing interest of lay people who come to
pray as individuals and organized groups. They want to encounter God in the company of St.
Francis and St. Clare.
