Jubilee of Religious Life - Djibouti

This is the story of my vocation : 

I am ADDISALEM ESHETE TESEMA. My religious name is Tigué Maryam. Fifth child in my family, I was born January 18, 1946 in Arsi, ETHIOPIA. My vocation was born seeing my religious aunt visiting us. The desire to become a religious was so deep that I asked my aunt, Sister Mary of the Assumption, a Franciscan Religious, to bring me with her to the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady. I had to ask her three times to do so! My aunt accepted on my third request.

I entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady’s Congregation as a religious aspirant on the 3 of September 1968, at the age of 22 in Nazareth, Ethiopia.

A year later, in 1969, I joined the Postulate. I started the Novitiate in 1970, in the same place : Nazareth. For the Novitiate stage in 1971, our Sisters sent me to Djibouti for one year.

I had to come back to Nazareth in Ethiopia to make my first profession on October 4th, 1972. After my first vow, I reintegrated the Franciscan Community of Djibouti. It was my first obedience at the Nativity Convent. As a young Sister, I took care of the laundry with Sister Marie Antoinette.

In October 1980, in order to prepare for my Perpetual Vows, our Sisters sent me to Desvres, in France. A month later, I joined the Nativity Convent, where I still am. From time to time, our Sisters have sent me on missions to Obock or Arta to help our Sisters there. During 50 years of life with Jesus, I like to pray the Office, the rosary, and the Mass most of all. I also like to read.

I like to render service to the Community. I used to help a lot in the kitchen and the housekeeping! My specialty is pastry. To please our Sister, I often make cakes and flans for dessert. Now I can say : THANK YOU, God for religious life. THANK YOU for these 50 years. My vocation is lived with the others in the spirituality of St Francis of Assisi and to the example of the Virgin Mary our Mother.

SISTER TIGUE MARYAM