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First Nigerian Beatified—Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi
Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (1903-1964) Iwene Tansi was born in Igboezunu, Aguleri in southeastern Nigeria in 1903 to Nigerian peasants who practiced the natives pagan religion of their people. He was sent off to live with aunt at 6 years old and was baptized as a Michael three years later. At the age of 16, he received a diploma in Onitsha, allowing him to teach, and then became the principal of St. Joseph School in 1924.
Choosing his inner attraction to the priesthood despite the disapproval of his family, Michael enrolled in the St. Paul Seminary in Igbariam. There in the Cathedral of Onitsha, he became a priest on December 19, 1937.
His priestly ministry
Over the next twelve years, Fr. Michael poured his energy and skills into improving the physical and spiritual wellbeing of his flock. He disproved the superstition that a certain forest would kill passersby or infect them with diseases by blessing it with holy water and walking through it unharmed.He helped build structures, such as a church, school, and houses for older students who had no home. Fr. Michael was an excellent teacher, critiquing pagan traditions and caring for the orphans and young women of his parish – as well as the sick via his creation of the Legions of Mary.
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Our Daily Bread
What are we hungry for?
What are today's people hungry for?
These are questions we would like to put you, as devotees of Our Lady of La Salette.
For, in her discourse, the Beautiful Lady, addressing this very problem, used vigorous language: "If the harvest is spoilt, it is all on your account. I gave you warning last year with the potatoes, but you did not heed it. On the contrary, when you found the potatoes spoilt, you swore, you took the name of my Son in vain...."
Thus Our Lady situated her intervention in the course of a process already begun: a harvest in the very process of being spoilt. She intervenes not to change what has already taken place, is now occurring or will occur in the future, but rather to make us see, to show us what is happening and why.
Finding purpose in days of love, not lists
This time last year, I had just relocated to a new city and was weeks away from getting married. A mentor of mine orchestrated a gathering so that I could meet several young Catholic mothers who might help me transition to the area and to married life.
A girl holds baby Jesus figurines for Pope Francis to bless in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican; photo: CNS photo/Paul HaringShe introduced each woman by describing her educational and professional background and family makeup. She ended by mentioning one personality trait or talent that each woman possessed. When the host introduced the last guest at the table, she described her as having the “charism of availability.”
“She has this ability to make herself present to you, even if she has a host of pressing things to do,” my friend said. It was obvious from one glance at her children’s calm and collected manner that they were beneficiaries of that gift.
“Children… do not need merely what we have but what we are.”
That description stayed with me over the course of the year. For starters, it made me think of two saints: first, St. Edith Stein, who wrote extensively about how women are particularly attuned to the emotional, physical, and psychological needs of others. When writing about women who are teachers, she claimed, “children … do not need merely what we have but what we are.”End of Pontifical Secrecy – a Step toward Transparency
Fr. Hans Zollner, S.J., president of Vatican’s Centre for Child Protection; photo: Paul Haring/CNS via CruxWhen Pope Francis in a landmark move eliminated the so-called “pontifical secret” in clerical abuse cases on Tuesday, the decision was immediately hailed by Vatican officials as a sign of “transparency and cooperation with civil authorities.” As it turns out, this is at least one instance when the Vatican, clerical abuse survivors and experts in child protection all agree.In comments to Crux, Chilean clerical abuse survivor Juan Carlos Cruz praised the decision as “courageous,” saying it is key to helping civil authorities obtain the documents necessary to properly investigate accusations.
Likewise, German Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, head of the Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection and a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said the move is a “real and concrete” step in the right direction, which will allow Church officials “to really take one’s own responsibility in helping to find out what has happened in cases of abuse and to promote justice.”
“You can find out better what has happened and what has been known in regards to persons who have been abused and clerics who have been accused of sexual abuse,” he told Crux, calling it “a highly symbolic significance in terms of the Church taking a further step in the direction of transparency and in cooperation with state authorities.”
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Short film portrays life of Venerable Augustus Tolton, former slave
The 36-minute film is in preparation for a full-length feature, which Foley will start producing this summer. He told CNA that the movie is called ACROSS for two reasons - the cross that Tolton carried, and the obstacles he had to conquer.
The Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, Missouri slave to a freeman in Illinois“He had to go across the ocean to get ordained. He had to get across the Mississippi River to escape slavery, but he had to carry a cross his entire life because he stood out and was different,” Foley said. “He accepted that and great things came out of it. He made so many converts, and he just sets such a great example for everybody through his perseverance.”
A slave, a freeman, a seminarian in Rome, the first African American priest
Tolton was born into slavery in Monroe County, Missouri, in 1854. During the Civil War, Tolton and his family escaped slavery. The young Tolton entered St. Peter’s Catholic School in Quincy, Illinois, with the help of the school’s pastor, Fr. Peter McGirr. The priest went on to baptize Tolton, instruct him for his first Holy Communion, and recognize his vocation to the priesthood.Read more Short film portrays life of Venerable Augustus Tolton, former slave
What the Monks Did—A Parable of History
Editor: This article was originally published in the La Salette publication, Our Lady’s Missionary, October 1947, pgs. 273-274.
There once a Professor who used to close his lectures with the pathetic words: “Priests and monks are good for nothing; they always hated science, art and progress; their schools are poor and ail the books published by Catholics are of no value, and when a young man cannot become anything else, he studies for the priesthood.”
The Classics
One day, after school, a student by the name of Sepp called on the Professor. Sepp was a bright and intelligent young fellow and could not be easily bluffed. He went to the Professor's room and said gently:
Miniature of Vincent of Beauvais writing in a French manuscript from Bruges, c. 1478–1480Student: “Professor, I have some difficulties that have worried me ever since I attended your lectures. Will you kindly help me to remove them?”
Professor: “Why, young man, with the greatest of pleasure. Certainly, I will.”
Student: “Only some questions, Professor. Who preserved for us the classics? How is it possible that those valuable writings of the Greeks and Romans did not get lost during the barbarism of the dark ages?”
Professor: “Monks copied them, and thus they were saved.”
Student: “What, Professor? Monks, you say, copied them!”
Professor: "Yes, my friend, and especially the Benedictines.”
Student: “So, monks copied the old codes and saved them for us! Indeed, that must have been a very troublesome work. Was it not? And probably many a monk caught a disease from that library dust? Well, I am surprised. Strange times and curious monks to spend their lives, copying letter after letter from Livy, Caesar, Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, Homer, Demosthenes, etc. And how those codes look! Carefully written as if painted, and the initials are, in fact, a fine piece of art. Oh! these monks!”
Anchoring ourselves within God’s goodness
“What would Jesus do?” For some Christians, that’s the easy answer to every question. In every situation all we need to ask is, “What would Jesus do?”
The Sermon on the Mount, Carl Bloch, 1890.At a deep level, that’s actually true. Jesus is the ultimate criterion. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and anything that contradicts him is not a way to God. Yet, I suspect, many of us find ourselves irritated in how that expression is often used in simplistic ways, as a fundamentalism difficult to digest.
Sometimes, in our irritation at this, we spontaneously want to say, “Jesus has nothing to do with this!” But, of course, as soon as those words escape our mouths we realize how bad that sounds! Jesus has a lot to do with every theological, ecclesial, or liturgical question, no matter its complexity.
A Letter From Bethlehem
Christmas 2012 message from Brother Peter Bray, Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University“I have never seen the sea.” “I have never been to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.” “I have never been able to visit my relatives in Jerusalem.” “I have never been able to visit Al Aqsa Mosque.”These are statements made to me recently by students of Bethlehem University in Palestine. The students are from the West Bank and have green Israeli-issued Palestinian IDs, which means they need special Israeli military permission to go through the separation wall to get to the sea or to Jerusalem. They have never received it.
As I listened to those students, I reflected on my own life, having grown up with the freedom to go where I wanted and to do what I liked. This was in the small town of Waitara in Taranaki, on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It was a far cry from the experiences of these students at Bethlehem University. My older sister and two brothers had a very safe, peaceful, predictable childhood in a beautiful country with wonderful opportunities, all of which are denied to our students.
A Glass Panel Homage to California Firefighters
Artist Anne-Elizabeth Sobieski’s family lost their Pasadena home to fire when she was 17. “I was frozen. I don’t know how much time went by. We just watched as the roof fell in, and one by one, every room burned.”
What Spiritual Healing Looks Like in Real People
People are overwhelmed, angry, fatigued, despairing. Suffering often feels alone or pointless.
Do we believe differently? Do we believe not only that we can be helped to see life with the mercy Jesus does, but also to become doctors in the field hospital the world needs everyone who is a baptized Christian to be?
In her book “Healing: Bringing the Gift of God’s Mercy to the World” (Our Sunday Visitor, $12.69), Mary Healy encourages Catholics to get to know the Bible and tap deeper into the healing powers of the sacraments, and explains how in the most contagious ways, with a renewed reliance on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we can be “all in” with our Christianity.