The life of Immaculée Ilibagiza is a testimony to that mantra.
Today, we highlight her for two reasons: the first, as we approach Pope Francis and the Church’s Year of Hope for 2025, Ilibagiza is a beautiful example of how faith and hope can pull you through – excuse the blunt, honest description here – a living hell; and the second reason, faithful in the diocese and surrounding areas have an opportunity to meet her and be inspired by her story in July at a retreat at St. James the Greater Parish in Charles Town (this event coupled with her book – Left to Tell, Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust could be a great Christmas gift to someone or yourself).
Immaculée Ilibagiza was born and raised Catholic along with her three brothers in a rural village in Rwanda, Africa. She was a bright child and was studying to be an engineer in college.
In April of 1994, home for Easter break, what would be the worst civil war in her country began to rage. Her survival is one thing, but what bloomed into a devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Rosary is another awe-inspiring story.
To protect his precious daughter from unthinkable assaults and murder, Immaculée’s father gave her his Rosary and had her run to the local pastor’s home for protection. It was there she and seven other women were hidden by the pastor in a 3-foot by 4-foot bathroom for 91 days. Not knowing their fate sorrow set in, then anger, and then a turning point – prayer. It was her Rosary and prayer that lifted her above the hatred and saved her and her companions. When it was safe to come out of hiding, and weighing less than 70 pounds, she learned her entire family except for one brother who did not make it home from his university outside the country, were dead. They were among the more than 1 million men, women, and children brutally murdered.
In her book, Left to Tell, she not only illustrates the senseless horrors of our world, but moreover, she shines light and hope found in our all-powerful God alone.
Her book, which includes photos from her childhood and images taken after the genocide, is available online at her website (https://www.immaculee.com) and your favorite bookstores.
