News

 Jesus said,
“Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these.”

Matthew 19,14

Sr. Jacinta was born on December 31^st 1931 to Georg and Rosa Grübel in Erlach am Main, across the river from Neustadt and was baptized Margareta Gertrude. She attended the Franciscan Sisters’ school in Lohr.

She was aware of her calling to the “Mission” at an early age.  Her parents found out about her wish to go to Africa when one of the Franciscan sisters visited her home and spoke to her mother about it. Her parents were not in favour of the idea and tried to discourage her.

They had attended the Missioning ceremonies of many Sisters who had been sent to Africa and who were never seen again. They were also afraid that she would turn black in Africa! They changed their minds, however, when they met a Sister who had returned home on leave from Africa and who was still white!  Her grandfather encouraged her to follow her calling and convinced her parents to allow her to enter the convent at Neustadt.

She entered the Neustadt novitiate with Srs. Marietta, Gerlinde and Irmtrud who had all been in the same class at the Franciscan school.  After her First Profession she was sent to South Africa and arrived at Oakford in December 1952. She made her Final Profession at Oakford on the 8^th December 1955.

Sr. Jacinta completed her Senior Certificate in South Africa and obtained her teacher’s licence in 1967. She studied Christian Doctrine and Catechetical Methods for a year through the Archdiocese of Durban and did the Fons Vitae course at Mariannhill as well as a sabbatical at St Anselm’s in England.

Her many years of teaching at Oakford, Empangeni and the Bluff are fondly remembered by her pupils, some of whom kept contact with her up to her death.  he was a much loved teacher and parish catechist and is remembered by many of her pupils for her guitar playing and singing.

In 2001, she joined the retirement community in Pietermaritzburg where she shared her talents with the residents by leading the weekly exercise sessions accompanied by her guitar and her singing. She loved singing and continued doing so right until the day she could no longer make it to the chapel.

Her family in Germany was very close to her heart and not a week went by without telephonic communication. They were constantly in her prayers and so were the many people with whom she had made long-lasting friendships.

Sr. Jacinta is now enjoying her reward in heaven experiencing the generous love of the God she loved with all her heart and served with all her strength. The final few years of her life were filled with pain and anxiety as she began to face the possibility of blindness, and the many health problems that accompany old age, but she held on in faith. 

Now she sees clearly her Lord who called her by name those many years ago, who moulded her, strengthened and sustained her and continues to love her unconditionally. 

Read more in the obituary