Our Lady of the Rosary of Koinawa, in the atoll of Abaiang
In the village of Koinawa, on the narrow land ring of the Abaiang atoll, the church of Our Lady of the Rosary, one of the historical temples of the Catholic mission on the Gilbert Islands, has been erected since 1907. The verified advocation of this temple is not the Perpetual Relief but the Rosary, and so we present it: Mary prays with her people in the middle of the ocean.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- The Catholic faith came to the Gilbert by lay hands: about 1880, two islanders of Nonouti, Betero and Toloi, who had known the Gospel working far from their land, baptized 560 people and instructed another 600 before any priest arrived. His letter asking for missionaries crossed the ocean until it was heard.
- On May 10, 1888, Thursday of the Ascension, the first Missionaries of the Sacred Heart - parents Bontemps and Leray and brother Weber - landed in Nonouti, and the first mass was to be held in a boat, in the middle of the lagoon. In 1897, the Apostolic Vicariate of the Gilbert Islands was born with Monsignor Joseph Leray as the first bishop.
- The church of Our Lady of the Rosary of Koinawa was built in 1907, at the time of the British protectorate, under a priest from Belgium; today it belongs to the diocese of Tarawa and Nauru, which brings together more than half of the population of Kiribati.
- Abaiang is the cradle of faith in Kiribati and the school of his people: in the Catholic mission of Tabwiroa the St. John's School was founded in 1939. Joseph, from which the presidents of the republic came, and from there was edited "Te Itoi ni Kiribati," the Star of Kiribati, a printed voice of the Catholics of the archipelago.
Our Lady of the Rosary
In the atoll of Abaiang, the church of Our Lady of the Rosary of Koinawa (1907) recalls how faith came to Kiribati: two lay catechists who baptized hundreds before any priest, a first mass celebrated on a boat in the lagoon and a mission that made the Rosary the thread that unites these islands with the Mother of God.
"Our Lady of the Rosary, pray with your children from the islands and keep them from the sea.
Is the advocation of the Virgin Mary of your people missing?
Si no encuentras la advocación mariana de tu ciudad o pueblo, cuéntanosla: la investigaremos para ubicarla y darla a conocer en este mapa del amor de la Madre por el mundo.
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