Sunday, September 15, 2024,
Experience and Encounter with Blessed Tansi – Miracle happen
Unfortunately, noise and distraction are too often our steadfast companions as we trek through our day-to-day activities. Youths, in particular, are frequently bombarded by social media even as they juggle hectic class/work schedules. Some say the only way to cope during these overly stimulated times - especially if your goal is to encounter Christ -- is to completely disengage from society. Is it possible to find Christ amidst the noise? Many today draw their inspiration from Matthew 7:7: "Ask and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you." They take time off their busy and noisy hours to visit the Blessed Iwene Tansi. An encounter with him makes for a perfect meditation for anyone who is seeking to make critical decisions about their future. As Catholics, the goal of our searching is not a thing, but a Person, Jesus Christ, and if we seek Him with all our hearts, the rest will fall into place. Blessed Tansi is the surest way to achieve this goal. We can easily get to him through his mortal Remains at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. Many from far and near flock there to find him. Of course, we can also find and connect with him through our prayers and devotion wherever we are. With encounters with Blessed Tansi miracles are constantly occurring. The real question is do we see them? Do we have the eyes of a living faith which recognize the hand of the Lord at work? Do we ask for them? The Catholic Church has always proclaimed its belief in the existence of many different kinds of miracles. Our tradition and history are replete with examples of miracles. All miracles are due to the Risen Lord's continued ministry of Mercy in our midst. His redemptive work continues through the ministry of the Church which is His Body. All miracles are still signs of the Kingdom of God. Whenever we do see or experience miracles, are we responding to these great acts of love and signs of the kingdom - a life different as a result of finding true joy and freedom which comes from repentance and conversion?
To experience miracles begin to share your living faith in Jesus Christ with those around you who hunger for meaning in their lives. Believe that the same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead is at work in the Church which is His Body. Pray for miracles in your life through the intercession of Blessed Tansi. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that miracles are a sign of the Kingdom of God: “Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and signs", which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah. The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father's works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God.” (CCC 547-550) These signs of the Kingdom continue to be manifested in our day. Sometimes such miracles are accomplished through the intercession of the Saints like the Blessed Iwene Tansi. They are an integral part of the process which leads to their canonization. The prayers and intercession of Blessed Tansi have brought some of the most extraordinary miracles.
We need just one miracle to bring his cause of canonization to a happy conclusion. The church demands one miracle through his intercession to proclaim him a Saint. We know that only God can work a miracle but we, his children can beg him to give us one through the intercession of the Blessed Tansi. Blessed Tansi does not need a miracle; we are the ones that need it. The cause of Blessed Tansi is for our interest and good. We are all convinced of this need but how do we pray for it? The most important thing for a miracle to happen is FAITH. And faith is to miracles as the cause is to effect. Paul was able to heal the crippled man because he saw he had the faith to be healed. Faith precedes miracles. (cf Acts 14. 7-10). There are many places in the Scriptures where faith and miracles are linked: “When Jesus had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. (Matt 9:28) Jesus even complained about the lack of faith in the people: “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “If you can’t?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief” … Jesus rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” (Mk 9:19-29). The disciples of Jesus were worried they were not able to perform miracles. “Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why could not we drive the demon out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:19-20)
The key point is that faith is the essential ingredient for miracles. There must be faith not only on the part of the one who pays for it but even more so on the part of the one who receives the miracle. For it may sometimes happen that the one through whom the miracle is accomplished, has only poor faith, but the one receiving it has the faith to be healed, and thus God grants it. Perhaps in times like these where we often do not expect miracles or dismiss them too easily when they occur, the gift to be sought is the gift of the fear of the Lord. At its heart, the fear of the Lord is the awareness of the wonderful things God is always doing in our lives from moment to moment. It is the gift of wonder and awe before the displayed majesty of our God, and a desire not to offend him out of love and respect. And frankly, one way we might offend against his glory is to walk right past the glories he is doing from moment to moment, being ungrateful, unaware, and seeing as routine the magnificence of what he does. Indeed, our very own existence, all events of our life and countless other wonders are on daily display. And seeing them for the miraculous gift they begin to open our minds to the possibility of miracles too. The gift of the fear of the Lord helps to increase our awareness of God and our faith in Him. And faith is the door to even greater miracles.
As we look for miracles to complete the cause of Blessed Tansi the Lord has a related question for us: Do you believe that I can do this? (Matt 9:28). It is true, that God sometimes says no. But perhaps we ought also to check our attitude, and ask why we might be quick to presume he will say no or has said no. Scripture says, “You have not because you ask not” (James 4:2). Why not ask with confidence and leave the answer up to God. God loves his children and will always answer their prayers when they do the right thing and when their prayers correspond to His will. In our own case, the church wants but a miracle to bring the Blessed Tansi to sainthood. Since everything is possible for God, you can experience miracles in your life when you invite God to intervene – even in situations that seem impossible. But too often, people neglect to ask God for miracles in their lives and end up settling for far less than God’s best for them. In this case let us all approach God with confidence if we trust in His Son, Jesus Christ. So do not hesitate to pray for miracles in honour of Blessed Tansi. Here is how you can ask God for a miracle: Maybe some evil is hindering this miracle from happening. If evil in the spiritual realm is hindering miracles from happening, pray for breakthrough prayers against evil to clear the way for more miracles to occur. Start by confessing your sins that come to mind, and then repent of each one specifically. Next, ask in Jesus’ name and through the power of His blood for the Holy Spirit to help you and the people you are praying for be victorious over all evil attacks. Ask God to protect you and those you are praying for from future attacks by evil.
There are no magical formulas to use to conjure up miracles. Instead, miracles happen whenever you welcome God’s powerful presence into the situations you face. So do not worry about trying to pray perfect prayers to convince God to do something miraculous in your life. Simply invite God to work in every situation in which you are seeking miracles, and trust Him to do what is best after you ask Him to intervene. You can use the official prayers for the cause or once you recognize the presence of God talk to God in your own words.
Obey God’s command to forgive so your prayers will not be hindered. If you are unwilling to forgive someone who has hurt or offended you, that refusal to forgive can hinder your prayers from being answered, because God sometimes waits until you obey His commands before answering prayers. Remember how much God has forgiven you and let that motivate you to obey His call to forgive others. Ask God to help you forgive; you can choose to forgive even when you do not feel like it and rely on the strength God will give you during the forgiveness process.
Praise God more through attendance at Mass and other forms of worship. You can experience more miracles when you spend more time praising God in worship because worship ushers God’s power into your life in fresh ways and helps you discern His voice more clearly as He leads you toward miracles. Make a habit of praising God for who He is, during both good and bad times in your life. Live a life that is completely devoted to God. Remember that Blessed Tansi lived a life completely devoted to God. When you devote yourself to God completely – in every area of your life you will notice more miracles happening in your life.
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Learning Humility from Blessed Tansi.
A humble life is a revolt against the self-indulgent ethos that only looks out for oneself. Saints encourage us to have noble and good aims and to strive after them, even when it is inconvenient daily. Selfless self-improvement is our mantra. As we seek to become more fit, skilled, temperate, frugal, patient, courageous, resolute, and honest, we strengthen and improve our contribution to our society. To be humble is to be emptied -- emptied of myself. It is not wallowing in my wretchedness; it is bathing in God’s mercy. Pride dwells on all offences and festers like an infected sore. Humility wastes no time in carrying all offences to Jesus with confidence to receive forgiveness and start again. Blessed Tansi helps us to understand the beauty and delightful simplicity of humility. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." Isaiah 66:2. I am reminded over and over that, I have a great deal to learn where humility is concerned. As painful as it is, the joyful irony is that only a God of infinite love and mercy would bother to teach this lesson.
Blessed Tansi is extremely humble and self-forgetful. He considers the good of other people before his own. As St. John Paul 11 said of him, “He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families”. (In the sermon at beatification. Nigeria March 1998). His years at Mount St. Bernard were a pure demonstration of faith and humility. In the monastery, some of the monks mistook his humility to be a sign of an inferiority complex. Father Hilary Costello who was his contemporary in the abbey later testified: “I noticed that he had too much respect for white priests, or rather for other people, or should I call it deference, for he would hold the door for others to pass. This appeared to me more than ordinary humility. He might have noble motives for doing this but his action struck me as too deferential. Even the Novice Master, Father Gregory Wareing thinks that Father Cyprian lacked proper self-esteem” (in C.Obi ‘Facing Saint Mount Bernard’ p. 196). He easily adapted to life in the monastery because he was already a man of great humility. He was a successful parish priest back in Nigeria, a man with authority, and power. In the monastery, he became the last in the community without any authority or voice. No special ministry was undertaken. “Michael would not perform another baptism or burial. He would not anoint another dying person nor go out on another sick call. He had no faculties to hear confessions for the first few years; it was 1955 before he was given limited permission to hear confessions of those Africans who called to see him. He never mentioned these cumulative restrictions flowing from the nature and function of his new vocation. The complaint was alien to him” (Wareing G. in ‘Sorrow will not kill me’ p.11). Only a person who understands and has practised humility could have adapted to such a life. “Moreover, no matter how humble Father Cyprian was, he had for years to live in the Abbey as an oblate, then a novice, and thereafter as a simple professed. A known successful pastor has to make more than average effort, certainly more than his young colleague, to adapt to this new life” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.215). In his deep humility, he never revealed to the community his pastoral achievements in the Archdiocese of Onitsha. “Most of the community did not know him at all. They did not know what he had done in the past, or his achievements before he came. Someone, bishop Heerey perhaps, must have told him to keep his head down and he did”(in E. Isichei, ‘Entirely for God’ p. 93). Abbot Ambrose Southey confirms that “what struck me about Fr. Cyprian when he entered was his humility. Nobody would have guessed from anything he said or did that he had been a very successful parish priest and that he had built up a parish from scratch etc. He was very anxious to learn his duties in the new life and always listened to explanations with great attention and respect” (in Isichei E. op. cit. p. 94). We cannot forget that in the missions he joined the women in sweeping, scrubbing and washing the church mud floor. No manual work is too low for him. He is at home with all kinds of farm work.
In our lives often much of what we think are the pieces of evidence of humility are something else entirely. There is most often an ongoing skirmish between a desire for holiness tainted with pride, discouragement over failings tainted with pride and goals of using our talents in the best way possible for God's glory of course. The discouragement part is quite seductive actually, because it can give the appearance of sorrowful humility when it is often wounded pride. Humility does not mean I must dislike myself. To speak ill of myself, to mentally berate myself over my flaws and mistakes is not proof of humility. It is evidence of pride. It just means I have not lived up to my expectations of myself, or worse, my delusion of grandeur. If I fail to live up to my standard of perfection I fear that I will be less esteemed by others. So I scold myself, feel sorry for myself, and cover my pride by declaring what a weak sinner I am. In this way, I can feel superior to those wretched souls who don't even have the decency to say they have done wrong and ask for pardon. You see, I am less sorry for the particular sin, less sorry that I have offended my Lord than I am for having revealed the humiliating truth that I am not nearly as grand as I did like to think I am. Hiding within this discouragement is the unspoken craving for distinction ~ I must conquer my failings and defects to achieve the reputation I seek. This is what tarnishes the desire for holiness and turns the focus on me rather than on Jesus. In my secret heart - in hidden thoughts I never utter out loud - I fear that what Almighty God has ordained for me and my life is too modest, too common, too bland for my taste, and I try to persuade Him for more glory for myself while claiming to seek only His. I want what I want, and I beg Him to want it as well.
Humility is a virtue that is most often confused. A true test is when you ask yourself if indeed you are truly willing to take the place God has ordained for you today without yearning for something better or more. Humility is being content to be who, where and what God asks of me today, and nothing more. I make my whole self - body, mind and heart - an empty vessel to be filled by Him as He sees fit. Whether noticed or unseen, praised or ignored, it must make no difference. Nothing I could ever do or be can compare to who He is. The glory is all His. "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Isaiah 64:6. I am small, ordinary, and quite sinful, yes. All that is true. But I am also His. He has said so and it is true. Everything He has is mine. It is outrageous but it is true. He loves me forever, and for me just to turn my eyes toward His face brings Him delight. "For the Lord takes delight in His people; he crowns the humble with salvation." Psalm 149:4. Blessed Tansi once wrote to his old houseboy Mr. Augustine Chendo from the monastery, “Yourself and your wife should keep always before your eyes that fact that you are creatures, God’s creation. As man’s handwork belongs to him so do we all belong to God, and should accordingly have no other will but His. He is a very kind Father indeed. All his plains are for the good of his children. We may not often see how they are. That does not matter. Leave yourself in his hands not for a year, nor two years, but as long as you live on earth. If you confide in him fully and sincerely He will take care of you” (in E. Isichei ‘Entirely for God’ p.81). I am His child and He will not reject me. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are" (1 John 3:1) It is a relief to know that I am not fooling God. He knows this fearful, perverted "humility" lives in my heart, preventing me from realizing the peace of true humility. He will take care of it if I let Him; even in this, I have to let go, trust Him to keep His word and wait. My progress toward holiness follows my cooperation, not my command. It will not be accomplished on my schedule; I cannot rush or cajole Him into action. Learning to wait is part of learning humility. I have no one to impress - I only have one to love. A humble heart rests confidently in His mercy and love and has no fear of being little or unnoticed, nor any need for adulation.
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Turn to Blessed Tansi for healing from cancer
Many of us do not know that Blessed Tansi can heal cancer patients. Cancer is one of the most feared and lethal diseases. The Blessed Tansi is one of the saints who have special sympathy for those who suffer from such disease — and he suffered from abdominal growth. He is known for healing prayers. As human beings, we are all prone to suffer from diseases of many kinds, cancer included. No one can avoid it, not even the saints. When we learn about the lives of the saints, we discover that many of them suffered from various ailments. Knowing that we share this bodily weakness, we can turn to them to console us in moments of pain and to intercede with the Lord. Their prayers may help to obtain from God the restoration of our own or someone else’s health, if it is God’s will, but also the grace that our sufferings may serve for our sanctification. Cancer is a disease that has become common over the past century. I don’t know if Jesus healed cancer cases, particularly during his earthly life. However, I do know that he “went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people" (Mt 4:23). It seems like we can reasonably guess that he healed some people with cancer among them. We know God can do everything including the healing of any kind of cancer. In the same way, Saints can assist through their intercession to obtain healing in the face of cancer. In any case, let us trust in the healing power of Jesus and the intercession of the saints who help us pray for this grace. Here are some saints whom we know to have helped in the face of this suffering.
A religious Sister, Mary Frances de Sales, matron at St. Joseph’s hospital turned to Blessed Tansi when one of the girls Philomena Emeka working in the hospital developed abdominal fibrosis which could not be operated on. Sister prayed with her workers to Blessed Tansi and on the day the remains of the Blessed were brought to the basilica for re-interment the sick girl got an instantaneous healing by touching the Remains. Miracles happen, and God heals incurable sickness through the intercession of his saints. Sister Francese De Sales remained devoted to Blessed Tansi for the rest of her life. She was a great promoter of the Blessed Tansi Solidarity Prayer movement. She explained that her service, to which she devoted so much time and strength, was an expression of gratitude to God for the miracle of Philomena’s healing. Praying means giving some of your time to Christ, entrusting yourself to Him, listening silently to His word, and letting Him echo in your heart. There is another man cured of cancer through the intercession of St. John Paul II. Fernando Pedro Nieto Giménez, a provincial of the Spanish Province of the Order of Knights of St. John Paul II, when his 20-year-old beloved son Fernando fell ill with an aggressive form of cancer, he was terrified. As the doctors were battling to save the life of his son he went to the hospital chapel next door and prayed with his wife through the intercession of the Polish Pope St. John Paul 11 for a miracle. And a miracle happened. His son was healed through the intercession of Saint John Paul 11. The doctors could not explain the healing of his son.
You can reach the Blessed Tansi very easily. At the basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha where the remains are kept. Many of the faithful flock to him for devotion. Many others today drew their inspiration from Matthew 7:7: "Ask and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you". They take time off their busy and noisy hours to visit the Blessed Iwene Tansi. An encounter with him makes for a perfect meditation for anyone who is seeking to make critical decisions about their future. As Catholics, the goal of our searching is not a thing, but a Person, Jesus Christ, and, if we seek Him with all our hearts, the rest will fall into place. Blessed Tansi is the surest way to achieve this goal. Many have tried to give favourable testimony. Their experiences have helped and encouraged many others. Miracles, signs and wonders occur. With encounters with Blessed Tansi miracles are constantly occurring. The real question is do we see them? Do we have the eyes of a living faith which recognize the hand of the Lord at work? Do we ask for them? The Catholic Church has always proclaimed its belief in the existence of many different kinds of miracles. Our tradition and history are replete with examples of miracles. All miracles are due to the Risen Lord's continued ministry of Mercy in our midst. His redemptive work continues through the ministry of the Church which is His Body. All miracles are still signs of the Kingdom of God. If we do see and experience miracles, are we responding to these great acts of Love and signs of the kingdom? Are our lives different as a result of these miracles and signs? Do they lead us to find true joy and freedom which come from repentance and conversion?
To experience miracles begin to share your living faith in Jesus Christ with those around you who hunger for meaning in their lives. Believe that the same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead is at work in the Church which is His Body. Pray for miracles before Blessed Tansi the difference will be clear. “Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and signs", which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah. The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father's works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God.” (CCC n. 547-550). These signs of the Kingdom continue to be manifested in our days. Sometimes such miracles are accomplished through the intercession of the Saints like the Blessed Iwene Tansi. They are an integral part of the process which leads to their canonization. The prayers and intercession of Blessed Tansi have brought some of the most extraordinary miracles. We want miracles in our lives and nation. What we are going through now needs nothing less than a miracle for a solution. Blessed Tansi is our National saint and patron. What are we waiting for? Come to him with your problems and surely he will do the needful. Join us at his prayer movement and the celebration of his cult at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha every Monday.
Perhaps in times like these where we often do not expect miracles or dismiss them too easily when they occur, the gift to be sought is the gift of faith and the fear of the Lord. At its heart, the fear of the Lord is the awareness of the wonderful things God is always doing in our lives from moment to moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why could not we drive the demon out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:19-20). After reading this what prevents you from acting, bring your sick to Blessed Tansi or tell someone who needs healing to come to Blessed Tansi? Faith is the great door to even greater miracles.
Sunday, August 25. 2024
Blessed Tansi Hospitality to all
Blessed Tansi not only teach us that we must be hospitable to others, but we must also be aware of the context in which we find ourselves; that is, when we engage in hospitality, we should do so with consideration of the needs of our guests. What is expected of us depends, in part, on the people involved. Not everyone needs the same thing. Not everyone should get the same thing. Nonetheless, there are basic principles which we must engage. Everyone deserves compassion. Everyone deserves to be loved. Bishop Godfrey Okoye who knows him well testifies; “Fr. Tansi right from the beginning of his life had been hard on himself and hard on others, but at the same time he was very kind. He had a wonderful gift of combining strictness and kindness. He was strict to those under his charge but also a father to them. Those who passed through him could even give their lives for his cause, so benevolent was he. To a visitor, Fr. Tansi would offer all he had to make him feel comfortable. He would prefer to mortify himself in his effort to make a visitor happy” (in P. Meze, ‘Our memoirs of Fr. Michael Tansi’ pp 80-81). Msgr. Stephen Ezeanya (later Archbishop) who visited Father Tansi as a seminarian has the same impression: “he was very abstemious. He ate very little himself but did not force us to fast. In fact, he would insist we should eat well” (Isichiei E. ‘Entirely for God’p.44). Similarly, Cardinal Arinze recorded in his ‘Total Response’ that “Anthony Nwedo who entered the seminary in 1933 and later became the first bishop of Umuahia has happy memories of Michael’s charity: “Although I was, as it were at the periphery of his life, his goodness did not escape the notice of my boyhood eyes. His goodness was infectious and so was his charity. The fire of charity shone unmistakably in him and made a very deep impression on my young mind” (p.213)
It is also important to note that when we treat someone with hospitality, it does not mean we approve of everything they represent, everything that they should say or do. This is also why context matters, for what a person does when they are with us should be included in the considerations as to how we are to deal with them when they are our guests. We should not give room for people to act poorly, especially if we know they are looking for trouble because if we do, we might be found responsible for their actions; on the other hand, we should not disregard common decency, and so we cannot ignore our responsibility to our neighbour, no matter who they are. “Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. Specially, the education of young people was precious to him” (John Paul 11 in Beatification Sermon Nigeria 1998). We find other examples of how to show hospitality in the life and sayings of Blessed Tansi. These examples show us that he knew he had to be compassionate towards others while differentiating his hospitality based on the person he encountered. He was careful to avoid the temptation of using the parish resources for his own relations. “Fr. Tansi explained to his relatives that parish funds do not belong to the priest. One of his relatives informs us how he received no preferential consideration from the Father: “I am his nephew and I started teaching in Eziagulu Otu Aguleri in 1949, just before he arrived to be Aguleri’s parish priest. He came on trek later to my station and asked me how I was fairing. I told him I had not received my monthly salary for five months, and that my headmaster, Mr. Udedibia, had been feeding me. Fr. Tansi gave me the two shillings given as a gift to him by somebody. He asked the donor to leave the money on the altar rail for some poor person. On asking me to collect the money, he said I should be regarded as a poor person. Or else he would not have given me the money” (in C. Obi ‘Facing Mount Saint Bernard’ p.146. The nephew was Joseph Ndive Tansi)
In his life, Blessed Tansi did not want to disregard his obligation to be hospitable to all. He showed basic human decency to all, even to the poorest of his parish when they came to meet with him. He knew that he had to show them hospitality, especially because they took the time and effort to be with him. He felt it was important to take care of their bodily needs; he fed them, showing that he wished them well, before sending them away. His relationship with people teaches us a lesson which we can and should use to help us as we interact with people. Even when we disagree with people we must treat them well. We do not have to like them. We do not have to agree with them and what they stand for. But we must still show them hospitality; indeed, we must be charitable to them, hoping for the best for them. Wishing the best does not mean we are wishing for success in whatever someone wants to do. Wishing the best for them could mean we wish they would change their mind and not do what they are thinking of doing; showing people hospitality sometimes provides the means to make such a change, giving them the time they need to cool down and think things through. Indeed, it is often because people are not received with due respect that they often become angry and vindictive and engage in less-than-wholesome beliefs and practices. This is why, when we are not so hospitable, we might find ourselves as being one of the causes of the evils which happen later. On the other hand, care must be taken not to do hospitality with public funds. “In Nigeria of our day where over desire for quick money has brought down many problems in the society (think of embezzlement of government and company funds, stealing in all its forms, corruption, adulteration of drugs and kidnapping), the example of detachment left us by Father Tansi can be most healthy for everyone; lay faithful, religious and clerics” (in Arinze Cardinal ‘Total Response’ p.206)
Hospitality is important. Charity towards others is important. How we treat others will have an effect on them. Social sin is real. Systematic evil will corrupt people, making them go astray. So long as we ignore the dignity of others, so long as we find ways to excuse in hospitality, we are a part of the problem; we are a part of the system which has gone astray.
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Prayerlife that draws us to prayer.
We have said in many places in the past that Blessed Tansi lived entirely for God and anybody whose life is entirely for God must be a man of trust and prayer. Spiritual wisdom teaches us that we die as we have lived. Our lives are blessings in themselves, even as they are also opportunities for us to prepare well for a holy death and live eternally in God’s presence. Prayer is essential in life. Basic to Blessed Tansi's attitude to Divine Providence was his faith and prayer life. Professor Isichei records Blessed Tansi's advice to his old house boy and friend Augustine Chendo: “You and your wife should always keep before your eyes that fact that you are creatures, God’s creation. As man’s handwork belongs to him, so do we all belong to God, and should accordingly have no other will but His. He is a Father, a very kind Father indeed. All his plans are for the good of his children. We may not often see how they are. That does not matter. Leave yourselves in his hands, not for a year, nor two years, but as long as you have to live on earth. If you confide in him fully and sincerely he will take special care of you” (in ‘Entirely for God’ p.81). The Blessed Tansi was a man of prayer. Everything he did was surrounded by closeness to God. Like the Master, he took specific moments and went to specific places to pray. He had a prayerful spirit and was a man of set prayer times. As such, it should not surprise us that the holy pastor ended his life in the house of prayer and contemplation. As he lived in prayer, his death would be encompassed by prayer. “A prayerful pastor such as Father Tansi could not keep this measure all by himself. His people got contaminated by his love of prayer. The best way he taught them to pray was by his example” (Cardinal Arinze in ‘Total Response’ P. 175) His parishioners knew he was a man of prayer, one of them testified: “Prayer was second nature to him. Every waking hour of his life was spent in prayer formally and informally. He prayed always. He spent most of the night time praying. I got to know this because we were living in the boarding house – a living accommodation he provided for senior primary pupils in standards five and six. This boarding house was only 200 yards away from the Pastor’s house. (Dominic Odenigbo quoted in C. Obi's Facing Mount Saint Bernard, p.72). In his parish everywhere he went “he propagated the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, especially in the form of the First Friday of the month” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response P.176). He had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the Rosary and the observance of the first Saturday of the month in honour of Mary. His girls’ Mary League Association was encouraged to have a special devotion to Mary and to attend the first Saturday devotion regularly.
Jesus' life particularly his entire passion was full of prayer as the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: “When the hour had come for him to fulfil the Father’s plan of love, Jesus allowed a glimpse of the boundless depth of his filial prayer, not only before he freely delivered himself up (‘Abba . . . not my will, but yours.’), but even in his last words on the Cross, where prayer and the gift of self are but one: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,’ ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise,; ‘Woman, behold your son’ – ‘Behold your mother,’ ‘I thirst,’ ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ ‘It is finished’; ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ until the ‘loud cry’ as he expires, giving up his spirit.”(CCC. no. 2605). His prayer and the gift of self are but one. This marked his utter reliance confidence, and extreme love he bears for the Father. The profound example of Jesus is a summons to all the children of God to follow. In our lives, as we undergo sufferings, heartaches, betrayals, rejection, and other areas of darkness, we are to cooperate with grace and offer these inflictions of a fallen world to God and such an oblation should be marked by prayer. Blessed Tansi did exactly this. He prayed in times of multiple hurts and harms of his life. “The desire which Michael Tansi had for a greater place for prayer in his life did not come in one day or as a surprise. It was first of all part of his desire to give God his best.” (in Arinze Cardinal ‘Total Response’ p. 178) Prayer is not an accidental portion of life. It is not something that is an extra to the intricacies and turmoil of life. The Blessed Tansi prayer life shows us that prayer should be the most natural response of a child of God who is hurt and suffering.
With all we are going through in Nigeria today pain wants to close us in on itself. Sufferings want to dominate our lives. The hurt we undergo wants to be the lord and centre of everything we do. The falseness of the world desires to encompass us and lead us to forget about God, feel abandoned or alone, and think we have to solve things ourselves and rely on our strengths and talents to work our way through pain and suffering. At times, we become suppliants to these lies, especially when they involve ongoing pain or the suffering of our loved ones. The prayer lifestyle of Blessed Tansi teaches us not to give up and to hold fast to God from whom our true relief would come. One way to hold fast is through prayer. The blessed Tansi seemed to break through the darkness of his time and offered us another way - the way of love. As God is close to us in our lives and our sufferings we should be close to others especially those beaten down. If God is always present, always ready to embrace us, and always ready to assist us and strengthen us by his grace we should be present to others to help and to strengthen them.
The Blessed Tansi shows us by his holy life how we are to pray. By living a life of prayer, we can also see his witness and follow him through the sufferings and struggles of this world. Like him, we can suffer as a people of prayer since we have first laboured and sought to live faithfully as a people of prayer throughout our lives. We can often ask ourselves -when we are suffering, do we draw close to God in prayer? Does our own experience of suffering help us to see the cause of other people who suffer perhaps more than us? Does this move our compassion and readiness to help?
Tansian Meditations
If you have been following us in these weekly meditations it is time for you to take some time to reflect on Blessed Tansi's instructions on Mass as if he were speaking to you. Listen to his invitations as you prepare for Mass and Adoration. How does this help you understand your identity in Christ? Ask Him to intercede for you and help you move beyond your current limitations and weaknesses so that you can proclaim Christ in the Eucharist with greater confidence and charity. As we remember this holy pastor we cannot forget his Eucharistic love and devotion, his encouragement to draw closer to Christ in the Eucharist and to one another. With the Eucharist, therefore, heaven comes down to earth, the tomorrow of God descends into the present and it is as if time remains embraced by divine eternity
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Blessed Tansi's youth apostolate was full of hope.
Generation of Nigerian youths between the advent of Christian missionaries and the rise of nationalist sentiments have been known as one of the loneliest generations and more than half of them, who were raised in traditional religious households were strong and faithful devotees of the Igbo traditional religion, very responsible and honest. However, there was this feeling of loneliness and disconnect caused by fears of invading colonial masters, the slave trade and the uncertainty of their future. The only businesses available to young men were: subsistent farming, hunting, wine tapping and trading. For young women, their situation was worse. Society itself gave more rights and privileges to male youths. “Custom gave more rights to men than to women in such matters as inheritance leadership of family or the extended family, or clan, and generally in chieftaincy matters” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 125) In his pastoral approach Blessed Tansi as one-time pastor in the Igbo society of the Archdiocese of Onitsha sought to improve the condition of the youth and women in particular. He wanted to give them more hope for the future by not only building and promoting a society where everybody would be accepted and given a chance to develop. Marriages, women, and youth came first as his pastoral priority. He wanted to liberate women by giving them a role in the society. Educating them was his first approach; he built pre-marriage centres for young married women where women were taught wifely skills and how to keep the home. This is in line with the church's mind in her pastoral constitution on the church in the world today (Gaudium et Spes) where she honors women as mothers of the family, the first educators of the human race in the intimacy of the family circle. It should be remembered that Blessed Tansi did not read this document, and died before the document was published. The very rich teaching on the family and youth was already in his pastoral plan.
Having himself been brought up in a simple home in IgboezunAguleri he was concerned about the needs of the weak and marginalized in society, the poor and weak particularly the many deprived of their right by the unjust system in the society. As a youth, he learnt a lot of real-life situations from his maternal cousin who generously arranged for his education and moral upbringing with the missionaries in the Christian village of Aguleri. It was the perfect choice for the studious little boy, who decided to enter the seminary after his teaching career. He was ordained a priest in 1937 and worked as a pastor in the Archdiocese of Onitsha from 1937 to 1950. During this period in his apostolate, he was forced to deal with traditional systems, policies and leaders that hindered human and spiritual growth, especially among the youth. In general, he spoke out strongly about the rights of everybody – the poor and the sick against some bad traditional rulers who exploited the weak in society. “Father Tansi knew that to prepare women for their due status in society and to help build up Christian families would not be accomplished in one day in a culture such as has been briefly described. He went about this apostolate in a way that we could call methodical. That is why he made a big effort to see that women get the respect due to them in the society” (Arinze Cardinal in “Total Response’ p. 127) He started with the younger generation of women – young girls and the family. He set up two “... pre-marriage preparation centres: one for brides already cohabiting with their intended husbands and another for other brides. These centres worked for the promotion of women's rights and dignity, encouraged women's education, taught women duties in marriage and family values, wifely skills and human and spiritual formation. For the first time, women stood up in public to defend their rights and girls stood up against traditional masquerades that oppressed and harassed women with impunity. This would in the traditional society be a crime punishable by death except for the high moral stature of the Father” (ibid. p. 128)
Apart from his regular mission schools, he set up for the boys a separate boarding facility for the boys in standard five and six. The emphasis here was moral, human and intellectual formation-uniting and preparing them for their future adult role in the emerging new society - Nigeria. Regularly he also hosted weekly Bible studies and mission trips at parishes throughout the Archdiocese. A sense of belonging is at the heart of all these activities to welcome young adults and provide a place for them to feel closer to God and to discuss and make decisions for their future. The primary virtue of evangelization is hospitality. If you can’t make someone feel like they belong, it doesn’t matter if we are teaching the truth or not. The ministry, founded in Onitsha and borne out of a desire to improve the spiritual life and active participation in the life of the local church, is now in other dioceses in Igboland. The ministry has resulted in at least building up solid Christian families, sanctifying many marriages, making many conversions and many vocational discernment for seminarians and religious aspirants. In his time not many went to college, and not many had the modern social gathering. Not many got tapped into student’s ministry, or marital vocation, but the pious pastor had his adult youth at his fingertips. They had the fellowship that was necessary for young adults. The spiritual connectedness and friendship that were necessary for their healthy spiritual development were not lacking.
Being intelligent and good at administration are helpful qualities for any pastor. Blessed Tansi was both. But those abilities alone were not enough to make an effective pastor into a saintly one. Besides God’s grace and man’s cooperation with that grace, the pastor needed to with passion respond to the specific challenges he faced both with the Heart of Christ and the gifts God had given him. Today Nigerian pastors of souls have a lot to learn for the legacy of Blessed Tansi - to face the pastoral challenges of their time with means appropriate to their time. “In the contemporary pastoral approach and the mentality of today, the methods used by Father Tansi would be an object of debate especially regarding their values and practicability. It should be remembered however that he was a person of special moral and spiritual nature. No one challenged him. In his unique way, he achieved much. He was a child of his epoch.” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 129). What is important today is for the pastor to see the pastoral problem of his day and seek to solve it with whatever means at his option.
Bad traditional rulers took control of Igboland and its customs for a very long time. Their supporters and faithful Catholics debated and fought for years with occasional improvements in the government’s treatment of the Church. But with Father Tansi he never started a fight he did not win. All his reforms got through and survived him. Today after many years he had gone some of his pastoral reforms are still in use by contemporary pastors of souls. Blessed Tansi was a strong leader who led his people by word and example. But more than that, he was a holy man.
Sunday, August 4 2024.
Blessed Tansi suffered so much – Why!
Blessed Tansi from his youthful days, through his seminary years to his pastoral ministry period and then to the evening of his life at Mount Saint Bernard was known to be a penitential mortified person. “Anyone close to Father Tansi could without much difficulty recognize him as a deeply mortified person, even long before he entered the seminary” Cardinal Arinze in ‘Total Response’ p. 188). Sometimes these sufferings are self-imposed as if he delighted in them. Samuel Edezi who lived in Aguleri with Father Tansi remembered “how Michael chose narrow overgrown footpath as a punishment and how he fasted, living on pawpaw for several days at a time” (Isichei E. in ‘Entirely for God’ p.18) “Descriptions of his childhood and adolescence reflect a degree of docility and industry which a modern parent would find less gratifying than alarming” (Ibid p.18). Today many people are turned off by the idea of having to suffer for the sake of holiness. For them, the image of a Catholic saint who had to go through unimaginable ordeals and martyrdom is not a very enticing one. Some would question why suffer when all you want is to be happy. And doesn’t God want us to be happy, too? For some of them, it is not easy to understand how a good God would allow so much suffering. And it is harder to grasp why His followers would suffer the same fate as Jesus did. Jesus did nothing wrong. He made the blind to see and the lame to walk. He raised even the dead. Why must He die such an excruciating death? In the same way, why must saints suffer unjust punishments from men? Why must they be starved, flogged and beheaded? Even those who did not die as martyrs lived in a self-sacrificial way, often letting go of personal comfort, and spent their time in prayer, fasting and works of charity.
Blessed Tansi as a young headmaster of the school at Aguleri was noted for being strict and exact on himself and on others. “His mortified and perfectionist tendency showed itself in the seminary at Igbariam, as a fellow seminarian testifies: ‘ he tried to do everything with perfection, even ordinary manual labour… at Igbariam we had to cultivate the soil. We had general work and private work… Even in those early days he did everything with the utmost perfection, and the ambition or aspiration to perfection pervaded his life” (Augustine Metuh quoted in Cardinal Arinze ‘Total Response” p.190) When the three companions were at Eke Seminary Michael Tansi was appointed the seminary procurator. His work included cycling every weekend from Eke to Enugu for Seminarians’ provisions - a distance of fifteen miles through the difficult Milliken Hill at the entrance of the city of Enugu. The return journey was extremely difficult for he had to push his bike with the load of provision up the dangerous hill. Cardinal Arinze testifies that “to have persevered in the seminary at Igbariam, Onitsha and Eke in those years was in itself not far from a heroic act of mortification. To begin with, the material provision of food and lodging was rather poor. The teaching staff was minimal one or two priests covered every subject. But much more serious was the fact that in those years the missionaries doubted whether local people could make good and reliable priests in the next two or three generations. The first seminarians were therefore subjected to harsher tests than the candidates in the seminaries today”( Cardinal Arinze in ‘Total Response p.191) When he became a priest on December 19, 1937, the same story of penance, mortification and suffering continued. “Father Tansi had a reputation of not only being mortified but also of demanding high standards from people. Some nicknamed him ‘Reverend Father Strict’. This was not without foundation” (Cardinal Arinze in ‘Total Response’ p. 194). As a manager of schools in his parish, some teachers were not willing to work under him because he demanded a very high standard of performance. Some said that he demanded ‘the life, not of a priest, but of a hermit’. As a priest one of the ways he mortified himself was in the matter of food and drink. Mr. Vincent Obiano his onetime house boy testified: “He was so ascetic that I believe he did not consider food important for his existence…so he ate the barest minimum just to make his body metabolism function. He was on daily fasting” (ibid p. 197).
His priestly vocation was an outstanding model of priestly asceticism, of piety, of special devotion to the Eucharist, of devotion to the ministry of reconciliation and pastoral zeal. His priestly vocation teaches us the basics of the priesthood in its blueprint, building up parishes out of nothing and interested in orphans, the needy and the poor and doing acts of charity for the sick and underprivileged. At the same time overwhelmed with his sense of unworthiness and weakness in the face of his mission. Bishop Anthony Nwedo CSSp former bishop of Umuahia testifies that: “It is hard to think of any other Indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm candour, and the sensitiveness which is their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self-forgetful”. (Sermon at the re-interment Onitsha October 17, 1986) His monastic adventure on the evening of his life must have cost him the greatest suffering of his life. “When he left Nigeria, he disappeared as far as his people were concerned. He had gone from light into darkness, from a life in the sight of all to a life hidden from the world. Yet he did not see it as a running away, as an avoiding of responsibilities. For him, it was God’s call, an invitation to go into the unknown, to leave his country and his family like Abraham and so many others, and to undertake what he believed to be a deeper and more enduring apostolate. It was, like all true calls from God, a venture of faith. None of us can know what it cost him ― though I am sure that the process of canonization will reveal some of this ― but we can glimpse some of the more obvious things. He went to another culture and people, he had to adapt to strange ways, he had to get used to a cold climate and different food, and to many things that even those who came from this country found decidedly peculiar and contrary to what they were used to. It was not easy” (Abbot Moakler in sermon Mount Saint Bernard September 18, 1986). Now the question before us is: why must the saints and holy people suffer like this? Is there some deeper wisdom we must learn to understand the suffering of the saints? The first reason why the saints undertake suffering for the sake of Christ is to show their love for God. Blessed Tansi spent his life entirely and willingly for God. The deeper one’s love for Jesus, the more also one is willing to embrace suffering for His sake. It is not that God wants to see us suffer. But He allows us to love Him ever more deeply in this life until we join him in heaven where we can no longer suffer. Secondly, it shows us how necessary suffering is to get to heaven.
If the saints never suffered, we may get the wrong idea that salvation is only for our present life. Suffering gives us a glimpse of hope and makes us look forward to heaven. Thirdly, through suffering, we can make sacrifices for other people. The saints did not just suffer for themselves. Many took on voluntary sacrifices such as fasting and spending long hours in prayer to offer for sinners and other people in purgatory. Fourthly, suffering makes us gain merit for heaven. Some of the sufferings of these saints did not come from voluntary offerings. They were a result of unjust situations in the world that were allowed by God so that they could receive a greater reward in heaven. And lastly, suffering can make us grow in humility. The more righteous a person becomes, the greater also is the temptation for pride and vainglory. To avoid attributing their holiness to themselves, they are sometimes taken to difficult trials. Suffering and temptation become the cross that reminds them of their weaknesses. The suffering of the saints should remind us of the suffering of Christ. Christ did not undergo all those hardships without a good reason. He did it to save us. He did it because He loves us. The saints merely reflect and carry on the mission of Jesus Christ. They embody the kind of love that is willing to make a sacrifice for the sake of saving one’s neighbour.
Sunday, July 28, 2024
You too can be a SAINT
“We cannot avoid thanking God for the many favours which he has given to Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi, and through him, to Nigeria, Africa and the church worldwide” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 243). Through the intercession of Your Blessed Tansi, O Lord, may I tread the way of holiness courageously as he did. We are all called to spend our lives striving to fall more and more deeply in love with Christ – entirely for God. We are meant to seek, find and follow the paths that lead to our vocations. We are meant to love God truly, to seek and to do always and only his will. Again we are intended to fall in love with God. We are called, just as the famous Blessed Tansi we honour always has been called, to spend all our Christian lives, from the time we realize Him, to the time we enter eternity, loving, serving, and giving our everything to Him and those in most need of his mercy. As Christians, we ought to have a deep personal relationship with Christ. We have to ask ourselves what the Lord requires of us as our expression of this gratitude for the so much we have personally received from him. We must have a prayer life that reflects that relationship. That relationship will help us to become like Blessed Tansi and the other saints we may have known. These saints in the way they lived out their vocation have certain things in common. Some of them before they became saints were sinners. Some of them, before their conversion, or reversion were notorious sinners. If you tell me you do not sin, that is just not true because you are a sinner. As a sinner, you may not realize the depth of love Jesus has for you and until you do you may not know what you need to change in your life so that you may sin less and become saint-like just like the saints. By the way, saints do not consider themselves saints. They look at their imperfections and know they need to continue seeking God’s will and become still more holy.
Some sinners in the bible turned Saints. Look at Saint Peter. He denied being a follower of Christ, a friend of Jesus and yet he is a Saint and for we Catholics the first Pope. Saint Paul was an avid hater of the followers of Christ. But he has an incredible miraculous conversion story. He not only became a follower of Christ but wrote letters of encouragement to people in the early Church which made their way into the New Testament. All the Saints were madly in love with Jesus. Yes, some were priests, nuns, married, or single. Some held down simple jobs and others were renowned scholars. Some started their childhood poor and others were from wealthy, even noble families. Some died as martyrs, some at a quite young age of illnesses or still others old age. So there is no mould, no one lifestyle to become a saint. You can’t truly look at an infant and say a hundred years from now he or she will be a canonized Saint. So what then do the saints have in common? They were madly in love with Christ. They made sacrifices for those in need. They, based on their own time and place in history, gave their whole lives to Christ, always putting the needs of others before their needs. They gave up what they had, including what most of us would consider what they may need, for the love of others. Perhaps it was food or clothing for the monetarily poor or they may have offered up their sufferings without complaining. They had such a wonderful relationship with Jesus. A true Saint would go against the grain even giving up family expectations, or an easier life to live humbly, simply and to seek God no matter the cost. Let us be clear about this there are many unsung Saints lost to history who lived just as holy a life as the ones that can be seen as statues, icons, banners and prayer cards. These are the ones who were never canonized or even considered because they were never known beyond the people they interacted with and who are also lost to time and history, but not lost to God.
Now it is my turn and your turn to be a saint. What changes can you make in your life that will enhance your relationship with our God? It is a lifelong process and a forever commitment. How can you better serve your community, the sick, the downtrodden etc.? What can your prayer life be like if you put in more time and effort? What changes can each of us as individuals make given our current state of life? Do we need to change our state of life and lifestyle? The answer to these questions will come from the general principle of loving God and neighbour more than anything else. All our specific individual answers will not fit into the same mould as someone else’s. It is easy to look at the lives of the saints. Blessed Tansi is there for our example and model. “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest” (St. John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998). His lifestyle shows us his holiness. It is for us to see how you can mirror some of his actions, his deep committed love for Christ and his neighbour above all. Keep trying. Do not give up if you are not yet there. Know that now God loves you no matter what, but know also that you must become more like the saintly children of God and not just out of fear of hell. No Saint ever became so out of fear, but only from a deep love of God and neighbour.
You are not alone in the struggle; you have the constant help of the Body of Christ who is always solicitous and anxious for your salvation. The church like a mother, proud of the triumph of her children, presents those who have made heaven to the whole Christian world, inviting all the faithful to share her maternal joy: “Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a feast in honour of all the saints, at whose solemnity the angels rejoice and give praise to the Son of God” (Introit solemnity of all the Saints). The book of Revelation offers us the apocalyptic vision of the glory of the saints: “I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and with palms in their hands… Ranks of martyrs, apostles, confessors, and virgins, luminous hosts, who delight unceasingly in the vision of God, adore Him continually and praise Him as they repeat: “Benediction and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen.”(cf. Rev. 7: 2-12)
Who are these glorious saints? Men who have lived upon earth as we have, who have known our miseries, our difficulties, our struggles. Some of them we recognize easily, for the Church has raised them to the honours of the Altar, but the great majority is entirely unknown to us. They are humble people who lived obscurely in the accomplishment of duty, without display, without renown, whom no one here below remembers, but whom the heavenly Father looked upon, knew in secret, and, having proved their fidelity, called to His glory. The honourable positions occupied by some in this vast gathering, or the mighty deeds accomplished by others, no longer possess any value of themselves: eternal beatitude is not determined by the great things achieved here below. One thing only endures, for the humble and the great, the poor and the wealthy: the degree of love they had attained, to which corresponds the degree of glory which now renders them eternally happy.
Sunday, July, 21, 2024
How Blessed Tansi lived ‘Entirely for God’
Professor Elizabeth Isichei reflecting on the life of this Nigerian Saint said: “No man is an island, in Igboland or anywhere else. To understand anyone, it is axiomatic that the observer must understand something about the society in which he lived. But understanding the precise linkages between the individual and his environment is extraordinarily difficult, as becomes clear when one reflects on the diverse factors that shaped one’s own experience and sensibility, or the strangely different paths often taken by brothers. It is the more difficult in the case like that of Michael Tansi, for none of the more relevant variables – Aguleri society, twentieth-century mission history in Igboland – have as yet been adequately studied” ( in ‘Entirely for God’ p. 1)
Studying the lifestyle of Blessed Tansi, a twentieth-century parish priest in a yet-beginning mission land has helped me to discover more that the best way—the only way—one can have a happy, powerful life is to get one’s mind off oneself and do something for someone else. Helping people, being a blessing, and adding value to other people’s lives are what it means to walk in love and follow the example of Jesus. “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us …” (Eph. 5:2). Jesus—our perfect and holy Savior—gave His life for us, took all of our sins upon Himself, and shed His blood so we could have a personal relationship with Him and become the righteousness of God. That was His gift to us. And once we experience the gift of salvation, our gift to God is how we live our lives. In his imitation of the Master, Blessed Tansi lived entirely for God. Because his life is entirely for that he made love to be his lifestyle. Because his life was entirely for God his person and his convenience did not matter to him, he made his mission his priority. “He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. His goodness touched everyone who met him. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. Especially, the education of young people was precious to him. Even when he was sent by Bishop Heerey to the Cistercian Abbey of Mount Saint Bernard in England to pursue his monastic vocation, with the hope of bringing the contemplative life back to Africa, he did not forget his own people. He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their continuing sanctification” (St. John Paul 11, in sermon beatification Nigeria March 1998)
Blessed Tansi who had first-hand experience of any Christian community…took missionary teaching as a blueprint to live by '' (Esichei E. ‘Entirely for God’ p.5), visited most of his outstations on foot and in some of the stations where there was no shelter for him. “In many of the stations, especially in the beginnings of Dunukofia and Akpu parishes the priest passed the night in some corner of the school church” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.36). His very close mission companion at Akpu parish Mr. Ibegbunam Lawrence could not understand his physical strength and self-forgetfulness. “I suffered a lot with him in the bush. We would stay in the open like wild animals, without any shelter... At Okpeze the bush was very thick. There was no house, nothing. We were to open a mission station there. I suffered a lot with Father. I didn’t sleep” (quoted in C.Obi, Facing Mount Saint Bernard, p.121). The former Catholic Bishop of Umuahia believes that “...it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm candour, and the sensitiveness which is their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self-forgetful”. (Anthony Nwedo in Sermon at the re-interment Onitsha October 17, 1986) In all these, it was the love of God the main motivating factor.
If today Nigerians make love a priority in their lives and take a little time to study the place of love in the lifestyle of Blessed Tansi they would be getting a revelation about how much God loves them and learning to receive His love would be life-changing for them. Jesus says in John 13:34, “… Love each other just as I have loved you” If we will learn how to follow this one commandment, everything else in our lives will fall into place. Because we can only become everything we are created to be when we live a life filled with God’s love. Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan to demonstrate what it means to love God and your neighbour as yourself. (cf. Lk.10:30-37). Beaten and stripped of his clothes, and left half dead beside the road by the bandits, the despised Samaritan felt compassion for this man and was moved to do something to help him. He dressed his wounds and took him to an inn where he could get the care he needed. He paid the innkeeper and told him, “Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I will pay you the next time I am here” (v. 35). This Samaritan was travelling to where he was needed but his sympathy for this wounded man made him stop even if it meant his plan is interrupted. He gave his best effort to make sure the man had good care and then paid for him to get it. He was willing to pay whatever it was going to cost. Blessed Tansi living entirely for God is like the good Samaritan. The Holy Father says that “everyone who met him was touched by his goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families” (in his sermon beatification March 22, 1998). When you consider Blessed Tansi's compassion in his pastoral approach and his total detachment to worldly possessions and honours you cannot but conclude that he is showing us what real love looks like. Paul lists the characteristics of God’s love: it is patient and kind, never jealous, boastful or rude; it does not demand its way, is not irritable and keeps no record of being wronged. Love rejoices when truth wins out. It never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love never fails. (cf. 1Cor.13:4-7) . Blessed Tansi was able to live out these because from the moment he detached himself from his traditional African religion and attached himself to the Christian religion he had everything he needed to be like Jesus. He had complete trust in Divine Providence and it became easy for him to resist the temptation to be selfish. But for me and you, it is important to understand that God is not expecting us to be perfect in our love walk or to do it without His help. What He wants is for us to seek Him through prayer and studying His Words, and as we do, lean on Him for the grace to do what He is asking us to do each day. If God is love, we can rest in the truth that He is patient with us, He is always with us, He believes in us, and will not give up on us. And with God’s love in our lives, we can learn how to live a life of love like Blessed Tansi.
Sunday July 14, 2024
Blessed Tansi Serves Christ in the poor/sick.
Today over eighty years after his stay at Nnewi, people still remember how Blessed Tansi dispelled the myth about leprosy to them. “He stayed in Nnewi for two years, and left thirty-seven years ago. I wondered if many people would remember him at all. But Nnewi oral traditions speak with precisely the enthusiastic unanimity one finds elsewhere.” (E. Isichei ‘Entirely for God’ p.38) Philip Anajemba a prominent Nnewi Christian teacher remembers Elizabeth Isichei “I feel that Tansi’s canonization is overdue because his person was held sacrosanct while at Nnewi. No Rev. Fr. was as good as Fr. Tansi and Nnewians so loved him that when his transfer was hinted to them they rose in unison to object to it…Neither the Catholics nor anyone else spoke ill of him” (‘Entirely for God’ p.38). Nnewi and indeed most towns in Igboland believed that leprosy was caused by the earth goddess on those who infringed the laws of the goddess and as a result the lepers were avoided even by their relations. They were not allowed to live with other members in the same house nor eat with them. They were not seen in public and often not fed. In the event of their death they were not buried because the earth goddess would not accept them rather they were dumped in the evil forest to rot away or consumed by wild animals. This was the situation Blessed Tansi met when he arrived to begin his mission at Nnewi in 1937. He was moved with sympathy and with words and action he fought against this custom. He did what he could to see that the neglected leprosy patients got something to eat. “Nnewians abhorred lepers more than anything. But Father Michael sent prepared food to them through me. Those who received his food were Matthew and Ayagbakwuonye lepers. He built homes for the destitute from the proceedings of his tithes and Mass sayings” (Anthony Uchendu in E. Isichei, ‘Entirely for God’ p. 39) He gave them a home, medicine and food. He became their best friend and when nothing happened to him the peoples’ attitude towards the lepers began to change. The myth disappeared but his fame remained. “Fr. Michael was the most hard-working of all priests who ever lived at Nnewi and he hardly ate because time spent at table could be utilized in doing some work. He was regarded as a living saint. He never distanced himself from the people. He worked even with women in scrubbing the church floors…he was sympathetic beyond comparison to the destitute. He rendered financial aid to them from his meager tithes. He fed those brought to the mission especially the sick… repaired thatched churches with men, scrubbed the floor with women. He had no leisure hours”. (Pius Unachukwu, a teacher in E.Isichei ‘Entirely for God’ p. 38).
Another deadly infectious sickness he had to battle with was smallpox which people believe to be caused by evil spirits on those who broke the laws of the land. These received the same fate as the lepers. Blessed Tansi treated them, fed them and prepared them for death and in the event of death he buried them. “At the outbreak of smallpox epidemic, for instance, his action was prompt. His zeal and alertness at attending sick calls and administering the sacraments was exemplary”. We all know that illnesses, from the common cold to terminal diseases, strike at the core of our fallen nature. Despite the physical pain and spiritual agony, sometimes the sick, with the help of God’s grace, can see beyond the vanity of the world. Because of their humbled position, they can recognize the need for prayer and penance for furthering the glory of God and saving souls more so than their healthier counterparts. This more often can come about with proper pastoral care. Blessed Tansi whose hallmark of holiness is ascetic charity has a very soft spot for the sick and the poor. In his care for the sick he turned the hearts of the sick to Christ and away from worldly concerns. More so because he himself was a totally detached priest. He became “all things to all men, that [he] might by all means save some” (1 Cor 9:22). By becoming another Christ, he truly understood the plight of the sickly and suffering man. As much as he ministered to the physical needs of the sick he cared for, he always did so in light of eternity for he was aware that no number of medical techniques or supplies can save a soul. His conviction that only God saves spurred him to ceaselessly seek the salvation of souls. He embodied what our Lord said to His disciples: “truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). He understood that “almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22).
His dedication to the sick stemmed from a totally selfless and pure love of God and from a profound faith -- faith that he was being called to do God's work, what he had asked of him. Jesus taught us that what we do to the sick and poor we do them to him. “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me...come O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25: 34-36) Blessed Tansi himself was a poor pastor, he had not much. When he visited an out station as a custom people gave him eggs, chickens, fruits of various kinds and yams. He distributed most of such gifts to the poor and needy in the outstation. His station catechist testified that such distribution reached its climax during Christmas and Easter periods. “Myself and other zealous workers would come to him and collect yams, bread, fowls and so on, and distribute them among the poor in the outstations”(Elizabeth Isichei in ‘Entirely for God’ p. 53).
Blessed Tansi by the example of his care for the sick, provides us an additional example of making frequent and fervent confessions so we can constantly humble ourselves by acknowledging our sinfulness and our dependence upon God alone. Pastoral compassion is at the root of his relation with the sick. Everyone deserves compassion. Everyone deserves to be loved. It is also important to note that when we treat someone with hospitality, it does not mean we approve of everything they represent, everything that they should say or do. Blessed Tansi was guided by common decency and responsibility to his neighbor, no matter who they were.
[Please remember the Vatican needs one miracle to bring Blessed Tansi to the fullness of the altar, be a part of the prayer champagne for this miracle. Report to the Postulation (whatsapp 2348030958350 ) any favor you know to have been received through the intercession of Blessed Tansi.]
Sunday, July 7, 2024
Blessed Tansi attitude to wealth.
All the faithful of Christ need some minimum of detachment from creatures without which they cannot rightly claim to be true disciples of Jesus. When the young man came to Jesus looking for perfection Jesus' reply was: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions''. (Mat. 19:21-22). To sell everything is indeed serious; it is hard - well, for some people, like Blessed Tansi and St. Francis of Assisi, that is exactly what they did. We could solve many Nigerian problems if only the rich Nigerians realized they don’t need the treasures, the jewelry, the multiple houses, and so on as much as others need their help. “Blessed Tansi reached a high level of detachment from creatures: food, house, living conditions, money, means of transport and changes in climate” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 253) In actuality, the distribution of wealth is probably not a reflection of God’s blessings so much as it is a test of your character. If you are wealthy, what will you do with the money? Jesus and ordinary common sense would answer-do as Blessed Tansi did – invest in the common good, the poor, the needy, the sick and the marginalized. Train the young people, the future hope of the new Nigeria. In this way you will be doing exactly what Jesus told the rich young man to do - sell all you have, give the proceeds to the poor. (cf. Matt.19:21). The rich young man was not really giving away but investing in real estate – come, follow me and possess eternal and imperishable wealth. “First as Teacher and later as School Headmaster, Tansi continued to reveal not merely his “sharp and keen” abilities as Educator, but of equal importance to us, his demonstrable preferential love of God and of Christian values… Popular, effective and even beloved though he was, Headmaster Tansi gradually began to notice within himself a deeper and more demanding “calling” to the service of sacramental priesthood which, if responded to with generous detachment, would necessitate his leaving an already prestigious teaching profession and with it, a relatively autonomous life style” (Ed Debany SJ. in paper at National Symposium on Blessed Tansi, Onitsha 18th March 2004). His invitation to leave his prestigious teaching profession with all its potentials to wealth was as demanding as to ask the rich young man to sell all he had but Blessed Tansi did not hesitate at his positive response even though at the displeasure of many including his mother. “Orekyie, Michael’s master and guardian, was strongly opposed to his protégé’s abandoning his chances of worldly advancement and the financial enrichment of his extended family. His fellow villagers could not understand his action…His poor widowed mother went mad with rage. He sympathized with his poor mother all right, but there was no turning back”. (Elizabeth Isichei in ‘Entirely for God’ p. 28)
In what God did later with the Blessed Tansi we see the reward of the change of vocation from headmaster Tansi into Rev. Father Tansi. The prodigious variety and obvious fruits of his priestly ministry in the three parishes assigned to his pastoral care are today living admiration. As a priest he needed some money for his parish ministry – setting up structures-churches and schools, pre-marriage training centers. But more than these his priority went to human beings, the poor, the sick, the old, the widow and the orphans. He cared for other people. Then again, other people’s problems were his concern and priority – to lift them out of poverty and save their lives. “He never had much money for these purposes. But he used very wisely the little that was available. He was not preoccupied with money raising projects. Rather he motivated the people to communal labor…” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.206). Just as volunteering time makes people feel better about themselves, so does using one’s money for others. As a parish priest he had not much but the little he got from his ministry he shared according to peoples’ needs. The hungry came first, then the widows and the sick. Father Tansi was methodical too. “He had a list of old women, all the old women in the area. He would take out the list wherever he went, especially in places like Umuogem, Enugu-Aboh and Umueji. When he went there, he would visit every old woman and give her presents. The next time he went there he would see them coming, asking for more of his help”, says Hyacinth Okoli (quoted in Arinze Cardinal ‘Total Response’ p. 55). By giving out his towel to a poor man that has no clothes he shows us how to give out our excess to the one who has none. “He gave him his towel, saying that he did not need a towel to dry himself when another person had nothing to wear” (ibid p.56). In the seminary he secretly dropped a shirt on the bed of another seminarian who had none and when the seminarian was inquiring who left the shirt for him the donor told him “to box his shirt and to stop disturbing the peace of the world” (Peter Meze in E. Isichei Entirely for God, p.33). It is always the little things that show a person’s mind and inclination. Blessed Tansi had not much material things but the little he had he gave in a very striking way. A young man who went to visit him on an outstation at Uke gave his experience: “At midnight I felt somebody was just putting something on me, at the real dead of the night. It was Father Tansi who took his own blanket at night and put it on me” (Elizabeth Isichei in ‘Entirely for God’ p.51). The Holy Father had already said that “…he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families” (John Paul 11 in his sermon beatification Nigeria 1998).
It is well known that the blessed Tansi respected the poor. He did not blame them for their poverty rather he sought to improve their condition with whatever help he could give. His charity extended even to compassion for traders and market women who sat long hours without anyone buying from them. “When Michael was procurator of the seminary at Eke, and went to the market for purchases, he deliberately bought from as many as possible so that each trader got something. (G. Wareing in ‘Sorrow will not kill me’ p. 6) Sometimes we wonder at the rate of extravagant spending in this country. Money that could have been used for common good, the poor and the needy are simply lavished often on the rich and the wealthy. Does that make any sense? Think then of what a difference a wealthy person could make to multiple lives. As Christ said, it is better to sell what you possess and give to the poor. You will have greater satisfaction through love and good works and greater treasures in heaven than worldly goods could ever provide. “In the Nigeria of our day where over desire for quick money has brought down many problems on society (think of embezzlement of Government or company funds, stealing in all its forms, corruption, adulteration of drugs and kidnapping), the example of detachment left us by Father Tansi can be most healthy for everyone: lay faithful, religious and clerics” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.206)
Sunday, June 30, 2024
God is at work in Blessed Tansi.
Again and again, we see the fruits of Christ’s labour, the saints and those who, having lived by faith became holy by grace. We look to them and their great deeds, and then we honour them. In doing so, we honour God, for their holiness is, in part, the work of God, for God gave them the grace they needed to do wondrous things with their lives. Certainly, they were not perfect. God is not localized, nevertheless he walks about locally in his agents (cf. Gen. 3:8), when they preach him from place to place. For God, who is not moved in space or time, is moved in space and time in his agents, as often as they preach him in any place. That is, we are all called to become agents, to become one of the crowds of witnesses who illuminate the world with God’s grace. Not everything they did was respectable. But their faith allowed them to open themselves up to God and change for the better throughout their lives. They were open to and cooperated with the grace they needed to become holy. With it they became, as it were, angels, messengers of God, revealing to the world the way of grace, and how grace can perfect those who embrace it with faith, hope and love.
St. John Paul 11 told Nigerians and the world: “Christ is thus a part of the history of the nations. He is a part of the history of your nation on this continent of Africa. More than a hundred years ago missionaries arrived in your land proclaiming the Gospel of reconciliation, the Good News of salvation. Your forebears began to learn of the mystery of the redemption of the world and came to share in the New Covenant in Christ. In this way, the Christian faith was firmly planted in this soil, and in this way, it continues to grow and to produce much fruit” (In sermon beatification Blessed Tansi, Nigeria 1998). We can learn from our own man, the Blessed Tansi, not only by looking at what he has done right but also, from what he has done wrong, for by doing so, we can be encouraged to do good with our lives but also not to despair when we find ourselves struggling to do what we know is right; that is, through him, we can see how grace can perfect nature in such a way that even our wrongdoing does not have to get in the way of our perfection. This is why the commemoration of Blessed Tansi and the saints, who triumphed over tyrants and became angels, is cause for celebration among the heavenly beings. And because "God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men's faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled . . . the appeal we make in Christ's name is: be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:19-20). In the same way in our own Blessed Tansi God has worked through him to bring about marvelous achievements in our salvation. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria ... He was first of all a man of God... Everyone who met him was touched by his goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. Especially, the education of young people was precious to him”. (St. John Paul 11 in a sermon at Beatification Nigeria 1998). Cardinal Arinze testifies that “Father Tansi was methodical in the measures he took to promote priestly and religious vocations. He knew that good Christian families are the best garden from which such vocations would germinate. He helped to build up such families through his elevation of the status of women, through the pre-marriage training centres which he set up, through the joyful and solemn celebration of the sacrament of matrimony and his homilies in support of the Christian family” (in ‘Total Response’ p.84)
Blessed Tansi has been proclaimed ‘blessed’ that is he has made a past mark in the way he has lived his life and vocation. He is our brother and we, as Christians, but also as humans, indeed, as creatures created by God, are called to be one, to realize our unity in love that is to experience the oneness we will have in the eschatological kingdom of God. Through it, we know we need each other. We are better together, and in our communion with each other, we will realize better that what is lacking in one may be supplied from the common bounty of those gone before us marked with the sign of faith. We can look to the past and see what God has done in Blessed Tansi despite the questionable things he might have done at some point in his life because he found himself drawn beyond himself by grace and become something more, something better.
Through his faith adventure into the Monastery of Mount Saint Bernard with all the sufferings he found himself receiving blessings, blessings which brought him grace, and through that grace, was able to become someone greater, someone who could and would share something of himself with his brothers and sisters. Today Nigeria is booming with monastic vocation-what God has done through one man’s faith, effort and suffering. Of course, Blessed Tansi is not the only one. If we look through our bible stories, we will find many who have done noble things, many who had great faith, like Abraham, David and Solomon, and yet if we look closely at them, we will find they also did many great evil things as well. Their evil actions did not terminate their connection with God, even if they might have found their relationship with God faltering from time to time because they had faith, and through that faith, they opened themselves up to grace, letting their faith, not their defects, have the last word. If they are capable of such, despite all we can see they have done, we should have hope, no matter what we have done, we can also find ourselves brought into the body of Christ and receive saving, indeed, deifying grace as well. Like Blessed Tansi we must struggle with ourselves, making room for grace, for then we make room for God and allow God to continue to be at work not only in us but in the world at large. For God can be found in all the good which God’s Saints do.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (cf. Heb. 12:1-2). If we do so, if we let God’s grace transform us from within and make us holy, we will find it does more than purify us from our sins: it will make us temples of God, and in that way, God will dwell in us. But this will only happen if, upon receiving such grace, we do not turn in upon ourselves, and so cut ourselves off from further grace. We need to be constantly open to God and God’s grace, so that we can go from grace to grace, glory to glory, and to do that, we need to live entirely for God as Blessed Tansi did.
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Following Blessed Tansi to Holiness
“There is no doubt that the price of discipleship is high. Blessed Tansi did not hesitate to pay it. He is a model of detachment from creatures and attachment to the Lord. Every one of us, whether lay faithful, priest or religious, can ask ourselves how the model set for us by Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi can apply to us, in our vocation and mission, in our effort to live entirely for God. He has wonderfully shown us how to give a total response to God’s call” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 254). The Church reminds us that the call to holiness in life is not optional. In her Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium she says, “All the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of the Christian life and the perfection of charity” (no. 40). The Master Himself told his disciples that “he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mt. 10 38). Certainly the life of Blessed Tansi is “telling us that all of us are called to be holy. His was a life of faith, humility and perseverance in following what he saw to be God’s will for him, no matter at what cost and even when many details remain unknown” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’. P.252) Furthermore his life reminds us that the Gospel is not an impossible ideal reserved for the select few, but rather a real and attainable standard to which we are all called and by which we will all be judged. Yes, by which we will all be considered. This is another truth stirring us in the face. There is no escape for anyone.
I have a note of caution however, growth in holiness is not our accomplishment, but a pure gift from God. The Lord does it, not us. Blessed Tansi's steps to spiritual stewardship were not cosy little acts he performed to produce holiness — they were rather simply tried-and-true ways he opened up in humility and faith to let the Lord in to do his work in, on, for, and, often, despite himself. We too can get the same result if we imitate him closely and faithfully. We must remember that our stewardship of the Spirit is never a soothing benefit we cling to, but an inspiration to love humankind better. The Jesus who calls us to spiritual ecstasy in the beatitudes likewise invites us to the pouring out of self on Calvary.
Now convinced of the need to take Blessed Tansi seriously as our spiritual model to answer the call to discipleship, what do we do and how do we do it? Blessed Tansi was single-minded and driven. It was God or nothing. His approach to life focused on Him. It was entirely for God. His mission was consuming. His concerns were not the world’s concerns. He was on a mission. You are either in or out. He always said ‘If you want to be a Christian you might as well be a good one’. His sanctity was found in his willingness to give of himself to someone and to live out those virtues of faith and hope. To begin to imitate Blessed Tansi think of being yourself, the creature God created you to be, and God’s demands on you. Then take the first step, if the Lord wants it He will give you the grace, then the second and… Take note of the key to our spiritual growth: a faithful, personal, loving relationship with Jesus. To know Jesus, to hear Jesus, to love Jesus, to trust Jesus, to obey Jesus, to share his life in the deepest fibre of our being, and then to serve him — this is our goal.
To follow Blessed Tansi to holiness does not mean in every detail. He lived his own life and his vocation. We too have our own life and vocation. Some of his essential spiritual programs for growth in the spirit might help us in our own lives. Some of them include:
Sunday, June 16, 2024
Blessed Tansi's Path to Sainthood invites us to holiness.
On the 22nd of March 1998, tens of thousands of Nigerians gathered at Oba Onitsha to watch St. John Paul 11 proclaim a humble Nigerian priest Fr. Tansi, BLESSED and millions worldwide through the media watched this unique event. “Today, one of Nigeria's sons, Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, has been proclaimed "Blessed" in the very land where he preached the Good News of salvation and sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another” (John Paul 11 in sermon beatification). Blessed Tansi became the first and only National saint of Nigeria. In the pomp and circumstance that followed this event, it was easy for many to lose sight of the theological and practical significance of the Church’s declaration of sainthood. This declaration first tells us that the Catholic Church recognises the humble and exemplary way Blessed Tansi lived his Christian life and vocation. The church presents him as a model Christian. “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest” (John Paul 11 in beatification sermon Nigeria 1998)
At the heart of this proclamation is that Blessed Tansi is a true disciple of Jesus. In his life he imitated very closely the Master Jesus – he lived entirely for God. Jesus Christ, the God-man is the principle through which all things were fashioned, and the standard by which all things will be judged. He is the Word of God made flesh- the divine Logos. Jesus is the measuring rod. As the visible image of the invisible God, Jesus reveals a way of life because he is the author of life. He is the template by which we were created. When teaching his followers the meaning of discipleship - the discipline of the Christian life, Jesus repeatedly used a simple phrase that is breathtaking in its implications. “Follow me.” Therefore the entire Christian life is nothing more than a call to conform ourselves to the rule of Christ as it is expressed in Scripture and in the teachings of the Church. It is not until we are conformed to Jesus that we achieve the fullness of our humanity because it is in the image and likeness of God that we were created in the beginning. Jesus Christ reveals humanity to itself.
Now let us come back to the significance of what the Catholic Church did at Oba Onitsha on 22nd March 1998. The Church recognized the humble Blessed Tansi who lived his Christian life and proposed his lifestyle for all Nigerians and in particular for all Nigerian Christians. He is a declared role model for all of us. When we talk about somebody who is officially canonized by the Church, we are saying much more than the fact that an individual has made it into heaven. The decree that an individual enjoys the beatific vision of God in heaven is part of the beatification process, not the canonization process. Canonization means something more profound. When the Church declares someone a saint, it declares that an individual is worthy of universal veneration, which is just another way of saying that his or her life represents a model worthy of imitation by the entire Church. They are those who have so fully conformed their lives to the norms of the Gospel that their lives in turn represent a norm against which we can all measure our response to God. They have so perfectly followed Jesus that they have become universal models of imitation. The paradox of canonization is that the saints are not the exception to the rule for Catholics. They are the rule. They are the norm. That is because all people are called to be saints.
For Nigerians Blessed Tansi (by beatification) is only a national Saint waiting to be canonized as a saint of the universal church. “Father Tansi's witness to the Gospel and Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local Church now offers to the Universal Church.” (John Paul 11, sermon beatification March 22, 1998). All that the church needs now to make Blessed Tansi a saint of the universal church is one miracle approved by the Sacred Congregation for the Saints. Nigeria and indeed the universal church have been praying for the past twenty-six years that God may give us this miracle needed to declare his humble and pious priest worthy of a universal imitation and veneration. This is where you need to come in. We invite you to be a part of the process - Pray in your way and ask others to join you in praying. Only God can work a miracle but his children can ask Him to make one to show us that Blessed Tansi is worthy of the church’s universal veneration. To pray for this one miracle is a duty we owe to the local church and the universal church. Remember also that you have to report to the Postulation for the cause of any favor you know to have been received through the intercession of Blessed Tansi. You can report to: postulationtansi@yahoo.com or WhatsApp-08030958350.
When the saints are understood as human beings whose lives represent the norm rather than the exception to the rule, they can no longer be viewed from a safe distance. When Blessed Tansi is understood as the model to response to the Gospel call, he immediately becomes a challenge to our complacency, he reminds us that the Gospel is not an impossible ideal reserved for the select few, but rather a real and attainable standard to which we are all called and by which we will all be judged. Please don’t keep him a safe distance from you. As you begin to measure your lifestyle against the response to our Christian calling, his profound witness to holiness can quickly become a cause for unease. It is easy to imagine him as an otherworldly contemplative who lived in the world of mysticism. In this way, he is disarmed, and the challenge he represents is easily dismissed. I am not however saying that he should become a cause for anxiety. No, rather a cause for joy. As a witness to the Gospel, he reassures us that holiness is available to all, even the most hardened sinners. A glance at the list of those who have been canonized reveals men, women and even children from around the world, from every walk of life and from every time, place and culture in Christian history. If the saints teach us anything, they teach us that the relationship between God and humans is never short on creativity. They also teach us that this creativity is a measuring rod against which we may judge our complacency when responding to the Gospel. When we begin to realize that there are countless ways to respond to the Gospel, we realize how little excuse there is for our tepid response. I think all of us now reading this should make up our minds to be a saint.
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Blessed Tansi Lived a Life of Integrity
Today integrity is one of those abstract qualities that we all wish to possess, but often find difficult to apply when it comes to real situations and practical dilemmas. In Blessed Tansi we find one who lived fully for God and his neighbour, his life was a single piece and at the same time complete, undivided, intact and unbroken. According to friends and colleagues, he was a man of faith, integrity and deeply held convictions. His integrity was the bond that held his other virtues together; it was his mark that successfully integrated all his good principles making his life a unified whole. Living with integrity is easier than living a deceitful life and making unethical decisions is often easier in the short term, it eventually takes its toll. There is no real happiness to be found in struggling to remember your lies, living in fear of getting caught, and not feeling like you truly earned your reward. Living with integrity brings wholeness and peace. Your conscience can rest easy, and you can look at yourself in the mirror with pride.
“The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much. He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. His goodness touched everyone who met him. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families.” (St. John Paul 11, in sermon beatification Nigeria March 22, 1998) Blessed Tansi was a man his parishioners could count on. As a manager of the mission schools in his parish “teachers liked him for several reasons: their schools were doing well in academics (in 1942 his school at Dunukofia was rated the best in the vicariate” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p 49). The teachers and the pupils knew their manager would do what he said he would do. The vicariate had an overwhelming confidence in his administration for this he could be trusted with greater responsibility. His parishioners knew that when he said anything he was going to do it. Everybody felt comfortable opening up to him and turning to him in times of crisis. Because of that his ministry and the life of his parish became much healthier, stronger, and more satisfying.
“Today, one of Nigeria's sons, Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, has been proclaimed "Blessed" in the very land where he preached the Good News of salvation and sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another… His goodness touched everyone who met him” (St. John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria March 22, 1998).
He was not only a zealous and hardworking pastor but was also extremely transparent and he made his ministry as transparent as possible. “In some ways, he was so much like the other schoolmasters of his place and time, in his zeal, his strictness, his concern for details. But there the resemblance ends. Other schoolmasters did not go barefoot during Lent, or cook soup for old ladies or, for that matter, for themselves”.(Elizabeth Isichei, ‘Entirely for God’ P. 23) In his pastoral zeal he did not take credit for others’ success. In his respect for others “he was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families” (St. John Paul11 in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998) He was careful to avoid situations where he would have a conflict of interest. “... it may be a high claim to make, but it is hard to think of any other Indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm candour, and the sensitiveness which is their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self-forgetful”. (Sermon at the re-interment Onitsha October 17, 1986)
In the ministry, every pastor is sometimes faced with dilemmas in making some pastoral decisions. Blessed Tansi's commitment to a life of integrity allowed him clarity when he had to make hard choices. He was never at war with himself over which path to choose. Instead, he experienced the confidence that came with having every aspect of his life knit together in a unity of purpose. The decision to enter the seminary was one such example. It was for his family members something difficult to understand and even harder to see a way out but for him his mind was made up, and the path was clear – no going back. “Orekyie, Michael’s master and guardian, was strongly opposed to his protégé’s abandoning his chances of worldly advancement and the financial enrichment of his extended family. His fellow villagers could not understand his actions. They thought it shameful to deliberately renounce offspring and to become a kind of slave to any “god” His poor widowed mother went mad with rage. She went to the mission and harassed the parish priest to give her son back. She cried out her eyes in vain. He sympathized with his poor mother all right, but there was no turning back” (Father Ed Debany SJ in National Symposium commemorating 100th Birthday of Blessed Tansi Onitsha 18th March 2004). Only a person with a high degree of personal integrity and conviction could make such a choice. He was all the time sure of himself and confident in his trust in God. Living a life of integrity was for him a daily process – something that did not end until life itself. For all in particular we Christians integrity is a value that we should strive for in all areas of our life. Most importantly, you must have integrity within yourself. It is sad to have a Christian who acts like a social chameleon: a different man with you, a different man at home, a different man at work, a different man when travelling and so on. Instead of being a single self, he lives as multiple selves, transforming into who he thinks each group wants him to be. Such a Christian ends up feeling fragmented and confused as to who he is. Such ruins relations, marriages in particular. The first step towards integrity is being honest with yourself. Be who are. Say what you mean. Do what you say you will do. Don’t just walk the walk; talk the talk. Decide now, not later. Think of your personal value system. Know who you are and what you stand for. Don’t justify the means for the end. Take personal responsibility for your life. At the heart of integrity is the ability to own up to the fact that you are in control of your life. You are responsible for both your successes and your failures. Nobody else but you. The Abbot of St. Bernard Monastery England meditating on the life of Blessed Tansi gave this advice: “Fr. Cyprian’s life was Fr. Cyprian’s own life. That was his vocation. In reflecting upon it, we are all, clergy, religious, and laity, meant to focus on the things that are at the core of our faith, to renew our awareness of the things that matter. If his life is important, it is because it was a life of faith, humility and perseverance following what he saw to be God’s will for him, even when it cost everything, even when all was dark and cold. He was just one more disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we can learn from him as we can from his Master …When Fr. Cyprian died in 1964, I think most of the community thought very much the same as that Carmelite sister at Lisieux. What could be said about him? He had lived simply and edifyingly ― but was there any more to say? Was he so very different from the rest of us?”(Abbot Moakler in sermon Mt. St. Bernard Abbey September 18, 1986).
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Blessed Tansi: Special intercessor for Students/Youths.
Blessed Tansi knew so much about being a student with difficulties and taking care of students. At the age of seven, he was taken to live with his uncle-teacher Robert Orekyie, who cared for his upbringing and education. While studying, he served his uncle as a house boy, doing all the domestic duties for him. He was pious both in his religious and domestic duties. He performed with equal dedication his daily domestic chores, was assiduous in his academic studies and was more than capable when involved in sporting events with his mates. Tansi was not merely a well-rounded youth interested in the normal activities of his age group but more importantly, he did all things both with intensity and moderation. He did not play too much, nor even pray too much. He performed all of his many domestic duties without ever failing in his academic studies. He was a successful pupil, despite his domestic duties, and passed his exams each year. “He was good at sport, which he attached with the energy and determination to excel that which he brought to his spiritual life. … information from the Onitsha sojourns remembers swimming and wrestling contests, both of which he won” (Elizabeth Isichei, Entirely for God, The Life of Michael Iwene Tansi, Macmillan Nigeria 1981. p. 19). Can Nigerian parents and guardians today teach their children to emulate the disciplined, moderate and dedicated behaviour of young Tansi? But as all children, they will need guidance, discipline, direction and correction of the kind that Michael found so readily in his uncle Robert Orekyie. Can our children be taught the value of detachment even from good things such as excessive play, snacking, television, sleep, and browsing the internet, to aspire to and develop the higher values of Christian living? They can only if he or she is taught to do so by the good words and positive examples of the lay and religious elders of the community.
First as a Teacher and later as School Headmaster, Tansi continued to reveal not merely his sharp and keen abilities as an educator, but of equal importance to us, his demonstrable preferential love of God and Christian values. So much did he integrate academics with religious knowledge and practice – in those days, the Teacher also served the Christian community in the role of Catechist that less tepid souls often accused Headmaster Tansi of running the school in the manner of a seminary. “He commanded genuine respect by his style of life. There was something dignifying and awe-inspiring about him. Some people did not feel drawn to him because of his ascetical and austere life. This is understandable since the life of mortification can only appeal to the devout and those seeking heroic sanctity and not many seek this level of union with God. (C. Obi in ‘Facing Mount Saint Bernard’ P. 89 )
As a diocesan priest and school manager, “Father Tansi understood the teachers very well. He had himself been an auxiliary teacher, then a grade 11 teacher and thereafter headmaster. Even when he was doing philosophical studies at Onitsha, he and some other seminarians were assigned some teaching duties at Saint Charles College. He was therefore well prepared to be a manager of the catholic schools in his parish. (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ P.48). As a pastor interested in building up strong families, communities and youth for the future of the church he visited his schools and supervised the school activities. “As school manager, he visited his schools regularly. Going through the classes he supervised and corrected the teachers. Dominic Odenigbo testifies “he taught us mathematics, English language and religion. He even corrected our weekly tests in these subjects. He held refresher courses in the evenings for the teachers to improve the quality of teaching. (C. Obi in ‘Facing Mount Saint Mount Bernard’ P. 86) Cardinal Arinze was convinced that teachers had a very cordial relationship with him. “Teachers liked him for several reasons: their schools were doing well in academics (in 1942 his school at Dunukofia was rated the best in the vicariate” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p 49) Nigerian students and youth have a lot to learn in the life of Blessed Tansi. They have also in him a very strong advocate who understands them and the condition of their lives in present-day Nigeria. “By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practised heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God’s grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors”.( cf. CCC 828) So Nigerian students who require a little saintly help to get through their finals, or any exams, turn to Blessed Tansi powerful intercession. Sometimes taking exams can be a huge source of stress for students and their anxious parents. However, for people of faith, there is help to be had from this incredible saint of our time. Blessed Tansi was desperate to become a priest, yet with his severe learning difficulties it was a real struggle. Thankfully he did not give up. He worked hard for several years doing mental jobs with his companions where his devotion and humility did not go unnoticed and he was finally allowed to become a priest. His gentle and persuasive approach to spiritual guidance helped individuals discern God’s will in their lives. His emphasis on discernment, integration of spirituality, learning and prayer guided his students in making wise choices amidst academic pressures and uncertainties. This can be particularly helpful when students feel overwhelmed by all the material they have to learn. His practical wisdom and kindness encouraged his seminarians and religious aspirants to approach their studies with patience, compassion, and a spirit of service to others. This service could take the form of students helping others who are struggling in their studies, or making time to lend a hand to someone in need. His so many virtues would inspire for those working hard on their exams, while also reminding them that their spiritual life can act as the ultimate useful revision tool. The life and choices of Blessed Tansi, teacher and headmaster, point to motivations far more sublime and universally appealing than the mere development of individual talents, the exaggerated enjoyment of life, and the pursuit of honour, financial security and prestige. These he had and yet he willingly and freely gave them all up. Because he was a man detached from the vanities of the world while at the same time, attached to the higher values of perfect and courageous Christian discipleship. Parents, guardians and all teachers should help to introduce the determination and lifestyle of Blessed Tansi to their children. Only by doing this can Nigeria produce future generations of Nigerians capable of making this country a pride of Africa.
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Blessed Tansi on the path to sainthood.
Have you heard of Blessed Tansi's journey to sainthood? Blessed Tansi was a 20th-century parish priest in the Archdiocese of Onitsha during the early missionary evangelization and during the colonial era - a time of hostility against the natives by colonial business traders and slave hunters. It was also the time when the nationalist sentiments were breeding high. To advance in society, the nationalists were pushing for independence while the Blessed Tansi sought in his way to evangelize his people building strong institutions of marriage and family as centres of love, protection and freedom. He knew that uniting them would strengthen their faith and give them protection. Thanks to his vision, and effort many flourishing parishes grew up in the places where he worked. Today many of his one-time pupils and students have very responsible positions in society and the church. Today “ … this Nigerian priest said to have been not too tall in height, later in life rather frail in health, not one of the brightest students, but distinguished for his iron will, his firm trust in Divine Providence, his readiness to sacrifice his will in the service of God, his impressive acceptance to be misunderstood, a man never settling down to half measures, dissimulation, pride or love of convenience, but always self-mortified and ready to put his whole heart and person into what he was doing … seemed to have summarized his whole life in his advice to one of his parishioners ‘if you are going to become a Christian at all, you might as well live entirely for God” ( Arinze Cardinal in; Total Response’ p.9) is on the final path to sainthood. Following in the footsteps of this holy Nigerian priest is at the forefront of forming men in their faith, helping, protecting and sanctifying Catholic families, defending a culture of life, and helping those most in need. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria recently adopted him as the model and patron of the Nigerian priests (cf. declaration at the conclusion - the year for Priests at Onitsha 3rd. day of June in the year 2010),
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria is indeed proud to be the premiere sponsor of the cause of his cause to sainthood and invites you to take an active part in the promotion of his worthy cause through prayers for the cause and veneration of his first-class relic at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. Like the Blessed Tansi, we need to continue to witness the beauty of the Catholic faith by drawing closer to our Lord. Discover how to benefit from the exemplary life of Blessed Tansi as the Holy Father advised all Nigerians: “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest”. (John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Onitsha Nigeria March 22, 1998). Blessed Tansi today is recognized for his deeply pastoral and thoughtful approach to ministry. He emphasizes the importance of mercy and compassion in the Church's mission, particularly in addressing the needs of the poor and promoting peace. His mission in the local church and the catholic world is not yet over. Trusting in the intercession of Blessed Tansi we look for a brighter future for the church.
But how can we all be a part of this project? Do not be left out, you are important and you can do something. The life of Blessed Tansi emphasizes the church’s universal call to holiness. “All the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of the Christian life and the perfection of charity” (Lumen Gentium 40) His life is telling us that we too can be holy. His life was a life of faith, humility and perseverance in following what he saw to be God’s will for him, no matter at what cost and even when many details remain unknown. His lifestyle is a lamp for our steps not in every detail however but in the important areas of our Christian calling. All that Nigeria needs now is the tiniest bit of compassionate imagination to be able to see the problems posed by tribalism in Nigeria. The fact that so many in positions of authority along with those who put them there seem blind to the problem is the most devastating condemnation of our national identity. The national outlook of Blessed Tansi can certainly help. The Blessed Ilene Tansi was a man of hope and vision and this is precisely one of the greatest challenges of our time. His apostolate to the family had a special bearing on the youth and the future. In his pastoral ministry wherever he went he promoted the status of women, insisting that betrothed girls should attend a six-month marriage training centre where they were taught Catholic doctrine, home-keeping, Christian family traditions, sewing, knitting and other wifely skills. He thus laid solid foundations for Christian families. He was doing this because he knew the important role of women in the family and the nation.
He is a blueprint for all Nigerians of goodwill who have for a long time searched for a coherent view which is not at loggerheads with what we have hitherto heard of making Nigeria a great nation, a direction Nigeria shall evolve herself in the coming time to be finally able to get out of the current absolutely poor form. Today Nigerian youths need his teaching, encouragement, and hope for the future to build a sane, safe, forgiving, and truth-speaking Nigeria. We need Nigerian youths who are willing to roll up their sleeves, with or without masks and gloves, and wrap their arms around the emotionally and spiritually dying Nigeria. As it is, the old generation seems to have failed and disappointed us. We need the future generation who will rally around sane principles that preserve truth, justice, and our liberties. We do not need sinless youth; we need youths who are overcoming their propensity to fall short while learning that love is not a notion. It is a verb that requires proper application, not co-dependency.
To promote the cause of his sainthood we need to promote his principles and lifestyle. His priestly ministry was always a living witness of the power of God at work in human weakness. He was a man of the divine word and of the sacred, a man of joy and hope. To people who could no longer conceive that God was pure love, he would always affirm that life was worth living and that Christ gave life its full meaning because he loved human beings. Finally, we need just one miracle to reach sainthood. When, where and how this miracle will come I just do not know. Only God knows for he alone can perform miracles. As his loved children we can certainly ask him in prayer to give us a miracle to bring the journey to sainthood to the end. Therefore all of us can and must offer prayers for this cause. Pray privately, join the Tansi praying group in your parish, and pray in your family devotion. You can also offer masses for the same intention. Remember to report favors received to the Postulation for the cause, (postulationtansi@yahoo.com or whatsapp 08030958350).
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Living the way of Blessed Tansi.
“Blessed Tansi reached a high level of detachment from creatures: food, house, living conditions, money, means of transportation and changes in climate. Every Nigerian is not called to become a monk or a nun. Everyone is not called to copy every detail of the life and example of this great Christian. Nevertheless, Blessed Tansi teaches us at least to live that minimum of detachment from creatures without which a person cannot be a genuine follower of Christ” (Cardinal Arinze in ‘Total Response’ p.253). Yes, we are not all called to follow him to the priesthood or the religious life but we are called to love God and our neighbor as he did. Called to make some sacrifices to better the lives and conditions of our fellow men and women. We are called to realize that we will go to heaven when we die and therefore to pursue holy life with the seriousness it deserves according to the warning of the Master Jesus “He who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mt. 10:38). Blessed Tansi is a prime example for us of love of God and neighbour, of Christian courage and fidelity, of perseverance and determination, of Christian trust and hope and of living entirely for God. These strong bonds of loving care between him and us find their foundation in the relationships that unite Jesus to us and God. These bonds are manifested by giving his life entirely for us. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much. He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. Especially, the education of young people was precious to him. Even when he was sent by Bishop Heerey to the Cistercian Abbey of Mount Saint Bernard in England to pursue his monastic vocation, with the hope of bringing the contemplative life back to Africa, he did not forget his people. He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their continuing sanctification” (St. John Paul 11 in beatification sermon Nigeria 1998). This total gift of self is the specific attitude of Blessed Tansi, the one which characterized his entire mission as a Christian, priest and monk. This total gift, a sign of love ready to give life, brings to the fore the fact that he treats his fellow men and women people sons and daughters of God and not as ‘goods’ To give entirely his life for his vocation means to be willing to risk his own life for others and means to deprive himself of what most people value so much in life. “He is for us a model in detachment from creatures and attachment to the Lord” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.254).
Living our life after the example of Blessed Tansi does not mean being naive, foolish and blindly obedient, but means being humble, trusting and letting ourselves be held in his protecting arms, lovingly abandoning ourselves to him who walks with us and for us. Moreover, being humble and trusting in him does not mean not using our intelligence because humility is the virtue which predisposes the intelligence to faith and the heart to love. It is another way of saying to let ourselves be guided by his example – lifestyle. Let us not forget that for us priests and religious Jesus wanted us in the Church to be like the “Good Shepherd”. Not only but especially in the parish, where the priest continues the mission and pastoral duty of Jesus; the priest must therefore shepherd the flock, by teaching, by giving grace, by defending the people from error and evil, by consoling but above all by loving. This was the lifestyle of Blessed Tansi as a priest.
Even if the way of being a priest changes according to place and time, all priests are called to imitate Christ the Good Shepherd who, unlike the mercenary shepherd, does not seek other interests, does not pursue any other advantage than that to guide, feed, protect his sheep: “so that they may have life, life in abundance ( cf. Jn. 10.10). Some of the methods Blessed Tansi used in sanctification of marriage may not be appropriate today but the end of his method – sanctification of marriages still today remains important and valid. Some of his methods used in solving pastoral needs were appropriate at the time but may not be now.
Like the universal call to holiness by baptism, every Christian is called to be good to his neighbour in his environment. Parents must be good and caring to their children, edifying them with love. Children at every stage must obey and love their parents and learn a simple and coherent faith, learning to live the life they have received as a gift. While the spouses must give an imprint to their relationship as a couple, by conforming to good and caring, so that family life is always at this height of feelings and ideals desired by the Creator, to which the family owes its name as the ‘domestic Church’. Blessed Tansi gave much importance to the education of the young people. In the same way, teachers at school, and workers in workplaces or offices, learn to teach and seek to be good and kind to others. Above all, must be good and caring for the common good in society. Today Nigeria needs convinced and dedicated witnesses more than ever. Today so many are poor and sick. They need the love and care of all who can show them the kind of love which Blessed Tansi showed to the sick and poor in his days. We need many who will be their brothers’ keepers.
The Holy Father St. John Paul 11 called Blessed Tansi an example for all Nigerians which example should be given to the whole church to imitate. “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest… Father Tansi's witness to the Gospel and Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local Church now offers to the Universal Church” (in the sermon for beatification Nigeria March 22, 1998). In his advice to his fellow Nigerians Cardinal Arinze advises: “Everyone of us, whether we be lay faithful, priest or religious can ask himself or herself how the model set for us by Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi can apply to us in our vocation and mission, in our effort to live entirely for God. He has wonderfully shown us how to give a total response to God’s call” (in ‘Total Response’ p.254)
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Blessed Tansi was our true Pastor.
A true parish priest/pastor is like a good shepherd who gives his life for his flock (cf. John 10:11-18). A true pastor knows his parishioners and gives his life for the flock committed to his pastoral care in his parish. Unlike the mercenary parish priest who only has interested relationships with the flock, Blessed Tansi knows, that is to say, loves and cares for his parishioners. The relationship between him and his parishioners is based on deep bonds of love, mutual trust, sacrifice, and compassion. In the words of Cardinal Arinze “When Fr. Tansi became a priest he was prominent for his availability to his flock. He was there where he was needed to hear confessions, to celebrate mass for his people, to visit the sick even by night, to attend to the school teachers and the boarding house boys and to pray for the people confided to him” (in ‘Total Response’ p.33). From his pastoral approach, risks, and actions there was a strong bond of love between him and his people – going out at night for sick calls when there were obvious dangers abroad and when the practice was forbidden by the diocesan practice, his close contacts with the lepers, victims of smallpox, long treks to reach his remote outstations. We recall the parishes were like small dioceses at Dunukofia parish he had eighteen towns some of them reached by only narrow and dangerous bush tracks and at Akpu parish the story was the same he had twenty towns with muddy and flooded tracks during the rainy season. The only available means of transportation was the bush bike so he did most of the journey by foot. He was interested in everybody and everything that concerned his flock. “His enthusiasm and example drew in willing helpers from all levels of the surrounding people...His firmness and kindness saved a vocation to the priesthood when calamitous sickness swept away Godfrey Okoye's father and three brothers. His example more than his words strengthened Godfrey's will to persevere”. (Fr. Gregory Wareing OCSO in ‘Sorrow shall not kill me’ P.9) Nigerian priests and religious who are looking for a good example of how to be good parish priests and how to approach others in error look no further then than in the Blessed Tansi. He has more information about what the Catholic faith actually and authoritatively teaches stored in his computer brain. “From 1940 till 1945 he threw all his practical intelligence, methodical labor, and burning priestly zeal into the work of forming a thriving parish from this outstation. Some measure of this man is to be found in what God accomplished here through him” (Fr. Gregory Wareing OSCO-in ‘Sorrow shall not kill me’ p.8)
The Blessed Tansi in his pastoral approach made great use of his practical common sense – with his deep understanding of Igbo culture, local idioms, and proverbs he presented his sermons and arguments seriously and constructively in such a way that they made a deep and lasting impression on his audience without ever insulting or belittling them as people for whom Christ died. That is the kind of pastor that he was. This with his humble fidelity to the teachings of the Mother Church, mixed with a kind, friendly, and loving attitude toward others made him someone – a priest you would want to hang out with. That is the kind of Christian we should all be to make converts for Christ. "It was his zeal for souls which was perhaps the most manifest; he preserved the purity of young girls, brought families back to God by convalidating marriages and baptizing the children. He travelled long distances to say Mass, treking through swamps and bush paths to visit about fifty outstations. His mortification and self sacrifice were beyond normal and obvious to all who knew him". (Testimony of Sr. Aloysius Adimonye, a onetime parishioner of Blessed Tansi at Akpu parish and later became a religious) The Holy Father spoke of his sacrifice, love and respect for other people: “Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. In a special way, the education of young people was precious to him. Even when he was sent by Bishop Heerey to the Cistercian Abbey of Mount Saint Bernard in England to pursue his monastic vocation, with the hope of bringing the contemplative life back to Africa, he did not forget his own people. He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their continuing sanctification”. (John Paul 11- Sermon beatification Nigeria 1998)
Blessed Tansi left for future pastors a legacy most effective for conversion and for bringing souls back to Christ. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria “after considering the life of Rev. Fr. Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi OCSO thinks that the promotion of the Cause of his beatification will bring good results to our country especially in the area of Priestly spirituality”(cf. the Conference declaration in ‘the Catholic Leader. August 15th, 1982) His pastoral admonition to sinners and erring Christians, one of the spiritual works of mercy is another area where he showed himself a good pastor. He wanted to imitate his Master Jesus in the Gospels, like when He preached the good news, when He fed His sheep, when He gave over His body, and when He fixed His eyes firmly on the Father and then told us to do the same. Cardinal Arinze testified that:”for decades afterwards, people remembered some of his fiery sermons. From the old Dunukofia parish, some people still recall his denunciation of some towns and his appeals to them to repent. Here is an example: “Agwo talu Ogidi Odida, bulu Agbaja onu, jua Ogbunike odu, na-ejefu ka o taa Ifite-Ukpo” (The snake that bit Ogidi Odida, spat on Agbaja, stroke Ogbunike with its tail, and is now going to bite Ifite-Ukpo) (in Arinze Cardinal ‘Total Response’ p.42) These towns mentioned are in his parish of Dunukofia. In the same way he did not hesitate to denounce objectionable practices in the African Traditional Religion. Cardinal Arinze continues that: “there was also a touch of poetry in some of his phrases: “ akpo ife ife ga eme unu ife” ( Disregarding important matters, literally, not calling a thing a thing. Not taking a matter seriously, will bring disastrous consequences upon you), he fired during his years at Nnewi (cf. Arinze ‘total response’ p.43, quoted E. Isichei in Entirely for God p.40)
Here we think of his love and compassion for the lepers and the smallpox victims. These victims were rejected by the society who thought that they became sick as a result of their offences against the goddess of the land. And because of the infectious nature of these diseases anybody who approached or sympathized with them would incur the same anger of the gods. Blessed Tansi broke this myth by his love, compassion and assistance to these unfortunate victims. It will be recalled that when he was at Nnewi parish he travelled on bush bike from Uruagu Nnewi to the hill country of Awgu (distance of about 80 miles) to collect drugs for his lepers. His kindness to the lepers changed the unfriendly attitude the parishioners had for the lepers.
His deep concern for the unity of family and sanctification of married life are some pastoral legacy for today parish priests. His pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha to a great extend devoted much attention to sanctification of marriages, consolidation of the family and the education of the young for their role in the new emerging independent Nigeria and local church. His expansion of so many outstations in his parish was to bring people nearer to know God and to love him. Schools were opened where ever an outstation is set up. These schools were to give education to the young and to prepare them for their future responsibilities. Nigerians are fortunate to have a blue print for successful pastor in Blessed Tansi who through grace, faith and works has become “…a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land”.( John Paul 11. Beatification sermon Nigeria. 1998). And as the Apostle Paul outlines God’s design for good living. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:8–10).
Blessed Tansi pastoral ministry had everything to do with being good, godly and perfect but with compassion and love. For him life was ‘entirely for God’. He presented God as having an incomprehensible and absolute love for us his creatures. Yet full of mercy and compassion for the sick, needy and sinners. In Blessed Tansi as pastor we meet a true Nigerian, who is fully alive with the Spirit of God, effective in whatever task God proposes for him, courageous in the face of trials and difficulties, mortified and charitable, always full of prayer, humility and heroism in the practice of the Christian virtues and was affectively detached from material world. He lived fully within the Nigerian context but at the same time is not of the world and did not adapt to the pattern of Nigerian way of life. He did not disdain the created world nor fears it nor runs from it but rather experiences the world and its many goods as gift from God to be used with freedom, responsibility and gratitude.
Sunday, May 5, 2024
Blessed Tansi lived a life of total love.
Jesus came to give us love and life (cf. Jn. 10; 10). This total gift of self is the specific attitude of Jesus, the one which characterized his entire mission on earth and not only his passion and his death. Jesus wants every priest in the Church to be like Him the “Good Shepherd”. Every priest continues the mission and pastoral duty of Jesus to be the shepherd to the flock by teaching, giving grace, defending the sheep from error and evil, consoling but above all by loving. This total gift of self-giving, a sign of love ready to give life, brings to the fore the fact that we belong to Jesus. Blessed Tansi like many Saints in Christ’s church knows this love, and so shares that love to the world, bringing with it, the love of God and the grace which that love imparts. He knows far more of this truth by experience than what can be learned through study, which is why his wisdom exceeds the wisdom of the scholars. Blessed Tansi shows us how those who follow the way of love will be exalted by that love. In the words of the Holy Father “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian.” (John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998) He was born around 1903 in the village of Igboezunu of Aguleri Nigeria. Nigeria then was a British colony. Most people had hard and brutal times with the colonial traders who used them like slaves. Before the birth of this Nigerian future blessed his father was one of those maltreated and imprisoned by the colonial traders. He and some others were unjustly beaten and imprisoned for three good years at Asaba for leaking some palm oil from the drum of the white man. While in prison he prayed God to give him a male child who would learn the ways of the white man to revenge his unjust imprisonment. As providence may have it his prayers were answered. As soon as he was released from prison he had a son whom he named ‘Iwegbunam’ (may anger not kill me). This child Iwegbunam was to become the first Nigerian blessed who changed the concept of revenge to love. The love which God showed to him as a child and to his father in prison led him to have a greater love for both God and humanity. When he learned what Christian missionaries said about God, about Jesus and his love for all humanity, and the way Jesus, despite being Lord, served all with his great love. This was very attractive to him, so he chose the path of peace and love however not without problems, as Pope Jon Paul 11 related: “On the contrary, it demands courage and sometimes even heroism: it is victory over self rather than over others. It should never be seen as dishonour. For, in reality, it is the patient, wise art of peace”. (in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998)
Later on, his simple pure love attracted many people to him as a school teacher, catechist, seminarian, diocesan priest and later a Cistercian monk. Everywhere he went it was entirely for God. Blessed Tansi was not some scholarly saint, indeed life and the method of education then have made it impossible for him to be such, but he far exceeded so many of those who were otherwise educated because he embraced love and knew its strength and value as it was what had freed his people from the pains of their past, giving them peace and joy in a life under slave trade which otherwise could have been one of hardship and misery. As he grew up under the missionaries he found more in that love than people find in the pleasures of the world; indeed, those who had enslaved his people and used them to pursue their pleasures were themselves enslaved by their passions, while his people, when they found the love of God, were able to be free and happy and bring a little bit of that joy and happiness to the world around them. This is what holiness does. This is how holiness is discerned. Holiness does not necessarily come from knowledge. Holiness does not come from being smart or appearing to be wise. Holiness comes principally from love. The more someone loves, the more that love transforms him, making him better. God is love, and to pursue love is to pursue God. To act out of love is to follow the way of God. If one holds fast simply to love, nurturing it, and developing it, he will develop his relationship with God. He will be like God, loving everyone, for true love is boundless. Thus, pure, simple but honest love is more important than education; if we try to become wise in our own eyes and lift ourselves above others through our worldly achievements, our vainglory will lead us astray.
Like Blessed Tansi we should focus on our relationship with God, and with our education and achievement, our relationship with love. Boasting over what little knowledge and achievement we have accumulated for ourselves will only make us look foolish when we compare it to what we do not know and have. Boasting, indeed, over ourselves, turns us away from what should be our true focus, God, and the way of God, which is the way of love. If we boast about ourselves if we glorify ourselves, we have abandoned the way; whatever success we find will be nothing in comparison to what we have lost. Have we fulfilled the testimony of our conscience, which is itself, the dictates of love, or have we tried to find ways around it to excuse ourselves? If we use our education and success to silence our conscience, even to override it, then we cut ourselves off from the grace of God and love; if, on the other hand, we use it to reinforce our conscience, to understand the world around us so that we can better fulfil the dictates of our conscience, then it can do us good.
Many holy saints were not educated scholars and yet they knew the way better than such scholars because they lived the way instead of merely reflecting upon it. Likewise, many holy saints held simple positions in life because through it, they found they could and would increase their ability to love – to love God and others, while those who looked to exalt themselves in positions of honour and glory only learned how to love themselves and so failed to grow in love because of such self-attachment, and so they did not become holy despite whatever they knew of the way to holiness. Throughout the world today, we see this happen again and again; those who were treated with scorn, because they appeared to be simple, because they did not look for glory or wealth, were the ones who proved to find happiness while those who scorned them perished without finding peace or joy. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). Those who treasure love will find God and their heart will be with God. This is what the Blessed Tansi shows us. It is love which motivated him and made him holy. Other saints might have different ways by which they acted upon that love, but that love is something which they held in common and it is that love which allowed grace to flow into the world, bringing the holiness of the kingdom of God into it.
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Are these Meditations Helpful at all?
Cardinal Arinze in his book ‘Total Response’ (Personal Memories of Blessed Tansi), tells us that “Fr. Tansi was a great man, a many-sided specimen of redeemed humanity, a pride of Nigeria and of the Catholic priesthood in Nigeria, a convert from African Traditional Religion who lived ‘entirely for God’, a follower of Christ who put his hand to the plough and did not look back (cf Lk 9:62)” (p. 9). He was not only a priest but also a professional teacher and headmaster from 1917 to 1925. In addition to his ministerial priesthood, he was an enclosed contemplative monk for thirteen years from 1950 to 1964. For two years every week, these meditations have been looking at various sides of this ‘many-sided specimen of redeemed humanity’. I want to ask you this time if they have been helpful to you at all. This is the man who taught us by his words and lifestyle to trust that we are loved in our weakness and to trust in love even when we are weak. This is the wealth that Jesus himself wants us to have, to trust that we are loved in our weakness. This is the wealth that exposes the bankruptcy of Satan’s lies. It is the currency of life itself and heaven. It is the power that can topple the kingdom of darkness and the empty promises of the world and transfer us to the Kingdom of Light and Truth: unwavering trust that we are loved amid our weakness. We are weak but for us, Christ became so poor that we might become strong and rich (cf 2 Cor. 8:9). The richness that Christ gives us is the wealth that He shares with us is His boundless confidence in God the Father, his constant trust in God. This trust in Providence led the Blessed Tansi through all the sometimes impossible tasks in his life. He followed God without doubting his love and tenderness for an instant. “A central note in the music that was the life of Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi was his trust in Divine Providence. This was like a red thread going through the details of his life and helping one to understand his pastoral zeal, his promotion of priestly and religious vocations, his sacrifices to elevate women and build up Christian families, his prayer life and ascetical self-sacrifice and finally his entry into the monastery and living entirely for God” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response” p.231)
Now if you are ready to take the next step in your spiritual life or career with these meditations, you will have gained the knowledge, inspiration and support to reach your goals and serve well where the good Lord is calling you. Examples from Blessed Tansi's life struggles and efforts can help you live a successful life as he did. When the future Blessed Tansi was but a small boy growing up in his village of Aguleri, he was exposed to the local traditions and customs of his parents while at the same time, to the Christian/Catholic religion being newly introduced in his town Aguleri. As a young boy of nine years, he made a decisive, radical and preferential break with what he then perceived as the no-Christian aspects of Igbo culture and traditional religion. The destruction of his juju [chi] together with his sacramental baptism on January 7th, 1912 was his first conscious act of detachment from traditional Igbo religious practice, together with his incipient attachment to Christian, liturgical practices and evangelical discipline which he practised all through his life. Can we make such decisive and permanent decisions of great importance in our case? Meditating on a lifestyle like this could influence our decisions for life or correct mistakes we have made in the past. Professor Elizabeth Isocheim recorded an eyewitness account of Blessed Tansi's childhood heroic piety which no persecution could change: “When we were young…. some boys made fun of his attitude at prayer, but the more they did so, the more fervently did he pray. Other boys tried in vain to imitate him. He found time to attend daily morning masses and made visits to the Blessed Sacrament” (in ‘Entirely for God’, The Life of Michael Iwene Tansi, Macmillan Nigeria 1981. p. 18).
As a young man, he was not merely a well-rounded youth interested in the normal activities of his age group but more importantly, he did all things both with passion and moderation. He did not play too much, nor even pray too much. He performed all of his many domestic duties without ever failing in his academic studies. Can this be said about our growing population today? His life as a lay professional has a lot to offer to Nigerian professionals. As an educator, but of equal importance to us, are his demonstrable preferential love of God and of Christian morals and values – love, compassion, fairness, and dedication to duty. He was popular, effective, an even beloved by all. At the same time contributed so much to the intellectual, social, moral and even political development of his people. “In some ways, he was so much like the other schoolmasters of his place and time, in his zeal, his strictness, his concern for details. But there the resemblance ends. Other schoolmasters did not go barefoot during Lent, or cook soup for old ladies or, for that matter, for themselves [...] After his death, Joseph Nwanegbo ordained with Father Tansi- commented: “I knew him for many years even as a school teacher, and even before we went to the seminary, as a person concerned foremost with “others” (Isichei E. in ‘Entirely for God’ The Life of Michael Iwene Tansi, Macmillan Nigeria 1981. p. 23). Those who have been following us must have noticed that the example of Michael Tansi, as a teacher and headmaster has something positive and challenging to our modern Christian professionals. Most modern-day professionals will remain within the lay state serving the nation as teachers, merchants, doctors, bankers, accountants and civil servants and become saints.
As a priest, his lifestyle is not different. Moving quickly from 1925 when Michael Tansi entered the Seminary at Igbariam to 1937 when he finally received priestly ordination, his life is all entirely for God. Francis Cardinal Arinze summarized his priestly life this way: “Blessed Tansi Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi! He was a Nigerian, one hundred per cent! […]. He lived out the Gospel in a way that was convincing in a way that [gave] credible witness, with a very high degree of credibility. The type of witnesses that is contagious. […] You would not be indifferent to Blessed Tansi if you knew him. You either are for him or you will want to run away from him. It is like fire. You can’t be near fire and be indifferent. You will [surely] be affected. And Fr. Tansi had a fire, so he was inspiring. […] He also appreciated the human person, from the little child to the youth; he helped them to become somebody through schooling to realize what human dignity is. Blessed Tansi showed a Christian sensitivity to the work of every human person, woman or child. […] He was a person ready to serve others. For example, when there were smallpox patients, and also lepers, they were segregated. Everybody run away from them but not Father Tansi! He gave them food and he gave them the sacraments. He was always available. So in many ways, he is a model for us especially for the Nigerian of today” (Ed. Debany SJ in an audio interview recorded in Vatican City, Rome, May 29, 2003).
Have you ever thought of the effects of these weekly meditations on your lifestyle? Is this practice worth the effort? I don’t know what your experience might be but from many who have opened up to me the practice profoundly impacts their daily life in numerous ways. The benefits span a spectrum - from overcoming stage fright to making clearer decisions, finding inner peace, enhancing professional skills, becoming a better listener, seeing beauty in everyday sights, and detaching from results. It is not an exaggeration—the list is genuinely endless. We all desire to be holy and have a successful life. We are meditating on the life of a known holy man who has made a successful life in our own time and environment. His life has a lot of messages for us. It empowers us to serve others in a way that honours God. No matter your path and profession this meditation will help you become who you are meant to be. A peaceful mind reflects a world of abundant beauty when your vision is not veiled by tumultuous, distracting thoughts all day. This is wonderful, but the deepest benefit is how you feel, in a general way, every day. At a certain point, your baseline is a calm trickle of joy that simply runs all day and night. A real-life example of how a still mind instils joy into daily life and does a lot of spiritual good to the struggling soul. Blessed Tansi is not calling on us all to live his own life but to live our own lives with a purpose. He is not calling us all to the priesthood or monastery but to live our particular vocation entirely for God and our neighbour. Meditation on his lifestyle will just help us to that. And if you have been uplifted, know that your practice has been useful, received and cherished.
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Some of the ways to honour the Blessed Tansi.
Christians across Nigeria and beyond have been fascinated by this humble Nigerian who lived in the 20th century. Even though he spent the last 13 years of his life in a monastery away from Nigeria, his influence can still be felt today. He was born to a poor peasant family in the rural town of Aguleri, Nigeria. His parents had little money and could not read or write. They were pious people in their Nigerian traditional religion. However, they had high hopes their son could one day acquire a Western education and understand the ways of the white colonial masters. Their hopes came through when their son became a humble Nigerian priest whom God chose to work through to accomplish extraordinary miracles in the lives of countless people who came to him for spiritual help. Through God’s power, he was able to accomplish so much in the work of evangelization which was at its initial stage at the time. “... it may be a high claim to make, but it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm, and candor, and the sensitiveness which is their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self-forgetful”. (Bishop Anthony Nwedo in Sermon at the re-interment mass, Onitsha 17th October 1986)
Blessed Tansi devoted his life as a teacher, a priest, and a religious monk in the service of God and humanity. After his death, the promotion of his cause which started in the Archdiocese of Onitsha in the early 1980 became a very concrete and practical way to bring God’s blessings to his people. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria supported the promotion of his cause because of the benefits that would come from it. “We hereby certify that the National Episcopal Conference of Nigeria sitting in Lagos on 22nd April 1982 after considering the life of Rev. Fr. Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi OCSO thinks that the promotion of the Cause of his beatification will bring good results to our country, especially in the area of priestly spirituality. Our conference is therefore in favor of the promotion of his Cause” (the ‘Catholic leader’ Owerri August 15th, 1982). The Universal Catholic Church on 22nd of March 1998 recognized the humble way he lived out his Christian vocation. On that blessed day for all Nigerians, a large image of Blessed Tansi was seen on the facade of the podium where St. Pope John Paul 11 celebrated the beatification Mass. “Today, one of Nigeria's sons, Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, has been proclaimed "Blessed" in the very land where he preached the Good News of salvation and sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another” (St. John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998). With his beatification, the Blessed Tansi received a cult to be celebrated in his honor. His cult includes his mass, liturgy of hours, and a right to public honor and veneration. Since then devotees and spiritual sons and daughters of Blessed Tansi could for the first time sit alone with the Blessed and speak to him directly. Now, they could share him with the world and could best do that by continuing some documentary work like this one on his legacy that continues to inspire millions in their life of faith.
Blessed Tansi is, for all followers of Christ, a model of the interior life—the life of continual mindfulness of Divine Love and God’s abiding presence in every moment of our lives. For priests and those in consecrated life especially is a living rule by which they can measure their fidelity and authenticity to be better conformed to the ideal of perfection to which they are called. In a solemn concelebrated liturgy to close the special year for Priests held at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria enthroned the Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi ‘Patron and model of Nigerian Priests. “… we, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, having prayerfully considered the matter, unanimously choose and hereby declare, also BLESSED MICHAEL IWENE TANSI THE PATRON OF NIGERIAN PRIESTS
. We make this declaration on this 3rd. day of June in the year 2010, on the tomb of the Blessed, in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha, Nigeria”. (solemn declaration at Concelebrated mass Onitsha. 3rd June 2010).
The blessed Tansi legacies are his greatest gifts to us and the best way we can remember, honour, and imitate this great Nigerian Saint include:
Try in your life to make a total commitment to the demands of love in your vocation in life. Holiness is possible in all vocations in life. We too like Blessed Tansi can become saints if we live our vocation entirely for God and our neighbour.
Like Blessed Tansi live a life of gratitude through your prayers. Say prayers of thanksgiving for the gifts you have received from God. Ask Blessed Tansi to help you see the good things about your condition in life. Pray for his intercession for peace in your life and family.
Dialogue with God: Apart from your prayers of thanksgiving make a daily dialogue with God. He is your father. Think of all the reasons you are grateful to Him today and let Him know what you appreciate most about Him. Blessed Tansi spent most time in his apostolate helping to ease tensions and pain in families, father-son, and father-daughter relationships. “Father Tansi knew that there is something of the Prodigal Son in every human being. He knew that all men and women are tempted to separate themselves from God in order to lead their own independent and selfish existence. He knew that they are then disappointed by the emptiness of the illusion which had fascinated them and that they eventually find in the depths of their heart the road leading back to the Father's house” ( St. John Paul 11, in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998)
Choose a preferential option for the excluded. Blessed Tansi had a deliberate choice among many possibilities to help someone whom the society gives little or no attention to - those whom the present system marginalizes or makes vulnerable to harm. Always choose a helping hand to someone in need. This is what the Blessed Tansi was known for.
Detachment from the material world. Blessed Tansi was never interested in the pursuit of wealth neither as a professional teacher, a priest or as monk. He chose poverty and lived poor. His lifestyle will help to reduce greed and avarice - the greatest enemy of our people.
The trials of life can make us arid and can drown out our canticle of love, causing our spirit to be interiorly despondent, thereby losing our first love (cf. Rev 2:4). If we find ourselves in such a state, above all, do not lose heart; God who is faithful will not abandon us. We have only to call upon Blessed Tansi to intercede for us in our misery. Blessed Tansi seeing our good will and our desire to make real changes in our life will restore the joy of our youth. With his help our national patron, grace will spur us on to desire God more and more, and our inner life can once again flourish, giving us joy and giving God glory. To understand and venerate Blessed Tansi helps to know about the man himself whose primary concern is entirely for God.
Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024.
“He is truly risen-Alleluia”
God is love, and the reality of the Easter proclamation confirms this. So we can rest in the truth that Jesus is always with us and patient with us. He believes in us, and will not give up on us. And with God’s love in our lives, we can learn how to live a life of love. This is the Easter Good News. Furthermore, the Blessed Tansi ‘entirely for God’ must make love our lifestyle. Make it a priority to study how to love especially from the Word of God and the life of the saints like Blessed Iwene Tansi. The Saints learned how to love from Jesus' example. “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Getting a revelation about how much God loves them and learning to receive His love have been life-changing for the Saints. If we do the same it will be a key to being able to enjoy our life because when we receive God’s love, then we will be able to love others.
The Passion story we have just celebrated shows us that the best way and perhaps the only way to be happy and have a powerful life is to get our minds off ourselves and do something for someone else. Helping people, being a blessing, and adding value to other people’s lives are what it means to walk in love and follow the example of Jesus. The apostle Paul in his lived experience had this to say: “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us …”(Eph. 5:2) Jesus Our reason for Easter, our perfect and holy Saviour gave His life for us, took all of our sins upon Himself, and shed His blood so we could have a personal relationship with Him and become the righteousness of God. That was His gift to us at his Resurrection. And once we experience the gift of salvation, our gift to God is how we live our lives and everything else in our lives will fall into place. Because we can only become everything we are created to be when we live a life filled with God’s love.
Every day our Risen Lord is showing us in the parable of the Good Samaritan (cf. Luke 10:30-37) what real love looks like. Paul lists the characteristics of God’s love as: it is patient and kind, never jealous, boastful, or rude; it does not demand its way, is not irritable, and keeps no record of being wronged. Love rejoices when truth wins out. It never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love never fails. (cf.1 Corth.13:4-5). Because he has risen we can of course live up to this list. We can love others like this because as we died and rose with him who has risen from the dead we have everything we need to be like Jesus. The Spirit of God in us is greater than our enemy – selfishness and pride. (cf.1 John 4:4). So in Christ, we have the power we need to live a life of love. Happy Easter.
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Blessed Tansi: Forms in us a heart of spiritual revival.
Even the simplest reflection allows us to realise the awe-inspiring courage of Blessed Tansi. His strength is rooted in a living relationship with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. “Today, one of Nigeria's sons, Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, has been proclaimed "Blessed" in the very land where he preached the Good News of salvation and sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another” (Pope John Paul 11, in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998) Blessed Tansi showed his love for God and his neighbour in action. His pastoral zeal was evident in his concern and total dedication to his priestly calling. He changed the hearts of his faithful to love God and their neighbour. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great first commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets” (Mt. 22:35-40). The Blessed Tansi was greatly moved by the people’s need for the gospel and did not spare himself in his parish ministry, like his Master he went “… about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity” (Mt. 9:35-36). His parishioner who later became a Cardinal said: “Father Michael Tansi cannot have remained unmoved by the urgency of preaching the kingdom of God and crying need of the people to receive the Good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. How did his zeal work itself out, especially when he was among the flock of the Lord assigned to him in the parishes of Dunukofia, Akpu and Aguleri” (Cardinal Arinze in ‘Total Response ‘ p. 31)? He was a pastor concerned both for the spiritual and material life of the people. “I knew him for many years even as a school teacher, and even before we went to the seminary as a person concerned foremost with others, other persons, another world. He was self-effacing to a heroic degree” (Testimony of an old colleague quoted in Isichei E. ‘Entirely for God’ p. 23) He has a chrism to change peoples’ lives. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much. He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. In a special way, the education of young people was precious to him. Even when he was sent by Bishop Heerey to the Cistercian Abbey of Mount Saint Bernard in England to pursue his monastic vocation, with the hope of bringing the contemplative life back to Africa, he did not forget his own people. He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their continuing sanctification” (St. John Paul 11 in a sermon at Beatification Nigeria March 1998).
His attention to the sick and needy was beyond what was seen as possible. “Father Tansi was very attentive to sick calls. In the Vicariate at that time the priests were advised not to go on sick calls by night for security reasons. But our hero ignored that counsel and was ready to move whenever a sick call came” (Arinze Cardinal, ' Total response’ p.34). At Umunya an outstation of Dunukofia parish there was an outbreak of smallpox in 1944. It was so severe that many died and many more were dying. The rich escaped to nearby towns and villages leaving the poor and the dying to their fortune. When Blessed Tansi heard what was happening he rushed to the place with his catechist and administered the sacraments to the dying and buried the dead. Meanwhile, his catechist remained at a distance for fear of the disease. It was a ministry that even now no one would consider bold, brave and courageous. It was too risky. Blessed Tansi counted on his faithfulness as a pastor who would not abandon his flock in all circumstances. Would it not have been easier and possible for him to go without his catechist whom he knew would not lift his finger to touch the dying or the dead? Of course! Yet he has always done so in most of his difficult pastoral engagements so they may give witness and testimony. His examples and messages are expressed and done not just in his words, but in the way he formed his catechists and faithful. His words and actions are not just spoken, but inscribed in the very hearts of those who followed him.
Today our spiritual revival is only successful if we have a deep and humble conviction of both God’s plan and our own personal call to it. Only then do we have the courage to face any obstacle with loving confidence that God has called us to a mission before us? Blessed Tansi “spread the joy of restored communion with God. He inspired people to welcome the peace of Christ, and encouraged them to nourish the life of grace with the word of God and with Holy Communion” (St. John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria March 1998). This question lurks at the core of every human heart. So often the real answer is blurred by responses we so readily grasp after, and yet time and again fail to satisfy. One response in particular that gnaws at so many of us today is personal identity. All of us have inherent value. Created in God’s image and likeness, our value is inestimable. Yet, when we focus too much on that value, we miss the big picture that our heart longs to see such as who are we in terms of our performance and contribution to the things that really matter in our lives. We are important, but that means nothing unless we know we are loved. The only way to confirm we are loved is if we know we are children of God. Because of this relationship, everything else in our world becomes true, good and beautiful. Our identity in Christ makes our accomplishments meaningful, our relationships enjoyable and our wildest dreams at least fun to think about, if not completely possible. Today Blessed Tansi's message, words and deeds are still fresh and effective in the minds of so many who happen to hear about his mission. His message and deeds are not only a textbook example of evangelization, but they also show us how good commitment to our relationship with our neighbour leads us to Jesus, so that we may help make his divine will a reality. As we strive to bring him to the fullness of the altar, let us turn to him in confidence, that he may strictly order us to invite our brothers and sisters into a burning love for God through His Son Jesus. For a good and personal spiritual revival could we consider seriously the following considerations: Blessed Tansi could have lived an easy life, full of food, parties and pleasure. But he did not want an easy life. He wanted to serve Christ with total dedication serving his neighbour especially the poor. How can I get detached from the excessive pursuit of material possessions and learn to give my excess to those who have not? What in your life holds you back from striving to love Jesus more like Blessed Tansi? How can you allow him to help stoke the flames of love for Jesus in the Eucharist in your own heart? Do you desire Blessed Tansi to strictly order you to take action on behalf of Jesus as he did, or does that possibility cause you to hesitate? What is one way you can allow Blessed Tansi to form your heart so that you can also be a humble and faithful messenger of Jesus? How can you now become involved in the promotion of his worthy cause? The Holy Father, St. John Paul 11 reminds all of us of the importance of Blessed Tansi's example when he said “As we stand before the Altar of Sacrifice, soon to be fed and nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ, we must be convinced that each of us, according to our particular state in life, is called to do no less than what Father Tansi did. Having been reconciled with God, we must be instruments of reconciliation, treating all men and women as brothers and sisters, called to membership in the one family of God” (ibid).
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Benefits from Pilgrimage to Blessed Tansi
When Blessed Tansi was exhumed from his resting place at the monastery of Mount Saint Bernard England – in September 1986 and brought back to Nigeria he was reburied at the priest's cemetery near the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. The reburial took place on the 17th of October 1986. He was again exhumed on the eve of his beatification which took place on March 22nd 1998 at Oba near Onitsha. Since after his beatification, his mortal remains have been kept in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha where thousands of devotees make pilgrimage to the Basilica to see him. His official cult is celebrated in the Basilica every Monday with a large number of the faithful attending. This basilica has become a special place, where the holy faithful people of God gather to pray to Blessed Tansi, to be consoled, to be healed and to look to the future with greater confidence. It has become a real place of pilgrimage to Blessed Tansi. The Monday devotees from across Nigeria have found the place a good help to rediscover the centrality of prayer in their lives. More and more people who come have enjoyed prayer that comes from the heart, not like parrots. From the heart with the typical spirituality that characterises the Cistercian spirituality and Blessed Tansi prayer life.
[1. To Pray and Experience Mercy]
Many come to Blessed Tansi at the Basilica, above all, to pray. Efforts have been made to make the Basilica truly a privileged place of prayer. The Holy Eucharist is devoutly celebrated in the basilica and much effort is devoted to the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the pilgrims. Part of the attraction for pilgrims is that the pilgrims have a choice of priests for confessions. The choice of priests makes for good discernment so that it does not happen that those who come to the confessional, attracted by the Father’s mercy, encounter obstacles to experiencing true and full reconciliation. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is to forgive always. Blessed Tansi as pastor spent hours at the confessional. “The number of people for confessions could run to hundreds especially in preparation for the first Friday Sacred Heart devotion when many school children and Mary League girls attend. Father Tansi who had no assistant priest all five years in Dunukofia parish patiently sat in the confessional until the last penitent was served”.(Arinze Cardinal, in ‘total response’ p. 33). Pilgrims have a good opportunity for prayer, especially the Rosary which helps them to keep alive and nurture their faith with prayer.
[2. To Be Consoled]
Many come to Blessed Tansi to be consoled. In his pastoral ministry, Blessed Tansi set great value on visiting people in their homes, advising and counselling the sick and bereaved. We remember that a lot of pilgrims come because they bear in the spirit and the body weight, suffering, worry, the sickness of a loved one, the loss of a family member; so many situations in life are often the cause of loneliness and sadness, which are laid on the Blessed and await a response. Consolation is not an abstract idea and is not made up first and foremost of words, but of a compassionate and tender closeness that understands pain and suffering. Compassionate and tender closeness - this is God’s style: close, compassionate and tender. This is the way of the Lord. To console is to make God’s mercy tangible; that is why the service of consolation cannot be missing for devotees of Blessed Tansi on pilgrimage to him. “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we are comforted” (2 Cor. 1:4).
[3. To Look at the Future with Greater Confidence]
Finally, some come to Blessed Tansi to look to the future with greater confidence. All pilgrims need hope. They seek it in the very gesture of pilgrimage: they set out in search of a safe destination to reach. They ask for hope in prayer because they know that only a simple and humble faith can obtain the grace they need. So, it is important that when returning home, they feel this has been fulfilled and are filled with serenity because they have placed their trust in God. In Blessed Tansi many who come and participate in the celebration of his cult, return to their ordinary lives with the hope that they received words and signs of hope so that the pilgrimage they have made achieves its full meaning.
It is our hope and prayer that through the intercession of the Blessed Tansi in our troubled times, many of our suffering brothers and sisters may find peace and hope visiting the Blessed Tansi. At the same time imitating his lifestyle – total acceptance of the will of God at all times. St. Paul made it very clear in many passages that we are to imitate and emulate him, as an example, as he, in turn, imitated Christ also that we should imitate God, and other holy persons, and be an example ourselves to others. This provides a strong biblical rationale for the veneration - strong honouring; not worship of Blessed Tansi. (cf. 1 Cor. 11:1: 1 Timothy 4:12 ;) Pilgrims depart from the basilica with something of Blessed Tansi they have learnt. This they try to apply in their daily lives. just like Paul the Apostle: “And you became imitators of us and the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit; so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7) “Anyone close to Father Tansi could without difficulty recognize him as a deeply mortified person, even long before he entered the monastery” (Cardinal Arinze in ‘Total Response’ p.189) Most evident of his devotion to Christ was his Eucharistic devotion and piety. The person of Christ in the Eucharist was central in his life. “Father Tansi prayed often and this he did deeply and for long hours. He went to bed early at about 8, 00. pm and rose for prayer at about 2.00 am. He then prayed till the time for morning mass. He prayed with utter devotion, he was notably devoted to the Mass, the divine office, the rosary and the Saints” ( C. Obi, Facing Mount Saint Bernard, p.73) Describing his Eucharistic piety Cardinal Arinze recorded that “in his years as pastor, the faith of Father Tansi in the Eucharist was very manifest. He was often seen in his chapel on a visit to our Eucharistic Lord, especially by night. His chapel, although simple, was always clean. So were his vestments for mass and Eucharistic Benediction” (in ‘Total Response’ p. 173)
If you are a true devotee of Blessed Tansi you should often ask questions like what in your life holds you back from striving to love Jesus more like Blessed Tansi who saw Christianity as living entirely for God? How can you allow him to help stoke the flames of love for Jesus in the Eucharist in your own heart and to keep up the effort to give God your best in the use of time, possession and fidelity to his love and neighbour? Do you desire Blessed Tansi to strictly order you to take action on behalf of Jesus as Blessed Tansi did, or does that possibility cause you to hesitate? What is the one way you can allow Blessed Tansi to form your heart so that you can also be a humble and faithful messenger of Jesus
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Blessed Tansi Cause: Can I get involved?
Every Nigerian should be involved in the cause of Blessed Tansi because “the life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much” (Pope John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria March 1998). He is a pride of Nigeria and the Catholic Church in particular. “Father Tansi was a great man, a many-sided specimen of redeemed humanity, a pride of Nigeria. a convert from African Traditional religion who lived “entirely for God”, a follower of Christ who put his hand to the plough and did not look back (Lk 9, 62). (Arinze Cardinal in “Total Response p.9) He was a Christian consumed with the love of God and his neighbour. His zeal and passion for the things of God, the poor and the sick were extraordinary. “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest” ( Pope John Paul 11 in Sermon beatification Nigeria 1998). The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria unanimously approved the promotion of the cause because of its spiritual benefits to Nigerians. “We hereby certify that the National Episcopal Conference of Nigeria sitting in Lagos on 22nd April 1982 after considering the life of Rev. Fr. Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi OCSO thinks that the promotion of the Cause of his beatification will bring good results to our country, especially in the area of Priestly spirituality. Our conference is therefore in favour of the promotion of his Cause” (cf. ‘The Catholic Leader Owerri. August 15th, 1982). Those who knew the zealous pastor testify to his great love of God and his neighbour. “Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness”. The Holy Father told Nigerians on the day he was beatified. (cf. beatification sermon) “He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. In a special way, the education of young people was precious to him” (ibid).
Soon after his beatification in 1998 the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria in a solemn concelebrated liturgy to close the special year for Priests held at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha, June 3rd 2010 enthroned the Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi ‘Patron of Nigerian Priests’. His priestly vocation was an outstanding model of priestly asceticism, piety, special devotion to the Eucharist, devotion to the ministry of reconciliation, and pastoral zeal. His priesthood teaches us the basics of the priesthood in its blueprint, building up parishes out of nothing and interested in orphans, the needy and the poor and doing acts of charity for the sick and underprivileged. At the same time overwhelmed with his own sense of unworthiness and weakness in the face of his mission.
Since the introduction of his cause, exhumation and re-interment at Onitsha in 1986 there has been significant change and interest in the spiritual life of many Nigerians. The idea of our call to holiness and becoming a saint became popular in different Nigerian languages. “ …it is interesting to record that the life of Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi has inspired and encouraged not only individuals but also groups to pray in this connection, the Blessed Father Tansi Solidarity Prayer Movement deserves special mention … the members are inspired by the Trappist spirituality.” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘total response’ p.242). We cannot here fail to mention the growth of monastic life in Nigeria. This growth has certainly the Blessed Tansi special inspiration. Blessed Tansi was sent by his bishop in 1950 to Mount St. Bernard Abby to learn the Cistercian way of life with the hope that now a monk he will return to Nigeria to start the monastic apostolate. But it did not happen that way he died some months before he could return to Nigeria. Now fifty years after his death, the monastic apostolate has begun to flourish in Nigeria.
At this stage I am sure no one would again ask the question ‘can I be involved?” Of course, all of us must be involved. The question now is how do you get involved? First “…we cannot avoid thanking God for the many favours which he has given to Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, and through him, to Nigeria, Africa and the Church worldwide. At the same time we have to ask ourselves what the Lord requires of us as our expression of this gratitude” ( Arinze Cardinal in ‘total response’ p. 243) Secondly after thanking God for the gift of Blessed Tansi we need to adopt what is good in his lifestyle. I don’t mean becoming another Blessed Tansi or copying him. No, Blessed Tansi's life is his own life, his vocation. But in reflecting upon his life, we all, clergy, religious, and laity, are meant to focus on the things that are at the core of our faith, to renew our awareness of the things that really matter. If Blessed Tansi's life is important, it is because it is a life of faith, of humble and persevering following what he saw to be God’s will for him, even when it cost everything, even when all was dark and cold. He is just one more disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we can learn from him as we can from his Master. So as we pray for his cause to prosper, let us also pray that he may be an inspiration to many, whatever state of life they are called to, and that he may draw many to the priesthood and the monastic life.
Thirdly we can join in a more positive way to pray for the cause. There is the Blessed Tansi Solidarity Prayer Movement in many parishes across the country. Become an active member of your parish. If you are a priest or religious help to promote this prayer group wherever you are. Fourthly, as most of the good things we have come from hearing, become a promoter of this cause by telling people about this holy man. If you like this weekly meditation think of forwarding it to somebody you know. At the same time, you can help to distribute literature, prayer cards and leaflets on this great man. Tell your friends, church leaders, and other Christians about this Cause and his prayer group and encourage them to visit our website. It is important to the cause to report all favours you know to have been received through the intercession of Blessed Tansi.
I repeat you can be involved in the campaign for this cause. Just decided today to get involved. You can reach the postulation for the cause for more explanations if need be. (08030958350 or postulationtansi@yahoo.com.) You will receive a free prayer guide as well as weekly e-mails with encouragement and prayer themes. We send important updates on what God is doing for us in Nigeria through the intercession of the Blessed Iwene Tansi and how you can get involved in the activities of the Postulation for the cause of Blessed Iwene Tansi.
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Blessed Tansi's Journey so far – Urgent call for prayers.
The Postulation for the Cause of Blessed Tansi is making an urgent call for prayers for the Cause. Prayer is what the cause needs most now. Do you know that it is now twenty-seven years since this humble Servant of God was raised to the altar (Blessed) by His Holiness John Paul 11. Since then many Nigerians especially the members of his Solidarity Prayer Movement have been praying for a successful conclusion of this worthy cause [sainthood]. For the happy conclusion, the cause needs only one miracle which will be accepted by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Only God can perform miracles, we cannot but we, his children need to ask him for this miracle through our prayers. Here prayer becomes our greatest weapon to reach the end. The process of his canonization was officially opened in the Archdiocese of Onitsha on January 20th, 1986 by Stephen Ezeanya, the Archbishop of Onitsha. Soon after the inauguration of the cause, Archbishop Stephen Ezeanya made a request to the Vatican and St. Bernard Monastery England for the remains of Blessed Tansi to be exhumed and transferred to Nigeria. On the 12th of September, 1986, the remains were exhumed in the Cemetery of Mount St. Bernard Abbey, Coolville England. On the 19th of September 1986, the remains were flown to Nigeria and on Friday 17th October 1986, the remains were reinterred at the Priests’ Cemetery at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity compound, Onitsha. With the return of the remains to Nigeria, the cause gained seeming wildfire popularity.
The final public session of the Onitsha Archdiocesan Tribunal for the cause took place on May 5th, 1990 after a concelebrated Mass at the Basilica field. Following the closure and the dissolution of the Archdiocesan Tribunal for the cause the documentations {Acts} were brought to Rome and consigned to the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints on May 21st 1990 by Archbishop Stephen Ezeanya. This consignment signals the opening of the beatification process for Fr. Tansi. The Onitsha tribunal acts were made public documents in the Vatican on May 28 1991. A copy was returned to the Onitsha Archdiocesan archives. The cause gained such acceptance and popularity in the Vatican that on the 11th of July 1995, in the presence of the Holy Father John Paul 11 a decree was issued to recognize the heroic life and virtue of Fr. Tansi. And eleven months later on 25th June 1996, another decree recognized the miraculous claim attributed to the intercession of Fr. Tansi. With these two decrees by the Vatican, the road to beatification became open and wider than ever. The Catholic bishops Conference of Nigeria immediately invited the Holy Father to come to Nigeria to beatify Fr. Tansi. On his second Pastoral visit to Nigeria, the Holy Father, John Paul 11, beatified Fr. Tansi on 22nd March 1998, recognizing the humble way he lived his Christian life. Fr. Tansi became the first Nigerian Saintly Model, an advocate and benefactor. With his beatification, Blessed Tansi became a National Saint of Nigeria, and received the right to a cult to be celebrated in Nigeria, Cistercian Communities and in places outside Nigeria that have devotees and special interest. With his beatification, the first stage in the promotion of the cause successfully came to a happy end. The Church opens the second stage, with the Holy Father St. John Paul 11 giving Nigeria and the Bishops’ Conference in particular a new assignment to bring the fruits of blessed Tansi holy life to the universal church.
“…Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruit of holiness, which has grown and matured in the church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African… Father Tansi's witness to the Gospel and Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local church now offers to the universal church…” (Sermon Beatification Oba Nigeria 1998). What is required to bring the fruits of blessed Tansi holy life to the universal church? Put simply one miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Iwene Tansi and will be accepted and approved by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints. This is what we have been waiting for the past 27 years since after the beatification. Only God can perform miracles, we cannot but as his faithful children we can and should ask him to give us a miracle for the canonization of our brother. We do this by celebrating the cult of Blessed Tansi and my prayers. The cult of Blessed Iwene Tansi includes his mass and liturgy of hours. Prayers will include any form of prayer and devotion to him.
Since the beatification date, Nigerians and devotees of Blessed Tansi worldwide have been praying for the one miracle needed to conclude the process – sainthood. Nobody knows when this miracle will come and from where – only God knows. All we can and must do is beg God to show us by this miracle that Blessed Tansi is worthy of a universal honour in the church of Christ. For this reason, the postulation is urgently calling on all Nigerians and their friends worldwide to intensify prayers for this cause. The Purpose of this call is to mobilize prayers for the Cause of Blessed Tansi. The most common miracle for canonization is healing. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints considers almost exclusively extraordinary physical healings and recoveries since these incidents usually have verifiable facts such as medical tests and records, as well as objective and widely accepted measurements for diagnosing serious conditions and declaring a person healed. In the last 27 years, we have had some possible miracles attributed to the intercession of Blessed Tansi. We have positive evidence that people close to the event truly prayed exclusively to Blessed Tansi for a miracle. Our local doctors felt that the cure could not be scientifically explained. But these have all failed the Vatican standard for lack of adequate medical tests and records.
Prayer is what the Cause of Blessed Iwene Tansi needs most at this time. Prayer for God to grant us the needed miracle. All Christians in Nigeria should be involved in this prayer request. I remember years ago Nigeria was among the countries that actively and publicly prayed in catholic schools and churches for the Canonization of the Blessed Martyrs of Uganda and Blessed Martin de Pores. I was then in primary school and to part in these prayers. These blessings are not Nigerians yet we prayed for them but today we have our own Blessed- a Nigerian. Could we as we did for these blessed in the past pray publicly for our own Blessed Tansi in our catholic schools and churches possibly in all Nigerian languages? On till now, only the Blessed Iwene Tansi Solidarity Prayer Movement, the devotees and friends of the Blessed Tansi officially engaged in the prayers for the canonization. It is possible to get the official prayers for his canonisation translated into different Nigerian languages. The two prayers official prayers for his canonisation in use now are:
(a) O God, who granted many graces to your servant, Priest and Monk, Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, choosing him as your faithful instrument for evangelization and sanctification of your people, grant also that I may spend my life loving you and my neighbour and serving the Church. Deign to glorify your servant Cyprian Michael and through his intercession to grant me the favour I now ask in faith…… (make your intentions here)
Our Father……
Hail Mary……..
Glory to the Father……
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
(b) Lord, you choose the humble and the poor so that they may be signs of your power, you made your Servant Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi a faithful priest in spreading your gospel, and You gave him a love for prayer and the monastic life. Glorify him according to the designs of your love and through his intercession grant us the favour we ask (… here mention your request) through Christ our Lord. Amen.Our Father……
Hail Mary……..
Glory to the Father……
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Why Blessed Tansi matters now in Nigeria.
In the contemporary confusion in Nigerian politics, and social and economic life, people need more clarity about basic moral values and justice. The Blessed Tansi whose lifestyle is love for his neighbour can help to address some of the confusion. “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us.” (Eph 5:2) Cardinal Arinze described Blessed Tansi as “… a great man. A many-sided specimens of redeemed humanity, a pride of Nigeria and the Catholic priesthood in Nigeria, a convert from African Traditional religion who lived “entirely for God”. A follower of Christ who put his hand to the plough and did not look back” (cf Lk 9:62) (in ‘Total Response’ p. 9). While the Holy Father John Paul 11 called his life and witness an inspiration to all Nigerians present and future. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much…Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his goodness”. (In his sermon Beatification Nigeria 22nd March 1998). His life as a professional teacher, a diocesan priest and a religious monk touched every Nigerian showing us what we should be and how we should live. “He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of purity” (ibid). Blessed Tansi was a great moralist and had a great concern for social justice and peace. “He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. Especially, the education of young people was precious to him. Even when he was sent by Bishop Heerey to the Cistercian Abbey of Mount Saint Bernard in England to pursue his monastic vocation, with the hope of bringing the contemplative life back to Africa, he did not forget his people. He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their continuing sanctification” (ibid).
The life and witness of great Nigerians who made love their lifestyle serve both the Church and State as an advisor on social and political matters, a role that marries deep spiritual and social insight with intellectual rigour. As a renowned educator and school administrator during the colonial era, his wisdom in forming the future post-colonial Nigerians is an enduring valuable asset. As a very successful pastor of souls and renowned expert in moral and social justice, his lifestyle and witness will always remain a useful guide in our religious and political life. What is true yesterday in his life is also true today and will be true tomorrow. Blessed Tansi is a great Nigerian who to the maximum, developed the mind of his people to know both natural truths and accept the revealed truths that God has made known to us. He tried to think about them, bring out their intelligibility and formulate them in practice through his pastoral methods in the family, youth and community. And these are permanently valid. They worked and people were happy with them. “Father Tansi knew that there is something of the Prodigal Son in every human being. He knew that all men and women are tempted to separate themselves from God to lead their own independent and selfish existence. He knew that they are then disappointed by the emptiness of the illusion which had fascinated them and that they eventually find in the depths of their heart the road leading back to the Father's house” (John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria March 22nd 1098).
Today many Nigerians are ‘disappointed by the emptiness of the illusion which had fascinated them’ they are no longer clear about basic moral and social values because of how social life is functioning today; people are lost. There is a wild cry asking for social justice, good governance and respect for the common good because to live and exist as a nation, we have to base ourselves on something solid – truth. To serve the public you must understand and respect what is justice. You cannot make complex decisions in the realms of justice or the realms of politics or economics if you don’t know the difference between good and evil. The mind has to grasp these fundamental issues and then this gives solid foundations.
What do you think is the legacy of Blessed Tansi today? His pastoral concern for marriage and family, youth education and empowerment, preferential love for the poor, compassion for the sick and less privileged, total dedication to duty, justice to all and detachment from worldly matters.
His approach to justice and social matters inspired by the love of God and neighbour emphasizes not wasting the cross of Christ but rather centres on the cross of Christ, who bore our sins, liberated us from sin, and bestowed divine grace upon us. Articulating his legacies in practice, addressing our practical social questions, and synthesizing justice for all remain in great part the work of our leaders – religious and civil. The main challenge this nation faces today is not about redefining what is true or is not, but rather about integrating the ever-changing social challenges with the profound sense of love – love that liberates all. If not for greed and selfishness Nigeria had all it needs to be a great nation. Blessed Tansi and St. John Paul 11 think that way. “God has blessed this land with human and natural wealth, and everyone has to ensure that these resources are used for the good of the whole people. All Nigerians must work to rid society of everything that offends the dignity of the human person or violates human rights. This means reconciling differences, overcoming ethnic rivalries, and injecting honesty, efficiency and competence into the art of governing…There can be no place for intimidation and domination of the poor and the weak, for arbitrary exclusion of individuals and groups from political life, for the misuse of authority or the abuse of power. The key to resolving economic, political, cultural and ideological conflicts is justice; and justice is not complete without the love of neighbour, without an attitude of humble, generous service” ( St. John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998).
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Call on Heaven: Become a Prayer Partner
The cause of Blessed Tansi is this movement backed by the fervent intercession of thousands of devotees of Blessed Tansi and devoted Catholics across the country. This particular cause needs one miracle approved by the Vatican to reach the fullness of the altar – sainthood. Nobody knows when and from where this miracle will come. Only God who alone can perform miracles knows. We who are his faithful children and devoted lovers of his Servant Blessed Iwene Tansi can beg God our Father to grant us this miracle through the intercession of Blessed Tansi. This is now the responsibility of the devotees of Blessed Tansi. Join us in this important spiritual task. When you become a Prayer Partner in this campaign, you commit to spiritually supporting this cause in a variety of ways—both individual and corporate. Together, we continually call on heaven to send an even greater outpouring of grace upon our Church and open our hearts to what God is about to do through his Servant- the Blessed Iwene Tansi. Today, you are invited to join a team of spiritual advocates fervently interceding on behalf of this noble Cause for a happy conclusion. Many have already signed up and are now praying. Help us especially this lent with your prayers fasting, and penance. When you become a Prayer Partner, you commit to spiritually supporting this cause in the following ways:
Individual Prayer: In addition to your regular prayer life, set aside extra time to pray for the cause. Intercede for the happy conclusion of the cause by offering Masses, Rosaries, and novenas—however you like to bring your intentions before the Lord. Deepen your relationship with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament by making time to soak in his presence in Eucharistic adoration outside regular Mass times.
Corporate Prayer: Prayer Partners especially the Tansi solidarity prayer group gather virtually each week to pray as a group for the Cause. Together, we call down graces upon this cause and open ourselves to any prophetic words the Holy Spirit may have to share with our Church, discerning the voice of the Lord for this cause. If you still need to become a solidarity member join and please attend as often as you can our weekly prayer meetings.
Fasting and penance: Before Jesus began his ministry, he committed himself to prayer and fasting for 40 days. Moses also spent 40 days without food or water as a plea for mercy on behalf of his people who had turned away from the Lord. From Daniel in the Old Testament to Paul in the New, fasting accompanies powerful prayer throughout the Bible. We invite you to join us in this powerful spiritual practice as we anticipate the amazing things God is about to do for us, Nigeria and his Church. Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, and subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, rendering the heart contrite and humble.
Bring your sick ones to Blessed Tansi for healing: The Church and Christians of good will have to be near to the sick in their suffering through care, compassion and above all, prayer. Bearing this in mind we devote special time of prayer and sharing our suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding everyone to see in his sick brother or sister the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying and rising, achieved the salvation of mankind. (cf. Letter Instituting the World Day of the Sick, 13 May 1992, n. 3). All Christians have to care for the sick and they are urged to imitate the Good Samaritan in their care and compassion for those who are sick and suffering and remain near to them, both in prayer and also in their actions. With this in mind bring the sick in your parish to Blessed Tansi to seek relief through his intercession. You meet Blessed Tansi's physical mortal remains at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. It makes sense to bring the sick of your parish on a pilgrimage to blessed Tansi. May the Blessed Tansi, be our support and our hope and, through his intercession increase our sensitivity and dedication to those who are sick.
Remember also that it is very important to report to the postulation all the favours you know to have been received through the intercession of the Blessed Tansi. This report helps the cause in the most significant way. (WhatsApp 234803095835)
Remember your prayers make a real impact in the lives of many people across this country, bring significant relief to many suffering and help to bring this worthy cause to a happy conclusion. Since this cause was introduced in Nigeria a lot of spiritual benefits have come with it, many favours through the intercession of Blessed Tansi have been reported across the country. Solidarity members are reporting exciting new growth in their parishes and rekindled devotion to Blessed Tansi and Jesus in the Eucharist. And God is just getting started to do more.
Can we count on your prayers? This cause is bearing great fruit – the harvest will be great. Make an impute in your parish. Ask Jesus how you can be a promoter of the cause in your parish. Does your parish have a solidarity prayer movement? If not, begin one today. Perhaps God is calling you to take on this important role during this Lenten season. We know what happens when two or three gather in the Lord’s name, but what happens when it is thousands? Gathered as one Church at the feet of Jesus, we will open our hearts to his demand. Together, we will be healed, converted, unified, and launched into a new chapter of Tansi devotees. Who will bring this holy fire back home to your parish? Don’t let your community miss out on this amazing call for prayers. If your parish already has one solidarity prayer group, it’s possible they need your help as a member and a leader. Your charism can be of special help to them. No matter your exact role, your ministry as a part of this movement will help create fertile ground for the Holy Spirit to ignite greater devotion to Blessed Tansi. Act today, please.
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Blessed Tansi detachment can help Nigeria in distress.
On January 20th we celebrated the feast of Blessed Tansi. His life of radical dedication to following Jesus is extreme, and yet is something that we can all emulate to reduce tension and distress. His intrinsic holiness though not the chosen lifestyle can serve as a universal model of essential holiness appropriate to all Christians whether these be high ecclesiastics, religious, youths or any member of the baptized laity. He is such a spiritual person who is fully alive with the Spirit of God received at Baptism avoids serious sin, is effective in whatever task God proposes, is courageous in the face of trials and difficulties, is mortified and charitable, is always full of prayer, humility and heroism in the practice of the Christian virtues and finally, is affectively detached from all things both good and evil even from life itself. This is because a rejection of the world did not define his life–but by a clinging to all things Christ. He is such a person who lives fully within the world but at the same time is not of the world and as the letter to the Romans reminds us, does not “adapt to the pattern of this present world” (Roman. 12;2). Finally, he is such a person who never disdains the created world fears it nor runs from it but rather experiences the world and its many goods as gifts from God to be used with freedom, responsibility and gratitude. “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian”(Pope John Paul II in sermon at beatification Nigeria March 22nd 1998).
In addition, he is a spiritually detached person, prayerful and active compassion for the world especially when its parts or members are disfigured by human sin and injustice. “He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their [Nigerians] continuing sanctification. Father Tansi knew that there is something of the Prodigal Son in every human being. He knew that all men and women are tempted to separate themselves from God to lead their independent and selfish existence. He knew that they are then disappointed by the emptiness of the illusion which had fascinated them and that they eventually find in the depths of their heart the road leading back to the Father's house”(ibid). The spiritually detached man or woman of God abhors only evil and its sinful manifestations but at the same time, does not invest his or her identity and self-worth in earthly pursuits and concerns even when these are good and noble because when all is said and done, the spiritually detached person always has another home in view.
From his early start, Blessed Tansi showed immense preferential love of God and Christian virtues. “First as a Teacher and later as School Headmaster, Tansi continued to reveal not merely his “sharp and keen” abilities as an Educator, but of equal importance to us, his demonstrable preferential love of God and Christian values. So much did he integrate academics with religious knowledge and practice...Tansi was often accused by less tepid souls of running the school in the manner of a seminary” (Ed. Debany SJ in a symposium organised by National Blessed Solidarity at Holy Trinity Basilica, Onitsha on Thursday, 18th March 2004) “As in his years as a parish priest, he imposed a rigid religious regimen on others, which they accepted. During Lent, he went to school barefoot, as a penance, hurrying home for his shoes and socks when he heard an inspector was coming. Like the other Igbo schoolmasters of his day, he was strict, sometimes to a degree that jars the modern observer. During Lent, the children were forbidden to play in their recreation period. Instead, they had to listen to Bible stories” (Elizabeth Isichei, Entirely for God, The Life of Michael Iwene Tansi, p.22)
With his teaching profession, Blessed Tansi was growing up as a dedicated and pious lay educator, with great potential for greatness in riches either as a civil servant, businessman, or politician. But he abandoned these potentials and opted for the priesthood. Not certainly for the prestige or the money for he already had both even though he always eschewed these even as a layman. Like all holy people, Tansi was a man growing in interior detachment from all things and people and moving steadily towards a deeper, heartfelt and ultimately mysterious union with the Absolute - God himself. The same interior force or holy desire which moved Jesus to forever leave Nazareth at the age of thirty, St Anthony Abbot to give away his father’s significant inheritance, the first martyrs to prefer death over apostasy, St. Patrick to abandon the patrician comfort of continental Europe for the wilds of pagan and barbarous Ireland, Mother Teresa of Calcutta to seek transfer from her bourgeois Religious Congregation for total service and solidarity with the poorest of the poor that same interior force, the fruit of spiritual sensitivity to the interior motions of the Holy Spirit, inspired Tansi toward the next stage of his ever more perfected union with God which he then understood as priestly, sacramental and pastoral service to his Igbo brothers and sisters. Only a person effectively detached from the values and goods of the world can make such a leap forward an act of spiritual sacrifice.
In the face of our changing world, I often wonder whether it is better to leave the world and flee to the monastery. While this is never a serious consideration the thought process revolves around the countless challenges that we face raising a life in our broken culture and flawed society. There seem to be more and more hurdles to living a faithful life in Nigeria with each passing day. Whether it is the rejection of the importance of faith or the denial of truth it sometimes feels like the world is against everything Christian and ultimately inhuman – where are we going? Blessed Tansi reminds us that following Jesus is not about rejecting the world and running from it but falling more in love with him so that we can give him more access to change our Nigeria and the world.
The parents of Blessed Tansi died poor but devout followers of the Igbo traditional religion. Blessed Tansi as a teacher with sufficient income was left with the responsibility of helping his siblings. “Orekyie, Michael’s master and guardian, was strongly opposed to his protégé’s abandoning his chances of worldly advancement and the financial enrichment of his extended family. His fellow villages could not understand his actions. They thought it shameful to deliberately renounce offspring and to become a kind of slave to any “god” (Elizabeth Ichcie in Entirely for God p.28) Blessed Tansi was not merely running away from responsibility he was following the Lord’s command: “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor–you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me” (Mt 19:21-24). He took this as a sign that Jesus was inviting him to live differently. He viewed these words as spoken for him and to him. He was convinced that he must act. He was convicted of what he must do. That conviction is something, I think, that we all pray for and desire. We want to be a disciple who acts on the words of our Teacher and our God. The difference between myself and Blessed Tansi is that he acted. His conviction was followed by a choice to move. That does not mean that we sell our possessions. Blessed Tansi's call is unique. It is special. It is his own. We all have our own. It must not be the priesthood or the monastery. It must be ours in our own time. Is there something you know you need to do to be more faithful, but you are holding off on it? Maybe there is something at work that is unjust that you know you have to act against, but it will cost you something. Maybe you just need to pray more and commit to waking up earlier. Whatever conviction you have deep inside of your heart involving preferential love of God and your neighbour, act on it like Blessed Tansi. Choosing to act radically as a disciple takes courage. However, knowing the holy actions we are being invited to do cannot occur if we do not live like Tansi in one specific way: we must be devoted to our vocation and daily prayer. This ascetic practice is not for the few monks but for every single one of us. Leave everything behind and be with God – every single day. Carve out time to bask in His Presence. Only when we enter our internal desert away from the world can we live radically for God?
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Blessed Tansi's legacy helps set our goals with sainthood in mind.
Our weekly meditations should help us to understand better the life and legacy of Blessed Tansi. And understanding them will help us set our life goals with sainthood in mind. As we turn the calendar to a new year, the momentum of resolutions fills the air. People post reflection questions and set intentions. Others choose a word or a theme for the next 12 months. By this time, we have successfully begun to implement our 2024 resolutions, failed, or, most likely, experienced some combination of the two. While I appreciate the momentum of making New Year’s resolutions, after January has nearly passed, I am ready to be reminded of how these resolutions fit in with Christian living. It is good to live with intention, but if our enthusiasm has waned or we feel like a failure, take heart in the way resolutions fit into our Catholic lives. By now many of us will agree with Cardinal Arinze that: “Father Tansi was a great man, a many-sided specimen of redeemed humanity, a pride of Nigeria and of the Catholic priesthood in Nigeria, a convert from African Traditional Religion who lived ‘entirely for God’, a follower of Christ who put his hand to the plough and did not look back (cf Lk 9:62). Care is needed in the presentation of this exemplary priest not to exaggerate to the right or to the left, to distinguish between one’s wishes and the historic reality, not to project ones ideal of a saint on this particular blessed and to seek to stick to proven historical facts and reliable witnesses” (in ‘Total Response’ p. 9) In addition the Church in her universal call to holiness teaches us that sainthood is not just the plan for a select few but the goal for each one of us. To become a saint, we must be resolved internally in the pursuit of sainthood. Our resolutions each year should be at the service of this pursuit. There will always be trends when it comes to the secular setting of resolutions, but by anchoring our goals to sainthood, we unite them with God’s grace working in our lives.
With the exemplary life of Blessed Tansi before us, setting our life goal with sainthood in mind becomes easy and reachable. For it is Providence who stirs in us the desire to do something great with our lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow ourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit ourselves humbly and patiently to improving ourselves and society, making our Nigeria more human and more fraternal like Blessed Tansi from who we learn the art of living for God and others. Making resolutions with Blessed Tansi legacies in mind challenges us to grow in what God is calling us to do. It roots us in his plan for our lives. This gives our resolutions more depth than simply checking boxes or creating new routines. All goals must include a desire to do the will of God because only in doing the will of God can we find our peace and joy. “You will never be happy nor have any peace of mind until you learn to put away your likes and dislikes. Do what you are told, take what you are given, go where you are sent, nothing else will procure you the desired satisfaction...the sooner you learn to take up the will of another the sooner your happiness will begin” (Blessed Tansi advice to Sister M. Aloysius quoted in Gregory Wareing, ‘Sorrow will not kill me’ p. 22) The great secret is this: find out what God wants, and when you know, try to do his will gaily or at least bravely.
The Blessed Tansi is humble and grateful to God for all the graces he has received. “Father Cyprian was humble and simple; indeed extremely ... he was so humble and self-effacing. He must have acquired and developed these virtues long before he entered the monastery. One found them so natural to him, he never on any occasion singled himself out ... never drawing attention to himself” (C.Obi “facing Mount Saint Bernard’ p.289). In our time where independence and self-agency are viewed as virtues, it is good to remember that as humans we exist as creatures. We depend on God as our creator and our saviour not only when we are praying or thinking theologically, but in our daily existence, in each moment. In making resolutions, we focus on what is within our power to control, yet as Christians, we are called to open our wills to God’s grace as we move through our days. We exist in God’s creation, and we depend on God and his creation to live. While sometimes it might feel like we should be able to do it all, humility invites us to recognize our dependence on God, others and the earth as a beautiful thing. Placing our resolutions in the realm of dependence on God takes the pressure off of us and allows us to view our choices as both privileges and responsibilities to carry out with God’s help. The more we lean into our dependence on God for our very existence, the less we lean on ourselves in our resolutions and instead respond to God’s grace that he is giving us in the moment. We have to ask ourselves what the Lord requires of us as our expression of this gratitude to Him.
Resolutions after the legacy of Blessed Tansi invite us to look ahead to the future. They help us think about how to bridge the gap between who we are and who we want to be. Once we have realized that becoming the best version of ourselves means pursuing sainthood, we must remember that grace is offered to us in the present moment. It is only in the present moment that we can build, foster and experience a relationship with God. It is in the present moment that we take up our crosses and follow Christ, uniting our wills to God’s will and accepting his grace. Regardless of our feelings on making resolutions, as Christians, we are invited to regularly reflect, resolve and make adjustments to our daily living in search of sainthood. Each of us is called to be resolved in our Christian living, set on embracing a life of virtue united with Christ and today is the perfect time to begin again. We are living our true identities more fully in 2024 after the example of Blessed Tansi. The desire to remake ourselves is something essential to our nature, certainly our fallen nature because we all do it. We do not want to be exactly the people God made us to be. We prefer a different idea of who we are.
Today we live in a society possibly unique in its power to make us want to be other people. How we live as Catholics requires us to see the world in which we live, the world that wants to make us worldly. That means making us want to be other than the people God made us to be. God has a plan for each of us, and as our lives unfold daily, our attentiveness to Divine movement will allow us to see it. If we become too tangled in our resolutions, we begin to focus on ourselves instead of what God is doing in us.
[Thank you for your participation, devotion and prayers for the Cause during the celebration of the annual feast and Diamond Jubilee of Blessed Tansi call to Glory. Please report to the Postulation any favour you know people received through the intercession of Blessed Tansi].
Sunday, January 28, 2024
How God quietly called Blessed Tansi to glory.
Last Saturday, January 20, 2024, Nigeria celebrated the annual feast of Blessed Tansi and also the Diamond Jubilee of his call to glory at the Leicester Royal Hospital England. In the Archdiocese of Onitsha the celebration is continuing in the four Episcopal regions -Nnobi region on Saturday, January 27, Dunukofia region on Saturday, February 3 and Iyiowa region on Saturday, February 10. At each region the Relics of the Blessed was present and the faithful came with great devotion to honour their national Saint and Hero. It will be recalled that Blessed Tansi went to England in July 1950 to bring back to Nigeria the Cistercian contemplative way of life but like God’s ways are not like ours he did not do it in person for he died just a few months before he was due back in Africa. However today God has answered his wishes and prayers for there are 29 flourishing monasteries in Nigeria. Blessed Tansi made his vow of stability in Mount Saint Bernard, a vow that was a promise to live and die in the community of profession. He kept this vow literally. When he promised stability in the community of Mount Saint Bernard in England he must have felt that he was closing the door for the foreseeable future to his primary purpose of bringing back to Nigeria the Cistercian, contemplative life.
His love and dedication to the monastic way of life were so strong that God would allow him to fulfil it later. Before his death, his community approved to make a foundation in the Cameroons with Blessed Tansi as the Novice Master. “Five Nigerians and seven Europeans would make up the founders”.( Fr. Gregory Osco in an unpublished testimony 1986) Even though, this decision was what Blessed Tansi had been praying for however, the long years, months, and weeks of discussions in Chapter during the years 1961, 1962 and 1963 must have placed an increasing burden of stress on him. He had left all to follow his Cistercian vocation in a foreign country with a wretched climate he had followed faithfully a strict monastic regime for 13 years. He had been sustained by the steady hope that his sacrifices would make possible the introduction of the Cistercian, Contemplative life to his people. This project was vitally at stake throughout all these wide-ranging and drawn-out discussions. For most of the days and weeks, he sat there silent, listening and praying. To add to the stress he was named Novice Master: “Fr. Cyprian was named Novice Master. He laughed out loud at the announcement and had to be reassured later that this was not just a consolation prize, but a serious choice made by the Abbot for a very responsible post. “Cyprian set to work at once to prepare his classes” (Fr. Gregory ocso in unpublished testimony 1986). Typical of him Blessed Tansi set out with great seriousness to prepare for his responsibility but God had a different intention for him. He had suffered very much and would not like him to take this temporal gratification instead would offer him eternal glory.
As the first pioneers left Mount St. Bernard England on Sunday, October 27th 1963 to Cameroon to build the new Monastery in preparation for the main batch of founders Fr. Cyprian would join them later as the Novice Master God began to unfold his plans for the to be Novice Master early in January 1964. The community Infirmerian Father Leo noticed that Blessed Tansi had some pains and as he would not complain of his pains they thought it was Lumbago which he had had before, so they kept an eye on his health which began to deteriorate rather very rapidly. He was alone in his cubicle, didn’t want to read much, said his prayers, and was preparing for his final call to glory. He refused to disclose to anybody how serious his pains were. “Father John Morson, the prior, came up and asked Cyprian, “Was he all right?”. Always a little pain” Father James McDermott was the assistant Infirmarian. While he was helping him to change his clothes for the weekend, he noticed that the right thigh was twice the size of the other. He was worried about that. The Doctor came and was more worried about a lump he felt in Cyprian’s stomach. By this moment there was very little to life. He was only about eight stone at the time, I think. He was so easy to live as I put the pillows behind him that I was a little frightened. He smiled and made a sign of thanks, and I went out” (Fr. James McDermott in unpublished testimony at Mt. St. Bernard 1986). The next morning, Father Mark when the bell for rising went at two o’clock, slipped along the corridor from the dormitory to this room and found Father Cyprian on the floor of his room in great agony. Immediately the alarm was raised. He was put back into bed.
The infirmarians and Father Germain Scannell who was a medical student, and had done much medical Infirmarian work at Bamenda in the Cameroons gave him a pain killer, but from the intensity of the pain, Father Germain guessed that there must be an aneurism so he asked for a further sedative to be given. Meanwhile, he was praying quietly and accepting God’s will. He had been quite shaken when he was anointed on Sunday afternoon and perhaps did not realise how ill he was. So Father John, feeling it his duty, rather bluntly, assured him that this was serious and he might die. He accepted to die if it was the will of God. The doctor was summoned again and he arranged immediately for a transfer to Hospital, to the Royal Infirmary at Leicester which was one of the best Hospitals in England.
Before he left for the hospital Father Cyprian, with great devotion, received the viaticum. Father John who had been his confessor and was much devoted to him gave Cyprian his last Communion. The ambulance went off and the Assistant Information, Father James McDermott went in with the ambulance. First of all, Cyprian was taken into Casualty and after a time a young doctor came out and said to Father James; “will you help me, please? This man must be in terrific pain but he just admits there is a little pain.” Father James tried to get a clearer statement from this humble and mortified man. Then he was admitted to a ward and they began to prepare him for an immediate operation. Mr. Frizzell, who had removed his T.B. Throat gland a couple of years before was in charge of this. He had arranged to operate and was going to operate immediately. He was going to see if the lump in the stomach was malignant or not. He was more concerned with the source of the thrombus in the leg. While these investigations were going on the nurse told Father James McDermott there would be nothing to do for him for an hour or two and he had better go and get a meal. So he went off to find himself a meal. In the meanwhile, when his condition had worsened. There was an Irish Catholic nursing sister Siobhan Walsh, who had known the Monastery for a long time and was very kind to any of them who went into Leicester Royal. She phoned the Guest master and told me that Cyprian was sinking rapidly. Immediately the prior took Father Mark. Father Adrian drove them but when they arrived they were met by a rather uncomfortable nurse at the entrance to the ward. The curtains were drawn around Cyprian’s bed. He died at 2.45 pm, called to eternal glory – the reward of his long years of faithfulness.
As we take time to celebrate the legacy of his life it would be inspiring to learn more about the source of his courage and strength, which was his faith in Jesus. Blessed Tansi cannot be understood apart from his Christian faith – his total response to his vocation in life. As a religious raised in a family of devout traditional religious faith, he was deeply shaped by the faith of his parents to believe that the vows made to the gods are vows to be taken seriously. Hence his baptismal and other religious vows must be taken seriously. He was a strong believer from beginning to end. We know that he was a professional teacher and later considered becoming a politician before finally answering the call he felt from God to become a priest. The way he responded to that call offers a fascinating glimpse into what entering a vocation can look like for every one of us. All his life he sought and followed Divine inspiration not like ‘burning bush’ or ‘blinding light’ but through prayer and discernment. Many of us today still feel that unless we see a burning bush or a blinding light on the road of Damascus, we have not been called. Divine calls are something slow yet insistent. Blessed Tansi's call was neither dramatic nor spectacular. It came neither by some miraculous vision nor by some blinding light experience on the road of life. It did not come as a sudden realisation. Rather, it was a response to an inner urge that gradually came upon me. This urge expressed itself in a desire to serve God and humanity, and the feeling that his talent and his commitment could best be expressed through his total commitment. It is through the quiet and slow insistence that often God calls each of us. A voice deep in our hearts speaks to us of something outside our current experience, and it is in answering this call with courage that we begin to live freely and deeply the life God desires for us. As we honour the life and legacy of Blessed Tansi, who before anything else was first and foremost a dedicated priest of God, may we find inspiration to answer the call God has put upon our hearts?
Sunday, January 21, 2024
Blessed Tansi call to Glory - Diamond Jubilee. [First published on Sunday, September 23, 2023]
Today 20th. January 2024 is the yearly feast day of Blessed Tansi. Nigeria always celebrates this feast with joy and pride. Today is also the DIAMOND JUBILEE [60 years] of his call to eternity. The last 13 years of the earthly existence of Blessed Tansi was spent in Mount Saint Bernard Abbey England to answer what he considered to be a divine call for him; he was looking for God who called him. He had followed a strict monastic regime faithfully for 13 years. He had been sustained by the steady hope that his sacrifices would make possible the introduction of the Cistercian Contemplative life to Nigeria and his people. But this project was vitally at stake throughout all these wide-ranging and drawn-out discussions. For Blessed Tansi he left the whole thing to Divine Providence and spent most of the days weeks and months in silence, listening, praying and waiting for the Lord.
For the last four years before 1963, the Infirmarian had been keeping an eye on Blessed Tansi's health. After the T.B. gland in his throat had been excised he was asked to keep a week-by-week record of his weight; and was given a flask of hot milk to take to bed with him each night after an old duodenal ulcer had been diagnosed. “During the following week, he complained diffidently of pains in the back. He was always vague about any aches and pains and disliked drawing attention to them. "There is no trouble" was his habitual answer to questions about his health” (in Gregory Wareing's Sorrow Shall Not Kill Me). However, the infirmarian thinking that this might be a slight return of 'Lumbago' put him to bed in the dormitory where a special light was fixed up in his cubicle to enable him to read in bed. Even though he repeated that he was quite comfortable and had no needs, the wardrobe keeper persuaded him to accept extra blankets, for January is a cold month, and joked that next year he would not need all these blankets in Nigeria. Surprisingly, an “unexpected reply came back in sign language: that he would not be returning to Africa: he would be buried here, at Mt. St. Bernard” (Gregory Wareing in unpublished written testimony). Again trying still to make him more comfortable it was suggested that he should be transferred from his boards and straw mattress to a more comfortable bed on the infirmary corridor. But Blessed Tansi declined the offer with a smile. As usual, he was 'all right'. He read little, ate less, and spent the week quietly, thinking and praying. The infirmarian attending to him one day noticed that his left thigh was about twice the size of his right. He had some pain there. The doctor came at once and diagnosed a deep thrombosis of the leg but was more concerned with a lump he had felt in his stomach. He suspected a growth. Then Dr. Frizelle, his previous surgeon, came from Leicester to see his patient and confirmed a growth. He was doubtful about its malignancy but arranged for him to be admitted to the hospital for immediate operation on the next day. Blessed Tansi was then immediately transferred to a comfortable bed in an infirmary corridor room. The Prior, to his surprise, anointed him and pointed out the possibilities ahead of him. The next morning, when the community rose at 2 a.m. Fr. Mark Ulogu slipped along to this room and found him on the floor by the side of the bed, in great pain. He was lifted gently back. The Superior and three infirmarians were called out of Vigils, one of the ex-medical students suspected an aneurysm, from the intensity of the pain, despite the analgesics given him. When the doctor came he made arrangements for immediate transfer to Leicester Royal Infirmary.
At 9 a.m. he received the Viaticum with the same intensity of zeal which he had been anointed yesterday afternoon. This time he was quite willing to go to hospital, ready to die if God so wished. The will of God was all he wanted. As Fr. Mark had been present at his anointing so now he was praying at his bedside when he received Viaticum. The ambulance had been waiting outside the door of the Guest House while the Guest Master made the men a cup of tea to keep them busy during the anointing. Before his viaticum, he had been in great pain. Now he was smiling at everyone and joking with them as he had his mind and heart towards his heavenly rewards. As the stretcher was placed in the ambulance, Fr. Germain one of the groups chosen for the African foundation put his head around the door and said: "Your ticket is booked for Africa. Let's have you back soon." The reply came back, strong and assured, in a tone of voice never heard before at Mount Saint Bernard: 'We will go'. (Gregory Wareing in ‘Sorry Shall Not Kill Me p. 46) We will go from heaven.
On arrival at the Casualty Clearance in Leicester Royal Infirmary, the pain returned to him in full force. But yet ‘a little pain', was all that he would admit to the doctor. He was x-rayed. Then taken to a bed in Marriot Ward, and prepared for immediate operation on his stomach. At about 1:45 p.m. the same day 20th January 1964 the Guest Master took a phone call from the Ward Sister warning the Abbey that Fr. Tansi was sinking. At once, Fr. Adrian drove the Prior and Fr. Mark into Leicester. The Guest Master phoned a Senior Irish Catholic Sister in the Royal Infirmary. Immediately, she went across the hospital to Marriot Ward to see if she could help the dying monk. The monastery carload arrived soon afterwards but they were all too late. Quite suddenly Blessed Tansi died alone, at about 2 p.m. on January 20th, 1964.
The official report gave the cause of his death as: "Arteriosclerosis and rupture of a coronary aneurysm". He has been called to glory. During his early days in the Novitiate Fr. Cyprian had written to his old colleagues that life in a monastery may be hard, but that a monk's funeral was all that an Igbo could desire. On the morning of January 21st. The community assembled at the Church door to meet the car bearing Fr. Cyprian's coffin. As it entered the drive the bells commenced to toll in the tower. On arrival, the frail body was transferred by the hands of his brethren to the common monastic bier and escorted into the nave to lie between the choir stalls. Day and night the brethren took turns to pray beside it till the funeral Mass the next day January 22nd. 1964. Many touched their rosaries to that peaceful, smiling, brown face. It was here in this church that he had made his vows. He had kept them all. He was to be buried in the monastery of his profession, thus keeping his special, monastic vow of stability to the full. Nothing has gone wrong. This is all right. This is what he came for. It will help us all. There was Faith. God and glorious reward.
It will be remembered Father Tansi, took simple vows here at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, on December 8th 1953. He made those vows into perpetual solemn Vows on December 8th 1956. He would enter the next phase in his apostolate once his soul came into the presence of God. God's plans were being worked out. Fr. Gregory Wareing his one-time novice master testified: “While I was living with him in the same Monastery and Community, from personal observation, as far as I know, he admirably kept all these monastic vows. I do not know of any occasion on which he broke his vow of obedience, his vow of Chastity, his vow of poverty, or acted deliberately and openly against his vow of conversion of manners” ( In a written unpublished testimony 1986).
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Beginning 2024 with Blessed Tansi - Memoir of Prayer
Prayer is one of the most essential aspects of the Christian life. It is our way of communicating with God, expressing our gratitude, confessing our sins, asking for His help, and aligning our will with His. Prayer is also a way of strengthening our faith, as we trust God to hear us and answer us according to His perfect wisdom and love. I want to invite you as special devotees of Blessed Tansi to join our members in a new series that we are planning for the New Year - the diamond jubilee of Blessed Tansi's call to glory. We shall explore his prayer life and faith in more depth and detail. While at the same time hoping that our prayers for his cause will bring this worthy cause to a happy conclusion. We just need one miracle to be approved by the Vatican to bring Blessed Tansi to the fullness of the altar. For some of us, our journey through prayer may have not been a straight line. We have seen it evolve and change in many ways. We have gone through seasons of tremendous growth and tremendous struggle. We have had seasons where prayer was at the center of everything that we do and we have had seasons where we hardly prayed at all. Some can still remember when they first encountered God personally in their life, they were so eager to learn how to pray and to experience God’s presence and power in their lives. We may have read books on prayer, listened to sermons on prayer, and joined prayer groups and meetings. We also remember having tried to follow different methods and models of prayer, hoping to find the best way to connect with God. We prayed for ourselves, for our families, for our friends, for our church, for our country, and for the world. We prayed for God’s guidance, protection, provision, healing, and blessing. We prayed with faith, believing that God would do great things in response to our prayers. But as time went by, we also encountered some challenges and difficulties in our prayer life. Sometimes, we felt like we were just repeating the same words and requests over and over again, without any passion or sincerity. Sometimes, we felt like we were too busy or distracted to pray, or that we had nothing to say to God. Sometimes, we felt like God was not listening or answering our prayers, or that He was saying no or waiting for our requests. Sometimes, we felt like we were praying for the wrong things, or that we were not praying according to God’s will. Sometimes, we felt like we were losing our faith, or that we were doubting God’s goodness and power.
Through these ups and downs, we learned a lot about prayer and faith, and how they are related to each other. We learned that prayer is not a formula or a technique, but a personal and intimate relationship with God. We learned that prayer is not a one-way communication, but a dialogue where we listen to God as much as we talk to Him. We learned that prayer is not a way of manipulating or controlling God, but a way of submitting and surrendering to Him. We learned that prayer is not a way of getting what we want, but a way of discovering what God wants. We learned that prayer is not a way of changing God, but a way of changing ourselves. We also learned that we are not alone in our prayer journey.
As we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Blessed Tansi's call to glory we recall the role and importance of prayer in his Christian journey. His becoming a Catholic was a pure act of God’s grace and favour. And once a catholic the door opened for him to greater depths of prayer and support in prayer than he ever could have imagined. “When the future Blessed was but a small boy growing up in the Igbo village of Aguleri, he was exposed to the local traditions and customs of his native people while at the same time, to the Christian/Catholic religion of the French/Irish Holy Ghost Fathers who first evangelized Eastern Nigeria. It is not for us here to analyze in depth the motivations for the Christian conversion of young Iwene other than to note the profound formative influence of his maternal uncle Robert Orekyie – but rather to show how, even at the tender age of 9 while he was still a young layman – the future Blessed made a decisive, radical and preferential break with what he then perceived as the no- Christian aspects of Igbo culture and traditional religion. The destruction of his juju [chi] together with his sacramental baptism on January 7th, 1912 can be seen as Michael Tansi’s first conscious act of detachment from Traditional Igbo religious practice, together with his incipient attachment to Christian, liturgical practices and evangelical discipline as mediated and filtered by the predominantly Irish missionaries”. (Fr. Debany Ed. SJ, in a national symposium at Onitsha 18th March 2004)
From that early start, he learnt to persevere in prayer even at the risk of threat as witnessed by his childhood friend “When we were young, we used to play in the moonlight. After eating in the evenings, we would go from house to house, calling our age group to play in the moonlight. When we went to his house to call him, we could not find him at home. After searching for him everywhere, we eventually found him in the church, seated alone in one corner. We often found him crying in the church. This is what happened every day. Some of our mates would then call him out and beat him up. We were about twelve years old then. His devotion to prayers was most striking. If you watched him praying in the church, he knelt motionless, fixed his eyes on the tabernacle and tears gushed from his eyes. Some boys made fun of his attitude at prayer, but the more they did so, the more fervently he prayed. Other boys tried in vain to imitate him. He found time to attend daily morning masses and made visits to the Blessed Sacrament” (Elizabeth Isichei, ‘Entirely for God’. p. 18)
We just have started nine days of novena prayers in preparation for his feast day and the diamond jubilee of his call to glory. Please join us wherever you may be and make participation your prayer journey for the year 2024 and beyond. Prayer is not just something that we do, but something that defines who we are as devotees of Blessed Tansi. Prayer is not just a part of our life, but a reflection of our life. Prayer is not just a means to an end, but an end in itself. Be a part of the Blessed Tansi prayer legacy.
Sunday, December 24, 2023
Blessed Tansi urges Charity at Christmas
Christmas is around the corner. This Sunday meditation will remind us of our Christian legacy of giving and sharing especially with the poor at this Christmas. The heart of every Christmas is Christ, and Christ was poor. He was born poor, lived poor and died poor. With that in mind, capturing the authentic spirit of Christmas becomes a bit easier: Give to the poor as Jesus thought his followers that what they do to the poor and needy, they do to him: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty you gave me drink ...come O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Mt 25: 14-36). Today many are both hungry and poor among us. Blessed Tansi had a reputation for mortification both as a layman, a priest and as a monk. Food is not an important item on his agenda. “Witness after witness tells us that he ate very little and that they wondered how he kept going physically” (Arinze Cardinal in Total Response p. 196). His onetime house boy at Akpu parish, Mr Obiano Vincent testified at the Lagos Archdiocesan Silver Jubilee Celebration that “... he ate the barest minimum just to make his body metabolism function. He was on daily fasting. For instance, we did not for once prepare yam, garri or fufu, which a normal Igbo household enjoys now and again. His food, if not groundnuts and bananas or oranges, was restricted to two or three very thin slices of boiled yam with pepper, salt and sometimes eggs fried in oil. That was the most sumptuous meal I ever saw him eat during the period of about two years I lived with him” (quoted in Arinze Cardinal ‘Total Response’ P.197). Augustine Chendo, a school headmaster very close to Blessed Tansi at Dunukofia parish gives a similar assessment: “Both as a seminarian and as a priest Michael did not spare himself. His serious outlook on life deepened by a very sharp conscience, made an ascetic of him...For him Father Tansi, food was just a necessity, which could be set aside when the salvation of souls was at stake” ( P. Meze, Our Memoirs of Father Michael Tansi, p. 97)
“We must, however, add that Father Tansi did not impose his austere eating or non-eating habits on other people. “He was not fanatical about fasting”, says his curate at Aguleri, Father Clement Ulogu. “it was just that food was not important for himself, though he saw to it that others fared well as his guests” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response, p.199) Blessed Tansi is a man for God and others, he lived for his brothers and sisters. This is an important legacy he left for us. He saw Christianity as entirely living for God and others. Here we can understand and appreciate his pastoral charity to the poor, the sick, the orphans, the rejected in society and the widows. Every year at Christmas he had a Christmas ministry for the less fortunate, whether it was giving clothing, food, donations or a special collection. At other times whatever he had in material wealth was meant for the poor. His compassion for those who are in need was extraordinary. The poor, the needy and the sick are always around us, especially at this time. Do not wait for them to come to beg, reach out to them in the spirit of Christmas. Food is a basic need. And in his time the Blessed Tansi went out of his way to help the hungry. “When he visited an outstation, people gave him eggs, chickens, fruits of various kinds and yams, even when they were themselves rather poor. Father Tansi distributed most of such gifts to the needy” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.55).
Like Blessed Tansi who shared his meals with the poor, the Holy Father, Pope Francis ate lunch in the Vatican audience hall with some 1,250 people, continuing a tradition he began on the first World Day of the Poor in 2017. Maybe a cup of rice, garri, beans or a loaf of bread, a piece of meat or fish a piece of cloth or a little money and what have you may put smiles on another’s face this Christmas. By making a gift like this, you can provide hope and relief to the most vulnerable members of your community, from parents struggling to afford gifts for their children to families in desperate need of a warm place to sleep. Your generosity will bring tangible joy to your neighbours who need it most this Christmas season. “Poverty is a scandal; Christians must use their gifts for charity” (Pope Francis at Mass in the Vatican, Nov. 19, 2023, the World Day of the Poor) The material, cultural and spiritual poverties that exist in our Nigeria today are “scandal” that Christians are called to address by putting their God-given capacity for charity and love into action this Christmas. The poor, whether the oppressed, fatigued, marginalised, victims of our economic hardship, dismissed from jobs, the hungry, those without homes or left without hope, are not one, two, or three, they are a multitude among us today. When we think of this immense multitude of the poor, the message of the Gospel repeated in the life of Blessed Tansi is clear: let us not bury the gift of the Lord this Christmas. Let us spread charity, share our bread, and multiply love as we celebrate God’s love at Christmas.
Do not turn your face away from anyone poor this Christmas there are many around you. The present situation in our country has reduced many to a state of extreme poverty. Christmas is a great gift of love from God the Father and at Christmas we are called to become a gift to others-whatever you have, nothing is too small. Mercy, compassion, joy and hope, are our goods that we cannot keep only for ourselves. We can multiply all that we have received, making life an offering of love for others. Let us remember that just as the Infant Lord came to us at Christmas he will one day come to ask what we have done with our gifts from God. We must begin now to prepare for his coming at the end of time in which he settles the accounts of history and introduces us to the joy of eternal life if we can make it. We must ask ourselves, then: How will the Lord find me when I return to him and he might ask me: why did you allow so many of the poor to die of hunger when you possessed gold to buy food for them? May each of us reading this according to the gift he has received and the mission entrusted to him, strive to make charity bear fruit and draw near to a poor person.
[Gabriel’s message emphasized that God knew Mary’s character and that she was just a “lowly maiden,” but this was a key reason she had been chosen. She would be honoured throughout “all generations,” and her son would be “Emmanuel, by seers foretold.” This message is told and retold throughout the ages, reminding us why she had been chosen for this important assignment. Happy Christmas – enjoy every fun at Christmas and New Year. We shall have a break – to resume on the second Sunday of January]
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Spend the last days of Advent with Blessed Tansi
Advent prepares us for Jesus’ coming at Christmas and for his coming into our lives afresh. And no one knows apart from the Virgin Mother how to get ready to welcome Christ better than the Saints. They express their love for him by putting him first in their hearts. They make room for him by clearing the clutter of sins and faults. The saints pursue holiness by embracing the Lord’s teaching and lifestyle. They respond to his graces by practising spiritual disciplines like prayer, scripture study, fasting and almsgiving. And the saints express their love for God by reaching out to others with the Good News. They especially dedicate themselves to caring for the poor and marginalized. Blessed Tansi is one such saint of our place and time. So, let us make the most of this Advent and spend it with him, imitating the ways that he opened his heart to Jesus.
The Blessed Iwene Tansi from childhood desired the will of God in all things. Even at the age of twelve, he made a decisive, radical and preferential break with what he then perceived as the non-Christian aspects of Igbo culture and traditional religion. The destruction of his personal juju [chi] together with his sacramental baptism on January 7th, 1912 can be seen as Michael Tansi’s first conscious act of detachment from traditional Igbo religious practice, together with his incipient attachment to Christian, liturgical practices and evangelical discipline as mediated and filtered by the predominantly Irish missionaries who at the time, congregated the native Igbo converts into what were then termed Christian Villages. With the help of the missionaries, he sought a way to serve the Lord Jesus. Reflecting on Scripture, he learned to do the loving thing in every situation, which he discovered was the fuel that fired the faith of martyrs and saints. Doing the least of actions for love became the secret of his actions as a professional headmaster and later as a diocesan priest and contemplative monk. One may now ask what a 20th-century priest/monk has to do with us in this modern age - struggling with the duties of changing family life, work or school, social and economic fluctuations and keeping up with the digital world. We don’t have much time for pursuing holiness, do we? But that is where Blessed Tansi sets the example for us. His simplicity and dedication to his social and civic duties show us that we, too, following his example can be holy and pleasing to God at all times.
As a Teacher and later as a school headmaster, Blessed Tansi continued to reveal not merely his sharp and keen abilities as an educator, but of equal importance to us- his demonstrable preferential love of God and Christian values. So much did he integrate academics with religious knowledge and practice – as in those days, the teacher also served the Christian community in the role of catechist that Headmaster Tansi was often accused by less tepid souls of running the school in the manner of a seminary. The example of Blessed Tansi challenges us today in our various vocations and professions to show a preferential love for God and neighbour and to practice Christian values and morals.
In July 1924 Bishop Shanahan opened a Seminary at Igbariam on the banks of the river Niger, with three Senior Seminarians and six Juniors. It was known there that Michael Tansi had approached Fr. McNamara, his parish priest, telling him his desire to become a priest. His mother and all the family members were strongly opposed to his desire to abandon his chances of worldly advancement and the financial enrichment of his extended family. His fellow villagers could not understand his actions. They thought it shameful to deliberately renounce offspring and to become a kind of slave to any god. His poor widowed mother went mad with rage. She went to the mission and harassed the parish priest to give her son back. She cried out her eyes in vain. Michael Tansi sympathized with his poor mother all right, but there was no turning back. His determination to continue with what he considered the will of God could help the younger generation in their various choices in life. Blessed Tansi the priest, the monk, even the layman, was attracted to daily and private prayer before the Blessed Sacrament – a union with God. The deeper the union between God and the human soul, the more effective and zealous will that soul’s service be whether to family, church or to humanity.
Blessed Tansi's childhood simplified his life, initiating practices of prayer and self-denial that he pursued the rest of his life in following Jesus Christ. He had complete faith in God and persevered by dedicating himself to helping the poor. His life tells us of the value of assisting the poor and the weak among us. We may imagine that becoming a saint requires heroics like founding a religious order or converting people in faraway places who have never heard of the Gospel. But Blessed Tansi shows us that the daily faithful care of people entrusted to us by our vocation requires more than enough heroism to make us holy. Pope St. John Paul II in his sermon at his beatification celebrated Blessed Tansi as a man of the beatitudes. Detached and strong, he devoted himself to the weak and malformed. He lived a self-made poverty so he could give everything to the poor. He was a lover of solitude and at prayer was solemn, reflective and quiet.
Blessed Tansi has become the religious hero of contemporary young Nigerian Catholics. We recognize his high Christian ideals and values, which we most need in our present Nigeria. We gravitate to this handsome and charming saint of our time who delighted in bringing all to Christ, praying the rosary with his youth and spending nights in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Advent anticipates not only Jesus’ coming to us as a baby, but it also expects his final coming in glory. Since the Father knows the day of the end, the Lord cautioned us always to be watchful and to conduct ourselves uprightly following the example of Blessed Tansi. When Jesus comes as the Bridegroom to wed the church, we do not want to be as unprepared as the five foolish virgins in the parable (see Mt 25:1-13). So this Advent, following the saints, may we decide always to love God above all and to do loving things in everyday circumstances.
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Blessed Tansi: relevant in Nigerian problems.
“Which way Nigeria?” is a popular question in the mouth of many Nigerians as the problem of this country deteriorates daily and the solution is not in sight. The simple truth which many refuse to accept is that all Nigerians are responsible for what is happening now. Pointing fingers cannot solve the problem but living the Blessed Tansi lifestyle each one of us might help. We cannot afford to neglect the wisdom of the Holy Father Pope John Paul 11 when he said to Nigerians: “God has blessed this land [Nigeria] with human and natural wealth, and everyone must ensure that these resources are used for the good of the whole people. All Nigerians must work to rid society of everything that offends the dignity of the human person or violates human rights. This means reconciling differences, overcoming ethnic rivalries, and injecting honesty, efficiency and competence into the art of governing” (Sermon at Beatification Nigeria 1998) Blessed Tansi a true Nigerian dedicated his entire life to the service of God and his fellow Nigerians as a lay educator, a priest and religious monk and in all these professions he sought the good and welfare of everybody building bridges for love and reconciliation between individuals, villages and towns. He did not give any room for intimidation and domination especially the poor and the weak. The Holy Father used him as an example for all Nigerians to say: “As your nation pursues a peaceful transition to a democratic civilian government, there is a need for politicians — both men and women — who profoundly love their people and wish to serve rather than be served (cf. Ecclesia in Africa, 111). There can be no place for intimidation and domination of the poor and the weak, for arbitrary exclusion of individuals and groups from political life, for the misuse of authority or the abuse of power. The key to resolving economic, political, cultural and ideological conflicts is justice; justice is not complete without the love of neighbour, without an attitude of humble, generous service”.(John Paul 11- Sermon beatification Nigeria March 1998)
Ours is not a problem of poverty – Nigeria has all it takes to become a rich nation and be able to feed its citizens. The problem is rather that of greed and selfishness at all levels of society. We remember that the Blessed Tansi in question was detached from material possessions and positions of honour even from the ones he could legitimately have. The wealth he gained from his ministry he used to better the life of the poor. As a lay Christian educator, he was doing good and holy work simply by being dedicated. His dedication contributed significantly to the intellectual, social, moral and even political development of his people. At the same time, he was enjoying much praise, esteem, honours and even financial security. Today his example as a lay professional educator has a positive and challenging impact on our modern professionals at all levels. Each professional has something of him to give to our nation. As a priest, he spent much time self-reconciling differences. The Holy Father advised: “Father Tansi knew that there is something of the Prodigal Son in every human being. He knew that all men and women are tempted to separate themselves from God to lead their independent and selfish existence. He knew that they were then disappointed by the emptiness of the illusion which had fascinated them and that they eventually found in the depths of their heart the road leading back to the Father's house (cf. Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 5). He encouraged people to confess their sins and receive God's forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He implored them to forgive one another as God forgives us, and to hand on the gift of reconciliation, making it a reality at every level of Nigerian life” (John Paul 11- beatification Nigeria March 1998).
World over the lives of the saints and blessed of every age and place point to truths and values far more enduring than having a good job, a fat bank account, healthy children, a comfortable house, a good name and a good material living. The lifestyle of detachment from material things and attachment to the Gospel values of Blessed Tansi is indeed relevant at every age and every situation. Unless we Nigerians cultivate gospel values of discipleship we might continue to make this country a war zone. Again the words of the Holy Father to Nigerians are relevant more than ever: “Christ is thus a part of the history of the nations. He is a part of the history of your nation [Nigeria] on this continent of Africa. More than a hundred years ago missionaries arrived in your land proclaiming the Gospel of reconciliation, the Good News of salvation. Your forebears began to learn of the mystery of the redemption of the world and came to share in the New Covenant in Christ. In this way, the Christian faith was firmly planted in this soil, and in this way, it continues to grow and to produce much fruit” (John Paul 11 Sermon at Beatification Nigeria 1998). This New Covenant in Christ is love and respect for one another as Nigerians – belonging to the same family – whether North, South, West or East, respective of our religious differences. The Holy Father said: “When we see others as brothers and sisters, it is then possible to begin the process of healing the divisions within society and between ethnic groups. This is the reconciliation which is the path to true peace and authentic progress for Nigeria and Africa. This reconciliation is not weakness or cowardice. On the contrary, it demands courage and sometimes even heroism: it is victory over self rather than over others. It should never be seen as dishonour. For in reality it is the patient, wise art of peace” (John Paul 11 – beatification Nigeria 1998).
Many Nigerians have struggled to find a voice and respect in this country. As citizens all Nigerians deserve respect. Respect surely has its place; we should not correct it with unneeded harshness, personal attacks, or demeaning words. However, we must regain a healthy sense of the need to hold every Nigerian accountable and insist on what is right. This is our country, we have no other- our struggle to find our voice, long suppressed must continue. We must find this voice, even regarding our political leaders. We must be respectful but firm and clear that we expect full respect for all citizens of this country. Again here we need Blessed Tansi who was fearless in confronting the traditional leaders of his time. We know him as a strict disciplinarian- though renowned for his love, generosity, and humility, as well as his power to heal, console, and reconcile. If he saw something in your soul that was unholy, you were going to hear about it, no matter who you were. He would meet with anyone, from the poorest beggars to chiefs, traditional leaders, and politicians. None of them were denied his love and encouragement. Neither were they spared the hard truths that God gave him to say. Only God was to be pleased, not man. Spiritual truths were to be extolled over every temporal matter - safety, comfort, pleasing worldly powers. Such a lifestyle still rings true today! We must speak in love and with respect, but we must also speak insistently and with clarity. The very credibility and fruitfulness of many Nigerians are at stake. We have a duty and a right to speak out against injustice. Nigeria has a great heritage from Blessed Tansi we must embrace it without fear holding it with great esteem.
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Blessed Iwene Tansi: Pillar of the local Church
One of the many lasting attributes of the Catholic Church the world over is its ability to attract to the state of evangelical perfection men and women drawn from every known historical place and culture, into its vast aura of holiness - sainthood. These men and women are honoured, remembered and indeed even prayed to, not because of where they lived nor even for what they accomplished, but for that ever-attractive and inspiring state of holiness that they were able to achieve during their earthly lifetimes. What inspires us most about these holy men and women is their shared singular pursuit of holiness and godly things while at the same time, their love and compassion for their fellow men and women. In Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, a Nigerian priest we meet one who came from being a devout pagan village boy to a Catholic Christian, to a Catholic priest, to a Cistercian monk, to the honours of the alter and perhaps God willing soon to the fullness of the honours of the alter - SAINT. His early search for the truth and God drew him increasingly towards the missionaries who were just beginning their primary evangelisation in his town – Aguleri. However, there were many hurdles on his way. He passed through several stages on his journey, each rooted in his humble acceptance of the will of God and truth. His journey of faith was characterised fundamentally by openness to truth, conversion and missionary approach. He will be remembered as one of the faithful servants of the church in this local church in our days who lived out the call and mind of the church in his life. Like all holy people, from his childhood, he was a man growing in interior detachment from all things and people and moving steadily toward a deeper, heartfelt and ultimately mysterious union with the Absolute good.
His life and message [legacy] are universal because they are the message of the Gospel applied to concrete situations in the world of today. For him, human life on earth has a purpose and this purpose must be taken seriously. His words and advice also have such wide appeal because they touch on a fundamental thirst that is in every human heart, and that is the thirst and search for love, goodness, and truth. He knew that this thirst could find its fulfilment only in God lived among and identified with the poor, the sick and the dejected of society. Total love and dedication to God are his gifts to his fellow men and women. Despite the poverty of his life, and his detachment from material things, the Blessed Tansi lived a tireless worker of God and a hero whose only motive was the love of God and the desire for the salvation of his people. He knew what it is to be a priest and he tried to live it out faithfully. From the high lands of his Nnewi mission to the far ends of Orumba country and the midlands of Dunukofia to the rich river lands of Aguleri his notoriety as a holy priest grew and spread through the entire Archdiocese of Onitsha. Blessed Tansi one-time altar server, Cardinal Arinze writes: “Fr. Tansi was a great man, a many-sided specimen of redeemed humanity, a pride of Nigeria and of the Catholic priesthood in Nigeria, a convert from African Traditional Religion who lived “entirely for God”, a follower of Christ who put his hand to the plough and did not look back (cf. Lk 9:6)” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.9), It was not only Cardinal Arinze who remembers with admiration and affection the priestly zeal of Blessed Tansi. From the time Blessed Tansi was an assistant priest at Nnewi in 1937 until he departed for the Trappists monastery in England in 1950, he served with such priestly zeal and dedication that the ordinary of the Archdiocese, Archbishop Charles Heerey, held him up as a model for all priests to emulate. This is a great compliment given the fact that most of the priests of the great Archdiocese of Onitsha were, at the time, expatriates. Proof of his kind of person and his change of vocation from Headmaster Tansi to Rev. Father Tansi was the will of God, lies in the prodigious variety and obvious fruits of his priestly ministry in the three parishes assigned to his pastoral care. He was admired and effective as a lay educator, but exceptional in his pastoral ministry.
In 1982, eighteen years after his death at Mont Saint Bernard Monastery, the Archbishop of Onitsha requested the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria for approval to initiate the cause of beatification for this Nigerian priest, the Conference gave a unanimous approval.“We hereby certify that the National Episcopal Conference of Nigeria sitting in Lagos on 22nd April 1982 after considering the life of Rev. Fr. Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi OCSO thinks that the promotion of the Cause of his beatification will bring good results to our country, especially in the area of Priestly spirituality. Our conference is therefore in favour of the promotion of his Cause”. (cf ‘The Catholic Leader. August 15th, 1982). On the 11th day of July 1995, in the presence of the Holy Father, John Paul 11 the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued a decree to recognize the heroic life and virtue of Fr. Tansi and eleven months later, on June 25th, 1996, another decree recognized the miraculous claim attributed to the intercession of Fr. Tansi, and with this the road to beatification became wider than ever. The same Bishops Conference of Nigeria requested the Holy Father to come to Nigeria to beatify Fr. Tansi. The request gave rise to the second Pastoral visit to Nigeria of the Holy Father, St Pope John Paul 11, to beatify Fr. Tansi on March 22nd, 1998, recognizing the humble way he lived his Christian vocation. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria …[he] is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian… Father Tansi's witness to the Gospel and Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local Church now offers to the Universal Church.” (St. John Paul 11, Sermon at Beatification Nigeria 1998).
With his beatification on March 22, 1998, Blessed Tansi became the first National Saint of Nigeria. In a solemn concelebrated liturgy to close the special year for Priests held at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria enthroned the Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi ‘Patron of Nigerian Priests’. The decree reads: “Celebrating the year for Priests [June 19th. 2009 – June 18th. 2010] proclaimed by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XV1, which was aptly and prayerfully observed in Nigeria; desirous to hold out models of Priesthood to encourage sacrifice, prayers and dedication to priestly life in our land; having Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney as the universal Patron Saint of Priests; we the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, having prayerfully considered the matter, unanimously choose and hereby declare, also BLESSED MICHAEL IWENE TANSI THE PATRON OF NIGERIAN PRIESTS. We make this declaration on this 3rd. day of June in the year 2010, on the tomb of the Blessed, in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha, Nigeria. In testimony of which we undersigned, President and Secretary of the said National Episcopal Conference of Nigeria herein affix our signatures”.
Francis Cardinal Arinze praising the Catholic Bishops’ Conference choice and declaration wrote: “ It is encouraging and fitting that the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria have shown great appreciation for the spiritual stature of Father Tansi and considered him as a model and patron for priests in Nigeria” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.104). A one-time student of the Blessed Tansi at the St. Charles’s Training College Onitsha and later a priest and bishop has this to say at the mass and sermon on the re-interment of the remains of Blessed Tansi. “. . . it may be high claim to make, but it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm candour, and the sensitiveness that concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self-forgetful. From the point of view of his work in Nigeria, his most fruitful period was that of his years as the parish priest in the Archdiocese of Onitsha. This was the time of his untiring and self-spending labours and of the setting forth of his ideas; by 1950 before he went to the monastery he had left his imprint on the Nigerian church. Fr. Tansi's predominant quality in those years was viral and sympathetic generosity. His flock responded with unshakable confidence. His ideas were accurate, large and simple. It was the ardent character of this desire for the salvation of souls that marked him out for the increase of his flock. It was an agony, to see souls going astray without spiritual care. It was a part of his attraction that he was a planner who worked with his hands. Like most of those who have the power of moving crowds he was an optimist, his message came across very simply and directly…” (Bishop A. Nwedo, sermon at mass of re-interment Onitsha October 17, 1986).
Sunday November 26, 2023
Blessed Iwene Tansi, Pray For Us.
Nigeria stands in great need of heavenly deliverance. Through the intercession of Blessed Tansi, we pray that Nigeria stands firm in God’s truth and justice and knows the protection of lasting peace. For some time the Catholic Church in Nigeria has been praying for ‘Nigeria in distress. Everybody’s experience is that things are not getting any better. There are a lot of problems with this post-independence age. Notably, I think we, occupants of post-independence Nigeria can never truly decide how angry we should be. We are told that tolerance is the primary virtue, but of course, this only applies to those who are guided to some extent by fundamental ethics and morality and not certainly those who take their stomach to be their God. Gone is the time when people who deviate are told promptly to sit down and shut up. Today doings after a time become customs. In the face of such immorality and corruption, as declared by the current determinants of social virtue, tolerance is abandoned for blind rage. We are all aware of what family for example stood for Blessed Tansi and his age. But in this increasingly isolating epoch, we flee from true connection and community, buying into the myth that we are better off without the social ties and family ties that might constrain our freedom or challenge our worldview through personal engagement. Let us not despair even though we have enough reason to do so. Catholics are called to be joyful, to hope, to march steadfastly onwards to heaven, bringing as many fellow pilgrims with us as we can. But how do we do this? How do we sow peace when speaking truth only invites rage? How do we defend our faith when even the basic precepts, which our revered predecessors fought for precepts that are universally honoured for years are now under assault – justice, love and truth take different meaning these days? Human life has no more value. Just to mention a few.
Now Blessed Iwene Tansi (1903-1964), knew the answer, and it was simple. He loved Christ above all, and as a result, he stopped at nothing to defend love, truth, justice and peace, both his teaching and his lifestyle. “…Who is this Nigerian priest said to have been not too tall in height, later in life rather frail in health, not one of the brightest students, but distinguished for his iron will, his firm trust in Divine providence, his readiness to sacrifice his will in the service of God, his impressive acceptance to be misunderstood, a man never settling down to half-measures, dissimulation. pride or love of convenience, but always self-mortified and ready to put his whole heart and person into what he was doing” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.7)
Blessed Tansi is a true Nigerian, what he can do other Nigerians with the same zeal can do the same in their various vocations. A skilled zealous pastor, Blessed Tansi is perhaps most famous for evangelisation and saving souls in his thirteen year pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha (1937-1950), working beyond normal capacity all the time. “... but it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm candour, and the sensitiveness their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self-forgetful”. (Anthony Nwedo CSSP- late Catholic bishop of Umuahia in Sermon at the re-interment Onitsha October 17, 1986) Blessed Tansi was moved only by a passion for Christ and his people. He was ready to give all for the sake of love – compassionate to all especially the needy. “Fr. Tansi was a great man, a many-sided specimen of redeemed humanity, a pride of Nigeria and of the Catholic priesthood in Nigeria, a convert from African Traditional Religion who lived “entirely for God”, a follower of Christ who put his hand to the plough and did not look back (cf. Lk 9:6)” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.9),
But his ministry was truly characterized by his pastoral compassion and tireless fight against traditional injustice that threatened the peace of the community. Today, we are blessed to have his rich legacy as our model and inspiration. His sermons and instructions, and especially his encouragement to the family and the youth –the future generation made his ministry most outstanding. He desired peace, but he understood his duty was to protect his people and the mission of Christ to bring others to the truth. In his pastoral approach to traditional rulers and traditional laws, he maintained that undiluted truths and customs are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, the former entirely depends on the latter. He comprehended that diluted, weakened traditions, offered in the name of tolerance or driven by a false sense of compassion, would only harm and offend the respect of the weak. True peace can only come by boldly proclaiming and living the truth in love. As a professional teacher and later as School Headmaster, a Seminarian, a priest and a monk, Blessed Tansi continued to reveal not merely his sharp and keen abilities as a dedicated professional, but of equal importance to us, his demonstrable preferential love of God and of Christian values. So much did he integrate professionalism with religious knowledge and practice – in those days, the teacher also served the Christian community in the role of Catechist that Headmaster, Tansi was often accused by less tepid souls of running the school in the manner of a seminary. (cf Elizabeth Isichei in Entirely for God, The Life of Michael Iwene Tansi, Macmillan Nigeria 1981. p. 18).
In as much as Nigerians pray to Blessed Tansi for intervention in our national problems which in most cases are manmade Nigerians should also imitate his lifestyle. In this regard does the example and living style of Blessed Tansi, as a professional have anything positive and challenging to say to our modern Christian professionals? Does his obvious dedication to his profession while profoundly integrating it with Christian values inspire modern-day bankers, teachers, traders, politicians and civil servants to use their professions as means for the betterment of Nigeria with the resultant reward of eternal life with the blessing of heaven?
The lives of the saints and blessed of every age and place point to truths and values far more enduring than a good job, a fat bank account, healthy children, a comfortable house, a good name and a steady supply of GSMs. Certainly, most modern-day professionals will remain within the lay state serving the nation as teachers, merchants, doctors, bankers, accountants and civil servants. And this is good and necessary as few are called to and even needed in the sacramental priesthood or in the consecrated religious life. The professional, pre-clerical life of Blessed Tansi challenges all of us with questions such as: Why do we work? For what purpose? Is it only to make money needed to feed and clothe myself and our families? What is the role of my Christian Catholic faith in my place of work? Am I a devout follower of Jesus seven days a week? Or am I only a Sunday Catholic? Am I punctual, prayerful, and attentive to the poor and needy clients or pupils? Am I honest in my business dealings? Is righteousness before God my supreme good or do my comfort, my family and my material prosperity come first? Am I free enough with my life to let it go if God should ask me or am I always praying for long life and prosperity? As a teenager and youth growing up in an increasingly sexualized culture, am I taught to achieve chastity in thought, word and deed? If married, am I faithful to the vows I made at the altar of God? The life and choices of Blessed Tansi point to motivations far more sublime and universally appealing than the mere development of my talents, the exaggerated enjoyment of life, and the pursuit of honour, financial security and prestige. These he had (at least potentially) and yet he willingly and freely gave them all up. Because he was a man detached from the vanities of the world while at the same time, attached to the higher values of perfect and courageous Christian discipleship.
When we are tempted by the irascible temper within us to fly into a rage at those who disagree with us, or conversely to bite our tongue in the face of moral evil, lest we appear too divisive, we must look to the example of Blessed Tansi and call upon his intercession. His life was so rooted in Christ that he could not help but proclaim the Gospel and do so fearlessly. He never sought division, but he never shied away from it if it was the consequence of defending his moral principles, and thus allowing the full truth to permeate more hearts. Like all wise and holy saints, he understood that life is very short, and eternity is very long. He lived his life and led his faithful accordingly. Blessed Tansi – Pray for Nigeria. Sunday, November, 19, 2023
Relationship with Blessed Tansi - come and be renewed
For us Nigerian Catholics a relationship with Blessed Tansi is a must - it is about having a real relationship with our brother in Christ who has made an outstanding victory over the world and now in the presence of God. We are often committed to helping or even praying for one another in the same way we are committed to asking for help and prayer with Blessed Tansi. “Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is mighty” (Jas 5:16). Besides, the teaching of the Catholic Church on the Communion of Saints emphasises the importance of the Church’s veneration of the saints and for us particularly- Blessed Tansi. The Church is not only earthly but also divine, just as Jesus is fully human and fully God. And while those who make up the Body of Christ, the Church, are individuals, they are also members (see 1 Cor 12:27), having a relationship with the Head of the Church and one another. For us Nigerians Blessed Tansi is like an open treasure-houses accessible to all, like flowing fountains at which everyone can drink. Please come and be healed and renewed. Nothing in the Communion of Saints is private, although everything is personal. He is just as real and immediate to us as those sitting beside us at Mass. In fact, he is even closer, as he is able to relate to us perfectly, being holy and complete, free from sin and the distractions of this world. He is alive — truly alive, filled with divine life and enjoying perfect union with God. He is among “a cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1) surrounding us, helping and encouraging us.
Another reason why we should have a real relationship with Blessed Tansi is for our national security and guidance. As we observe the current realities unfolding in our social, economic and political life, it is essential to address the feelings of unease and apprehension that may arise within our nation. The escalation of insecurities resulting in so many deaths of innocent Nigerians, indeed echo the turbulent times prophesied in Scripture. Blessed Tansi is both our national model and patron. Model, because his life is an example of true and patriotic living and patron because he is given to us by God to lead us to the true love of God and service to our fellow Nigerians. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much. He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love.” (John Paul 11, sermon beatification Nigeria 1998) Blessed Tansi is a part of the history of our nation. More than fifty years ago he served and dedicated his life to us as a teacher, diocesan priest and religious monk proclaiming the Gospel of reconciliation and the Good News of salvation. Through his ministry, the Christian faith was firmly planted in this soil, and in this way, it continues to grow and produce much fruit. This fact was testified by the Holy Father John Paul 11: “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest” (Sermon at Beatification Nigeria 1998) As his brothers and fellow criticisms, we are tasked with an important role—to anchor our nation in the assurance of God's ultimate victory. But how – by following the example of his dedicated service to God and our fellow Nigerians in our various vocations. In the face of what we are presently going through - our nation raging and citizens trembling with fear and hunger - these may serve as a powerful reminder that God is mocked nor disturbed by our national calamities. The psalmist writes in Psalm 2:4, "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision." Our trust should not lie in force and might but in love and God. "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."(Ps. 20:7) These verses are not merely poetic expressions but affirmations of God’s dominion that should always resonate within our understanding and action. As we confront this national stark reality, we remember the Blessed Tansi – how he laboured and sacrificed all for his fellow men and women and that Jesus doesn’t abandon us in our feelings of fear, anger, and helplessness.“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (Jn. 16:33)
The world may look different today, but Blessed Tansi's life is a rich legacy for his fellow Nigerians looking for a better life, justice and peace. Blessed Tansi waited for God with unwavering faith and trust for many years and at his time God answered his prayers. “God, however, is the director of events. He is Providence. And his time is the best. What Father Cyprian and Father Mark had been hoping for, became a reality after the death of Father Cyprian” ( Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.246) We are, as it were, on the cusp of a new chapter for in Nigeria - a chapter that begins with the rebirth of this incredible legacy of Blessed Tansi. Don’t miss this opportunity. The Catholic Church in Nigeria is on the verge of celebrating the diamond jubilee of his call to glory – a moment of God’s grace through the powerful intercession of Blessed Tansi. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this generational moment. Come with faith and be renewed. You will find blessing and renewal through a profound encounter with Blessed Tansi.
“You will hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end.” (Mt. 24:6) At a time in our history when we are literally experiencing instability in our social, political, and economic life, these words of Jesus are both unsettling and consoling. He told us what to expect. Even in our fallen world, men and women still have free will, and we can so readily turn against our Creator and one another for innumerable reasons. And we can also change and live after the example of our national saintly hero. What is most important? That, no matter what, Jesus promises us that in him, we will find our peace. “For by the cross the incarnate Son, the Prince of Peace, reconciled all men with God. By thus restoring all men to the unity of one people and one body, he slew hatred in his own flesh; and, after being lifted on high by his resurrection, he poured forth the spirit of love into the hearts of men. For this reason, all Christians are urgently summoned to do in love what the truth requires, and to join with all true peacemakers in pleading for peace and bringing it about.” (Gaudium et Spes, no. 78) In a very real way, what we notice on the streets of our own cities where gang violence, open injustice, drug trafficking, and human trafficking are a daily reality. The only way to respond to this is through a radical act of love – which Blessed Tansi left us as a perfect model and legacy.
If we partner with Blessed Tansi our bond with him deepens in our personal prayer. Our relationship with him grows and we can hear his invitation today to offer ourselves as he did. To love God and to dedicate our lives to the service of our fellow Nigerians. He is calling you today to be a peacemaker wherever you are on Nigerian soil. Let us run to him now with all that weighs upon our hearts. He longs to hear from us and desires to help us. I pray especially that the celebration of the diamond jubilee of his call to glory will inspire each of us to be men and women of peace.
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Cause of Blessed Tansi inspires us to holiness
At the conclusion of his book ‘Total Response’ Cardinal Arinze remarks: “ As we come towards the end of these reflections, we cannot avoid thanking God for the many favours which he has given to Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi, and through him to Nigeria, Africa and the church worldwide. At the same time we have to ask ourselves what the Lord requires of us as our expression of this gratitude” ( p.242) By his life Blessed Tansi is telling us that all of us are called to be holy and we can and must be holy. “All the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity” - (which is holiness) (Lumen Gentium, 40). St. Paul sometimes addressed his letters to “the saints” in a particular city (see Eph 1:1; Col 1:2). In this case, he was speaking of all Christians as the “holy ones,” because they have now been made holy by their baptism and are striving to become more holy. The Catholic Church therefore affirms, then, that all faithful Christians are “saints” in this sense. The vocation, the calling, to holiness is universal; God is speaking to all Christians when He says in Scripture, “Be holy because I [am] holy” (see 1 Pt 1:14-16).
The Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha has for many years been promoting the cause of canonization of Blessed Iwene Tansi. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria supported her and approved the promotion of this cause in 1982. “We hereby certify that the National Episcopal Conference of Nigeria sitting in Lagos on 22nd April 1982 after considering the life of Rev. Fr. Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi OCSO thinks that the promotion of the Cause of his beatification will bring good results to our country, especially in the area of Priestly spirituality. Our conference is therefore in favour of the promotion of his Cause” (cf ‘The Catholic Leader. August 15th, 1982) The same conference in a solemn concelebrated liturgy to close the special year for Priests held at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha, enthroned the Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi ‘Patron of Nigerian Priests’. “...Celebrating the year for Priests [June 19th. 2009 – June 18th. 2010] proclaimed by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XV1, which was aptly and prayerfully observed in Nigeria; desirous to hold out models of Priesthood to encourage sacrifice, prayers and dedication to priestly life in our land; having Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney as the universal Patron Saint of Priests; we the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, having prayerfully considered the matter, unanimously choose and hereby declare, also BLESSED MICHAEL IWENE TANSI THE PATRON OF NIGERIAN PRIESTS. We make this declaration on this 3rd. day of June in the year 2010, on the tomb of the Blessed, in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha, Nigeria”
With his beatification in March 1998, Blessed Tansi became a National Saint of Nigeria, and received the right to a cult to be celebrated in Nigeria, Cistercian Communities and in places outside Nigeria that have devotees and special interest. With his beatification, the first stage in the promotion of the cause successfully came to a happy end and the Church opened the second stage, as the Hoy Father St. John Paul 11 gave Nigeria and the Bishops’ Conference in particular a new assignment: “…Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruit of holiness, which have grown and matured in the church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African…the life and witness of Fr. Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much. He was first of all a man of God, his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testify to this great love of God…. Father Tansi's witness to the Gospel and Christian charity is a spiritual gift this local church now offers to the universal church…” (Sermon Beatification Oba Nigeria 1998) The Holy Father by this statement asks Nigeria to bring their National Saint to the Universal Church- fullness of the Altar – sainthood.
Though the Church teaches that we can’t know for sure who may be in hell, the Church also insists that, in some cases, we can know for sure that certain individuals are in heaven. We refer to them by name as “St. So-and-So.” So how does the Church gain the confidence that a particular person is in heaven? Various kinds of evidence are sought in the process called canonization, which leads to the formal recognition of a person’s sainthood. This evidence includes reliable testimony to the person’s extraordinary holiness in this life; indications that the person’s life has drawn others closer to God; and carefully documented miracles occurring after the person’s intercession has been asked for. Such miracles provide evidence that the person can offer effective assistance because he or she is now with God in heaven. Because Blessed Tansi has been perfected in this world and now lives in God’s presence for this reason the church confidently urges all of us not only to imitate his holiness but also to ask for his assistance to live holy lives. Those who have been perfected and are now face to face with God in heaven — that is, the “saints” have a share in His divine nature (see 2 Pt 1:4). This insight helps us understand the Church’s teaching about what we call the Communion of Saints — that is, the fellowship, the sharing, of the saints. Because of their perfect love, they love us still on earth as God loves us. They want to help us; they want to see us reach heaven as well. So they have the desire to assist us in any way they can. The perfected saints also have a share in God’s perfect knowledge. They are able, through God’s grace, to know what is taking place on earth. God allows them to see and hear what He sees and hears, so they can hear the requests we may make of them. Similarly, the perfected saints have a share in God’s perfect, supernatural power. They are able, through His grace, to act on our behalf, to intervene in earthly affairs, just as God does. They don’t just pray for us; they can act on our behalf in other ways as well. “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” (Jas 5:16).
Let us always venerate our own Blessed Tansi as a sign of showing him honour and requesting his heavenly assistance. Showing honour is a natural human response to the goodness, even the greatness, of another human being. We honour the founders and other leaders of our country from throughout history. We name cities after them, print coins with their face, write books about them, and make statues of them to erect in public places. We paint pictures of them to display in schools and government buildings. We speak reverently and gratefully of them on patriotic holidays. We do these things because it is a matter of justice to recognize their gifts and contributions to us. Justice means giving each his due, and we recognize that we owe much to these great human beings, and we want to say so in different ways. Let us do similar things to Blessed Tansi to promote his cause and to obtain his favour. Promoting the cause of Blessed Tansi has inspired great devotion and many other acts of piety among Nigerians. His veneration has become an act of faith for many who have seen it in an extraordinary manner the way of life to which we are called as Christians. Now that God has perfected him and is a saint standing face-to-face with God in heaven, we have even more reason to venerate him. “It is interesting to record that the life of Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi has inspired and encouraged not only individuals but also groups to pray. In this connection, the Blessed Father Tansi Solidarity Prayer Movement deserves special mention … this movement organises weekend, rallies and congresses marked by Holy mass, talks on Blessed Tansi, Rosary, Eucharistic Benediction, the unveiling of statues, night vigil, singing, candlelight procession, testimonies, confessions and distribution of prayer cards. The members of this movement visit the sick and the poor and help them.” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 243-244) The promotion and veneration of Blessed Tansi has also inspired the monastic apostolate which is now flourishing in this country. “We thank God that the church which is in Nigeria is not forgetful of the dedication to prayer which the Blessed Cyprian Tansi left her in inheritance” (ibid p. 248).
For us today Nigerians as the old saying goes, “Imitation is the sincerest form of praise” and so the Church urges us to imitate the Blessed Tansi, to follow his example of holiness. In the end, that is the best way to honour him. Speaking of Blessed Tansi the Holy Father remarks: “God, in fact, has blessed this land with human and natural wealth, and it is everyone's duty to ensure that these resources are used for the good of the whole people. All Nigerians must work to rid society of everything that offends the dignity of the human person or violates human rights. This means reconciling differences, overcoming ethnic rivalries, and injecting honesty, efficiency and competence into the art of governing. As your nation pursues a peaceful transition to a democratic civilian government, there is a need for politicians — both men and women — who profoundly love their own people and wish to serve rather than be served (cf. Ecclesia in Africa, 111). There can be no place for intimidation and domination of the poor and the weak, for arbitrary exclusion of individuals and groups from political life, for the misuse of authority or the abuse of power. In fact, the key to resolving economic, political, cultural and ideological conflicts is justice; and justice is not complete without the love of neighbour, without an attitude of humble, generous service”.( John Paul11, Sermon at Beatification Nigeria 1998)
Sunday, November 5, 2023
How to ‘partner with Blessed Tansi.
Nigerians should befriend Blessed Tansi. This is not dissimilar to how we have human friends, The importance of Blessed Tansi is that God has seen it fit, in his generosity and mercy, to give us such a saint now far more intelligent and nearer to God than any other created being. His greatest essential task is to see us home - to get us home to heaven. We can take advantage of this, as he guides us on Earth. We begin by acknowledging his existence, communicating with him, cultivating and expressing love for him and what he stood for, and incorporating him into our daily lives, including by seeking his guidance. Bringing Him into our hearts is to acknowledge, and pray to him regularly, and to become more habitually used to calling upon him in all needs, even very small needs, because he is there for those as well. Pray your own prayer to him or use the Postulation common prayers which hit all the essential aspects of communicating with him - ask for his intercession and protection. Seeking guidance from him benefits us as human persons. Because in fact, with his position in heaven, he knows more about us than we know about ourselves.
Joy and happiness are all that humans including Nigerians love and desire. Because Blessed Tansi daily heard the Lord, he lived a life of joy. Compared to the adventures of his younger years, the joys may have seemed, to the less wise eye, simple or mundane. He showed us that it is in the seemingly simple and mundane that one finds joy, though. Blessed Tansi knew from childhood that life has a purpose and that heaven was open above him, so he didn’t need a single thing on this earth. Because of this, he was able to wholeheartedly enjoy these pleasures as little gifts from a Father who delights in seeing his children revel in the sweetness of life. The fullness of joy comes from union with the Lord, but he sprinkles little joys throughout our days as reminders of the greatest joy to come. He lived the greatest joy because he spent his days grateful for life on earth but in eager anticipation of the life to come. He wanted others to be able to share in this hopeful anticipation - sharing the truth in a way that brings others to the feet of Love himself. He evangelized in many ways: living with great conviction that God is love, giving instructions that dealt with morality, catechising his flock with relentless energy and being a friend and pastor to all especially the needy. Having received the Good News in his own heart, he wanted to share it with others. Having encountered Love, he wanted others to know Love. As Nigerian Catholics, we are blessed to have his example to look to as a model of life lived valiantly for Christ. We can also look to him in our own lives as one who led or is leading lives of holiness. His close presence can inspire and spur us to deeper devotion and intimacy with Our Lord. And, hopefully, one day we will be able to join him and the choirs of angels and saints in heaven, forever more praising Our Lord.
If you want to give Blessed Tansi a special treat, learn his simple act of piety, kneeling before God in prayer, this conveys a great truth: our God is king of all and deserving of all reverence. God is not just sovereign within the walls of a church; his sovereignty extends over all the universe and at all times. Therefore, our every act should reflect this truth. We should constantly be reverencing the Lord with our actions and speech. We are daughters and sons of the King — princesses and princes in his eternal kingdom — and our ways should speak of this. Then attend mass regularly and do more Eucharistic adoration because, in a real sense, when you are adoring Jesus in the Eucharist, Blessed Tansi can join you in adoration - which is so natural to his nature, and he can also protect you. The secret of his success in life is Jesus in the holy Eucharist. And it is in pursuit of holiness that Blessed Tansi ultimately became a living sacrifice in imitation of Christ, the Good Shepherd, pouring out his zeal and strength for his flock. It is in his Eucharistic piety that he leaves us a legacy which if we, old and young, men and women representing different cultural families and vocations follow will feature new Eucharistic witnesses and will testify in living colour—what holiness looks like. The Eucharist was the secret of his day. It gave strength and meaning to all his other activities of service. His regular practice of Eucharistic devotion in varying forms has been a vital source of charity in his life –through this singular practice he was able to serve his poor with devotion – since he was able to see Christ whom he adored in the poor. Our own personal missionary journey to the peripheries of our lives will inevitably be different than the one encountered by Blessed Tansi. Our reception of Christ in the Eucharist and adoration in his presence will transform our lives to be of loving service to our neighbours. Today Nigeria is yearning for the meaning and purpose of life, the Eucharist offers us the profound answer as it once time offered to Blessed Tansi. If we, in the midst of our ordinary lives, can model this yearning for a purposeful life to the lifestyle of Blessed Tansi the transformation Nigeria is looking for will come.
Detachment from material things is another area Nigerians can partner with Blessed Tansi for purposeful living. His constant, full and generous cooperation with grace, impulses and inspirations of God in both the large and small decisions of everyday life made him courageous in the face of trials and difficulties, mortified and charitable. Blessed Tansi lived fully within the world but at the same time was not of the world and as the letter to the Romans reminds us, did not adapt “to the pattern of this present world” (12; 2) As a true Nigerian living in Nigeria he never disdains the created world nor fears it nor runs from it but rather experiences the world and its many goods as gift from God to be used with freedom, responsibility and gratitude. He lived with prayerful and active compassion towards his fellow Nigerians disfigured by human sin and injustice. He never invested his identity and self-worth in earthly pursuits and concerns even when these are good and noble because he had another home in view. The radical discipleship of Blessed Tansi is very much needed today. His obvious dedication to his profession as a teacher, priest and monk while profoundly integrating it with Christian principles and values should inspire modern-day Nigerian bankers, teachers, traders, politicians and civil servants to use their professions as means for the betterment of Nigeria with the resultant reward of eternal life with the blessed of heaven.
Those who desire to partner with Blessed Tansi should remember his general attitude to life – simple and quiet when he did speak aloud, everyone within earshot listened. He did not waste words, and he did not mince words. He spoke only the truth, and he always aimed to do so with perfect love. In this way through his quiet acts, he taught so many others how to live a life of virtue. Though his life was riddled with suffering he was patient in suffering – accepted it as a treasure. His attitude to suffering today teaches us that suffering can often sanctify us in ways beyond our comprehension if only we surrender ourselves to the Lord. Blessed Tansi as a contemplative and pious man loves silence in a particular way. He abhorred senseless noise. Noise distracts, confuses and dispels peace. And our world has become quite noisy. Sometimes remove yourself from this plague of constant din and find silence where God makes himself known to you. He is not a clamorous God. He is a God of whispers. It is apart from noise, in silence, that we hear him.
Let us meditate on these principles and foundations of his life that true Nigerians cannot afford to forget:
He appreciated the human person, from the little child to the youth; he helped them to become somebody through schooling to realise what human dignity is. Women have much more respect and honour today in Nigeria than they had sixty years ago. Blessed Tansi showed a Christian sensitivity to the work of every human person, woman or child
He was a person ready to serve others. For example, when there were smallpox patients, and also lepers, they were segregated. Everybody ran away from them but not Blessed Tansi. He gave them food and he himself gave them the sacraments. He was always available. So in many ways, he is a model for us
Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God, the Creator and by this means to save his soul. His life was entirely for God
All other things on the face of the earth are created for man so that they may help him in achieving the end for which he is created. From this, it follows that man is to use them in as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them for as far as they hinder him as to it.
For this, it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things so that on our part we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honour rather than dishonour, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us in achieving the end for we were created.
[Remember that the Diamond Jubilee of his call to glory is coming up on January 20, 2024 – pray for the worthy cause --pray for the one miracle to get him to the fullness of the Altar]
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Blessed Tansi: our model of Eucharistic devotion and piety.
The Eucharist is Jesus Christ - body, soul and divinity present on our altars under the appearance of bread and wine - the source and summit of our Christian life - “an important daily practice and becomes an inexhaustible source of holiness.” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia). Pope Benedict has this to say: “In the Eucharist the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; Eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the Eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration.” (Pope Benedict XVI in Sacramentum Caritatis) The Eucharist is both a sacrifice, heavenly food and real presence. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (Jn 6: 51)
In our recent history, Blessed Tansi is one of those holy men and women who lived, loved, and served on the very soil upon which we now stand. They all testify—in unique and powerful ways—to what it means to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist and go on a mission with him for the world's life. They leave us a legacy which if we follow will feature new Eucharistic witnesses. Old and young, men and women, representing different cultural families and vocations will testify in living colour—what holiness looks like. And it is in pursuit of holiness that Blessed Tansi ultimately became a living sacrifice in imitation of Christ the Good Shepherd, pouring out his zeal and strength for his flock. The Holy Father advises Nigerians that through imitating his Eucharistic piety they can reap the fruits of his labour. “So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest... Father Tansi's witness to the Gospel and to Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local Church now offers to the Universal Church” (St. John Paul 11 in his sermon Beatification Nigeria 1998)
Father Tansi's driving force was to be a faithful shepherd to his people, which meant bringing them to Jesus and this Jesus is the Eucharist – the centre of his life and ministry. He celebrated Mass for his parishioners with such extraordinary devotion because he knew it was essential for them to experience the full beauty and mystery of the Mass, where they would encounter the depths of Christ’s love for them. Early on, he established the tradition of the sacrament of reconciliation before mass in every outstation he was visiting. The sacrament of reconciliation and the mass made a great feast for the faithful in the outstations, especially the remote ones – the Father’s visiting is like a feast. These were real shared moments, which for them were truly Eucharistic - quite satisfying and revealing: satisfying for the contact and interest, and revealing as to the poverty that exists so close to them here and the great faith and spirit they manifest. Jesus, the Bread of life- the Eucharist and sacrifice was near to them. Whatever happens Fr. Tansi in the remote corners of his parish in the Archdiocese of Onitsha was the only priest left at the mission as an icon of Christ the Good Shepherd for his people. His presence alongside his suffering people spoke volumes about Christ’s redeeming love for them. He celebrated at every Mass, he lived faithfully every day. He became one with his parishioners to show them—not just tell them—how much God loved them. He was indeed a sign of the love of Christ for his people. Fr. Tansi is not just an ordinary priest. He has a spiritual presence about him that people see, feel and experience. He was a quiet man, yet people could sense the peace, joy, and love which filled him. Seeing him celebrate or in adoration, people kept wondering why he had the qualities they so desperately wanted. In addition to the varying forms of Eucharistic piety he also highlighted Eucharistic benediction and the importance of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) in his parish and exhorted all his parishioners to participate.
Even in the English monastery, those who attended his masses left with a great impression that there was something in the sacrifice of mass. “ Many people who participated at his masses in Mount Saint Bernard speak of his Eucharistic celebration in such a way that we are led to conclude that there is something special in those celebrations” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.183) Fr. Brian a member of the monastic community would never forget his encounter with Fr. Tansi at the Eucharistic celebration. “I have served others since, but this is something I shall always remember. There was something that even a small novice could recognise as something quite special. I had a similar feeling of the presence of God at Fr. Tansi's last mass, before he was taken to the hospital where he died” (Isichei E. ‘Entirely for God’ p. 103). Nowhere was this more evident than during his celebration of the Mass. “It is Father Cyprian who is saying mass today. I would not miss it for all the world...his masses seemed to be more holy than those of other monks...I discovered that not only all lay people living near the abbey but also the monks themselves thought that Father Cyprian said mass with a difference. On the altar he did not look like an earthly man, but when a conversation with us he was ‘nwa Tansi’ again.” (Sr. M. Eucharia Anyaegbunnam recorded in Peter Meze's ‘Our Memoirs of Father Michael Tansi’ p. 163-164). One of the monks of Mount Saint Bernard, Hilary Costello had a chance encounter – a real life-altering with Fr. Cyprian at mass and testified before the Archdiocesan Tribunal: “Seeing Fr. Cyprian celebrating mass was most edifying. He took a lot of time to prepare for mass. I used to serve his mass before my priestly ordination. He valued the mass...the manner in which Father Cyprian celebrated mass showed that he had great faith in the presence of Christ in the divine mysteries that he was celebrating. He had prayers always on his lips” (in C. Obi ‘Facing Mount Saint Bernard’ p. 196).
Blessed Tansi was deeply devoted to the Eucharist. The Eucharist was the secret of his day. It gave strength and meaning to all his other activities of service. His regular practice of Eucharistic devotion in varying forms has been a vital source of charity in his life. Adoration was never a passive practice in his life without which he would have been too poor to serve his poor. Our personal missionary journey to the peripheries of our lives will inevitably be different from the one encountered by Blessed Tansi. But the question we must answer is the same: what is God asking of me today, in this moment, in this place? How can our reception of Christ in the Eucharist transform our lives to be of loving service to our neighbours? In a world yearning for meaning and purpose, the Eucharist offers us a profound answer. It is an encounter with the living Christ, a communion of love that renews our spirits and empowers us to be witnesses of his presence in the world. If anyone can model this call to holiness in the midst of our very ordinary lives, it is you reading this. It all begins with our willingness to say “yes” to whatever—and whomever—God has placed in front of us.
Recently during his trip to World Youth Day in Lisbon, Pope Francis exhorted all members of the Church to renew the practice of Eucharistic devotion: he said, “Only in adoration, in the presence of the Lord, do we truly rediscover our taste and passion for evangelization … and everyone, priests, bishops, consecrated men and women, need to recover it, this ability to be quiet in the Lord’s presence.”(Pope Francis, Homily, in Lisbon 2 August 2023)
Sunday, October 22, 2023,
Blessed Tansi: Meet a zealous Pastor of our time.
“One of the ways in which the love of God and neighbour shows itself is in a life of apostolic zeal. Zeal is love which shows itself in action. While in general zeal is a strong movement of spirit, based on deep affection to promote what is loved and remove what stands in its way, apostolic zeal is an impelling desire to advance the kingdom of God, to help souls to live and grow in God’s grace, and thus to make God better known, loved, adored and thereby more faithfully served. The zealous person and more so the zealous priest not only loves God but ardently takes measures to share this faith and love with others and is ready to make sacrifices to see this happen” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 29). Throughout its history, the Catholic Church has seen numerous dedicated pastors, who were holy priests. Their words and actions remain a perennial source of inspiration for us to follow. The Blessed Tansi is an example of such a priest in our times. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much... Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. His personal goodness touched everyone who met him” (John Paul 11 in a sermon at Beatification Nigeria 1998). When Blessed Tansi was a pastor in the Archdiocese of Onitsha 1937-1950 he came forward to work with all his zeal for all especially the family, youth, poor and abandoned young people. He was ready and indeed gave his life for all. He was willing to suffer whatever was the will of God for the conversion of all. His commitment is in line with the words of St. Paul, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:16). He lived and preached the Gospel without any discount. This Saintly pastor was so immersed in his pastoral care that he cared little for his health and personal well-being. The former bishop of Umuahia, the late Anthony Nwedo describing his pastoral energy said “... it may be a high claim to make, but it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm candour, and the sensitiveness which is their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self forgetful”. (in Sermon at the re-interment Onitsha. Oct.17, 1986). For some of the faithful in areas where he ministered, he was not only a model but a yardstick to measure the performance of other priests. Mr Emmanuel Okonkwo Akukalia of Ukpo in Dunukofia parish said, "He was the yardstick by which he judges every priest he meets. All have fallen short of it except the late Fr. Kennedy who came nearer to his ways but not exactly (in Isichei. E. ‘Entirely for God’ p. 14). Blessed Tansi sacrificed so much including his own life for the love of God and his neighbour. “The love of Christ urged him on (cf 2 Cor 5:14) to great feats in the apostolate so that he could say with Saint Paul: “We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way through great endurance, in affliction, hardship, calamities...labours, watching, hunger, by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, trustful speech and the power of God” (2Cor 6:3-7) ( in Arinze Cardinal ‘Total Response p.78)
Pastoral zeal gave him enormous courage and strength to carry on the task he assumed on himself. He understood clearly that it was what the Lord wanted him to do. This gift also gave meaning to his priesthood and the pastoral ministry he had assumed on himself. It was a concrete way of practising the gospel values and evangelical counsels he had taken on himself at his ordination. His zeal for the ministry made him to be effective in his ministry and helped him to achieve more for the Lord and for the people through his reaching out to the flock more frequently and more meaningfully without counting the cost. For him, only the Lord and his flock counted – entirely for God and his people. His way and manner of apostolate were methodical – he was always close to the people and the people always close to him shared life together- a sure way to find holiness and make religious life a joyful enterprising for the Lord. “He went about this apostolate in a way that we could call methodical. That is why he made a big effort to see that women get the respect due to them in society” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.127). In the Archdiocese of Onitsha, one thing that singled Blessed Tansi out among others is his activity of shepherding, leading the flock and caring for the flock. “It was not only Cardinal Arinze who remembers with admiration and affection the priestly zeal of Blessed Tansi. From the time he was accurate at Nnewi in 1937 until his departure for the Trappists in England, in 1950, Tansi served with such priestly zeal and dedication that the ordinary of the Diocese, Archbishop Charles, Bishop Heerey, held him up as a model for all priests to emulate. This is a great compliment given the fact that most of the priests of the great diocese of Onitsha were, at the time, expatriates. Tansi was, what we refer to in America, as “a priests’ priest”.”(Fr. Eddy Debany SJ. in a lecture Symposium organized by Blessed Tansi National Solidarity Movement Onitsha March 18 2004). In his preaching, Jesus gives a vivid description of a good shepherd who loves and cares for his sheep with utmost concern and is ready even to give his life. Pastoral zeal is the hallmark and identity of the priesthood. “For zeal for your house has consumed me.” (John 2:17)
Blessed Tansi was filled with pastoral zeal from the moment he realized his vocation, even as a little child in Aguleri village. “When the future Blessed was but a small boy growing up in the Igbo village of Aguleri, he was exposed to the local traditions and customs of his native people while at the same time, to the Christian/Catholic religion of the French/Irish Holy Ghost Fathers who first evangelized Eastern Nigeria. It is not for us here to analyze in depth the motivations for the Christian conversion of young Iwene other than to note the profound formative influence of his maternal uncle Robert Orekyie – but rather to show how, even at the tender age of 9 while he was still a young layman – the future Blessed made a decisive, radical and preferential break with what he then perceived as the no-Christian aspects of Igbo culture and traditional religion. The destruction of his personal juju together with his sacramental baptism on January 7th, 1912 can be seen as Michael Tansi’s first conscious act of detachment from Traditional Igbo religious practice, together with his incipient attachment to Christian, liturgical practices and evangelical discipline as mediated and filtered by the predominantly Irish missionaries who at the time, congregated the Igbo converts into what were then termed Christian Villages” (Fr. Eddy Debany SJ in a lecture Symposium organised by Blessed Tansi National Solidarity Movement Onitsha March 18 2004) Like Jesus found in the temple, Blessed Tansi from childhood had a strong desire to do God’s will. “Don’t you know that I have to be busy with my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49).
His pastoral zeal was his realization and fruitful living of his priestly vocation – a vocation he cherished very much. It is the best way of furthering the Kingdom of God. And it is a hallmark of his holy life. Blessed Tansi is a Nigerian priest one hundred percent. He lived out the priesthood in a way that is convincing - in a way that gives witness with a very high degree of credibility. The type of witnesses that is contagious. He appreciated the human person, from the little child to the youth; he helped them to become somebody through schooling to realize what human dignity is. Women have much more respect and honour today in Nigeria than they had sixty years ago. Blessed Tansi showed a Christian sensitivity to the work of every human person, man, woman or child. He was a person ready to serve others. For example, when there were smallpox patients, and also lepers, they were segregated. Everybody ran away from them but not the pastor, Blessed Tansi. He gave them food and he himself gave them the sacraments. He was always available. So in many ways, he is a model for us especially for the Nigerian of today.
Sunday, October 15, 2023
The veneration of Blessed Tansi draws many to Basilica Most Holy Trinity Onitsha.
Hundreds of Pilgrims wait their turn to touch the relics of Blessed Tansi at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. They come from all over the country, many bringing with them images or statues of the Nigerian patron saint to be blessed. It is certainly one of Nigeria’s most visited and beloved religious venues – the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha, with a circular, cross-shaped roof visible from miles away and a sacred history that each year draws thousands of pilgrims from near and far to the banks of the Lordly River Niger site in Onitsha.
Early December-January is the busiest time, as pilgrims converge ahead of January 20, the feast day honouring our National Hero. To Catholic Pilgrims, the date is the anniversary of the call to the Glory of Blessed Tansi far away from Nigeria at Mount Saint Bernard England where for good thirteen years he was battling with his greatest mortifiers the cold weather of Leicester, where he was answering God’s call in the Cistercian contemplative apostolate.
More than a common part of Catholic culture and practice, the veneration of relics worldwide has been practised less during the last 50 years or so. But that seems to be changing in recent years, as the number of canonised saints increased during the pontificate of St. John Paul 11. Relics seem to be making a comeback and in a big way. And yet the veneration of relics in the Catholic tradition gives honour to God the only subject of worship, who is glorified in the saint or relic. Honouring the saints — and their relics — is an important part of what we do as Catholics since it is the glory of God that is seen in his saints. Pilgrims who come to the basilica see physical and tangible Relics of Blessed Tansi, these are concrete reminders for them that heaven is obtainable for them — so long as they recognize what made him holy and work to apply those qualities and lifestyles to their lives. When venerating his relics they express gratitude to God for those members of our spiritual family. In the presence of the relics they recall the holy life of the Blessed and they pray for the grace to achieve what he has achieved — eternity with God in Heaven.
It is a part of our culture in Nigeria for people to honour the memory of their loved ones by keeping their pictures around the house. Many also keep cherished belongings of their deceased loved ones. These belongings likely are treasured, and treated with honour and reverence. They are kept in safe and honourable places. They are well-packaged when the family moves. Such things are often handed on from one generation to the next. These secular “relics” assist us in recalling the person and his or her life, and the memories that remind them of who they were and what they were about. We also build monuments to great men and women and set up grave markers to memorialize our dead. And so it seems almost second nature for us to honour members of our family and those dear to us and the objects that belonged to them. Such similar reverence is translated into our family - the Church – the body of Christ. The saints are those men and women from our family who are deserving of our honour for their life of spiritual greatness. Moreover, they have put on Christ in baptism and become members of his body. The memories of Blessed Tansi are still very much alive among us when we visit the Basilica. He is still very active in our lives when we pray through his intercession. He is a very active member of our family and as members of the same family, we remember the role he played as our pastor and elder brother. And as human beings — composites of body and soul, we honour his body after his death just as family members visit and decorate graves on birthdays, death dates or holidays. Made in God’s image and likeness, we recognize the dignity of the human person by honouring their earthly remains — that is why the Church demands proper disposal of a person’s remains. Within this context, then, we should understand that relics are meant to be honoured and venerated, not worshipped. In fact, Blessed Tansi is leading us to fuller worship of God in spirit and truth. By honouring his memory, body and belongings, we give thanks to God for his holy witness – the kind of life he lived.
For many pilgrims, their journey to the basilica is an expression of gratitude for miracles that they believe the blessed Tansi brought into their lives. Around the basilica, some people light candles while praying in silence. Some kneel and weep. Others carry statues of the Blessed and rosaries of the Virgin in their arms as they receive a priest’s blessing. It was in this Basilica that a young lady Philomena received a complete and permanent cure for her stomach tumour. This miraculous cure was approved by the Vatican and used for the beatification of Blessed Tansi. As a pilgrim, always regular at the Monday devotion to Blessed Tansi is eager to share the fervour of her faith. “My entire life is filled with miracles from God and the Blessed Tansi, I could write a book about all that he has done for me.” Many who have received various graces and favours come back yearly to thank God, the basilica and Blessed Tansi and to ask for more favours.
As pilgrims, devotees, and friends of Blessed Tansi let us remember that: “the life of Blessed Tansi is telling us that all of us are called to be holy. His life of faith, humility and perseverance in following what he saw to be God’s will for him, no matter at what cost, and even when many details remain unknown” ( Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.252) All devotion to him must include a sincere desire to be holy. We cannot be his true devotees without a strong desire to emulate the disciplined, moderate and dedicated behaviour of his life. Part of his favour to our devotion will be his guidance, discipline, direction and correction. In order to aspire to and develop the higher values of Christian living all pilgrims and all devotees must be conscious of their good words and positive examples in the community they live. The heroic piety of Blessed Tansi as a child, teacher, priest and monk did not in any manner diminish his humanity. He performed with equal dedication his daily domestic chores as a child, was assiduous in his academic studies and was more than capable when involved in sporting events with his mates. Tansi was not merely a well-rounded youth interested in the normal everyday activities of his age group but more importantly did all things both with passion, intensity and moderation. He was a successful pupil, despite his domestic duties, and passed his exams each year. He was good at sports, which he attached with the energy and determination to excel which he brought to his spiritual life.
As a matter of fact Blessed Tansi lifestyle ought to be inculcated in the minds of all Nigerians but more importantly the baptized members of Christ’s Church. Its perfect attainment should not be limited solely to those who live out their vocation in the strictly contemplative life but as Blessed Tansi has shown us, can be struggled with and even enjoyed by all members of the Church from children and laypeople to priests and religious alike. This is my personal intuition and I hope that it is correct. The Holy Father has the same view in his advice to all Nigerians. “God, in fact, has blessed this land [Nigeria] with human and natural wealth, and it is everyone's duty to ensure that these resources are used for the good of the whole people. All Nigerians must work to rid society of everything that offends the dignity of the human person or violates human rights. This means reconciling differences, overcoming ethnic rivalries, and injecting honesty, efficiency and competence into the art of governing. As your nation pursues a peaceful transition to a democratic civilian government, there is a need for politicians — both men and women — who profoundly love their own people and wish to serve rather than be served (cf. Ecclesia in Africa, 111). There can be no place for intimidation and domination of the poor and the weak, for arbitrary exclusion of individuals and groups from political life, for the misuse of authority or the abuse of power. In fact, the key to resolving economic, political, cultural and ideological conflicts is justice; and justice is not complete without love of neighbour, without an attitude of humble, generous service.” (John Paul 11 in his sermon at beatification March 22nd 1998).
Sunday, October 8, 2023
Things Blessed Tansi Taught Nigerians
With the beatification of the Blessed Tansi on March 22nd 1998 at Oba–Onitsha- Nigeria, a great awareness has been created throughout Nigeria and beyond on the humble way the Nigerian saint lived out his vocation. He was a very humble pastor of souls, who touched the lives of so many people in his days and is still touching many lives by his legacy to Nigerians and the world. Blessed Tansi's greatest achievement, to my mind, is making deep spirituality available to ordinary people like you and me. He taught how to live and become a saint in a simple way. Looking back, especially in the areas he performed his pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha; I can see that he influenced the entire Catholic life — most especially in recent years. “As a pastor, one can use the term pastoral charity to describe his dedication, his drive, his perseverance under harsh physical conditions, his readiness to visit the sick and his intense desire for the eternal salvation of his people” (Cardinal Arinze in ‘total Response p.211) With the promotion of his cause in Nigeria the term ‘holiness’ and ‘becoming a saint’ have become a popular saying. The activities of his spiritual sons and daughters, devotees and his solidarity prayer groups all over Nigeria are influencing the daily spiritual lives of many. His spiritual legacy is inspiring and encouraging not only individuals but also groups to pray. Most of his prayer groups are inspired by Cistercian spirituality. The now flourishing monastic apostolate in Nigeria is one of the great legacies of Blessed Tansi. He is the patron and model of the priestly life and ministry in Nigeria. Here are some master insights of his that can help us understand ourselves and grow holiness.
God is everything – entirely for God. A lawyer from among the Pharisees asked Jesus a question to test him: “Teacher which is the great commandment in the law?” We all know the answer, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment, and the second is like it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets” (Mt. 22:35-40), God is the beginning and the end of creatures. Outside Him there is nothing. Indeed God helps me to live my life with zeal for God who is everything. “He saw Christianity as living entirely for God. From his day of Baptism, he did not look back. He kept up the effort to give God of his best in the use of time, in studies...” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 210)
Sanctity of marriage, life and family. Marriage, a sacrament of love, life and service is the bedrock of human society. Marriage and family give life, love and service to all of us. This should be respected, sanctified and cherished by all. The Catholic Church has high esteem for marriage and family – ‘the first and vital cell of society’. In his apostolate, Blessed Tansi set out to build up Christian marriages and families by sanctifying and reconciling broken ones.
Preferential love for the poor, sick and needy. - What is done to the poor is done to the Lord himself: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was sick and you visited me” (Mt. 25:34) Blessed Tansi showed us how to live this gospel without discount. His house was twenty-four hours open for the sick, the hungry, the aged, the needy and the voiceless. Food is a basic need of every one and to feed the hungry is to respect and love him. “Father Tansi knew that to prepare women for their due status in society and to help build up Christian families would not be accomplished in one day ... he went about this apostolate in a way that we could call methodical” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response p. 127)
Total detachment from material wealth and worldly greatness – As a young professional teacher in the early colonial era Blessed Tansi had so many opportunities for greatness and wealth. He could have remained in the teaching profession, joined the government civil servant, or became a businessman or politician but he chose to enter the seminary for the priesthood. Thus remained through life a truly spiritual person, fully alive with the Spirit of God received in Baptism, avoided serious sin, effective in whatever task God proposed, courageous in the face of trial and difficulty, mortified, charitable and always full of prayer. He lived fully within the world but at the same time was not of the world and did not adapt to the pattern of the world around him. On the other hand, he did not disdain the created world nor fear it nor run away from it but rather experienced the world and its many goods as gifts from God to be used with freedom, responsibility and gratitude. His spirit of detachment challenges us today.
Self-control is the foundation of his mortified penitential life. “The first seminarians were therefore subjected to harsher tests than the candidates in the seminaries of today. “Ordinations, in these circumstances” writes Professor Gray, “demanded a heroic blend of determination, self-control and abnegation Many Africans rebelled and challenged the basic racist assumptions of their day by frontal assault Tansi and two other of his companions persevered. Thereby they effectively shattered the stereotype and opened the way for their successors” (Richard Gray: An African Saint, in Times Literary Supplement, London quoted in Newsletter Blessed Iwene Tansi, Dec 2008 p. 11). “An unmistakable general impression which Father Tansi made on a person who comes close to him was that here was a priest who had reached a remarkable level of self-control” ( Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 193) What will our Nigeria look like if fifty percent of the citizens practice self-control?
Patient with God and His world – his seminary days, his vast area of apostolate in the Archdiocese of Onitsha, and his monastic adventure were all full of trials that demanded his patience. Our wishes and feelings matter but only to a point. God has his plan in our life. his life teaches us that one train of thought can leave us sad and another joyful. Blessed Tansi never complained. “It was never in the character of Father Cyprian to complain, whether it was about food, or cold, or work assignment or illness.” (Arinze Cardinal in Total Response p. 223)
The presence of God in eternity - visible in all creation. Increased our outlook, trust and gratitude for God. Blessed Tansi lives in the presence of God all the time. Joyful things on earth but blessedness in the life to come. Our attention should be on what God’s omnipresence in eternity means to us as we are constantly surrounded by his love and care at all times.
May the example of the heroic life of Blessed Tansi, who sacrificed his life in order to serve God and his people, help you to understand that one grows up with holiness and heroic deeds through faithfulness in small, everyday things.
{Remember that January 20, 2024, will be the diamond jubilee of Blessed Tansi's call to glory – pray sometimes for the happy conclusion of his worthy cause.}
Sunday, October 1, 2023
Blessed Tansi - Life of service.
During the official church’s recognition of the humble way he lived out his mission and vocation Pope John Paul 11 presented the life of Blessed Iwene Tansi as an example of the Gospel in action and service to the greater good of humanity. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much. He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. His personal goodness touched everyone who met him. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families” (Sermon Beatification Nigeria 1998).
In his 62 years of life as a child in the village, a school pupil, a school teacher, a seminarian, a diocesan priest and finally a Cistercian monk Blessed Tanis touched the lives of many wherever he worked. “Today, one of Nigeria's own sons, Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, has been proclaimed "Blessed" in the very land where he preached the Good News of salvation and sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another” (ibid) Blessed Tansi had an apostolic zeal, which was an opportunity for the faithful to meet passionate witnesses to the proclamation of the Gospel, an extraordinary individual who embodied the will and also the inner passion to carry the Gospel forward. He was admired by all because like so many saints before him, he took very seriously his vocation to holiness – the kind of holiness that can serve as a universal model of essential holiness appropriate to all Christians whether these be high ecclesiastics, religious, youths or any member of the baptized laity. The holiness was essentially based on humble service. He lived a truly spiritual person fully alive with the Spirit of God received at Baptism, avoided serious sin, was effective in whatever task God proposed, was courageous in the face of trial and difficulty, was mortified and charitable, always full of prayer, humility and heroism in the practice of the Christian virtues and finally effectively detached from all things both good and evil even from life itself. Blessed Tansi lived fully within the world but at the same time was not of the world and as the letter to the Romans reminds us, “does not adapt to the pattern of this present world” (Roman. 12; 2). This does not mean that he disdained the created world nor feared it nor ran from it but rather experienced the world and its many goods as gifts from God to be used with freedom, responsibility and gratitude. “Father Tansi needed some money for his parish structures, building schools, churches and running pre-marriage training centres, but for him, the priority went to human beings, especially the poor, the sick, the old, the widow and the orphan” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘total response p.205). Because of his total detachment from creatures, he had enough time for God and his fellow men and women - full of prayerful and active compassion for the world especially when its parts or members are disfigured by human sin and injustice. As fully spiritually detached he abhorred only evil and its sinful manifestations but at the same time did not invest his identity and self-worth in earthly pursuits and concerns even when these were good and noble because when all is said and done, he had another home in view. He was a good disciple of Jesus – deliberately chose poverty, lived it and above all had in himself the mind of Christ who “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7). “It is one thing that a person from a rich family takes the vow of poverty and enters a religious congregation. It is quite another situation when an Igbo man who could have become rich in things of this world deliberately chooses to be poor and to live poor. This is the choice that Fr. Tansi made. It was going against the current in society.” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.203)
He lived a life of works of mercy – the doctor of the poor and the weak. His faith was at the centre of his life; had a rich prayer life, and was an extremely compassionate priest. He was someone who often gave medical assistance to the poor and needy, often without asking for any compensation. Instead of the wealth of money, he preferred that of the Gospel. At Nnewi, he provided medicine and service to Nnewi lepers. This life of service was predicated upon charity and mercy and underscored by his willingness to listen to the will of God. This kind of apostolic zeal is derived from certainty and strength. The certainty was the grace of God and the strength was his willpower and determination.
He is a model of holiness committed to the defence of the poor in the challenges of history and, in particular, as a paradigm of service to his neighbour, like a Good Samaritan, without excluding anyone. He is a man of universal service. The Holy Father said he spent his life to promote good and to build peace and justice in truth. “Father Tansi knew that there is something of the Prodigal Son in every human being. He knew that all men and women are tempted to separate themselves from God to lead their independent and selfish existence...He encouraged people to confess their sins and receive God's forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He implored them to forgive one another as God forgives us, and to hand on the gift of reconciliation, making it a reality at every level of Nigerian life... He was always available for those searching for reconciliation. He spread the joy of restored communion with God. He inspired people to welcome the peace of Christ, and encouraged them to nourish the life of grace with the word of God and with Holy Communion” (John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998) Also blessed Tansi stressed how important it is to be open to the needs and requirements of other people. Monsignor Joseph Nwanegbo ordained with Father Tansi- commented: “I knew him for many years even as a school teacher, and even before we went to the seminary, as a person concerned foremost with “others” (Isichei Elizabeth in ‘Entirely for God’ p.23)
Many more talk of his total service and solidarity with the poorest of the poor. The same interior force, fruit of his spiritual sensitivity to the interior motions of the Holy Spirit, inspired him to seek a more perfected union with God which he then understood as priestly, sacramental and pastoral service to his Igbo brothers and sisters. Nothing more and nothing less! It was a desire to serve. His was a way of the saints even open to us today. How I wish his example to serve as a teacher and headmaster have anything positive and challenging to say to our modern Christian professionals. Could his obvious dedication to his profession while profoundly integrating it with Christian values inspire modern-day bankers, teachers, traders and civil servants to use their professions as means for the betterment of the world with the resultant reward of eternal life with the blessing of heaven? The lives of the saints and blessed of every age and place point to truths and values far more enduring than a good job, a fat bank account, healthy children, a comfortable house, a good name and a steady supply of other goodies. The professional, pre-clerical life of Blessed Tansi challenges all of us with questions such as: Why do we work? For what purpose? Is it only to make money needed to feed and clothe myself and our families? What is the role of my Christian faith in my place of work? Am I a devout follower of Jesus seven days a week? Or am I only a Sunday Catholic? Am I punctual, prayerful, and attentive to the poor and needy clients or pupils? Am I honest in my business dealings? Is righteousness before God my supreme good or do my comfort, my family and my material prosperity come first? Am I free enough with my life to let it go if God should ask me or am I always praying for long life and prosperity? The life and choices of Blessed Tansi, teacher headmaster and priest point to motivations far more sublime and universally appealing than the mere development of my talents, the exaggerated enjoyment of life, the pursuit of honour, financial security and prestige. These he had at least potentially and yet he willingly and freely gave them all up. Because he was a man detached from the vanities of the world while at the same time, attached to the higher values of perfect and courageous Christian discipleship.
Sunday, September 24, 2023
Blessed Tansi call to Glory - Diamond Jubilee.
The last 13 years of earthly existence of Blessed Tansi began in the early summer of 1950 when a rather large pilgrimage was setting off in that Holy year from Nigeria, among them were Europeans, Africans, lay people, Sisters, priests including Blessed Tansi on his way to Mount Saint Bernard monastery to prepare for his end which will eventually become his beginning. He survived for 13 years the cold, the damp, the mist, and the fog of Charnwood forest in the centre of Leicestershire, at about 600 feet above sea level. It was indeed a very trying period for him. He was answering what he considered to be a divine call for him; he was looking for God who called him. He had left all to follow his Cistercian vocation in a foreign country with a wretched climate. He had followed a strict monastic regime faithfully for 13 years. He had been sustained by the steady hope that his sacrifices would make possible the introduction of the Cistercian Contemplative life to Nigeria and his own people. But this project was vitally at stake throughout all these wide-ranging and drawn-out discussions. For Blessed Tansi he left the whole thing to Divine Providence and spent most of the days and weeks and months in silence, listening and praying waiting for the Lord. Fortunately, the community's final votes of May 6th 1963 concentrated all the efforts of his Community on making a Cistercian Foundation in the Cameroon Highlands, not in Nigeria. With this vote, things began to move rapidly for the Cistercian Foundation in Africa and Blessed Tansi's final days. On May 30th, 1963 the Abbot announced in the Chapter the names of those chosen to go on the foundation. Blessed Tansi was named Novice Master. When he was reassured his appointment was not just a consolation prize, but a serious choice made by the Abbot for a very responsible post he set to work at once to prepare his classes.
For the last four or five years prior to 1963, the Infirmarian had been keeping an eye on Blessed Tansi's health. After the T.B. gland in his throat had been excised he was asked to keep a week-by-week record of his weight; and was given a flask of hot milk to take to bed with him each night after an old duodenal ulcer had been diagnosed. “During the following week, he complained diffidently of pains in the back. He was always vague about any aches and pains and disliked drawing attention to them. "There is no trouble" was his habitual answer to questions about his health” (in Gregory Wareing's Sorrow Shall Not Kill Me). However, the infirmarian thinking that this might be a slight return of 'Lumbago' put him to bed in the dormitory where a special light was fixed up in his cubicle to enable him to read in bed. Even though he repeated that he was quite comfortable and had no needs, the wardrobe keeper persuaded him to accept extra blankets, for January is a cold month, and joked that next year he would not need all these blankets in Nigeria. Surprisingly, an “unexpected reply came back in sign language: that he would not be returning to Africa: he would be buried here, at Mt. St. Bernard” (Gregory Wareing in unpublished written testimony). Again trying still to make him more comfortable it was suggested that he should be transferred from his boards and straw mattress to a more comfortable bed on the infirmary corridor. But Blessed Tansi declined the offer with a smile. As usual, he was 'all right'. He read little, ate less, and spent the week quietly, thinking and praying. The infirmarian attending to him one day noticed that his left thigh was about twice the size of his right. He had some pain there. The doctor came at once and diagnosed a deep thrombosis of the leg but was more concerned with a lump he had felt in his stomach. He suspected a growth. Then Dr. Frizelle, his previous surgeon, came from Leicester to see his patient and confirmed a growth. He was doubtful about its malignancy but arranged for him to be admitted to the hospital for an immediate operation on the next day. Blessed Tansi was then immediately transferred to a comfortable bed in an infirmary corridor room. The Prior, to his surprise, anointed him and pointed out the possibilities ahead of him. The next morning, when the community rose at 2 a.m. Fr. Mark Ulogu slipped along to this room and found him on the floor by the side of the bed, in great pain. He was lifted gently back. The Superior and three infirmarians were called out of Vigils, one of the ex-medical students suspected an aneurysm, from the intensity of the pain, in spite of the analgesics given him. When the doctor came he made arrangements for immediate transfer to Leicester Royal Infirmary.
At 9 a.m. he received the Viaticum with the same intensity of fervour which he had been anointed yesterday afternoon. This time he was quite willing to go to hospital, ready to die if God so wished. The will of God was all he wanted. As Fr. Mark had been present at his anointing so now he was praying at his bedside when he received Viaticum. The ambulance had been waiting outside the door of the Guest House while the Guest Master made the men a cup of tea to keep them busy during the anointing. Before his viaticum, he had been in great pain. Now he was smiling at everyone and joking with them as he had his mind and heart towards his heavenly rewards. As the stretcher was placed in the ambulance, Fr. Germain one of the groups chosen for the African Foundation put his head around the door and said: "Your ticket is booked for Africa. Let's have you back soon." The reply came back, strong and assured, in a tone of voice never heard before at Mount Saint Bernard: 'We will go'. (Gregory Wareing in ‘Sorry Shall Not Kill Me p. 46) We will go from heaven.
On arrival at the Casualty Clearance in Leicester Royal Infirmary, the pain returned to him in full force. But yet ‘a little pain', was all that he would admit to the doctor. He was x-rayed. Then taken to a bed in Marriot Ward, and prepared for immediate operation on his stomach. At about 1:45 p.m. the same day 20th January 1964 the Guest Master took a phone call from the Ward Sister warning the Abbey that Fr. Tansi was sinking. At once, Fr. Adrian drove the Prior and Fr. Mark into Leicester. The Guest Master phoned a Senior Irish Catholic Sister in the Royal Infirmary. Immediately, she went across the hospital to Marriot Ward to see if she could help the dying monk in any way. The monastery carload arrived soon afterwards but they were all too late. Quite suddenly Blessed Tansi died basically alone, at about 2 p.m. on January 20th, 1964.
The official report gave the cause of his death as: "Arteriosclerosis and rupture of a coronary aneurysm". He has been called to glory. During his early days in the Novitiate Fr. Cyprian had written to his old colleagues that life in a monastery may be hard, but that a monk's funeral was all that an Igbo could desire. On the morning of January 21st. The community assembled at the Church door to meet the car bearing Fr. Cyprian's coffin. As it entered the drive the bells commenced to toll in the tower. On arrival, the frail body was transferred by the hands of his brethren to the common monastic bier and escorted into the nave to lie between the choir stalls. Day and night the brethren took turns to pray beside it till the funeral Mass the next day January 22nd. 1964. Many touched their rosaries to that peaceful, smiling, brown face. It was here in this church that he had made his vows. He had kept them all. He was to be buried in the monastery of his profession, thus keeping his special, monastic vow of stability to the full. Nothing has gone wrong. This is all right. This is what he came for. It will help us all. There was Faith: God and glorious reward. It will be remembered Father Tansi, took simple vows here at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, on December 8th 1953. He made those vows into perpetual solemn Vows on December 8th 1956. He would enter the next phase in his apostolate once his soul came into the presence of God. God's plans were being worked out. Fr. Gregory Wareing his one-time novice master testified: “While I was living with him in the same Monastery and Community, from personal observation, as far as I know, he kept all these monastic vows in an admirable way. I do not know of any occasion on which he broke his vow of obedience, his vow of Chastity, his vow of poverty, or acted deliberately and openly against his vow of conversion of manners” (In a written unpublished testimony 1986).
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Meet a Eucharistic Pastor
In Igbo traditional religion as in the times described in the Old Testament, sacrifice was the way one sealed a covenant, not just a contract or an agreement. It was a life commitment between the two parties. To enter a covenant was to undertake a most solemn obligation on which the parties staked their lives. One of the most enduring legacies of Blessed Tansi is his deep devotion to the Eucharist. He learnt early enough in Igbo traditional religion that every true sacrifice ends up with a meal. So it was easy for Blessed Tansi’s converts to understand the Eucharist as a sacrifice and a meal. That already-created awareness helped him to deepen the devotion and understanding of the Eucharist as the real presence of the Lord in the parish. He sought the friendship of the Lord daily to know him better in the Scriptures, in the Sacraments, in prayer, in the communion of saints, in the people who came to him, sent by the Lord. He tried to come to know the Lord himself more and more. “In his years as pastor, the faith of Father Tansi in the Holy Eucharist was very manifest. He was seen often in his chapel on visit to our Eucharistic Lord, especially by night.”(Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 173) Because the immense gift of salvation is accessible to us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist where God gives himself to us, to open our existence to Himself, to link it to the mystery of love, to render us a participant in the eternal mystery from which we come and to anticipate the new condition of full life in God, in the expectation of which we live. Fr. Tansi seemed to be living in the presence of God all the time. Monsignor Stephen Ezeanya (later Archbishop) said: “… on the altar I find the picture of Fr. Tansi indescribable. The devotion and attention with which he said mass, his bows his genuflections, his observance of the rubrics and the way he treated the sacred species were exemplary, one cannot see in him someone who did not belong to this world. He was in the world but certainly not of the world. He showed this by his comportment” (in P. Meze, ‘Our Memoirs of Father Michael Tansi p. 72). He carried out his priestly Eucharistic ministry with great faith and devotion. The Holy Father St. John Paul11 praised the efforts of the Blessed in fostering communion and reconciliation through the Eucharist. “He spread the joy of restored communion with God. He inspired people to welcome the peace of Christ, and encouraged them to nourish the life of grace with the word of God and with Holy Communion” (in beatification sermon Nigeria 1998)
While many are familiar with and remember with admiration the Blessed Tansi’s radical preferential love for the poor and the sick and the decision to pursue a life of religious poverty, few remember his intense love of the Eucharist. This Eucharistic devotion was evident from an early age, when something like the Christ child who wandered off to Jerusalem’s temple, young Michael Tansi could not be found by his friends — only to be located in the local church’s tabernacle. Joseph Idigo one of Fr. Tansi's boyhood friends has this to say about his early devotion to the Eucharist: “When we were young, we used to play in the moonlight. After eating in the evenings, we would go from house to house, calling our age group to play in the moonlight. When we went to his house to call him we would not find him at home. After searching for him everywhere, we eventually found him in the church, seated alone in one corner. You would not know that there was anyone there. We often found him crying in the church. This is what happened every day. Some of our mates would call him out and beat him up. We were about twelve years old then.” (In Isichei Elizabeth ‘Entirely for God” p. 18). A similar testimony was later given by one of the same group age, John Mokwe: “...his devotion to prayers was most striking. If you watched him praying in the church he knelt down motionless, fixed his eyes on the tabernacle and tears gushed from his eyes. Some boys made fun of his attitude at prayer, but the more they did so the more fervently did he pray. Other boys tried in vain to imitate him. He found time to attend the daily Masses and made visits to the Blessed Sacrament” (Elizabeth Isichei in ‘Entirely for God’ p. 18)
Blessed Tansi's road to the priesthood was difficult and filled with obstacles. But by God’s grace, they were overcome one by one. He was ordained to the diocesan priesthood in 1937 and had a very fruitful apostolate in the Archdiocese for 13 years. His hard-working, zealous, ascetic life and energetic nature led him to his inclination toward the contemplative life, and eventually joined the religious monastic life with the Cistercians of Mount Saint Bernard in 1950. Blessed Tansi priesthood magnified a great love for the Eucharist and a tenacious desire to spread Eucharistic devotion. These have earned him renowned as an apostle of the Eucharist. In reality, his whole life was a Eucharist because the centre of his life as a ministerial priest was the Eucharist and from the time he entered the cloister he raised up a continual thanksgiving to God in his prayer, praise, supplication, intercession, offering and sacrifice. He accepted everything and offered everything to the Father in union with the infinite thanks of the only-begotten Son, who lives at the right hand of the Father.
With his long fasts and no comfort one sometimes wondered what gave him the joy, which people never failed to see on his face. Some think it was the presence of God, which he considered as the fulfilment of all desire, the inheritance with the saints, the furnace of love and our heavenly homeland. This was testified in his most favourite song, ‘Ife annuli na enu uwa ma ife ebube na enigwe’, (joyful things on earth but blessedness in heaven). To lovingly attend to God's living presence was to remain, to surrender, and to dwell with Him. Awareness of the presence of God automatically inspired in him a love for prayer, to be with God all the time, craving for spiritual growth, everything making sense for him, generous to people, zealous in his ministry, and happy doing his work with tranquillity. To the Nigerian religious sisters who came to Mt. Saint Bernard to seek his advice, he described this kind of contemplation as primarily God's work which we make space for by self-denial and silence. The soul humbly asked and obediently waited for God’s response. Speaking of Fr. Tansi's depth of prayer before the Lord of the Eucharist, the Holy Father St. John Paul 11 said to the congregation gathered at Abuja - Nigeria: “By grace, he was "made joyful in God's house of prayer" (Is 56:7). And he understood that God's house is a "house of prayer for all the peoples" (ibid.). It is a house of prayer for the Hausa, for the Yoruba, for the Igbo. It is a house of prayer for the Efik, the Tiv, the Edo, the Gwari, and the many other peoples — too numerous to mention by name — who inhabit this land of Nigeria. And not just for these peoples alone, but for all the peoples of Africa, for all the peoples of Europe, of Asia, of Oceania, of the Americas: "My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples" (Abuja Nigeria March 23, 1998)
Blessed Tansi's life was spent encouraging others to do what he was doing as a 12-year-old: to sit at the feet of the Eucharistic Lord and listen to him. This we must do particularly in robust health, in suffering from various ailments and in all kinds of trials. True love for God cannot triumph unless it becomes the one passion of our life. Without such passion, we may produce isolated acts of love, but our life is not really won over or consecrated to an ideal. Until we have a passionate love for our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we shall accomplish nothing,
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
Sunday, September 10, 2023
The Next Blessed Tansi of Our Time?
There is no doubt that in today's Nigeria God is raising up the apostles and saints whom he will use to respond to the challenges of our difficult time in ways you and I can't even imagine. But are these people now living the difficult Nigerian situation? No. They are among us; they will not come from the sky. It is essential to remember that even in the darkest times for the Church, God is always at work, calling forth disciples whose wildly different lives, situations, personalities and responses to God will send out ripples that converge and change the direction of history. Blessed Tansi is the saint of his time as well as Saint John Paul 11, St. Padre Pio and many others of different times and periods. All of them are honoured and remembered and indeed even prayed to, not because of where they lived nor even for what they accomplished, but for that ever-attractive and inspiring state of holiness that they were able to achieve during their earthly lifetimes. Today is our time inspired by their example we all are called to the same form of the holiness of life. The difficult period of our Nigeria is not an impediment to holiness. We know that King Henry VIII declared himself head of the Church in England, beheaded Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, and began suppressing the ancient religious communities. The years spanning fifty years marked the dramatic beginning of generations of persecution and suffering for English Catholics. And yet God was already raising up the only answer for really bad times: fruitful new Catholic apostles. Look at who was emerging in the Church during the very same period: St. Philip Neri, St.Ignatius of Loyola and his six companions, including St. Francis Xavier and St. Peter Claver.
Today we have our own Blessed Tansi, “a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest” ( Saint John Paul 11 Sermon Beatification Nigeria 1998). The church recognised the humble way he devoted his life to the service of God and humanity in his own calling. He is today an example to all Nigerians of every calling to live a holy life. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much. He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness” (ibid). If he made it we too can also make it in whatever situation and vocation we find ourselves. Those who know testify to his goodness and the human struggles in his life. “Father Tansi was a great man, a many-sided specimen of redeemed humanity, a pride of Nigeria, a convert from African Traditional religion who lived ‘entirely for God, a follower of Christ who put his hand to the plough and did not look back(cf Lk 9:62). (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.9)
What could be said about this Blessed Tansi? Was he different from his fellow Nigerians – certainly not he was a true Nigeria. Was he so very different from the rest of his fellow Nigerians- certainly not. What may be different is the kind of lifestyle he adopted for himself. He lived simply and edifyingly. He knew that personal union with God, prayer and sacrifice could help him and help in the salvation of his fellow Nigerians. He knew that it was love that counted. We are all brothers and sisters belonging to the same Body of Christ with many members, each having different functions ― but each is needed, and each is important. Some will be businessmen and women, educators, politicians, civil servants etc. Each in its own way working for the common good, progress, peace and joy of Nigeria.
Blessed Tansi began his career first as a school teacher in the colonial administration, then as a seminarian and a priest. He was among the first Nigerians to be ordained, and he led his people by word and example. There is no saying what his future would have been had he not taken to the priesthood. But he felt the call to follow Christ in another way. He too was urged by the love of God and of his fellow men and women. He too was a man of prayer, intent on personal union with the Lord. He wanted the priesthood and later the monastic life for his people. For him, it was God’s call, an invitation to service which entailed leaving his country and his family like Abraham and so many others, and undertaking what he believed to be a deeper and more enduring apostolate. It was, like all true calls from God, a venture of faith.
He served God and humanity as a) a professional teacher, b) a diocesan priest, and c) a religious Cistercian monk. The common guiding principle in all these is ‘entirely for God’ whether as a teacher, a priest or a monk. God and humanity were at the centre of all he was doing. He distinguished himself in the love of God shown in his:
burning zeal and courage to do his duty for God and benefit of humanity
attention to the needs of the poor and the sick
detachment from material goods
sincerity to his religious duties
courage and fearlessness for the course of truth and justice
thorough in whatever he did
simple, trustworthy and friendly
A combination of these qualities in practical life made him the saint of our time. Blessed Tansi is not calling all of us to follow him to the priesthood or religious life but rather in whatever vocation we put the above into action.
Right now, God is raising up the apostles and saints in Nigeria whom he will use to respond to the challenges of our difficult time in ways you and I can't even imagine. These are children, teens and adults of all ages — and from every conceivable social, cultural and economic background in Nigeria. They are women and men. Their vocations may be invisible to us and to their families and friends right now. Their destiny, and the ultimate impact of their obedience, are probably hidden even from themselves and will be revealed only one step at a time as they walk in obedience with Jesus in the midst of his Church.
But they are among us now. It is entirely possible for each and every one of us who has been anointed for mission by Jesus Christ himself to become one of those seminal agents of spiritual awakening. But only if we each personally seek union with Jesus and strive to walk in the obedience of faith. The question is always: Which of us will say “Yes”? Which of us will become a member of the “generation of saints for this time and in Nigeria?
[Don’t forget to pray for the happy conclusion of the cause of Blessed Tansi and report to postulation the favours received through his intercession].
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Blessed Tansi on Being a Responsible Christian.
The Vatican 11 Council Fathers says in Lumen Gentium: "God shows to men, in a vivid way, his presence and his face in the lives of those companions of ours in the human condition who are more perfectly transformed into the image of Christ (cf. II Cor 3: 18). He speaks to us in them, and offers us a sign of his kingdom, to which we are powerfully attracted, so great a cloud of witnesses is there given (cf. Heb 12: 1) and such a witness to the truth of the Gospel. …a call to holiness is the will of God and such holiness is expressed “in multiple ways those individuals who, in their walk of life strive for the perfection of charity, and thereby help others to grow” (no. 29) This is true of the life of Blessed Tansi whose general impression everywhere is that of genuine, sincere, attached to the gospel without discount, severe on himself and out for the best for people. Whatever, is worth doing must be done well. As a freshman postulant in the monastery, he requested his novice master not to spare him from doing whatever was necessary for him to be a good novice. "Father; if this thing is to be begun, it must be begun well. Do not spare me. Please tell me my faults."(Father Gregory Wareing in a written unpublished testimony) Father Michael had come to Mount Saint Bernard for the full novitiate training and never looked for the privilege. The same he did for his parishioners, spiritual sons and daughters. ‘Whatever is worth doing must be done with perfection’. He frowned at half measures – anyone who wants to be a Christian must become a good one – worthy of the name. “Akpo ife ife ga eme unu ife” (disregarding important matters, literally, not calling a thing a thing, not taking a matter seriously, will bring disastrous consequences upon you” (in E. Isichei, Entirely for God p. 40)
Similarly “Venantius Ike and Jerome Chigbogu, both of Umuonyiba Ufuma quoted his fiery homily: ‘Ufesiodo, olili di aso unu na anata na atu m egwu, Aka bu aka na ayi oyi ga aba n’oku muo’ (Ufesiodo, I am frightened by the Holy Communion you receive. All who commit fornication will go to hell), (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.43). In all these, he was expecting perfection from his parishioners. It might not be out of place if we now put ourselves in the place of Ufesiodo and react to his heart-touching remarks. From Bishop Godfery Okoye we have this testimony: “ Father Tansi was my Spiritual Director. He did not believe in half measures. The sanctity of life for a priest is paramount to him. He stressed the characteristic virtues of a priest: charity, humility, obedience, zeal, self-denial, prayer, etc. These things he practised himself” (in a written unpublished testimony 1976) His fame for discipline so spread around the Archdiocese that headmasters and teachers refused to go to his parish schools when they were asked to do so. To pass his examinations one had to study very hard. Those who came for baptism and the first Holy Communion examinations were required to know the whole of the “yellow Catechism book.” His apostolate was rewarded with many conversions but, he made sure that the applicants, except in cases of dire emergency, were suitably instructed before receiving them into the church. All aspirants are solemnly warned that after baptism, they will be expected to attend regularly to their Catholic duties. He knew most of the adult converts by name and he knew well who were fit enough for the Sacraments. At Umudioka in Dunukofia, he knew when any members of his flock were missing from liturgical services.
“…I came in contact with him in 1949 at St. Joseph’s Catholic School Aguleri, where I was doing my Standard Six. He wanted all those in standard six to live in the boarding house where he made a strict regulation and supervised our studies and discipline” (Francis Offite in written unpublished testimony May 1989). Another Mrs Theresa Okolo, the wife of Vincent Okolo, the headmaster at one of his mission School at Dunukofia in 1940, today remembered well that: “…He was meek, humble, and very honest in dealing with people but very strict as regards spoilt and undisciplined persons. He loved children and offered them gifts but never spared punishing them when they did wrong”. (May. 1984).
The lasting life values for me in his quest for perfection in whatever we do are: a.) seeing where we are and how we are called to move forward, b.) recognizing that just because we have been baptized does not in fact make us real Christians. At no time should a Christian forget or neglect his responsibilities i.e. losing sight of the fact that Christians are defined first by their love and practice, and c) some Christians are well-intentioned but not always well-informed of their faith is real, and they try to put that faith into action, but misguided beliefs and untrustworthy influences sometimes take them off course, leading to tribulation and struggles – a case in many of our Christian public servants. While some Christian servants take to heart that the central message of Christianity is love in action, they participate in the rites and rituals of the Christian life – attending church, saying prayers, and participating in the sacraments, their focus on doing good is rightly placed, but a lack of concern for doctrine and theology makes them susceptible to error, and in particular to the stumbling block of believing that their good deeds make them superior to or more worthy than others. Blessed Tansi insisted on well-balanced Christians, mature, pillars of the church, who marry faith and love in lives of service. Such Christians recognize their own shortcomings and exhibit genuine humility.
Today some of us tend to focus on the grace of God, how God loves us and forgives us of our sins – good, but this truth can be overdone. Some even take this concept so far that they think and say that God will forgive us no matter what we do wrong because his grace “is sufficient.” And some still claim God has already forgiven us of all sins that we will commit in the future. They may explain that God’s grace is more significant than our sinning ways. They may say, “God will never leave me or forsake me” (Deut. 31.6) But that should be interpreted in context. Remember Blessed Tansi's saying: “aka bu aka na ayi oyi ga aba okumuo” (All who commit fornication will go to hell), “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15.14). God has reached out to us by offering his Son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross. By believing this with all our hearts, we encounter the grace of God and enter into a relationship with God and Christ. But we must be responsible in keeping ourselves in the love of God by doing, to some extent, Jesus’ commandments. That’s our human responsibility–to learn Jesus’ teachings and continue in them. What kind of Christian are you?
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Blessed Tansi is his Life and Ministry
Blessed Tansi life and ministry are entirely for God. He is identified with that. “Who is this Nigerian priest said to have been not too tall in height, later in life rather frail in health, not one of the brightest students, but distinguished for his iron will, his firm trust in divine providence, his readiness to sacrifice his will in the service of God, his impressive acceptance to be misunderstood, a man never settling down to half-measures, dissimulation, pride or love of convenience, but always self-mortified and ready to put his whole heart and person into what he was doing. Who is this priest who seemed to have summarised his whole life in his advice to one of his parishioners: ‘If you are going to be a Christian at all, you might as well live entirely for God” (Arinze Cardinal in “Total Response” P.7) This, then, explains key aspects of his ministry and what he chose to prioritize. He lived and at the same time affirmed that the whole meaning and truth of existence can only be found in God and love. This was of critical importance to him since if God is the source, goal and meaning of all of created existence then the world can only truly be itself when it orients itself to this reality, to this infinite love. God is no add-on to human existence but is the world’s truest fulfilment. If we attempt to ignore God and live our lives as if God does not really matter, then we lose God and the world and ourselves.
This is why Blessed Tansi spoke so often of the quality of the Christian life and detachment from the world. Over sixty years he was already warning people of the danger of putting God second in their lives or living as if God is irrelevant. This is as if he knows the modern world will be constructed on the proposition that God is completely irrelevance to how our secular society should operate, and that in the cultural sphere, this God should remain a purely private affair of subjective choice on a par with my preference for a banana over a fish or watermelon over oranges. For Blessed Tansi the greatest priority in his life and ministry is first to realize that our efforts at evangelization must begin and end with a desire to make God’s presence in the world tangible, visible and real. And that is the project of saint-making and sanctification. He was not interested in projects, programs and strategies other than ‘may your kingdom come’ in human lives. His goal and purpose were for more saints. “I know him [Tansi] for many years even as a school teacher, and even before he went to the seminary, as a person concerned foremost with other things; other persons, other world. He was self-effacing to a heroic degree” (in Isichie E, ‘Entirely for God’ p. 23) As a priest he manifested a great zeal for the salvation of his people. This was the time of primary evangelization in Igbo land. He saw his task essentially to double down on the very essence of what the Church is by nature. And that is to be the sacrament of Christ in and for his people. Christ is the only reason the Church exists, her pearl of great price, and thus the path of Christological holiness is her one and only purpose. “Michael Tansi cannot have remained unmoved by the urgency of preaching the kingdom of God and the crying need of the people to receive the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ” (in Arinze Cardinal ‘Total Response’ p.31) This zeal was very evident in the parishes assigned to his care, Dunukofia, Akpu and Aguleri in such a way that the success was evident to even a biased observer. His life and ministry speak much to this moment of our history that God is disappearing from our horizon, and with the dimming of the light that comes from God, we are losing our bearings, with increasingly evident destructive effects. Blessed Tansi did not limit his pastoral care to his catholic members only he was also highly interested in members of other religions, fallen Catholics and polygamists. “He went uninvited to pagan families and exchanged views with them... half Catholics, pagans and polygamists seemed to be his best friends because he was after the ‘lost sheep” (E. Isichei ‘Entirely for God’ p. 40)
Once again it is important to highlight the central importance of his apostolate to the youth - the question of youth education and involvement in the social and political affairs of the community. Blessed Tansi saw the youth as the future of both the local church and of the State. “Father Tansi was convinced of the importance of literary education for the formation of the whole human person and the preparation of citizen for full participation in the life, in the family, in the church, and in social, economic and political arenas” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 44) While the Nationalists were struggling for independent Nigeria he was busy preparing the youth spiritually and politically for the future. He was a strong supporter of independence, freedom and religious liberty these are fundamental human rights grounded in our dignity as creatures who are made in the image and likeness of God and also as creatures who are destined to love God in the freedom of faith. Truth is the central category of Blessed Tansi’s thinking. His many social and religious reforms were based on truth and freedom. For there can be no truth without freedom and no freedom without truth. Marriage must be a union of equals and girls the weaker sex must be free of all kinds of intimidation and molestation from males. This was necessary in a society where some traditional rulers have chosen empty freedom without truth as long as they can use it to exploit the poor masses. The truth he fought for is oriented to love and to equality leading to free socialization.
Blessed Tansi has left us and is now with the Lord. “This great follower of Christ has a message for us today, for the lay faithful, for clerics and for consecrated men and women” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response p.28). His legacy remains with us as he is now in that realm that St. Paul described as something no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind can even imagine — which was St. Paul’s way of saying that when we finally encounter the truth that is God, we will see that it is a love of unimaginable and infinite depths. And as I pray that soon he will reach the fullness of the altar I can only smile and imagine that he, too, is smiling and is saying to himself, “At last! I am seeing Truth and beholding Glory.” The glory of the Lamb who was slain and who now reigns as the Lord of history.
[Please remember to pray for the happy conclusion of his worthy Cause]
Sunday, August 20, 2023
Blessed Tansi is faithful to his Spiritual children
Blessed Iwene Tansi is a priest and pastor. He has many spiritual sons and daughters. He is like a father to them. The duty of a spiritual father is to help his sons and daughters answer the call of God and step into the greatness for which they are made. The vocation of a priest is above all the salvation history of one baptised person in his area of apostolate. Blessed Tansi was very faithful to his apostolate. Each one of us has his own part to play in the salvation of the world. Priests serve people; this is their purpose in life. Priests are ordained not for themselves, but for others. A spiritual father sows seeds of hope, encourages forgiveness and teaches how to sacrifice in a way that only a father can do. He answers doubts about the faith when it is shaken. Blessed Tansi for the rest of his priestly life always expressed the highest esteem for the gift of the priesthood. He loved and lived it out to the full. It was his youthful dreams. He pondered on his desire to become a priest but it was far from easy for him to achieve it. He is one of such spiritual fathers of our time. He is an icon of Christ, who has taken precisely from God’s style: closeness, compassion, and tenderness. “The zeal of Blessed Tansi in promoting vocations to the religious life, therefore, was in practice shown in his role as spiritual father to several religious sisters” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ P. 108) The administration of the sacraments and the celebration of the Eucharist are the bedrock of his ministry, but salvation history takes place in his encounter with individuals, hopefully bringing that person to an encounter with Christ. In the ministry often individual priests do not know the good they do, and others get some recognition. For all his spiritual sons and daughters he recommended absolute participation in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and confession for nobody could claim to be enthusiastically pursuing spiritual growth, but who made little effort to receive frequent Holy Communion, spent some time regularly in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and went to confession. “He [Fr. Tansi] went about this apostolate in a way that we could call methodical. That is why he made a big effort to see that women get respect due to them in society... Many were the initiatives which Father Tansi took to promote women and the Christian family, to defend women’s rights, encourage their education, start associations and training centres for their human and spiritual formation and in general create conditions for their welfare” ( ibid. P.127)
There is, however, one charism, which Blessed Tansi has, and which has not received the attention it merits and that gift is ‘spiritual direction’. Spiritual direction is a long-standing tradition in the Church and an excellent means for growing in prayer life and in sanctity. Seeing our lives from an outside, objective source is a great way to know ourselves better so as to better ourselves more quickly and efficiently. Paul laments his personal tribulations and humiliations which he underwent for his proud Corinthian sons and daughters: “I am saying all this not just to make you ashamed but to bring you, my dearest children to your sense. You might have thousands of guardians in Christ Jesus by preaching the Good news…” (1 Corinth 4:14) And again disappointed with his Galatians sons as he recalled his sufferings and efforts to make them children of God: “…my children, I must go through the pain of giving birth to you all over again until Christ is formed in you …”. (Gal. 4:19). In another occasion to the Corinthians he spoke to them as if they were his own children ( cf. 2 Cor. 6:13), while to the Thessalonians Paul even assumed the role of a mother: “Like a mother feeding and looking after her own children we feel so devoted and protective towards you, and has come to love you so much…” (2: 8)
Among the Igbos of Nigeria, fatherhood has great importance in society. The concept of fatherhood is not limited to the father-son relationship. Anybody who in any way consistently helps another to make adventures and successes is said to be “fathering” him. It is the moral duty of elders to help the young to grow in the life and custom of their ancestors. The seriousness attached to this custom is demonstrated in the importance of the extended family relationship even today in Nigeria. An elder or wealthy person is obligated to help all his extended family members, who in turn regard him as their “father”. Blessed Tansi himself benefited from the generosity of his cousin for his boyhood education. As a priest, he devoted his life to others. He was a shepherd who had to look after the flock entrusted to him and took care of them. But his concern did not end with the flock, it extended to all mankind. On behalf of all who entrust their spiritual lives to his care and guidance, he was a father, exercising rights, duties and responsibilities similar to those of fathers in the temporal traditional order. Blessed Tansi was conscious of having this particular charism, writing to his spiritual son, Fr. Godfry Okoye (later Bishop) he said: “…It is not for want of words or language that the church uses the word “Father”, mother”, “brother” and “sister” for people who have dedicated their lives to the service of God in his creatures ― the church means that a Reverend Father should be real Father to every creature in his parish.” He was certainly aware of the great importance of this Fatherhood. His love was directed above all to the spiritual interest of his children, the ultimate salvation of their souls. In his letter of condolence on hearing the death of Fr. Tansi one of his spiritual sons said: “…Fr. Tansi’s death is a material loss but a spiritual gain. We have lost a Father and a friend but we have gained a saintly advocate who is very aware of our needs”
Summarizing her relationship and experience with Fr. Tansi, a spiritual daughter Mrs Veronica Umegakwe said: “...his life too became for me a yardstick, with which I measure my closeness to God” (Positio. Onitsha Informative Tribunal interview. Mrs Veronica Umegakwe presently is one of the most active living daughters of Fr. Tansi) The mother of a family at Umunachi Mrs Theresa Nzeakor who enjoyed the direction of Fr. Tansi later said: “… looking back now 44 years of my wedding, I am glad to say that the wedding brought a lot of blessing to my family. He remained very close to my family directing and shaping our future…” (Positio. Onitsha informative investigation 1988) In her own experience, Mrs Theresa Okolo saw him as a Father who not only looked after their spiritual life but who also to an extent was their physical doctor, treating them whenever they were sick, preaching and practising general cleanliness and good discipline. To one of his spiritual daughters, Fr. Tansi wrote: “…I have the confidence you will be as good as your promise, it pays to be good. But it requires effort and often costs pain. Sometimes one is ridiculed because one is making an effort to be good. But virtue, people say, is its own reward. Goodness is an ornament. A good girl is a treasure.” (Tansi manuscript – unpublished letters) On another occasion writing to a newly professed spiritual daughter, he said: “…I am so happy to see you so nobly minded, so closely united to God by the vows of religious consecration. All that happened in your profession is but a faint shadow of what the future will bring. Cloudy days must necessarily come... But when they do come to the thought that they are allowed by the design of a loving Father and a dear spouse should be a great support.”(ibid
Blessed Tansi saw this mission as indispensable for the local Church, for his suffering people and for the world, a mission which called him for complete fidelity to Christ and constant union with him. He knew that there was no other way than to abide in his love which, entails constantly striving for holiness and growing ever closer to Jesus, who counted on him, his minister, to spread and to build up his Kingdom and to radiate his love and his truth. God used his willingness and disposition to touch many lives in some particular way, a priest who was there for his people during illness, personal problems or family crises. A priest, whose teaching and personal witness inspired people to greater faith and continued conversion, a priest, who had become peoples’ spiritual director, confessor and personal friend. A priest, who was renowned throughout Nigeria as a compassionate and insightful confessor, and who made himself available for confession as long as there was a need. There was nothing about people and their needs that did not get Blessed Tansi's pastoral attention. Girls were not only taught to read and write, sew, cook a tasty meal, conduct a household, to raise the children marriage would someday bring to their homes, but they were also helped to find husbands and to prepare for their weddings. Indigent young men were helped financially to pay the “bride price” for their prospective wives.
Since sixty years and more Fr. Tansi had gone to his reward, yet his spiritual children remain dotted all over the globe with something of his own life and spirit. While some received through knowing him the vocation to the priesthood, and the religious life, others the grace of deeper prayer life, of greater love for God and neighbour, of serious devotion to duty, and again others the grace and willingness to unite a little more to the sufferings of the Lord, or to be more penitent, detached and mortified in our world engrossed in materialism and selfishness, where daily one noticed the erosion and debasement of true human values and where immorality and vice become an accepted way of life for so many. In his characteristic gentleness, he emphasized the importance of spiritual direction. He did not want his sons and daughter to copy him but to imitate Christ. He put up Christ as the model for all his sons and daughters. His role as a spiritual director was not to tell his sons what to do, as a boss or a military drill sergeant did. Rather, he helped his sons to discover and to accept what God was doing in their lives and what God was asking them to do. It was an ongoing conversation between his son, himself, and the Holy Spirit about how his spiritual son could know, love, and follow Christ more fully. He further recommended spiritual direction for everybody not just for seminarians and religious. You too need human companionship in your true spiritual journey.
[Please pray sometimes for a happy conclusion of this worthy cause and report to the postulation any favour received through the intercession of Blessed Tansi]
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Blessed Tansi's life and ministry centred on God
One of the many lasting attributes of the Catholic Church world over is its ability to attract to the state of evangelical perfection men and women drawn from every known historical place and culture, into its vast aura of holiness. These men and women are honoured, remembered, and indeed even prayed to, not because of where they lived nor even for what they accomplished, but for that ever-attractive and inspiring state of holiness that they were able to achieve during their earthly lifetimes. What inspires us most about these holy men and women is their shared singular pursuit of holiness and godly things while at the same time, their love and compassion for their fellow men and women. Reflecting on the God-centred life and ministry of Blessed Iwene Tansi, how does one begin to assess his achievement as a teacher, priest, and monk? His public career spanned over 40 years. “What could be said about him? He had lived simply and edifyingly ― but was there any more to say? Was he so very different from the rest of us?... Fr. Cyprian began as a missionary. He was among the first Nigerians to be ordained, and he led his people by word and example. There is no saying what his future would have been had he remained in his native country. But he felt the call to follow Christ in another way. He too was urged by the love of God and of his fellow men and women. He too was a man of prayer, intent on personal union with the Lord. He wanted to bring the monastic and contemplative life to Nigeria ― and since no one seemed ready to go; he himself asked to go to a monastery so that in due time he could bring that way of life back to his homeland. As we know, things did not turn out like that. God’s ways are strange. Fr. Cyprian was not to do this personally, for he died before his longing could be carried out” (Abbot Moakler sermon Mt. Saint Bernard abbey Sept 18, 1986).
One could write volumes on his legacy and still barely scratch the surface of his deep significance for the local Church. But is it possible to find an adequate thread that connects all of the various aspects of his life together into a single, coherent trajectory? Suppose we were to attempt such a construction. In that case, I think it is safe to say that through all of the various stages of his life the thing that most animated him, the one thing that guided him throughout his life, was his faith in the Son of God as the actual manifestation of the face of God — and, as such, the most important metric for truth. One of his most consistent theological and life-guiding principles flows out of this faith, which is his insistence on ‘God is everything’. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria … is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian… Father Tansi's witness to the Gospel and to Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local Church now offers to the Universal Church.” (St. PP.JP 11 Sermon @ Oba-Nigeria 1998)
In Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi we meet one who came from being a devout devotee of the African Traditional religion to a Catholic Christian to a Catholic priest, to a Cistercian monk, to the honours of the alter and perhaps God willing soon to the fullness of the honours of the altar - sainthood. His early search for God and truth drew him increasingly towards the missionaries, but there were many hurdles on his way. He passed through several stages on his journey, each rooted in his humble acceptance of the will of God and truth. His faith journey was characterized fundamentally by openness to truth, conversion, and missionary approach. He will ever be remembered as one of the faithful servants of the church in our days that lived out the call and mind of the church in his life. The former bishop of Umuahia, the late Bishop Anthony Nwedo has this to say: “... it may be a high claim to make, but it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm, candour, and sensitiveness which is their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self-forgetful”. (Sermon at the re-interment Onitsha 1986)
Blessed Iwene Tansi as a professional Teacher and Headmaster continued to reveal not merely his sharp and keen abilities as an educator, but of equal importance to us, his preferential love of God and of Christian values. So much did he integrate academics with religious knowledge and practice. In those days, the teacher also served the Christian community in the role of Catechist. It was in this respect that Michael, the headmaster was often accused of running the school in the manner of a seminary, prayer, discipline, hard work, and honesty. Professor Elizabeth Isichei summarizes well the exceptional character of Michael Christian layman and educator: “In some ways, he was so much like the other schoolmasters of his place and time, in his zeal, his strictness, his concern for details. But there the resemblance ends. Other schoolmasters did not go barefoot during Lent, or cook soup for old ladies or, for that matter, for themselves”.( Elizabeth Isichei, ‘Entirely for God’ P. 23) Blessed Tansi could have also achieved “blessedness”, the eternal reward of all Christ’s faithful simply by becoming a heroically virtuous and dedicated lay educator. So why did he give all this up in order to become a priest? Because, like all holy people, he was a man growing in interior detachment from all things and people and moving steadily toward a deeper, heartfelt, and ultimately mysterious union with the Absolute good. The same interior force or holy desire which moved Jesus to forever leave Nazareth at the age of thirty, St Anthony Abbot to give away his father’s significant inheritance, the first martyrs to prefer death over apostasy, St. Patrick to abandon the patrician comfort of continental Europe for the wilds of pagan and barbaric Ireland, Mother Teresa of Calcutta to seek transfer from her Religious Congregation for total service and solidarity with the poorest of the poor. It was the same interior force, the fruit of spiritual sensitivity to the interior motions of the Spirit, that inspired Blessed Tansi towards the next stage of his ever more perfected union with God which he then understood as priestly, sacramental, and pastoral service to his brothers and sisters. Nothing more and nothing less.
With his priestly ordination at the hands of Bishop Charles Heerey on December 19, 1937, the young priest began his priestly ministry at Uruagu Nnewi with a zeal for souls that characterized his whole ministry in the Onitsha Archdiocese for the next thirteen years: unremitting toil for souls in a mission which was expanding at a phenomenal rate. Some measure of a man is to be found in what God accomplished here through him. - brought the massive expansion of the church, building new outstations, reconciling and sanctifying marriages, and bringing relief and help to the poor, sick, needy, and abandoned. His message is universal because it is basically the message of the Gospel applied to concrete situations in the world of today. For him, human life on earth has a purpose and this purpose must be taken seriously. His words and advice also have such broad appeal because they touch on a fundamental thirst that is in every human heart, and that is the thirst and search for love, goodness, and truth. He knew that this thirst could find its fulfillment only in God living among and identifying with the poor, the sick, and the dejected of society. A call for the monastery came in 1950. But monastery when the Archdiocese had very few priests and when he was at the very summit of his popularity and effectiveness as a diocesan priest. He heard once again, an unmistakable calling to a deeper union with Christ the High Parish. It was a calling to contemplative union with Christ which for him could best be experienced within the confines of a monastic enclosure. The first calling was his Christian conversion and baptism, the second was to education, the third to Catholic Priesthood, and the fourth to the monastic life. When he left Nigeria for Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in July 1950, he completely disappeared as far as his own people were concerned. He had gone from light into darkness, from a life in the sight of all to a life hidden from the world. From the world of authority and command to a world of powerless and inferior, from a life of master to the life of last in the community. For him, it was God’s call, an invitation to go into the unknown where God was waiting for him. It was leaving his country and his family like Abraham and so many others. It was to undertake what he believed to be a deeper and more enduring apostolate. His was like all true calls from God, a venture of faith and love. The cost to him was certainly great but later he gained more than he seemed to have lost. He found peace and God in the darkness. His spirit was contemplative and missionary, missionary because contemplative. He knew that personal union with God, prayer, and sacrifice, however, hidden, were fruitful for the whole Church and therefore missionary. He died in the abbey of his first profession on January 20, 1964. The church recognized the humble way he lived his vocation on March 22, 1998.
Sunday, August 6, 2023
Blessed Tansi Search for Goodness: A challenge for us
Blessed Tansi lived entirely for God - another way of saying that Blessed Tansi lived entirely for goodness. Once, Jesus was called good by someone seeking to flattery him. Not only did Jesus use the situation as an opportunity to denounce the use of such flattery, but he also used it to indicate to everyone that only God is unconditionally good: “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone”. (Lk. 18:18-19). God alone is simply good without conditions but everyone else, if they are called good, will be called good because of the way they open themselves up to and participate in the good which lies beyond themselves; for God, that good lies within the divine nature itself and comes from it instead of being something God participates in from some external source. God is good. God is the source and foundation of every goodness.
This is one of the lessons which we can learn from Blessed Tansi who wanted what is good for himself and had to seek God. And when he found God did what it took to unite himself with the divine nature, for that is how he was able to participate in the good for himself. Thanks to grace, thanks to his union with God, insofar as he was united with God, he was good. This goodness shows forth in his actions and challenges answering God’s call as a teacher, a student-seminarian, a priest, and finally a religious monk. At every stage in these vocations, it was goodness that was his main concern. In each of the various vocations, he saw goodness and went after it. Similarly in every one of our various vocations goodness is possible and we should make goodness the main purpose of that vocation. If we do exactly this we will be living in love and our lives will be entirely for God. Indeed, as a teacher, civil servant, married life, politician, market man, and woman, and what have you all things are made to be good, that is, made to participate in the goodness of God. When we talk about them being good by nature, we only do so conventionally, understanding that God’s grace established that nature and gave it its goodness. If someone or something should try to be good by themselves, that is, apart from God, they will find that goodness will depart from them because they have departed from God and God’s grace. Thus, we must remember, all goodness always comes from God, and our greatest good comes from union with God. Grace allows us to be deified, and so grace allows us to become good. Grace, however, is not something that is forced upon us; it is not something which will transform us against our will. We must cooperate with it. We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling, struggling throughout our life to follow the commandments of love. Such struggle is impossible without grace, but without that struggle, grace will only serve as a potential in our life. Grace requires our cooperation to take full effect. Our sinful habits and desires impede the work of grace so long as we attach ourselves to them instead of dying to the self and letting grace come in and transform us, making us be what God expects us to be, that is, holy as God is holy (Cf. Lv. 19:2). With grace, we will be able to be perfectly analogous to the way the Father is perfect (cf. Matt. 5:48).
The law is the law of love; the commandments which come out of the law of love serve to show us the way to embrace love and to become perfect. In and of themselves, each commandment, each particular law, does not make us holy, but if we embrace all of them through grace if we engage them as they are meant to be engaged, as commandments of love and not just as legalistic expectations, then they can work to our purification and illumination. “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (Lk. 18:20-22) Blessed Tansi sold and detached himself from every wealth for the sake of love. Only by giving up all that we have, only by dying to the self, could we become perfect and have all things in and through union with God. Wealth as every other God’s gift is meant for service of love. But when we get attached to wealth, and so are slaves to it instead of being a true servant of God. If we want to be perfect, if we want all the riches found in union with God, we would have to give all that we have, including our very self, so that then there would be nothing left to stand in the way between us and God. Only then, we can and will have found ourselves to be united with God, and in that unity, we will have found perfection; we will have become a true spiritual master. So long as we are attached to earthly wealth, we will never find ourselves satisfied.
God’s wealth is found in those who are lowly and despised because such people have learned not to trust in material wealth or people but in God alone. God’s riches are made known when his mercy is shown towards those who are despised and lowly among men, who put their hope not in their own riches or strength, but in the Lord. Blessed Tansi in his ministry had not much but the small he received from the parishioners when he visited any outstation he gave to those who needed them most – the poor. “When he visited any outstation, people gave him eggs, chickens, fruits of various kinds and yams, even when they were themselves poor. Father Tansi distributed most of such gifts to the needy” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p. 55) In this way Blessed Tansi truly put into practice the perfection and holiness intended by the challenges of love. He was willing to share all that he had, his goodness, with those who needed his help. Similarly, we are all called to become good, not by nature, but by grace. We, likewise, are given the same call as all true followers of Christ. We look to Jesus and call him good and ask for grace to be good especially when we struggle against our worst habits and sins, all those things which turn us away from the path of love, so we can be open to grace. Are you willing to live entirely for God in your different vocations and callings including your very selves, in order to find perfection
[ Please report to the POSTULATION favours received or known to have been received by someone. This helps to promote the Cause.]
Sunday, July 30, 2023
Like Blessed Tansi we too can receive Grace
“Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest” (John Paul 11 in sermon beatification Nigeria 1998) When a Christian is filled with grace, he must engage it, cooperate with it, live it out by embracing the dictates of Christ - the dictates of love as found in his vocation. That is, he lives his life in such a way as to show himself worthy of the calling which he has been given: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph.4:1-2) Blessed Tansi with his life lived entirely for God is calling his fellow Nigerians to receive God’s grace and to live a life worthy of their Christian calling. He is calling his fellow Nigerians to wake up and face the challenges of their Christian calling as he did, “Father Michael Tansi cannot have remained unmoved by the urgency of preaching the kingdom of God and the crying need of the people to receive the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ” (Arinze Cardinal in ’Total Response’ P.31) Even as a seminarian, he was already full of zeal for the salvation of his people. Monsignor Peter Meze Idigo writes: “With the exception of the administration of the sacraments Michael did the work of a priest without answering the name. He was a catechist with a difference. He moved from town to town, village to village, and house to house in his effort to infuse the Gospel truth into the minds of the people ...his journey was done on foot or push bike” (‘Our memoirs of Fr. Michael Tansi’ P.53) an indifferent observer cannot close his eyes to his zeal for goodness and perfection Father Clement Ulogu testifies this “I knew him [Tansi] for many years even as a school teacher, and even before we went to the seminary, as a person concerned foremost with ‘others’: other persons, another world. He was self-effacing to a heroic degree” (in E. Isichie, ‘Entirely for God’ p. 23) As a priest he “was prominent for his availability to his flock. He was there where he was needed to hear confessions, to celebrate Mass for the people, to visit the sick even by night, to attend to the school teachers and the boarding house boys, and to pray for the people confided to him” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ p.33)
Blessed Tansi was with humility answering his call and looking to others with love, and through that love, sought peace and unity with all. Whatever your vocation may be the guiding light to it is LOVE, the success shall be determined by how much you have exercised the demands of love. This will not always be an easy task. Blessed Tansi has not been given an easy calling. He was tempted as all of us are tempted, judged by others who say he was not worthy of grace. God, who is love, is the only one who has determined to offer grace to everyone. God calls us all together to be one even as God is one. We are to embrace each other with love, to bear with each other, to be patient with each other, realizing that we are all working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Our focus, our knowledge, and our abilities will often is different from others. We need them even as they need us. We cannot do all things by ourselves. Being judgmental, however, will make it harder for all of us, for if we follow through with such an attitude, we will cast others needlessly aside. This is why we must not start looking to others to determine who we think is or is not worthy of grace. We should know that we are not worthy, and yet we are still offered it. We should not be surprised when others are offered it as well. It is never up to us to determine the worthiness of others to receive the gifts of Christ. It is not up to us to judge in this fashion. Certainly, we are to make prudential decisions in the world, and that means, we must judge and reject various activities, such as those which would harm the common good, but even when we do this, we must realize that everyone is called to grace, everyone is called to be in the mystical body of Christ. We must not stand in the way of those who would come to receive grace.
Blessed Tansi reminds us that when we turn away from the path of love, we create excuses to justify our misbehaviour. We look for reasons to put our actions right. We tend to judge others behaviour. But no matter what basis we choose, we choose wrong. we become legalistic, acting as if the partial truth we embrace is universal instead of merely a part of a greater whole. God, not us, knows the fullness of every situation and always offers mercy and grace. Certainly, this does not mean we cannot and should not ignore wrongdoing, but we must engage it with love and grace, not with a judgmental spirit. Jesus, after all, used the story of the Good Samaritan to point out how those who can be and often are judged as vile by some particular basis prove themselves to be greater than those who would judge them. (cf. Lk. 10:3-37) We are called to love and to be loved. We are called to love, and with that love, cast aside all self-attachment because such attachment leaves no room for grace. When we become filled with grace, we can and will share that grace with others as we are all sharing in the grace and legacy of Blessed Tansi when we see him bearing the burdens of others, when we see him helping out the poor and needy, even if they are not Christian. We can and should see and admire how God is at work with him. Before his legacy, we should realize that we are not doing enough. God offers grace to all. That grace is often secretly at work. Who are we to try to squash it by our open doubt or refusal?
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Blessed Tansi like the Saints Show Us the Way
The Blessed Tansi is a true Nigerian who lived in this land before us. He seems to have been made and created to show his fellow Nigerians how to live a true Nigerian. We honour and respect him for his achievements and dedication to serving this great country. He lived his life with holiness, embracing grace so that through that grace, he was able to become glorified in Christ. As we honour him we are to call to our mind the kind of life he lived, his trials and his successes, the grace he received, so that we can follow his example and become like him in living our own lives. “Fr. Tansi's life of abnegation was so evident to people that when people heard he was going to the monastery they were not surprised” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘total response’ P. 193). We are all called to live good lives in whatever vocation we find ourselves-holiness. Of course, we are not called to follow Blessed Tansi to the seminary, priesthood or monastery but to follow him to love our God and our neighbour in dedicated and selfless service. “An unmistakable general impression which Father Michael Iwene Tansi made on a person who came close to him was that here was a priest who had reached a remarkable level of self-control” (ibid. P.193) “Anybody who lived with him easily noticed this, he used to mortify himself very much, he ate very little, worked very hard, and denied himself every bodily comfort, he would not impose on another this way of life.” (P. Meze in Our Memoirs of Father Michael Tansi, P. 73). We can and should also learn from his mistakes. We should learn that we, like him, can err, but we, like him can also gain forgiveness, and so find that grace is not cut off from us just because of something foolish we say or do. We are to always look for and pursue holiness – not, of course, the sham holiness of legalism or manipulation, but the holiness of love with Christ-like compassion. For Christ showed us is the path to sanctity - is the path of love. And when we love, we will share the graces we have with each other. The more we love, the more we will share, and the more we will find ourselves growing in holiness, becoming more and more like Blessed Tansi, until, at last, grace transfigures us and we are saints as well. “It is true that Fr. Tansi attracted many young people to the priesthood or the religious life. This was mainly by the power of his way of life and not just by what he said to them. An example convinces more than words. Young people are not allergic to sacrifice. But they need to see people who are led by healthy and robust principles. Fr. Tansi struck people, not excluding the young, by his life of union with God, his intense prayer life and his heroic devotion to pastoral duties”( Arinze Cardinal in ‘total response’ P. 100)
Love is the key to holiness. Love shows us that we need each other and that we are in this world together. What we do, good or bad, affects each other. We should, therefore, seek what is best for all. The more we love, the more we will want to do all we can to make sure no one is hurt by us. We will do all we can to make their lives better. “... He demanded high standards of performance from teachers, seminarians and the betrothed. He however did not impose on others his frequent fasts and few hours of sleep.” (ibid p.101) We should help and support each other, realising and reinforcing the love which connects us and makes us one. Even though Blessed Tansi was strict but was admired by all because, in the long run, it did them good. “And all the regulation of that time makes our faith to be strong in God till now” (Dorothy Nwosah quoted in Arinze Cardinal ‘total response’ P. 103)
If we reflect upon and follow the dictates of love as lived in the life of Blessed Tansi, we will cast aside all selfishness that has ruined families, groups, towns, and our country as well. We will seek to give ourselves over to others. We will not look to be first, to be honoured above all others, to have power before all; instead, we will seek to serve, and in this way, we will appear to be among the least in the world. And yet that will bring us about holiness and true greatness, revealing the meaning of Jesus when he said: “But many that are first will be last and the last first” (Matt. 19:30).
This is what Blessed Tansi did throughout his entire life. “Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi has been proclaimed "Blessed" in the very land where he preached the Good News of salvation and sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another... Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself. He was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families” (John Paul 11 in his sermon Beatification Nigeria 1998). Saints live their own lives, which is their vocation without making noise but their life influences others. Blessed Tansi did not think much of himself. He loved others. “What could be said about him [Tansi]? He had lived simply and edifyingly ― but was there any more to say? Was he so very different from the rest of us?” (Abbot Moakler sermon Mt. St. Bernard Sept. 18, 1986) Blessed Tansi didn’t seek great honour and glory in front of others. He loved and was loved; he helped build others up and in so doing, through the bonds he formed with others, he was also lifted up. As a qualified and trained headmaster in the early Nigerian colonial era he had great potential for greatness but he freely gave it up to become a priest so that being made great among the first of his people he willingly became one of the last. But this only made him great in the kingdom of God.
It is important for the new generation of Nigerians to see how Blessed Tansi acted in and out of love, not holding to such greatness as something to separate him from the rest of his people; this is why today he continues to look to Nigeria in love, continuing to act in that love, in the humility of that love, working for the good of his beloved country even as he experiences and participates in the kingdom of God. He continues to be there for us, surrounding us, helping us even now, so that he continues to be the first who is last, and the last that is first. Blessed Tansi was glorified for love, and he continues in glory and shows himself to continue to be worthy of honour and praise because of how love continues to manifest in and by them in his actions. He continues to be transformed by God’s grace, to become more and more loving, which is the result of his continued deification. He continues to embrace the work of love, and like God, continues to surround us, helping us even as he encourages us to become just like him. He shows us what it is we should be pursuing; we should not seek earthly glory, but the kingdom of God. We should desire to reign in eternity with love. He shows us how to do so; we must follow Jesus and his dictates of love.
Love should draw us into Jesus, to follow after him. If anyone should get in our way of that love, if anyone should demand that we should act contrary to the dictates of love, we should not do as they say; we should follow Jesus. We should put Jesus and the way of love above everyone and everything else. And since it is the way of love, we should show no malice to anyone, especially those who would try to take us away from the path of love. We are called to love everyone because in everyone there will be some good, and that good is something which God loves. But we must make sure we engage such love properly, and not allow people to abuse it and lead us astray. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:1-2).
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Blessed Tansi –‘Don’t Manipulate Holiness’.
‘If you want to become Christian, you might as well be a good one [Tansi] Blessed Tansi used to tell his parish converts that the only way to be a Christian is to become a good one. Holiness, true holiness, is developed through acts of love, love which is given to God, of course, but also love which is given to and shown to our neighbour. Blessed Tansi is a Christian who devoted his entire life in very concrete ways to the service of God and his neighbour. Since performance piety is not based upon love, but rather on the desire to receive accolades for what we do, even if it might contain some good, it does not lead us to the perfection of love expected from Christians. As if living a mortified and penitential zealous pastor in the Archdiocese of Onitsha is not enough Blessed Tansi opted for the monastic life where “he did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their [his people] continuing sanctification”.( John Paul 11, Sermon Beatification Nigeria 1998) If all we can do at a particular time is give thoughts and prayers, and we do so out of love, that is one thing; but when we focus on thoughts and prayers so that we think we need to do nothing else, we fall into the error of quietism. We are expected to help others, to do our part cooperating with grace, not just in our own lives, but in the world around us. If we ignore that in need, our love grows cold, and so we will not be able to attain true, lasting holiness.
In our practical world, all that matters is love. We are to love. Love will have us desire to protect others, not only preserving their lives but the dignity of their lives as well. If we find ourselves excusing ourselves, as Cain did, from our duty to our neighbour, if we claim we are not our brother’s keeper, we have failed to understand what Blessed Tansi is saying to us - it is to be a Christian. “By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35 RSV). It is better to be focused on those in need and help them than it is to be focused on our own piety, our own acts of worship, indeed, our own personal fight against various carnal vices if that fight ends up having us disregarding our neighbour. The more we care for those in need, the more we love our neighbour as we should, the more our love will bring us to true holiness and the more holiness will attract others to us. “Cyprian still has work to do for Nigeria and for the whole of Africa. Throughout his thirteen years at Mount Saint Bernard letters came from Nigeria, letters full of news and problems, full of trust in a revered leader” (Fr. Gregory Wareing osco, in Sorrow shall not kill Me P. 21) It is possible to fight against various vices in the wrong spirit, that is, without love, and so find ourselves gaining nothing, as Paul warned us (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1-3). “One of the ways in which the love of God and neighbour shows itself is in apostolic zeal. Zeal is love which shows itself in action”(Arinze Cardinal in ‘total response’ P.29) While it is good to be concerned about our personal spiritual development, we must not develop ourselves at the expense of common good or those in need. “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” (Mt. 25: 34-35) This is love in action – this is holiness – this is permit card for entry into heave. “Fr. Tansi lived this gospel without discount... when he [Tansi] visited an outstation people give him eggs, chicken, fruits of various kinds and yams, even when they were themselves poor. Father Tansi distributed most of such gifts to the needy” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘total response P.55). God is happy and rewards us when we take care of those people in distress. It is a far greater vocation, a far greater calling, to take care of others than it is to merely take care of ourselves. The best ascetics are those who know their work, their labour, is not just for themselves, but for all. They always make room for others, even if the others are those who might not seem to fit in well with them.
When we help others, when we do acts of charity, we should do so out of love, and not out of the spirit of proselytism. True love for others means that no matter what they make of themselves and their lives, indeed, no matter what they believe, we will be concerned for them and their well-being. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Good Samaritan tends to the man’s wounds, as blessed Tansi tends to the wounds of his people, both physical and spiritual. Spiritually, by the long hours in the sacraments of the Church which offers healing to those wounded by sin. Christians, as good neighbours and their brothers, must assist their neighbours who are robbed, beaten, and left for dead by sin. If we pass those injured by sin and leave them in such a state, we cannot say that we acted in mercy and proved ourselves good neighbours. We might believe that our way of life, and our faith ultimately would be best, but we also recognize and respect religious liberty and the freedom everyone should have to decide for themselves their own religious faith and belief. “Father Tansi respected the poor. He did not blame them for their situation. Rather he did what he could to help them improve on their life situation. He knew how difficult and humiliating it was for people in his culture to go begging. So he went out of his way to find them and see what he could do” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘total response P. 59). True holiness, a holiness which emerges out of love, will be naturally attractive. The pretence of holiness, with all the false piety and intent to make of ourselves, appear so great that others will stand in wonder and bow down and do as we wish, always leads nowhere. Whatever accolades one gets will not last. Ultimately, it is love, and love alone, which will never be lost.
Therefore, if we want to be holy, we must first embrace the way of the cross, that is, die to the self, not in nihilistic self-denial, but in and through self-giving love, loving others without placing any expectations on them. The more we do so, the more we will develop that love in ourselves and become holy for we will become more and more like God. And the more we treat others out of love, the more they will respond to it in kind. For love attracts love in return, not out of expectation, certainly not out of demand, but out of the very bounty of joy which is found in it. We are to be holy like God is holy and God is holy through love. Love connects us to God, to grace, and to each other. Love motivates us to make sure we do not become slothful in the sight of those in need. All our spiritual disciplines developed to help us attain virtue and overcome vice must be engaged with this understanding. All our fasting, all our prayers, all our struggles against temptation do us no good if we subvert the expectations of love, for it is with and through such love we find our Christian vocation: “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 Jn. 3:11-12). Like the Good Samaritan, we must acknowledge the existence of wrongdoing among us and those injured by it. A Christian sees human injury and responds with compassion.
[Please join us to pray often for the happy conclusion of the final stage of Blessed Tansi to SAINTHOOD and report any favour received to the Postulation.]
Sunday, July 9, 2023
Blessed Tansi Spiritual fatherhood and self-sacrifice
"Through the ordained ministry, especially that of bishops and priests, the presence of Christ as head of the Church is made visible in the midst of the community of believers. In the beautiful expression of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the bishop is typos tou Patros: he is like the living image of God the Father." (CCC 1549) By virtue of his priestly ordination Blessed Tansi was included as a member of Holy Orders. As the Catechism describes above, he is called to a unique call of spiritual fatherhood and to be a reflection of God the Father to his people. When a priest is ordained, a special cloth is used to wipe the excess oil from his hands. That anointing is part of his consecration to his sacred duties and an extremely moving part of the Rite of Ordination. Following an old tradition, that cloth used to wipe his hands (called a “maniturgium”) is presented to the mother of the priest and according to old pious accounts, the mother is to be buried with it when she dies, she can present it to St. Peter at heaven’s gate, where she will be swiftly admitted for having given her son to the Church.
The period Blessed Tansi was ordained priest - December 19, 1937, was the most painful for the local church for want of missionaries. There was a rapid increase in the number of Catholics without a corresponding increase in the number of priests. Blessed Tansi, “an excellent young man, with a deep understanding of Christianity, of good judgment and delicate conscience, coming from conditions of gross paganism and ending as a Cistercian monk, ... an outstanding example of supernatural grace” (Rector Denis Kennedy C.S.Sp. in P.Meze, memoirs of Michael Tansi p. 58) joined the Holy Ghost Fathers’ missionary apostolate with “undiluted pastoral zeal at Nnewi with its many outstations” (Cardinal Arinze in ‘Total Response’ P. 20). Blessed Tansi from his seminary formation seemed to have learned that if there is no self-sacrifice, there is not really priesthood. From the beginning of his priestly apostolate, he put this into practice. “Early next day, taking only the bare necessities the two priests set out to the nearest outstation. News of their coming preceded them. They found eight hundred men, women, and children lined up waiting to go to confession. Settling down quickly to hear them they worked right through the day and far into the night with brief breaks for light refreshment. Fr. Tansi never spared himself in the confessional. He had patience with all and never hurried anyone. During their masses the next morning the same long lines of people came to receive Holy Communion. The two missionaries packed after breakfast and set off for the next station. This was to be the pattern of Fr. Tansi's work in the Onitsha Diocese for the next thirteen years unremitting toil for souls in a mission that was expanding at a phenomenal rate. It was so dangerous to travel at night that there was a rule in the diocese that no priest was bound to answer a sick call after dark. Fr. John tried to persuade his curate to follow this rule but Fr. Michael's conscience would not allow him to wait till daylight. All night calls were answered immediately” ( Fr. Gregory Wareing ocso in ‘Sorrow shall not kill me’ P. 7).
Blessed Tansi felt most fatherly as a priest while celebrating Mass and in the confessional. In the confessional he directs and leads souls, encouraging and challenging them like a father did to his children. “When Michael became a priest he was prominent for his availability to his flock. He was there where he was needed to hear confessions, to celebrate mass for the people, to visit the sick even by night, to attend to the school teachers and the boarding house boys, and to pray for the people confided to him” (Arinze Cardinal in ‘Total Response’ P.33) He was indeed a shepherd to his numerous flock, everyone received his attention when needed. “Tansi kept faithful night watch over his flock. To prayer, he added mortifications of many kinds. When the Blessed Sacrament was exposed night and day for the devotion of the Forty Hours Father Tansi was in and out of the church throughout the night in case some hostile group should commit an act of sacrilege. The next morning would see him at his prie-dieu, as usual, from five to six a.m. before celebrating mass. This seems like total self-giving” (Fr. Gregory Wareing in ‘Sorrow shall not kill me’ P. 9).
To all his parishioners, the young people, in particular, Blessed Tansi was very affable and friendly, being their priest, being their spiritual father, means helping and holding them to account and calling them to more. He was very eager to bring all to holiness. “On Sundays, he would often conduct a service at an outstation. Knowing his people well; their good qualities and their faults, his instructions went home. When explaining the catechism his illustrations were clear and understood by all. His sayings were remembered” (ibid .p.5)
For all his priestly efforts to be effective, it means sacrificing for them. It means undertaking fasts and doing penance. It means being an example of prayer, particularly by loving the liturgy and working to organize reverent, noble Masses. And it also means finding plungers, emptying buckets set out to catch leaks, opening the church and the hall at inconvenient hours, heading to the sick calls in the middle of the night when there was obvious danger abroad and otherwise dying to oneself. Again and again and again. This was the heart of his fatherhood: the laying down of his own life. He was detached and forgoes what he wanted, knowing the course that he had to pursue for those entrusted to his care.
As a real spiritual father to his flock he was brave and self-sacrificing for it takes courage to swim upstream. It demands fortitude to look past the threats that may come and lead forward. A man must be brave to pursue, at a great personal cost, what is right. Like Blessed Tansi all our priests today have responded to God’s call of selfless service and ministration of the Sacraments of the Church. As such, our priests share in the priesthood of Christ. In the exercise of the sacraments, priests are in persona Christi, bringing to time and space the mysteries that are eternal and immeasurable. The summit of those mysteries, of course, is the Eucharist, where Christ is made present by those ordained to stand in his place. The local church thanks Blessed Tansi for the example he set for us, always tempering justice with mercy, in a unique way leaving us a sample and virtue of being a faithful spiritual father upright and an extraordinary example of what it means to be a man of integrity.
( please remember to pray sometimes for this Cause and to report favours received to the postulation..)
Sunday, July 2, 2023
Recognition of Holiness of the Saints
Holiness radiates - the more we find it, the more we encounter it, and the more it positively affects us if we let it. This is why our contact with the saints is important. Through them we have a mediation of God’s grace to us, allowing us to slowly become influenced by it and become better through it. But this is true only if we do not resist it.
“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light” (Lk. 8:16). The stand might be dirty, the stand might have blemishes, the stand might have all kinds of problems: but the light it shines is the true light and those who come into that light share the benefits of that light. This is how we might want to consider the saints: they are the stands, no matter how crooked, broken down or decrepit they might be, which nonetheless let the light shine through them and others, as a result, see and come to the light itself, whereupon they have the chance to partake of the light and share it with others. Saints are holy because they bear the light, but that does not mean they all bear the light equally well. Blessed Tansi is a light among many Nigerians. His light shines brightly among his people – any body who meets him is touched by his goodness. He is now on the last stage of sainthood – the fullness of the altar. There are many other Nigerians living saintly lives – their light shines for other people to see the goodness and glory of God in them. Christians can, and do, recognize many saints beyond those officially proclaimed to be saints through the process of canonization. Canonization does not place a limit upon who can and cannot be a saint. Indeed, it is only because the faithful recognize such holiness apart from those officially canonized that the church begins to look and consider the canonization process itself. The church proclaims what becomes obvious to it. To do this it forms an official investigation into claims of holiness and sainthood. Like in the case of Blessed Tansi, this affirmation takes a while as holiness can be subtle and only after its slow transformation of many people through the years does it become evident enough to be officially proclaimed by the church. It took Blessed Tansi his life time - 62 years of his laborious toil as a child, teacher, seminarian, pastor and monk to become the saint he is. At the same time it has taken the church 37 years to investigate that his life in order to confirm him the saint that he is.
It can be said that holiness radiates. Those who touch that which is holy find it penetrating them, allowing them to radiate that holiness. However, becoming touched by holiness does not mean someone will necessarily remain holy: those who touch it, those who come in contact with it, can resist it, turn against it, or worse, they can take what has been given and abuse it. Those who touch such holiness must cooperate with it, not resist it, if they want it to continue to reside in them. They must let it change them, making them better as a result of their encounter with it. Grace perfects nature, but only when it is not resisted. Holiness can be resisted: it can be denied: grace is not irresistible. In any case, even if it is denied or resisted, it still affects those who touch it, so that as long as some aspect of that holiness remains with them, they can still be vessels of grace and holiness for others.
When the church looks for holiness she looks for those touched by holiness, she does so by trying to see how that holiness was spread to others. It wants evidence; it wants to see people who have been positively affected by and changed by such holiness. Such we refer to as ‘fama sanitation– fame of sanctity. This is why the church looks for miracles in order to verify the holiness being seen in such a person. The recognition of that holiness has manifested itself in many different ways throughout church history. The process of canonization is only one form of recognition of a saint. Before the process of canonization became regulated, popular acclimation often was the means by which holiness was recognized.
The process of canonization in the church does not deny the holiness of those who have not been canonized. It does not affirm all that those who are canonized have said or done in their lives. It simply points out that there is a suitably large presence of holiness being radiated by a saint that it becomes silly to deny that holiness. The church reminds us that there are a countless number of saints with the Feast of All Saints, affirming that the canonized saints only form a partial representation of the number of actual saints.
Let us not forget we are called to be saints and every day we are making that sainthood. We cannot be a saint of another person. We must be our own saints just as we are who we are...
Blessed Tansi is our national saint but he has his own life. It is his life – his own vocation. Blessed Tansi is not inviting all of us to follow him to the priesthood or monastery but his life and legacy are inviting all of us clergy, religious, and laity to reflect and focus on the things that are at the core of our faith, to renew our awareness of the things that really matter. If Blessed Tansi's life is important to us Nigerians, it is because it is a life of faith, of humble and persevering following out of what he sees to be God’s will for him, even when it cost everything, even when all was dark and cold. He is just one more disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we can learn from him as we can from his Master- Jesus.
Blessed Tansi's life and spirit are contemplative and missionary ― missionary because contemplative. He is intent on personal union with God, prayer and sacrifice all his life as a teacher, priest and monk. He knows that it is love that counted. His love of God and neighbour even when he was in the monastery “he did not forget his own people. He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their continuing sanctification”.( John Paul 11-sermon beatification mass 1998) The Church is Christ’s Body, with many members, each having different functions but each is needed, each is important in contributing to the holiness of the Body-the church. We too have our own calling to serve God and humanity in the married life, priesthood, religious life, political life, market woman, or in so many different professions. Whatever that calling is, it is a true call, a true invitation like that of Blessed Tansi or Abraham and so many others. It is a call to undertake what we believe to be a deep and enduring way to serve God and our neighbour.
So true holiness is developed through acts of love, love which is given to God but also love which is given to and shown to our neighbour. We are to be holy like God is holy and God is holy through love. Love connects us to God, to grace, and to each other. Love motivates us to make sure we do not become slothful in the sight of those in need. All our spiritual disciplines developed to help us attain virtue and overcome vice must be engaged with this understanding. All our fasting, all our prayers, all our struggles against temptation do us no good if we subvert the expectations of love, for it is with and through such love we find our Christian vocation: “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 Jn. 3:11-12). So we are expected to help others, to do our part cooperating with grace, not just in our own lives, but in the world around us. If we ignore that in need, our love grows cold, and so we will not be able to attain true, lasting holiness.
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Blessed Tansi: A Saint for Our Times
Blessed Tansi is often described by many who know him as a reformer of our times; however, he did not seek to change the Church’s institutions or teachings, but instead to reform himself. Through his preaching and example, he showed people how to faithfully follow Jesus, which brought about many conversions. His life and legacy are familiar to most Catholics in Nigeria. “It is interesting to record that the life of Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi has inspired and encouraged not only individuals but also groups to pray. In this connection, the Blessed Father Tansi Solidarity Prayer Movement deserves special mention ...This prayer movement is inspired by the Trappist spirituality. Members gather periodically in the parishes to pray and to meditate on the life and writings of Blessed Cyprian.” (Cardinal Arinze in ‘Total Response’ P. 242) The friends and devotees of Blessed Tansi from across Nigeria visit every day on pilgrimage the Relic of the Blessed in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. Every Monday friends, spiritual sons and daughters and devotees gather from 9am to about 12 noon to celebrate the cult of the Blessed and to pray especially for the happy conclusion of his cause. The growth of the monastic apostolate in Nigeria today is by God’s grace the inspiration and labours of Blessed Tansi who left Nigeria to Mount St Bernard England with Fr, Mark Ulogu in 1950 to bring the monastic way of life to Nigeria. This way of apostolate is a heritage left Nigeria by Blessed Tansi and it owes a lot to these early pioneers who suffered a lot in their first monastic adventure. Today there are over 21 monasteries flourishing in Nigeria.
The Catholic bishops’ Conference of Nigeria had in 1982 supported the promotion of his worthy cause because it would bring many spiritual benefits to the local church. “We hereby certify that the National Episcopal Conference of Nigeria sitting in Lagos on 22nd April 1982, after considering the life of Reverend Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi OSCO, thinks that the promotion of the cause of his Beatification will bring good results to our country, especially in the area of priestly spirituality. Our conference is therefore in favour of the promotion of his cause” (in the Catholic Leader Owerri, August 15, 1982). The same conference that hoped for a good result to come from the promotion of the cause met again 28 years after on June 3rd, 2010 after a grand celebration to close the year of Priests’ proclaimed by Pope Benedict XV1 adopted Blessed Tansi the Patron of Nigerian Priests. “We, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, having prayerfully considered the matter, unanimously and with one voice choose and as a result of this declare Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi the Patron of Nigerian Priests. We make this declaration on this 3rd day of June in the year 2010 on the tomb of the Blessed, in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha, Nigeria” (in the National brochure-conclusion of Year for Priests June 24, 2010. P. 14).
Iwene Tansi was born in 1903. His father Tabansi Odatu and his mother, Ejikwevi Muoba were peasant farmers and practised the prevailing African Traditional Religion which Europeans improperly call paganism. It was the religion of their ancestors before the advent of the Christian religion. At a very early age in his life, he was sent to live with a cousin's teacher who gave him the opportunity to attend Catholic school and to receive Catholic education. Baptised at 9, he devoted himself completely to his new religion and never turned back until death. As a school pupil, a teacher, a seminarian, a priest and a monk he served God and his neighbour with undivided mind and attention. All his life he dedicated himself to prayer, penance, and giving the poor food, money, and clothing. He was delighted to see himself as the best friend of the poor, lepers and the abandoned. He regarded meeting with lepers as an important opportunity for conversion and for doing good. Recall that in his time in almost all Igbo land lepers were abandoned and feared, At first he had to overcome the initial traditional fear, gave them food and money and kept their company. He spent a lot of time praying for a change in the traditional attitude towards lepers. The Blessed found a way of life for himself in the following passages of the Gospels: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matt 19:21). “Take nothing for your journey… “(Luke 9:3). “Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24 – 28). His example so inspired many people at Nnewi that the community offered a portion of land to him at Ndi akwu Nnewi to house his lepers and be able to attend to them. For those who may not remember that is the origin of the Catholic leper colony at Nnewi.
One aspect of his idea of reform is to be faithful to what the Church teaches and to bring people to real holiness - to firmly believe and simply profess the true faith as held and taught by the Holy Roman Church. He sought to go further than the teachings and to imitate Jesus as much as possible. He celebrated Mass reverently and used clean, beautiful altar linens and sacred vessels, and wanted everyone to show great love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. From him, we learn that the only way to sanctify the Church is for its members to reform their lives with God’s help. He began with the family and sanctification of marriages. He did not preach a complicated way of life for his parishioners but one that is faithful to the teachings of the Gospel and uses the means the Church has given us to grow in holiness, such as prayer and the sacraments - we should confess all our sins to a priest and receive from him the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He contributed much to the evangelization of the local church in her very early primary evangelization when the local church was in a transition from the traditional religion to Christianity. He was a real pastor, who with his deep knowledge of Igbo customs, idioms and use of slang and lack of pomposity, was more accessible to everybody. One thing that is notable in his life and legacy is his passion for the Truth - that he was willing to make an enormous sacrifice for it.
Sunday, June 18, 2023
Whopping Holiness in Others for Christ.
“His enthusiasm and example drew in willing helpers from all levels of the surrounding people...His firmness and kindness saved a vocation to the priesthood when calamitous sickness swept away Godfrey Okoye's father and three brothers. His example more than his words strengthened Godfrey's will to persevere”. (Fr. Gregory Wareing OCSO ‘Sorrow shall not kill me’ P.9) For some priests and religious having a loved one who does not believe in God is soul-crushing. Not being able to share the joy of the Mass with that person or to share anything about the Faith, for that matter, can be incredibly lonely and can bring a person to the brink of despair. However, take heart and never give up praying for your loved one because “for God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Worse still if you have a belief system that most people are going to a place of eternal punishment separated from divine love forever, would not you do anything and everything to lead people, not just with words typed and spoken, but by your very actions, away from such a fate. What is the best and most prudent way to treat others so that they might see the goodness, truth, and beauty of divine reality personified?
If you are looking for a good example of approaching others in error, look no further than in the Blessed Tansi. He has more information about what the Catholic faith actually and authoritatively teaches stored in his computer brain. “From 1940 till 1945 he threw all his practical intelligence, organized labour, and burning priestly zeal into the work of forming a thriving parish from this outstation. Some measure of this man is to be found in what God accomplished here through him” (Fr. Gregory Wareing OSCO-‘Sorrow shall not kill me’ p.8).
He also possesses a degree of humble faithfulness to the mother church, and a kind, friendly, and loving attitude toward others that make him someone you would want to hang out with. He devoted his entire life apostolate as a teacher, a priest, and a monk to the salvation of souls. With a deep understanding of Igbo culture, idioms, and proverbs he presented his sermons and arguments seriously and constructively in such a way that they made deep and lasting impressions on his audience without ever insulting or belittling them as people for whom Christ died. That is the kind of pastor that he is. That is the kind of Christian we should all be to make converts for Christ. "It was his zeal for souls which was perhaps the most manifest; he preserved the purity of young girls, brought families back to God by convalidation marriages and baptizing the children. He traveled long distances to say Mass, trekking through swamps and bush to visit about fifty outstations. His mortification and self-sacrifice were beyond normal and obvious to all who knew him". (Testimony of Sr. Aloysius Alimony, a one-time parishioner of Blessed Tansi).
His sacrifice, love, and respect for other people made in the image and likeness of God gave them the honey spoonful of kindness and being respectful to them. “Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. In a special way, the education of young people was precious to him. Even when he was sent by Bishop Heerey to the Cistercian Abbey of Mount Saint Bernard in England to pursue his monastic vocation, with the hope of bringing the contemplative life back to Africa, he did not forget his own people. He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their continuing sanctification”. (Pope John Paul 11- Sermon beatification 1998)
By whopping holiness in other people for Christ out of love for the other person and kindness to all Blessed Tansi left us a legacy most effective for conversion and for bringing souls back to Christ. Admonishing a sinner is one of the spiritual works of mercy after all. Everyone wants to imitate Jesus in the Gospels, like when He preached the good news when He fed His sheep when He gave over His body, and when He fixed His eyes firmly on the Father and then told us to do the same. Christians are supposed to be the light of the world but instead many are the dark of the world by being a nasty person in the name of Christ. Jesus is mild, calm, articulate, firm, and even mildly angry. Blessed Tansi tried to imitate him in whopping holiness in his parishioners. He was gentle, mild-mannered to them, but firm and spoke the truth when he needed it. Being kind to others made in the image and likeness of God does not mean compromising the Truth or that you should never correct anyone about anything. It does mean that Truth must never outweigh the Love and Compassion we practice in order to touch hearts, minds, and souls. Some people say crazy untrue, ugly wrong-headed stupid garbage and at other times they word things differently, emphasize different aspects of something, and have a different angle on a belief that when you look at you find out you share the same thoughts about it, just from a different vantage point. People sometimes need to learn connections, have blanks, and understand information. Instead of helping others to really see errors we swing a hammer on their head and heart. Holiness, true holiness, is developed through acts of love, which is given to God, of course, but also love given to and shown to our neighbour. True holiness, a holiness that emerges out of love, will be naturally attractive.
Sunday, June 11, 2023
Venerating the Relic of Blessed Tansi.
Most Catholic churches house God present in the Eucharist. At the same time, many of them also hold relics or remains of the saints - holy men and women now in heaven after dedicating their lives to God. These are normal people like you and I who have chosen to follow Our Lord, and many of them gave up their lives by being martyred for their faith or by living entirely for God and their neighbour. Seeing them and knowing them, I think that we as Catholics need to get back to them and realize we can become one of them also. Here in our Archdiocese, the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha holds complete, or nearly complete, bones of Blessed Tansi. In his own words, Cardinal Arinze tells us about his master and mentor. “ Who is this Nigerian priest said to have been not too tall in height, not one of the brightest students, but distinguished for his iron will, his firm trust in Divine Providence, his readiness to sacrifice his will in the service of God, his impressive acceptance to be misunderstood, a man never settling down to half measures, dissimulation, pride or love of convenience, but always self-mortified and ready to put his whole heart and person into what he was doing” ( ‘Total response’ p.9) All that Cardinal Arinze described here in the person and body of Blessed Tansi, and it is our belief that our bodies, because they are joined to Christ through baptism and the reception of the sacraments will rise again. It is a testimony to that belief. It is also a testimony to the fact that we are saved together as members of Christ’s mystical body. The saints were real, normal people. Every person is called to be a saint, and he or she is not alone because the saints as their friends are cheering them on from heaven. Speaking of Blessed Tansi the Holy Father John Paul 11 said, “Blessed Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest” (Sermon beatification Nigeria 1998) Today, Nigerian Catholics are invited to meet Blessed Tansi in a special way by venerating his relics. We honour him as one of those who represent this holiness and when we address prayers toward him, it is to the God who made him holy and that he would intervene for us, the poor men and women who follow in holiness behind him.
It will be recalled that Blessed Tansi died and was buried in his monastery of Mount St. Bernard England on January 20, 1964. When his cause was opened in Nigeria his body was exhumed on September 14. 1986 and brought back to Nigeria on September 19, 1986, and on October 17, 1986, he was re-interred at the priests’ cemetery Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. On the eve of his beatification at Oba-Onitsha-Nigeria on March 22, 1998, his remains were again exhumed for the beatification ceremony. Since after the beatification he has been resting in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha where thousands of devotees flock every day to venerate his remains. The Remains is open and accessible to all who want to visit him. In addition, there are prayers, adoration, and mass in his honour every Monday from 9am to 12noon. During this Monday cult in his honour many devotees avail themselves of the opportunity to get his third-class relic. A third-class relic is any object that has been touched by a first or second-class relic. To venerate his relics is to encounter the very personal presence of Blessed Tansi. Christians are weird, and part of that weirdness is the recognition that the body is part of our salvation because salvation itself is not just some sort of intellectual insight. It is the flesh and blood, history and presence of Blessed Tansi among us. For many devotees who come to the Basilica to venerate Blessed Tansi, it is like stepping into heaven for a little bit. Many after staying with Blessed Tansi say they feel something — like his presence approaching them. Others after staying say that they have a great spiritual satisfaction. It will be recalled that Blessed Tansi during his life had an extraordinary gift of attracting people to himself. “Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families” (John Paul 11, Sermon at Beatification 1998)
In today’s Nigeria, we all need some peace and joy, and to visit Blessed Tansi at Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha, this is a great place to find peace and healing. If nothing else, just sit there and see if someone is trying to speak to you. Visitors can also see belongings of Blessed Tansi including a set of his three volumes of his breviary, the chalice used at his first mass at Aguleri on 20 December 1937, his pair of eyeglasses, a pair of shoes used for his burial, a pair of soutane he wore traveling from Onitsha to Lagos on his way to Mount Saint Bernard July 1950, two wooden planks used for his burial and a coffin used to convey his remains to Nigeria after exhumation in 1986. These collections provide a great experience of immersion in the mystery of the Communion of Saints. Everyone who comes declares an intention to return because of a bad time to explore everything here. One has to see them to believe them.
We have heard countless stories and testimonies of answered prayers at the Blessed Tansi. A lady Philomena 20 years was cured of her years of inoperable stomach tumour by touching Blessed Tansi Relic. Her case was investigated and approved by the Vatican. Another interesting case was a married lady Joy Anaduaka, who was healed of her cancer of the esophagus by touching the Remains of Blessed Tansi. Another case of a Lebanese living in Warri who came to visit the Relic of Blessed Tansi at the Basilica was healed of his cancer of the urinal bladder by touching and venerating the relic of Blessed Tansi. There are other numerous testimonies of favours received after visiting and touching the Blessed. Many come away with the sense that the saints are not far from us at all and show that we all have something to offer with our strengths and weaknesses. Just as St. Paul says to the Corinthians, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong”. We were made for heaven and the relics remind us that it is much closer than we think.
Blessed Tansi is our Father in faith, our brother, our teacher, our pastor, official patron of Nigerian priests and our friends, and to visit and venerate the remains of his lives on earth is a constant reminder of how close he remains to us and that he is urging us on in the trials of life so that we may one day join him. Why not consider a trial visiting him – a pilgrimage? You will be glad you did.
( Remember to report to the Postulation any favour received through the intercession of Blessed Tansi – your report will help to promote the cause).
Sunday, June 4, 2023
Blessed Tansi an apostle of the Common Good.
Throughout the history of the church, we have seen numerous dedicated pastors, who were holy priests. Their words and actions remain a perennial source of inspiration for the new generation to follow. We have the example of St. John Bosco an Italian priest who came forward to work for abandoned young people in Italy. He lived his whole life – studying and working, for others. The patron of priests, St. John Mary Vianney would pray to suffer for his entire life for the conversion of his parish. Their commitment is in line with the words of St. Paul, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:16) In our own time Blessed Tansi is another example of a Nigerian priest who dedicated his entire life to his people and their common good. This saintly pastor was so immersed in his pastoral care that he cared little for his health and personal well-being. He understood clearly that it is what the Lord wanted him to do. Pursuing the common good gives meaning to his priesthood and the pastoral ministry he assumed on himself. For him, it is a concrete way of practicing the gospel values and reaching out to the flock more frequently and meaningfully. His detachment from material and earthly desires motivates him to reach out to the poor more often and to find more opportunities for catechesis and evangelization in matters of public interest and justice. The human person and his well-being were the centers of his ministry. “In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person.” (CCC – 1907) and must “make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, health, work, education and culture, suitable information, the right to establish a family, and so on.” (CCC, 1908). Among the Igbos where Blessed Tansi performed his priestly apostolate in Nigeria, the family was held in high regard but in family matters the custom gave more rights to men than women. The leadership of the family, village, clan or town were reserved only for men. A man if he wished was allowed to have more than one wife. “The woman was honoured as wife and mother, especially if she had one or more sons because in those days it was the sons, not the daughters who inherited their father’s property” (Arinze, ‘Total Response’ p. 125) Blessed Tansi knew the importance of women in building flourishing Christian family and society. They must first get respect in the family and society so that they can play their role in the greater future of society. He started by giving them the education which they never had. He set up two pre-marriage preparation centres: one for brides already cohabiting with their intended husbands and another for other brides where they received the formation they needed for their human and spiritual growth. The same thing he did for the young girls through the formation of ‘The Mary League association. “Fr. Tansi formed an association for girls which were called Umu Mary (children of Mary). The girls were generally teenagers. They were given deeper teaching about the church, about Jesus Christ, about the Blessed Virgin Mary, and about preparing for Christian marriage...”(ibid p. 130).
Another group of people Blessed Tansi cared for and promoted their dignity and respect was the sick, the poor, and the needy. He became their friend, spokesman, and helper. They had a special place in his heart and apostolate. “ It is no exaggeration that Fr. Tansi lived for God and his brothers and sisters... one can use pastoral charity to describe his dedication, his drive, his perseverance under harsh physical conditions, his readiness to visit the sick, and his intense desire for the eternal salvation of his people”( Arinze, in Total Response p. 211). The welfare of others was his utmost concern – to see that people are free, respected, and happy. “Service of others and living for another world, living for God and for fellow men – holiness. Yes, we can understand why Fr. Cyprian had so great a love for monastic total self-dedication to God, and of the opportunities it offered to life...” (Peter Meze, Our Memoirs of Father Michael Tansi. p. 96)
Traditional customs which did not respect human dignity were under serious fire. The masquerade cult, widowhood, ‘ozo’ title, and ‘osu’ system to mention a few. He single-handedly fought against them and within a short time gained positive results - promoted peace and ensured morally acceptable means for the security of society and its members. His apostolate was always oriented towards the progress of persons just as the Catechism of the Catholic Church would teach: “The order of things must be subordinate to the order of persons, and not the other way around.” (no. 1912) This order is founded on truth, built up in justice, and animated by love. At the centre of the common good is the human person and the order of the common good is impossible without truth, justice, and love.
Nigerians at every level need to promote, support, work for and vote at all times for those who will work for the common good. As Christians, they are called to move out beyond their own private interests and concerns, to truly work for and promote the common good, both in their spiritual life, but also in their civic engagements. It is a disgrace for all of us that some are poor, hungry, and abandoned in our society. While others live in extraordinary affluence. It is even worse to see in our midst people who deliberately hinder others from receiving the justice which is their due or another actively working to hinder if not eliminate such justice. To ignore the most vulnerable, the most helpless constitutes the gravest of sins.
God is the beginning and the end of every particular good, that is, God is the source and summit of every good. “Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (Jas. 1:17). Since these are proper goods for us, pursuing them must connect us with God because they come from God: It is possible to pursue these goods in an inordinate fashion when we engage them without their connection with the greater good - God. God is to be loved with all our heart and soul. Christians are not to treat particular goods as if they are God; we must recognize that their goodness is relative, and so the love and honour we give them are relative. This is why honouring and loving our neighbour, supporting them with justice, is itself proper; this is also why we cannot avoid society, for we are called to participate in it, indeed, to love it in relation to the goodness which it has been granted. This leads to the conclusion that engaging in politics and embracing work for the common good, is truly work for someone who loves God.
Blessed Tansi leaves for his fellow Nigerians a way of life to follow. We are social beings, and in our social relations, we must work for and preserve the common good of all. The pursuit of social justice does not turn us away from God, but rather connects us with God, for through its pursuit we pursue the good which finds its fulfillment in God. To neglect or reject that pursuit is to neglect or reject one of the goods which have been given to us by God, and if we do that, we would dishonour God. Christians, in particular, are called to move out beyond their own private interests and concerns, to truly work for and promote the common good, both in their spiritual life, but also in their civic engagements.
Sunday, May 28, 2023
Detachment is the bone of his spiritual life.
Christ adds detachment from the world to the list of examples of faithfulness to him. “In truth, I tell you there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or land for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times as much…”( Mark,10;28-31). When the Nigerian future Blessed, Michael Iwene Tansi was but a small boy growing up in the village of Aguleri, he was exposed to the local traditions and customs of his people while at the same time, to the Catholic religion just being preached by pioneer Irish Holy Ghost Fathers. His parents belonged to the Ibo traditional religion and that was his first religious contact. His parents were devout religious people living simple honest village life. It was the profound formative influence of his maternal uncle that brought Michael in contact with the Christian religion. It was while living with this teacher at the age of 9 that he made a decisive, radical, and preferential break with that the religion of his parents. “The destruction of his personal juju together with his sacramental baptism on January 7th, 1912 can be seen as Michael Tansi’s first conscious act of detachment from traditional Igbo religious practice, together with his incipient attachment to Christian, liturgical practices and evangelical discipline as mediated and filtered by the predominantly Irish missionaries who at the time, congregated the Igbo converts into what were then termed “Christian Villages”. (Father Ed Debany, SJ, in a Symposium, sponsored by the Tansi Solidarity Prayer Movement of Nigeria)
The future blessed was an ordinary village boy going to the village school, playing football and doing other things with his school companions, and at the same time not afraid to enter into the new exacting life of a Christian convert. At that age, it meant for him to play less with his friends and pray more with his newfound God. A childhood friend remembers: “When we were young, we used to play in the moonlight. After eating in the evenings, we would go from house to house, calling our age group to play in the moonlight. When we went to his house to call him, we would not find him at home. After searching for him everywhere, we eventually found him in the church, seated alone in one corner. We often found him crying in the church. This is what happened every day. Some of our mates would then call him out and beat him up. We were about twelve years old then. His devotion to prayers was most striking. If you watched him praying in the church, he knelt down motionless, fixed his eyes on the tabernacle and tears gushed from his eyes. Some boys made fun of his attitude at prayer, but the more they did so, the more fervently did he pray. Other boys tried in vain to imitate him. He found time to attend daily morning masses and made visits to the Blessed Sacrament” (Elizabeth Isichei, ‘Entirely for God’. p. 18) Note that his childhood heroic piety did not in any diminish his humanity. He performed with equal dedication his daily domestic duties – serving his master and at the same time he was diligent in his academic studies and more than capable when involved in sporting events with his mates. He did everything with passion and moderation. He did not play too much, nor even pray too much. He was from childhood detached enough from excessive play in order to perform all of his other academic, spiritual, and domestic duties, though when he did play, he did so with gusto and obvious ability. Even as a priest “from 1940 till 1945 he threw all his practical intelligence, methodical labour, and burning priestly zeal into the work of forming a thriving parish from this outstation. Some measure of this man is to be found in what God accomplished here through him” (Fr. Gregory Wareing osco in ‘Sorry shall not kill me’ p.8)
In order to aspire to and develop the higher values of Christian living the new generation of Nigerians would need the guidance, discipline, direction, and correction of the kind Blessed Tansi found so readily in his uncle Robert Orekyie. Unfortunately, many people today may consider Blessed Tansi the stuff of legend. But his ideal must be chosen as a guide for the spiritual life. He left a stunning testament of Christian life that most of us have never even heard of, let alone read. In his lifestyle, Nigerians found an extraordinary account of the grace of God active in his life. “His enthusiasm and example drew in willing helpers from all levels of the surrounding people, he also helped the men to thatch their houses, and with the women he scrubbed floors. His firmness and kindness save a vocation to the priesthood... his example more than his words strengthened Godfrey’s will to persevere” ( ibid.p.8)
His growth in virtue at every stage of his life was seen and shown in his continuous and steady detachment, which will not give in to any objection even from his mother – God first. “His poor widowed mother went mad with rage. She went to the mission and harassed the parish priest to give her son back. She cried out her eyes in vain. He sympathized with his poor mother all right, but there was no turning back.” (Elizabeth Isichei: Entirely for God, The Life of Michael Iwene Tansi, Macmillan Nigeria 1981, p.28) What we may not know is that Blessed Tansi, “like so many saints and blessed before him, was inwardly and frequently drawn to union and communion with all three persons of the Blessed Trinity though most especially to Jesus as he became manifest and present sacramentally with each celebration of the Eucharist. Little wonder then, that we note Michael Tansi the priest, the monk, even the layman, attracted to daily and private prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. For as every mystic knows, the deeper the union between God and the human soul, the more effective and zealous will that soul’s service be whether to family, church or humanity in general”.(Father Ed Debany, SJ, in a Symposium, sponsored by the Tansi Solidarity Prayer Movement of Nigeria)
At every stage in his life, he was making progress in his search for God. As a school teacher, a headmaster, a diocesan priest, and a Cistercian monk it was God that he was looking for – entirely for God. “The same interior force or holy desire which moved Jesus to forever leave Nazareth at the age of thirty, St Anthony Abbot to give away his father’s significant inheritance, the first martyrs to prefer death over apostasy, St. Patrick to abandon the patrician comfort of continental Europe for the wilds of pagan and barbarous Ireland, Mother Teresa of Calcutta to seek transfer from her bourgeois Religious Congregation for total service and solidarity with the poorest of the poor that same interior force, the fruit of spiritual sensitivity to the interior motions of the Holy Spirit, inspired Tansi towards the
next stage of his ever more perfected union with God which he then understood as priestly, sacramental and pastoral service to his Igbo brothers and sisters. Nothing more and nothing less!” (Father Ed Debany, SJ, in a Symposium, sponsored by the Tansi Solidarity Prayer Movement of Nigeria)
For Blessed Tansi being a priest is humbling oneself in a spirit of service. The secret to his spiritual testimony is the secret of the spiritual life. “Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger, abounding in mercy” (Ps 103:8). Knowing well his own weakness, No blackmail, either from Satan or other leaders in the Church could tear him from the love of God once he had found it. That confidence in God’s goodness poured out in an encounter with God, changed his life.
Sunday, May 21, 2023
The lifestyle that redefines holiness for new Nigerians.
Nigerians are fortunate to have a blueprint for successful living in Blessed Tansi who through Grace, Faith, and Works has become “a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land”.( John Paul 11. Beatification sermon Nigeria. 1998) and as the Apostle Paul outlines God’s design for good living. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8–10).
The political and social events in Nigeria these last years keep me thinking about whether Nigerians, as religious as they are, understand that God has for everybody a design for pious living – holiness. I have met many who say they are tired of rules-based, ineffective, and judgemental religions. Many have the desire to live victoriously but operate from human strength only. The blessed Tansi lifestyle provides a new way to live on this side of the cross. If you are feeling empty and mentally exhausted, discover God’s design for living the supernatural life in the life and legacies of Blessed Tansi whose words and actions remain a perennial source of inspiration for us to follow. His commitment to life proposes to the new generation of Nigerians intrinsic holiness though not the chosen lifestyle. Blessed Tansi can serve as a universal model of essential holiness appropriate to all Christians whether these are priests, religious, youths, or any member of the baptized laity. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30). To the new generation of Nigerians, this Lord’s invitation to his followers can apply to moral and spiritual legacies which the Blessed Tansi be quitted to Nigerians. His life teaches us that holiness is possible for all. How we view God may influence how we understand holiness. For the Pharisees, we remember holiness was a very strict code. It had everything to do with how they viewed God – powerful, aloof, set apart, and much too holy and perfect to even glance toward anyone who was a sinner. Because of this view of God, the Pharisees behaved in much the same way - too godly to associate with sinners and too focused on keeping holiness codes to bother with the lives of those dirty, filthy commoners who didn’t observe the Law as perfectly as they did.
But notice that Jesus took a very different approach to this concept. He prioritized holiness and perfection with compassion and love not exclusion of anybody based on race, religion, background, or occupation. This is why we see Jesus spending so much time with sinners who were not acceptable to the Pharisees - the drunkards, the prostitutes, the sick, the outcasts, and the Roman-sympathizing tax collectors from within their own faith community.
Holiness, as blessed Tansi lived and practiced had everything to do with being good, godly, and perfect but with compassion and love. For him, life was ‘entirely for God’. He presented God as though unimaginable in glory and perfection surrounded night and day by the Holy angels upon His eternal throne set far above the heavens yet has an incomprehensible and absolute love for us his creatures. Yet full of mercy and compassion for the sick, needy, and sinners.
In Blessed Tansi we meet a true Nigerian, who is fully alive with the Spirit of God, avoided serious sin, was effective in whatever task God proposes, was courageous in the face of trial and difficulty, was mortified and charitable, always full of prayer, humility and heroism in the practice of the Christian virtues and was effectively detached from all things both good and evil even from life itself. He lived fully within the Nigerian context but at the same time is not of the world and does not adapt to the pattern of the Nigerian way of life. He did not disdain the created world nor fear it or run from it but rather experiences the world and its many goods as a gift from God to be used with freedom, responsibility, and gratitude.
In his days society favoured the concept of survival of the fittest but in his fight for the common good, he fought against any traditional law or custom that discriminates against people. We can now think of his fight for the right of women, especially widows, the ‘osu’ system, slavery, and the use of masquerade cult to intimidate and deliver judgment. He showed his full prayerful and active compassion seeing his own people disfigured by human sin and injustice. He abhors evil and its sinful manifestations but at the same time, did not invest his identity and self-worth in earthly pursuits and concerns even when these are good and noble. His love and compassion for the sick. Here we think of the lepers and the smallpox victims. These victims were rejected by society because their offenses against the goddess of the land incurred punishment from the deity. And because of the infectious nature of these diseases, anybody who approached or sympathized with them would incur the same anger of the gods. Blessed Tansi broke this myth with his love, compassion, and assistance to these unfortunate victims. His love for the family and married life: his pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha devoted much attention to the sanctification of marriages, consolidation of the family, and the education of the young for their role in the new emerging independent Nigeria and the local church. His expansion of so many outstations in his parish was to bring people nearer to know God and to love him. The schools that accompanied each outstation were to give education to the young and to prepare them for their future responsibilities.
However, he hated sin but loved the sinner. His very long hours in the confessional demonstrated his love for the sinner and his determination to bring such a person back to God. His special and continuous catechetical instructions were meant to deepen their love for God and their neighbour. This was a direct shot across the bow of the traditional practice that had taught that being a good man meant setting yourself apart from ritual and customs offenders and not associating with those who were unclean. Blessed Tansi turned the entire thing upside down. Showed what it meant to be good – being like God. God is merciful and loving to everyone – even to those who hate Him. His legacies today teach us that being good is not a statement about being perfect and it is not a challenge for us to do the impossible. Instead, it is a redefinition of what holiness is all about – loving as God loves – not about dividing ourselves from one another over who is more perfect or godly than someone else. And not love one ethnic group more than another but rather love and respect one another as we carry out our civic and religious responsibility – allowing each person what is his due irrespective of who he is or from where he comes from. God created a process that empowers everyday believers to produce exceptional results. He does not demand spiritual results without giving believers a clear process that makes successful living possible. Whenever Nigerians separate themselves from others because they are either Yorubas, Igbos, or Hausas, successful or sinful, they are deceived as the Pharisees were about what holiness is all about. Whenever Nigerians create an Us vs Them division between themselves, they are following the road with a dead end. I don’t know about you, but I think I had rather be more like Blessed Tansi who detached himself from material things and gave himself entirely for the service of God and his neighbour. Today the universal church recognizes the value and goodness in his lifestyle.
Sunday, May 14, 2023
Blessed Tansi Retreat summary of talks to Newly appointed Bishop Godfrey Okoye
taken from a chapter ‘In Community – Dec.1956-Jan 1964’ by Fr. Gregory Wareing ocso “Sorrow Will not kill me” published by Postulation Cause Blessed Tansi Onitsha. ( part 2 continuation of part 1 last week)
His fourth conference opens with a quotation from III Kings (1 Kgs in later versions than Douai and Knox) 19:10. 'With zeal I have been zealous for the Lord God of hosts.' 'Zeal is called the ardour of charity, the flame of love.'
'Indifference, or want of zeal, is a sign of want of love. 'Bishop should regard what is done to God as done to themselves'...no limit to what they are expected to do.' 'We must have the mind of Christ'...' preferring to die rather than to go against God's Will, like the martyrs.' Fr. Cyprian praises highly the European Missionaries who gave their lives to bring the light of the Faith to the Igbos. 'We were on the wrong way, and they, at the risk of their lives, came to put us right.' This fact reminds him of the light of Christ 'kindled at the Easter Vigil ceremony.'
In his fifth conference, Cyprian next turned to Bitter Zeal and warns the Bishop against it. This is the cause of nearly every heresy or schism in the church. Watch out for it.' 'Good zeal is generally supported by humility, the foundation of all virtue, and her first daughter, Obedience.' 'Every good zeal is free from self-seeking... Since the work in which we are engaged is God's work it is right that we should leave it in the hands of God; His Will should be respected. The work has to be done in the ways He wants.' Once more we can see that Cyprian's own life tallies with his teaching. Throughout his monastic life, he never took the initiative concerning the project on which his African heart was deeply set a Cistercian foundation in Igbo land.
Cyprian gives the Bishop 'a good test' of true zeal... 'Your reaction to a command from your superior asking you to give up your activity.' (We think at once of his own tests...giving up celebrating and preaching at the 8 o'clock Mass in the secular church at Mt. St. Bernard is his withdrawal from the list of readers in the refectory there...). 'Sometimes it requires a real heroic virtue to comply with such an instruction. But it is common in the lives of the saints, and they never hesitated to obey the order'. 'Your will should not be the norm of your action. God's will, coming as it often does from your Superior/s, must be your norm. Self is often the reason why you resent work being given to another which you want to do personally yourself. Mind your own business...Nobody is necessary to God.'
The next conference is on The Good Shepherd. 'He gives his life for his sheep. Christ, the Good Shepherd, is the Model for a Bishop. Money, food, clothes, a house, anything given short of life itself is not enough. The men and women, boys and girls of Port Harcourt (Bp. Okoye's first diocese) are yours...be up and doing to help them...You are wedded to Port Harcourt, and the first duty of a man to his wife is to love... Port Harcourt must be in your thoughts night and day...You have to get a map of your diocese, study every street and know your people by name. Study their difficulties, be up and doing to help them.' Cyprian focuses attention on the daily occasion at your door. It is the occasion of giving a smile from the heart to a troubled soul that needs some consolation...to listen with undivided attention to the poor wretch before you.'
'Never omit the reading of your Scripture day by day.' Watch Our Lord's way of dealing with people, His compassion for souls, his condescension for the poor... children suffered to come to him...women treated with utmost regard, and consideration, without offense to good breeding or morality.' Why did Pope John the XXIII, appeal to all classes of men?'
He was a true Father to all, a Good Shepherd of souls…He desired to show that men should be treated as men... men whom Our Lord did not disdain to redeem with His own blood.'
Above all your prayer is what your people need most. Pray for your people. You will be heard.'..'Can you say; "Come after me. I know where we are going. You are safe?" 'Woe is the shepherd who knows how to feed on the sheep, but not how to feed the sheep!' ... provide for the education of your youth, boys, and girls, for the training of the clergy.'
First and foremost you need a Junior Seminary...You need a Religious institute like that of the Christian Brothers...for youth education...You need a teaching Order of Women for our mothers and girls and an Institute like the Sisters of Charity for the townships. You need a convent of Contemplative at Port Harcourt, the Carmelites, the Poor Clares, our Cistercians. While the active members search for souls, these will bring down God's grace for their sins. 'Make your plan before the Blessed Sacrament. Do nothing without counsel. Money will come. Deus providebit. (God will see to that). The candle must be lit, and lit to burn,... 'Without me, you can do nothing...quite literally.' 'Without God and God's light and direction we can do absolutely nothing... in the natural order, and much less in the supernatural... 'No man has trusted in God and been confounded. God must be the Principal Author of every good work. We must be satisfied with our position as instruments'... 'It is a duty, a necessity to call on God if you really mean business. Ask and you will receive... to be a successful Bishop. you must be a man of prayer...' Cyprian then stressed the power of example, that of our Lord, then of saints who were Bishops, like Charles Borromeo or Francis de Sales.
'First, have a rule of life...Regular time to get up., regular time to bed. Fixed time for meditation should never be missed and should be supplied 'with quam primum (as soon as possible) if by chance not done at the prescribed time. Thanksgiving after Mass is not to be omitted or hurried. The Divine Office must have its time...not said when opportunity offers itself...preferably in your Oratory, not in the common square. Every spare moment should see you before the Lord asking for graces for yourself, your innumerable children, the diocese, and the work to be done...Men are looking upon you, some to find things to emulate, others to find things to criticize...Work while you have the time. The harvest is great. Friendship with the King in the Blessed Sacrament.'
In his last conference, Cyprian renews his early love for Mary the mother of God, our mother with the deep Cistercian devotion to our lady. Queen of Citeaux fostered and practiced in his own Abbey.
This is her age. We have come to recognize her due to her apparitions in several places.' 'Everything that could be said of her has been said by St. Bernard. St. Ephraim is not less profuse (in her praise). 'One of the signs of predestination...is devotion to the great mother of God and our mother.'
He wants Bishop Godfrey to examine, during this retreat how he stands in her regard. 'A boy's best friend is his mother, and a priest's best comforter is the mother of priests; a Bishop's greatest hope is the Queen of the Apostles.' In his own Cistercian Order the practical, traditional ways of honouring Mary are many and striking. Cyprian ends this talk and the whole retreat by citing many of them!
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Blessed Tansi Retreat summary of talks to newly appointed Bishop Godfrey Okoye July 1961
taken from a chapter ‘In Community – Dec.1956-Jan 1964’ by Fr. Gregory Wareing ocso “Sorrow Will not kill me” published by Postulation Cause Blessed Tansi Onitsha. (part 1)- part 2 will be next week)
On July 30th 1961, Fr. Cyprian Tansi was asked by his Abbot to give retreat to Msgr. Godfrey Okoye C.S.S.P. newly elected Bishop of the recently erected See of Port Harcourt. The Msgr had once been a parishioner of Fr. Tansi at Dunukofia. His vocation to the priesthood had been protected and confirmed by the words and examples of his parish priest. Your vocation comes first; Tansi told him when death swept away Godfrey's father and three brothers in quick succession. Fr. Tansi himself undertook the support of this bereaved family. Godfrey completed his studies for the priesthood.
In the first talk of this retreat given to his 'son become father and Lord' Fr. Cyprian frankly and humbly stressed the present reversal of their mutual roles. It is my turn to learn from you. He had prepared diligently calling on all his natural and supernatural wisdom to help this new successor of the apostles, entrusted with a wide spreading mission to souls in Nigeria and in other parts of the world.
Cyprian first stressed the need for a retreat. 'Set aside time each year; at least an hour's recall each month for this personal affair between God and yourself. You need a Patron Saint, preferably, for you, a Bishop. But the great patron, the Lord and King is Christ, who asks love for love.
In the second talk he took John 15:16 as his text; you have not chosen me I have chosen you. Where are your contemporaries at school, and in the seminary? Most have fallen away. Not many ordained priests and now you are a Pontiff, a Prince of the Church. To whom much is given (from Him) much will be required. He who is mighty has done great things to and for you and holy is his name. Gratitude follows naturally. You have a divine mission 'appointed to go' and 'bear fruit, in many parts of the world to be God's messenger, a messenger of peace, a messenger of love, a priest of God, another Christ, showing to all you meet that God is love, is worthy of (all) your love'.....
Cyprian enumerated the usual 'trappings' then associated with the rank of a Bishop. They have their place, alerts Cyprian, but the Bishop is the Bishop without them. How much of a Bishop is left without fruit? A tree fit to be a cut dispenser of love, a peacemaker, an apostle, a vicar of Christ. Woe to those who cling to a passing world. One thing alone lasts. One thing is worth seeking ... God! ... In order to love adequately, faithfully and constantly we need a companion, a friend, a patron, a counsellor. We must look for the one in the Blessed Sacrament; see him, too, in Holy Scripture and in other Pius books. You are loved deeply.
For his third talk Cyprian quotes the famous chapter 13 of I Corinthians, Charity is patience; is kind ... if we are to remain good we need the mass, meditation and spiritual reading. When we reflect on God and his many gifts to us, we find it easy to love him but it is not quite so easy to love our neighbours. Virtue is loveable, not so vice. It is not easy to know if we love God, but we know if we love men. The rest of this talk shows that Cyprian has studied carefully the last Encyclical of Pope-John XXIII, 'Pacem in Terris' (Peace on earth). The 5th and last section of this encyclical gives a very valuable and clear outline of how a lay man or woman can exercise a truly Christian apostolate in the very midst of their work-a-day world. The basic vocation of the laity is to sanctify the temporal concerns of men.Returning to the paramount necessity of charity to all men Cyprian quotes St. Teresa of Avila:' we could never love our neighbour perfectly if we had not a great love of God, and St Paul's though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, if I lack charity, I am nothing. He warns the Bishop that the last judgement hinges on our conduct towards our neighbours' and concludes this retreat talk with; There must be kindness to every child of Adam... it is easy to resolve to lay down your life for others, but not so easy to give them a simple smile, a kind word. But that is just what they want. (to be continued in part 2)
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Blessed Tansi's zeal for us consumes him.
World over Catholic priests are more identified with their pastoral ministry, their supervisory role as elders, and being a “servant” to the community. They are rightly called presbyters or elders, who are more of administrators, leaders, and assembly elders. Blessed Tansi was so committed to his flock that a historian Elizabeth Isichei described his entire priestly life as ‘Entirely for God’ In studying the priestly life of Blessed Tansi one cannot fail to notice immediately that his pastoral zeal is his priestly identity - pasturing the flock committed to his care with wholehearted love and commitment. It was the commitment that made a difference in his life – a dedicated worker in the vineyard of the Lord. All those who knew him testify that he worked with enthusiasm, passion, fervour, keenness, eagerness, devotion, wholeheartedness, vehemence, and the like. Speaking of his pastoral zeal and dedication Cardinal Arinze who has known him very well from childhood for many years has this to say: “ Who is this Nigerian priest said to have been not too tall in height, later in life rather frail in health, not one of the brightest students, but distinguished for his iron will, his firm trust in Divine Providence, his readiness to sacrifice his will in the service of God, his impressive acceptance to be misunderstood, a man never settling down to half measures, dissimulation, pride or love of convenience but always self-mortified and ready to put his whole heart and person into what he was doing”( in ‘Total Response p. 7)
Blessed Tansi's zeal is the fruit of his inner happiness and contentment in his priestly vocation which he took as a task given to him by God with full responsibility and on the other hand a way of life he has chosen for himself. “He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love... Everyone who met him was touched by his goodness”. (JP. 11 Sermon beatification 1998). His priesthood was something he assumed with joy and a great sense of responsibility. This turned out to become bliss for him and others who are the beneficiaries of his pastoral activities. “I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them.” (John 10:14) His Priesthood was a blessing to himself and his fruitful pastoral activity in turn becomes a blessing for others. “A man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of others especially the sick and poor... Even when he was sent by Bishop Heerey to the Cistercian Abbey of Mount Saint Bernard in England to pursue his monastic vocation, with the hope of bringing the contemplative life back to Africa, he did not forget his people. He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their continuing sanctification”. (Saint John Paul 11. Sermon Beatification 1998)
His kind of relationship with his flock made him know them and their needs. “Tansi knew and worked with all these groups. The people were proud of him. He was one of themselves but so outstanding in his zeal, they marveled at all the work he was doing for God amongst them. They love him for it and allowed him to influence their live-in many ways”. (Gregory Wareing osco. ‘Sorry shall not kill me’. P.5) This generated a kind of love that brought him close to the parishioners. And “ spontaneously, they offered him gifts to show their gratitude” (ibid) The weak parishioners got his greatest attention Just as Pope Francis would say, “The pastors should know the smell of the flock and the sheep should know the smell of their shepherd.” We cannot serve and love the flock that we do not know. It is not enough to love the people; they must know they are loved. Often he was so immersed in his pastoral care that he cared little for his own personal needs, what to eat, what to wear, and his other personal comforts including his health and personal well-being. We now think of his unending difficult pastoral treks through bush paths and farmlands that are often dangerous. Sometimes these treks are done without food and water. However, his pastoral zeal gave him enormous courage and strength to carry on the task he assumed on himself with full understanding that it was what the Lord wanted him to do. His one-time student and comp temporary, the former bishop of Umuahia, Anthony Nwedo cssp has this to say “... it may be a high claim to make, but it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm and candour, and the sensitiveness which is their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self forgetful”.( Sermon at the re-interment Onitsha 1986) Sr. Mary Aloysius Adimonye, as a young girl and a parishioner of Blessed Tansi at Akpu parish remembers many years after that “ it was his zeal for souls which was perhaps the most manifest; he preserved the purity of young girls, brought families back to God by convalidating marriages and baptising children, he travelled long distances to say mass, trekking through swamps and bush to visit about fifty outstations. His mortification and self-sacrifice were beyond normal and obvious to all who knew him”. (quoted in Fr Gregory Wareing - ‘Sorrow shall not kill me’ p.9)
The Gospels are full of statements that highlight Jesus’ pastoral zeal—to reach Father’s love for humanity. Like his Master, the Lord Jesus, Blessed Tansi was filled with pastoral zeal from the moment he realized his vocation, even as a little child serving his master and teacher Robert Orekyei in the little village Aguleri he was full of zeal for pleasing his master and as a teacher in the same village his main concern was his peoples. Indeed, it was his childhood desire to do with zeal whatever ever was his duty and responsibility. Like Blessed Tansi Nigerians can learn to live out the demands of their vocation with zeal. Zeal is the realization and fruitful living of one’s vocation. It is the best way of furthering the Kingdom of God. And for each one of us, it is a hallmark of responsible living.
Sunday, April 23rd. 2023
Blessed Tansi Legacies uplift Nigerians to live heroic lives.
Today Nigerians undoubtedly are going through a hard time socially, economically, and politically, which involves a storm of great magnitude for the country. Amid that, the choice to answer God’s call is never before to many of us. Fortunately, we are not alone. People who have answered the call invite each one of us to do the same — to arise and embrace God’s spectacular plan of salvation in our lives. The life and legacy of Blessed Tansi show that tempestuous times give rise to heroic lives. We need each other. As the book of Proverbs says, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man strengthens another.” (27:17). Honesty and truth matter but deceit and lies have great consequences. For those who chose differently — those who ignored or postponed God’s call to honest living only to see their home demolished by the pounding waves the book of Hebrews advises, ‘don’t neglect to meet together’ because ‘we are meant to lift one another’ in our faith” (10:24-25 ). The legacies of Blessed Tansi are about being inspired, getting greater formation, and going from there to do the needful in our Christian calling. Perhaps we have all blown it. We have all made mistakes. But we have a great and merciful God that has loved us so much that he has given us a way, and the way is through Jesus Christ. That is what we are going to gather and talk about and do it together through the help and inspiration from one of us who has gone before us doing what we are now called to do - this is precisely the mission of Christians in this country - to ignite other Nigerians to become who God is calling them to be and help others do the same. We are going through a period of time in our history where many Catholics are drifting or even running away from the Catholic faith, and it is time to articulate with clarity the importance of being a disciple of Christ after a good example of Blessed Tansi at this point of time in history. It is a great time to be alive.
Blessed Tansi is a true Nigerian with much in common with many Nigerians. As Cardinal Arinze said “... a Nigerian priest said to have been not too tall in height, later in life rather frail in health, not one of the brightest students, but distinguished for his iron will, his firm trust in Divine Providence, his readiness to sacrifice his will in the service of God, his impressive acceptance to be misunderstood, a man never settling down to half-measures, dissimulation, pride or love of convenience, but always self-mortified and ready to put his whole heart and person into what he was doing.” (in ‘total response’ p.7) He was from a humble and poor background, and suffered many setbacks in his early childhood – the death of his father for one, and later the mysterious death of his mother. As a professional teacher and headmaster, his dedication to duty and humble lifestyle speak to all professionals of our day. As a seminarian for the priesthood, the will of God was all that mattered to him. Our seminarians and aspirants today will have the joy of their calling when they learn from Blessed Tansi how to put away their likes and dislikes and accept the will of God for them. As a Priest in the Archdioceses of Onitsha, he had an extraordinary zeal for evangelization and the growth of the local church. His priestly zeal and holiness certainly will inspire new Nigerian priests and religions. He left a legacy of how to be a priest. The last fourteen years of his earthly life were spent hidden from the world – spent in prayer and contemplation at Mt. Saint Bernard Abbey England. This is another form of apostolate – called from his flourishing missionary work to the life of enclosure. He obeyed what he considered to be the will of God for him and lived out his vow of stability to the full. He may not be inviting all of us to the monastery and the religious life. He lived his own life as he perceived God’s calling. He is inviting all of us in different and various vocations of our life to take seriously the purpose of our life and calling – to see God as the end of our purpose and life. This must be expressed in the love we have for God made practical in our love for our fellow human beings. His life is bringing together men and women of different ages and vocations to inspire and equip them, so that they can make the difference they are meant to make in their own families, relationships, and society, reminding them that they are not alone in this daily battle. This is one of the reasons why the universal church sets him before Nigerian as their national saint and model so that every Nigerian will appreciate and emulate the humble way he lived out his vocation.
Regardless of the circumstances or sins that may be preventing Nigerians from truly answering God’s call to greatness, his legacies stand out as a message of hope in God’s mercy and power to transform our lives. The celebration of the silver Jubilee ( just concluded) of the second papal pastoral visit to Nigeria and the beatification of blessed Iwene Tansi is an opportunity for every Nigeria to make a change in his/her life –something different from what it was last year if you cannot do anything to change something about your faith. Take a chance. Do something bold. If we stay and don’t try, who will make the difference that we are supposed to make? The opportunity is not waiting for you, it will pass. This event will help Nigerians to enter into a whole new level of understanding about their faith, themselves, and their responsibility to one another and to our nation. The goal of his beatification is also to extend his mission to our work places, the parish, and family lives by guiding all who desire to remain faithful as they continue to meet the challenges of their vocation in life. There has never been a greater need in today's Nigeria
Sunday, Sunday 16, 2023
Blessed Tansi Legacies are alive and strong
Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi lived entirely for God and humanity. Nigeria has received a lot of favours from God through him. “... We cannot avoid thanking God for the many favours which he has given to Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi and through him to Nigeria, Africa and the church worldwide”. ( in Arinze Cardinal ‘Total Response’ p.243). These favours the church officially recognised by his beatification at Oba Nigeria on March 22nd 1998. Speaking of these favours during the beatification mass, the Holy Father, Saint John Paul 11 said: “So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest. In this regard, I wish to thank and to encourage the Church in Nigeria for her missionary work in Nigeria, in Africa and beyond. Father Tansi's witness to the Gospel and to Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local Church now offers to the Universal Church”. (JP 11 in Beatification sermon 1998)
Blessed Tansi laboured all his life for the growth and sanctification of the church. He lived and worked for truth and justice for everybody, especially for those the society seems to reject. He seemed to have been born and destined for this purpose. His onetime Novice Master in the monastery speaking of this destiny said: “From 1940 till 1945 he [Fr. Tansi] threw all his practical intelligence, methodical labour and burning priestly zeal into the work of forming a thriving parish from this outstation. Some measure of this man is to be found in what God accomplished here through him”. (Gregory Wareing ocso, in ‘sorry shall not kill me’ p. 8)
His legacy speaks today of a loud living and relevant message. If we think Christianity is a weak, dying reality, poor in morality we are absolutely wrong, as the life and legacies of Blessed Tansi show that it is still a big deal. The absolute and strongest sign of this is his witness in our own times. He lived a great sign of hope in a very trying period of the colonial era. His life, compared to the martyrs of which the Church Father Tertullian said “The blood of Christians is the seed and ensures the growth and fruitfulness of the People of God. Francis Cardinal Arinze confirming this truth said: “This is a mystical reality in his [Fr. Tansi] life ... it is not an exaggeration to say that Father Tansi lived for God and for his brothers and sister. He saw Christianity as living entirely for God. From the day of his baptism, he did not look back. He kept up the effort to give God his best in the use of time, in studies, in manual labour, in the observance of seminary regulations, in fidelity to liturgical rules and in the unquestioning acceptance of assignments given to him by the bishop” (‘Total response’ P. 210) Part of the reason he lived a very ascetical and mortified life is for the flock entrusted to him that he might bring new life to them. We know that the sacrifice of the martyrs calls down grace which benefits the Church. But it is also true in very practical ways that not only does the witness of holy pastors convince non-believers and inspire believers, but their penitential mortified lives cause the faith’s most ardent believers to engage themselves more actively in the spread of the faith. Their lives are shining examples for the new generation of Nigeria.
Blessed Tansi essentially a very zealous pastoral parish priest in the Nigerian colonial era, was more interested in the spiritual liberation of his people than the liberation agenda of the nationalists of his time. His utmost concern was to find labourers in the Lord’s vineyard. He recruited young boys and girls from his boarding school and parish and prepared them for the seminary and religious life. He looked after them while in the houses of formation and when they were on holiday. “With such a dedicated pastor as Fr. Tansi, there is no surprise if many priestly and religious vocations have arisen in the parishes where he worked.” (Cardinal Arinze - Total Response –P.118). We recall here the Holy Father John Paul 11 advice to the bishops of Nigeria on the challenges in the formation of priestly and religious formation in Nigeria. He was speaking to them during his second pastoral visit in which he beatified Blessed Iwene Tansi. The Holy Father emphasises the formation which was something which Blessed Tansi was doing 50 years back. “With more than three thousand seminarians currently in formation in your existing inter-diocesan major seminaries, you are planning to open new ones, this will allow you to ensure more readily the proper training of candidates to the priesthood”.( Abuja 1998)
We can also stop and think for a moment about the growth and flourishing monastic apostolate in Nigeria at a time when some monasteries in many places are closing down. Blessed Tansi is the father of the monastic apostolate in Nigeria. When he was a pastor in the Archdiocese of Onitsha he desired the monastic apostolate for himself and for Nigerians. He went for it, suffered for it and finally brought it to Nigeria because he knew the value of the hidden, contemplative life. He did this because of his understanding that personal union with God, prayer and sacrifice, however, hidden were fruitful for the whole Church. He knew that sharing in Christ’s mediation by sharing in his Cross is one of the most fruitful of the apostolate. He knew that it was love that counted and that the contemplative and the missionary apostolate needed each other.
Blessed Tansi's ideals in his love and esteem for women and the family are still alive, challenging and relevant in the church and society today. His apostolate has very high regard for women and the family “the first and vital cell of society” (cf. Vat.11, Ap. Act. 11). He first fought for the right and respect of women in a culture that has male domination tendency. It was not easy for him. Set up centres to give women moral education, wifely skills and care for home and children. He took special care for the sanctification of Christian marriages since the traditional native culture allowed the man and his wife to live together after the payment of the bride prize. He did not allow that for his new Christian converts and therefore set up measures to stop that practice for his Christians. Christian men and women must not live together even after the payment of the bride's prize. Some of his measures were strict and hard. Christian girls whose bride prize has been paid were not allowed to live with prospective husbands until united by sacramental marriage. Often this involves taking the girl away from the husband and keeping her in the pre-marriage centre until the man is ready for a sacramental marriage. In his time no one challenged him, he was a man of his epoch moved by the zeal to evangelise and sanctify. That zeal still remains valid for the growth and sanctification of our church today. His legacy is the story of what happens when holy pastors witness Christ. Their faith attracts others. We all need to repeat their words and follow their actions. Their faith is our faith; their hope is our hope. And that hope is strong. Blessed Tansi's legacy in other words is alive and well and living in Nigeria. His spirit is also thriving today in the local church and among Nigerians.
Sunday, April 2, 2023
Blessed Iwene Tansi - Nigerian Christian Prince
It was March 22nd, 1998 the Catholic Church recognized the humble achievement and contribution to the world of Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi. During that ceremony the Holy Father, John Paul11 described him as “a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian”.(in Sermon beatification Nigeria 1998)
During his life, the Blessed Iwene Tansi acting like a religious prince modeled his entire life and spirituality on ‘give and not count the cost’, ‘fight and not heed the wounds’, and ‘everything entirely for God’. Today we celebrate the glories of Blessed Tansi but let us not forget that he was despised and even hated by some few traditional rulers and chiefs who were dominant in his time and who opposed his reforms because of his call for change in culture and way of life diminished their cultural influence and gains. He was hated because he was the most outspoken champion of orthodox Christian morals and values and traditional cultural reforms. Conversely, he was loved and revered by faithful Catholics and ordinary men and women, especially by Catholics of the younger generation, precisely because he was such a strong defender of the faith and traditional religious values. Unfortunately some of his own among the clergy of the Archdiocese feared that his confrontations with the chiefs and traditional rulers would have an adverse impact on their opportunities for local support. Thus they did not always support him. As foreign missionaries, they wanted to blend in with the traditional establishment and not wage a culture war against it. It did not take long for Blessed Tansi to gain prominence in his fight against bad customs and bad traditional rulers. The parishes where he worked were flourishing with faith. While some clerics who kept their heads down and compromised with the traditional rulers and customs were nurturing trouble with the young missionary church. Blessed Iwene Tansi actively promoted them, often with the help of senior seminarians – future priests, for them he became a mentor.
His personality was that of an alpha male whose alternative career could have been in the field of politics. He was “a great man, a many-side specimen of redeemed humanity, a pride of Nigeria ...” ( in Arinze Cardinal ‘Total Response p. 9). In his youth, he was offered a position to lead the community as a professional headmaster but turned it down to enter the seminary. Like the influential parish priest of Ars St. John Vianney, whom he admired, he believed that parish priests should play a role in the public life of their nations. Also, he relied heavily on the laity to promote his ideas. His leadership style was that of a fusion of the old traditional youth roles who were village functionaries with that of the new generation of Christian youth converts trained and equipped with sound morals who take part in the government of the community. He went about building new outstations in the farmlands and villages. For each outstation he built he placed a teacher/catechist to be in charge. By giving the young converts an education he was preparing them for future leadership.
In addition to being a public religious figure and an entrepreneur, Blessed Tansi was also ascetically inclined. The hallmark of his Christian identity was ascetic charity. Despite his priestly poverty, he gave much more than those who have. The main urge for his giving was his compassion for the sick and the weak. The lepers and the smallpox victims got his greatest attention because these unfortunate victims according to the native custom and belief were abandoned by all including their relations. He became for them a brother, a physician, and a spiritual father sharing his merged resources with them. Only heaven knows the kind of joy he offered to these unfortunate and abandoned victims. Everybody knew about his fights for the underprivileged, widows, and women in general. He was much worried about the general condition of the masses - hunger, sickness, and repression. He seemed to have been made and given to “give and not count the cost,” “fight and not heed the wounds.” He knew he was born into a cosmic battle, and he was prepared to fight like the heroic priest caught on the wrong side of the war. While he was the kind of man who regularly enjoyed the company of high ecclesiastical dignitaries he never forgot his more lowly sick friends. He was warm, fun, a master of repartee, interested in playfully exchanging ideas. All who met him immensely enjoyed his company and his guidance. He had an easy manner in correcting people and bringing evangelization into every discussion — often — when discussing the vagaries of everyday life. His passion for truth was not only about Catholic doctrine; he insisted that our private conversations be rooted in the truth. He showed affection by teasing people. Once a person became his friend, he remembered him for life. Today Nigerians “... young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest”. (JP in sermon beatification 1998)
Pastors of souls in this land will learn from his princely detached lifestyle and never open the door to the spirit of worldliness, for this makes them interpret ministry according to the criteria of their advantage and leads them to use their role to serve themselves instead of serving others, and to neglect the one relationship that matters, that of humble and daily prayer.
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Silver Jubilee of Beatification: The True Spirit of Blessed Tansi.
The Archdiocese of Onitsha has for the last 24 years been celebrating each year the anniversary of both the second pastoral visit of Saint John Paul 11 to Onitsha and the beatification of Blessed Iwene Tansi during that historic visit but this year the celebration took a different dimension – weeks of preparation accompanied by novena prayers, the number that turned on Wednesday 22nd. March 2023 at the basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. Months earlier Archbishop Valerian Okeke, the Archbishop of Onitsha and the Actor in the cause of the beatification of Blessed Tansi gave directives that the prayers for the canonization of Blessed Tansi be said each morning during the morning assembly in all the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese. And weeks before 22nd March each of the six Episcopal Region in the Archdiocese comes together one day to celebrate Blessed Tansi with a rosary procession, prayers, and confessions and end with the Holy Eucharist. Members of Blessed Tansi Solidarity, devotees, and friends of Blessed Tansi have joined the preparation with novena prayers and masses. March 22nd March was the D-day – the grand Jubilee celebration. It was a big thanksgiving to God and a grand honour to our national hero and Patron-Blessed Iwene Tansi. One of the many enduring attributes of Blessed Tansi is his ability to attract to the state of sanctity men and women indeed even children into the vast aura of holiness. Today he is honoured and remembered and indeed prayed to, not because of where he lived nor even for what he accomplished, but for that ever-attractive and inspiring state of holiness that he was able to achieve during his earthly lifetime. What inspires us most about him is his shared singular attachment to God and Godly things while at the same time, his admirable and free detachment from the vanities of our time. Admired because, like so many saints before him Blessed Iwene Tansi, at every stage of his life, took his vocation to holiness very seriously. His legacy is not of someone self-referential and lost in himself, but that of a sincere seeker who generously invested his talents in the demanding service of the Gospel, in fidelity to the Church, and in concrete contributions to society. We can rightly say that he learned to listen to and live the Gospel, accepted being a disciple in the Church, and was a committed citizen in a country-Nigeria that was increasingly in need of love and reconciliation.
“Oh! Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi! He was a Nigerian, one hundred percent![…]. He lived out the Gospel in a way that was convincing in a way that [gave] credible witness, with a very high degree of credibility. The type of witnesses that is contagious.[…] You would not be indifferent to Blessed Tansi if you knew him. You either are for him or you will want to run away from him. It is like fire. You can’t be near fire and be indifferent. You will [surely] be affected. And Fr. Tansi had the fire, so he was inspiring”. (Extracts from the recorded recollections of Francis Cardinal Arinze – once a pupil and devoted mass serve of Blessed Tansi)
When he was young, he did all the activities common to the village boys of his age. Living with his cousin's teacher he was a servant boy doing all the household works for his master. After eating in the evenings, the others spent their time playing in the village moonlight. The young Iwene would be often found praying in the church. His devotion to prayers was most striking. It is said that if you watched him praying in the church, he knelt down motionless, fixed his eyes on the tabernacle and tears gushed from his eyes. Some boys made fun of his attitude at prayer, but the more they did so, the more fervently he prayed. Other boys tried in vain to imitate him. He found time to attend daily morning masses and made visits to the Blessed Sacrament. His heroic piety as a boy servant did not in any manner diminish his humanity. He performed with equal dedication his daily domestic chores, was assiduous in his academic studies, and was more than capable when involved in sporting events with his mates. He was not merely a well-rounded youth interested in the normal everyday activities of his age group but more importantly, he did all things both with intensity and moderation. He did not play too much, nor even pray too much. He performed his many domestic duties at home and in the parish house despite failing his academic studies.
As a youth of 16 years, he obtained the First School Leaving Certificate and during the following year, began a new phase in his life as an apprentice teacher in the Christian village. As a teacher and later as School Headmaster, he continued to reveal not merely his sharp and keen abilities as an educator, but of equal importance to us his demonstrable preferential love of God and of Christian values. Popular, effective, and even beloved as a teacher, he gradually began to note within himself a deeper and more demanding calling to the service priesthood which would necessitate his leaving an already prestigious teaching profession and with it, a relatively autonomous lifestyle. He decided against the expectations of many though not without some temporary doubts and emotional pain. He believed the priesthood to be a place he could better and more wholeheartedly serve God and humanity. Nothing more and nothing less! Total service and solidarity with the poorest of the poor.
He finally received priestly ordination at the hands of Bishop Charles Heerey in 1937. Today we remember with admiration and affection the priestly zeal of Blessed Tansi. From the time he was accurate at Nnewi in 1937 until his departure for the Trappists in England, in 1950, Tansi served with such priestly zeal and dedication that the ordinary of the Diocese, Archbishop Charles, Bishop Heerey, held him up as a model for all priests to emulate. This is an excellent compliment given the fact that most of the priests of the Archdiocese of Onitsha were, at the time, expatriates. Yet another piece of evidence that the change of vocation from Headmaster Tansi to Rev. Father Tansi was clearly the will of God lies in the prodigious variety and obvious fruits of his priestly ministry in the three parishes assigned to his pastoral care in the Archdiocese of Onitsha. God was still drawing him to Himself -to a life of total dedication away from the world at Mount Saint Bernard monastery England where he died January 20 1964 fulfilling perfectly his vow of stability.
On occasions like this - the Jubilee of his beatification, the challenge that we want to share with you is not only to venerate him, honor, and pray to him but to make his way our way of discerning and responding to God’s call; his way of understanding the Church and the world; his way of relating to politics, with workers and businessmen; with children and youth; with ecclesiastics and religious life, with the sick, the poor and the voiceless in the society. What motivated him? What did he intend to achieve? How does his behavior enlighten us today as we face a difficult political and economic problem in our country so that we do not remain indifferent, superficial, or abstracted from what is happening around us? The life and choices of Blessed Tansi as teacher and headmaster, point to motivations far more sublime and universally appealing than the mere development of my talents, the exaggerated enjoyment of life, and the pursuit of honour, financial security, and prestige. In the end, Blessed Tansi, can serve as our model of essential holiness appropriate to all Christians whether these be high ecclesiastics, religious, youths, or any member of the baptized laity. The work and ways of Blessed Tansi still have much to say to us.
Sunday, 19 March 2023
Blessed Iwene Tansi: 25 years of Beatification. (March 22nd 1998- 2023)
Wednesday, March 22nd Nigeria shall celebrate the 25 years of the beatification of Blessed Tansi by Saint John Paul 11 during his second pastoral visit to Nigeria at Oba near Onitsha. It was an event of National, religious and political importance. Being proclaimed Blessed by the universal Catholic Church is a recognition of the humble way Blessed Tansi lived out his Christian vocation in radical fidelity - a great honour to his person and to Nigeria his country where he was born and received the Catholic faith, professed it and witnessed it as a child, a teacher, a diocesan priest and later as a religious Cistercian monk.
This event of twenty-five years ago and the life of Blessed Tansi are events that touch the lives of many people in so many ways. The event was unique and the first of its kind in this part of the world. Blessed Tansi lived a life admirable in so many ways that the church acknowledges its humble Christian character. The celebration of these 25 years is an excellent opportunity to pray for the successful completion of his worthy Cause -.fullness to the altar and how best Nigerians will live out his legacy. We remember that this fruit of holiness which grew and matured in this land is our own brother. He was like us and lived with us. He made his Christian way of life truly African. In him, Nigeria has something to offer to the universal church – truly Nigerian/African holiness. This is a good reason to rejoice, thank God and be proud. “Father Tansi witness to the Gospel and to Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local church now offers to the universal church…”( John Paul 11 Sermon Beatification 1998) We have something in Blessed Tansi that Nigeria can offer to the universal church. What a happy memory. It is fitting that we celebrate a Nigerian, true servant of the Lord who exemplifies what it means to be a true Christian disciple and a model of holiness. During his ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha, Blessed Tansi was a great and inspiring spiritual leader who offered direction and inspiration to everybody.
His beatification brought the Holy Father to for the second time to Nigeria. It was a pastoral visit to beatify Blessed Tansi but we remember that his coming brought Nigeria many social and political blessings. Before his coming Nigeria was in a bad shape, fearful, insecure and was in great social and political tension, it was a military rule I quite remember, political tension was at its highest and there were many political prisoners. But soon after the Pope’s visit, papal intervention and beatification of Blessed Tansi tensions began to die down, many in prison were released, political parties formed and the country returned to civilian rule. In all these, I see the hand of Blessed Tansi who loves his country so much. Certainly, heaven was at work for and in Nigeria. The Blessed Tansi is still very much alive in Nigeria; his fame of holy life is spreading among Nigerians. Many Nigerians are inspired to live a life of penance and devotion after his example. Many more are relinquishing their worldly desires and devoting themselves to a new way of life in service to others and the common good. Could more Nigerians who aspire to worldly success and fame after the blessed Tansi example sacrifice some of their wealth for the good of the common people and become missionaries to spread the Gospel of love to the poor and voiceless in this country? Could more wealthy and powerful Nigerians learn to give to the poor instead of taking what belongs to the poor? Blessed Tansi travelled to a point of exhaustion the length and width of his mission in the Archdiocese of Onitsha to bring help and hope to millions of his people.
Sunday Mach 12, 2023.
Blessed Iwene Tansi Eucharistic Legacy.
Our Sunday Eucharist is Christ who gives himself to us and continually builds us up as his body. We are able to celebrate and adore the mystery of Christ present in the Eucharist precisely because Christ first gave himself to us in the sacrifice of the Cross. (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis, no. 14). . God saves and it is our job to invite every person on this earth to personally know this fact. The diocesan investigation into the life and virtues of Blessed Tansi gave revealing evidence of the living presence of the Holy Trinity in his life and activity. He seemed to be living in the presence of God all the time. He felt God’s presence, he spoke of his presence and rejoiced as if God was physically present to him. He sought to bring everybody to the Eucharistic Lord. This fact was on the lips of almost every witness that came up to testify.
“Father Tansi had a strong faith in the Holy Eucharist. He celebrated Mass in a way that inspired faith. His Eucharistic Benediction celebrations nourished faith. Even the way he genuflected showed his Eucharistic faith. He prayed for long hours in the Chapel by day and by night” (Francis Cardinal Arinze)
This kind of piety is indeed a spiritual formation, fostering the disposition that leads us into fruitful celebration and participation in the Eucharist. We recall that very early in his life he felt the overwhelming love of God. This love ravished his soul and he welcomed it in the many difficult decisions he had to take, to become a Christian, to break from the last connection with the traditional religion by destroying his personal ‘chi’, leaving the teaching profession for the seminary and becoming a priest at the stiff opposition of his relations and to surrendering all the time to the same love of God as he called him even to the monastic life. Rather than a static idea, the Presence of God was for him ever actively present in the soul, constantly at work, continually rebuilding by love what weakness in him might have destroyed. Throughout his life he celebrated the Eucharist as a mystery to be believed, celebrated, and lived. Each of these dimensions was important for his spiritual growth as a Christian. “In his years as a pastor, the faith of Fr. Tansi in the Holy Eucharist was very manifest. He was often seen in his chapel on visits to our Eucharistic Lord, especially by night. His chapel, although simple, was always clean. So were his vestments for mass and for Eucharistic Benediction. He organised the Corpus Christi procession with a touch of beauty and love and saw that the choir and the flower girls did their part with credit and faith”. (in F. Arinze, Total Response p. 173)
As a priest Blessed Tansi made the sacrifice of mass the first and highest function of the day. A good number of his parishioners testified to this. He remembers Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross at Mass; the Word once again becomes flesh and dwells among us. This little bit of matter—a small piece of bread and some drops of wine—is transformed into the presence of divine love accompanying us along the way. The gift of the Eucharist was for him worth more than all the rest of his life. The Eucharist was Jesus and Jesus was the centre of his life. Fr. Tansi believed that through his priestly ordination the Lord in his mercy had confided on him with the words ‘No longer servants, but friends’. With these words, the Lord had entrusted to him the words of consecration in the Eucharist. He had entrusted him to proclaim his word, to explain it aright and to bring it to all people. His Eucharistic piety took its base from here. He went to the Lord of the Eucharist with a friendly trust because he was not only the Lord’s friend but the Lord knew him by name. He sought the friendship of the Lord daily to know him better in the Scriptures, in the Sacraments, in prayer, in the communion of saints, in the people who came to him, sent by the Lord.
This was how Fr. Tansi became truly himself. This was the way Fr. Tansi lived his life for others since the Lord himself set his glory aside in order to seek us, in order to bring us his light and his love. “… although he was rich, he became poor for our sake, so that you should become rich through his poverty” (2Corith. 8.9). This is the reason for his great zeal to bring Christ to the remotest parts of his parish even if it meant trekking long distances or going by bush bike through the narrow pathways of the farmland often at the risk of snakes and wild animals. Blessed Tansi knew that his people have been struggling to live and that they had not much to depend on. They needed to rely on the Lord in everything because they have no one else to rely on, not even themselves. They were facing death, the uncertainty of severe illness, aggressive poverty, permanent disability and injustice. He was also aware of this kind of poverty in his loved ones and he sought to model his own life after that of the Master who came to rescue his loved ones in their poverty. Hence his priestly love for the Eucharist bore within itself the precious cargo of patience, humility, and growth in conforming his will to God’s will, to the will of Jesus Christ, his friend in the Eucharist. “His long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love” ( JP 11. In sermon beatification 1998). With his long fasts and no comfort one sometimes wondered what gave him the joy, which people never failed to see on his face. Some think it was the presence of God, which he considered as the fulfilment of all desire, the inheritance with the saints, the furnace of love and our heavenly homeland. This was testified in his favourite song, ‘Ife annuli na enu uwa ma ife ebube na enigwe’, (joyful things on earth but blessedness in heaven).
Awareness of the presence of God automatically inspired in him a love for prayer, to be with God all the time, craving for spiritual growth, everything making sense for him, generous to people, zealous in his ministry, and happy doing his work with tranquillity. To three Nigerian religious sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who came to Mt. Saint Bernard to seek his advice he described this kind of contemplation as primarily God's work which we make space for by self-denial and silence. The soul humbly asked and obediently waited for God’s response. He made it clear to these sisters that the weaknesses we discover in prayer did not impede God's work but instead became instruments through which He was revealed. Human frailty was meant to be enveloped in divine splendour and this was achieved in the deep silence of loving surrender to his living presence. Through humbly clinging in love to the living presence of the Holy God we became what we were predestined to be: the praise of glory. Blessed Tansi Eucharistic piety reminds all Nigerians of the heart of the Eucharistic faith of the Church. We go to Sunday Eucharist because God dwells among us. Even in our poverty, God is there. And learning to love our parish community is part and parcel of the Eucharistic celebration. God has come to each of these men and women to share Himself with them. If we can’t deal with that, it is we who need to change rather than God.
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Blessed Tansi leaves a Legacy of a true Pastor of Souls.
To become a priest was the youthful dream of Blessed Iwene Tansi, he pondered on his desire to become a priest but it was far from easy for him to achieve. Indeed, he arrived at priestly ordination only after many ordeals and misunderstandings, with the help of far-sighted priests who did not stop at considering his human limitations but looked beyond them and glimpsed the horizon of holiness that shone out in that truly unusual young man. So it was that on 19 December 1937 at the age of 33, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Onitsha ( now basilica) after numerous uncertainties, quite a few failures, and many tears, he was able to walk up to the Lord's altar and make the dream of his life come true. By this gift of his priesthood, he knew that he was consecrated to serve, humbly yet authoritatively. He knew that the Lord had given him great graces at his ordination and urged him more strongly than ever to throw himself into the work of his sanctification so he might draw many other souls to Him. And so the young priest wanted the greatest possible fervor and exactness in all his priestly duties. “ For 13 years Father Tansi had been a devoted pastor baptizing, absolving in the confessional, preaching, catechizing, visiting the sick, organizing schools, building and traveling... he could also react quickly and lose his temper when a big principle was at stake”( in Cardinal Arinze, ‘Total Response”. P. 217)
For the rest of his life, he always expressed the highest esteem for the gift of the priesthood. He loved and lived it out to the full. His pastoral care for his parishioners is like the Fulani and their cattle. He stood with the people, no matter the risk. He was their advocate even at risk to his own life. He really went to every corner of his parish, untiringly, in order to seek his flock and to bear fruit that lasts. He was a priest to the last, for he offered his penitential mortified life to God for his community and for the entire human family, in a daily self-oblation for the service of the Church. And in this way, he became an imitator of Christ, the Good Shepherd who loves his sheep. He saw this mission as indispensable for the Church, for his suffering people, and for the world, a mission that called him for complete fidelity to Christ and constant union with him. He saw his pastoral mission as indispensable for the Church, for his suffering people, and for the world - a mission that called him for complete fidelity to Christ and constant union with him. He knew that there was no other way than to abide in his love which entails constantly striving for holiness and growing ever closer to Jesus, who counted on him, his minister, to spread and build up his Kingdom and to radiate his love and his truth. From the moment of his ordination, he was determined to be completely enthralled by Christ. This was the goal of his entire life and the goal of the entire pastoral ministry.
Father Tansi, a good pastor lived according to the mind of Christ and his church. Through his priestly lifestyle, he emphasized the indispensable role of the priest. As a pastor, the parishes where he worked and the people who met him knew that he was the greatest treasure that the good Lord could give to a parish and at the same time one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy. It is here that we find the reason for the great mortification and penance in his life for his flock. To live for him is to suffer, it is the truth, the most obvious and indisputable truth in life, the data on which any quasi-scientific theory of human life must be erected. Apart from spiritual pains and problems related to morality, physical suffering was the most obvious problem in the world of his day. Living condition was hard, essentials were not there, and depression, despair, and divorce were more painful than death. For him and his pastoral care Christ came as the solution to all problems – spiritual and physical. Everyone must have faith in God. He brought God to their level sanctifying families and marriages. He sought to dispel local myths and superstitions that created fear and anxiety among the people. Gradually beliefs and myths about the evil forests, leprosy, smallpox, and evil malignant spirits of the dead began to disappear. His attitude to life emphasizes the truth that if we do not have before us a purpose and a meaning in life, then we cannot endure any suffering that is inconvenient. His simple presence among the people did them well, brightened and touched hearts hardened by the ups and downs of life and above all enlightened and shook indifferent consciences. Christ came not to free us from our pains, but to transform them into his. Christ does not try to solve the problem of suffering; he changed it into a mystery.
He had such confidence in God, in himself, and in his divine mandate to raise very strong voices against the injustice and the abuses of power that some traditional rulers used to oppress the poor, the weak, and women in order to exploit them for their own selfish ends. He could not remain neutral or indifferent before the pain was caused to others by acts of injustice and violence. The masquerade cults violating the fundamental rights of any woman or man were an offense. He stood strongly against them. Apart from his pastoral care for the sick especially leprosy and smallpox victims, he assisted them with his merged material resources. Oral tradition has it that most times he forfeited his meals to the poor and the sick.
He had power and influence over his flock but not as traditional rulers and chiefs, he was a compassionate and merciful shepherd, not an overlord, but a servant who stoop to wash cloth the lepers and to bury the dead ones - not a local agency that administers earthly goods, but the God’s servant who brings God’s mercy, comfort and compassion. He stood all the time in the midst of people’s troubled lives, - families, women, and youth and needy - ready and willing to dirty his hands with them. His closeness to his people as a pastor of souls is a marvelous testimony that he bequeathed to us - a legacy that invites us to carry forward our various missions to all our brothers and sisters. The seeds he planted in this local church, along with many others, will bear fruit. It is good to remember with gratitude such a great pastor who marked the history of our country and our local Church, who preached the Gospel and went before us in faith. He is the solid root that strengthens our evangelical zeal.
Sunday, February 26, 2023
25 years after Beatification: Nigeria any hope for real change.
Nigerians after 25 years of the second papal visit and beatification of Blessed Iwene Tansi should see hope for real change in their lives. Immediately after the visit, Nigerians seemed optimistic that the pontiff’s words and deeds made a real difference in inspiring change, even if perceiving the concrete results will take time. Today after 25 years did our optimism elude us? Today the mass poverty and the bleak conditions facing many sick people, the corruption that enables them to continue and perhaps the greatest - Nigeria is looking more and more like a battlefield without any hope of change. 25 years ago the Holy Father spoke strongly, on the real and main problems of Nigerians – his words were like intravenous epinephrine for a patient in anaphylaxis. Yes, definitely his words made a difference at the time – at least the military head of state decided to hand the government to the people. But have Nigerians learnt anything in the area of love for one another and reconciliation? The papal visit has confirmed us in hope, service and joy. God has sent him to us. We are not naive. We trust in Him.
“Today I wish to proclaim the importance of reconciliation: reconciliation with God and reconciliation of people among themselves. This is the task which lies before the Church in this land of Nigeria, on this continent of Africa, and in the midst of every people and nation throughout the world. ... For this reason, the Catholics of Nigeria must be authentic and effective witnesses to the faith in every aspect of life, both in public affairs and in private matters”.( JP 11 Sermon Beatification Nigeria 1998)
We thought that for Nigeria there was no way to push back. Every social actor was highly sensibilise and ready for action. But what has happened these 25 years – seems we have learnt nothing and have forgotten nothing. As Nigerians celebrate the 25 years of that event we renew our belief that our blessed national hero Iwene Tansi will really strengthen the building of peace and reconciliation in his native land. Not only that but also to bring people closer to build bridges – political, social, ethnic and religious. Violence continues to plague much of this country due to ethnic and religious tensions and our leaders are unable to overcome tribal and power-sharing disputes. I personally believe that at the end of the day God through the intercession of Blessed Tansi will bring comfort to his people and we will always reach the level where Nigerians can agree on how the country can move.
Hope for real change - Even though many Nigerians are now losing faith in our political leadership to effectively achieve peace we need to have faith and hope, we need to give them at least a chance and we should not be too prejudiced by what has happened. God is patient, so we give them a chance to try again and to bring peace and desired development to our people. Today we all need to join hands condemning tribalistic instincts and stressing the importance of forgiveness and unity in the national reconciliation process. If our political leaders take to heart the fact that change is necessary and begin to change, the whole country within a short time will be strong and will also be an example for other countrie
All Nigerians should take responsibility in front of their community and God and not be complicit in national matters of great importance. The credibility of the church is crucial for this impact. Not due to its political views and power decisions, but because of coherence. If lay people, priests, religious, and bishops are coherent in their own lives, Nigeria will radiate peace. We recall that Blessed Iwene Tansi our extraordinary and ascetic pastor urged his parishioners to ensure that suffering people never feel alone. During his time many were suffering from endemic hunger, disease, rejection from their own people, and exploitation at the hands of both traditional landlords and colonial masters. Such moments of suffering were always accompanied by a feeling of aloneness. Blessed Tansi had a great concern for those who suffer; he was always near them in his ministry. He did not only share his merger resources with them but was close to them as their friend. He prayed for all the sick people, in the families, in the neighbourhood, that they may never feel left alone, or be treated with indifference or lack of concern by those whom God has put in their path of life to be God’s presence and compassion to them. He remains for us today an eloquent witness to God’s closeness to the sick and the poor. All of us are created and called to be brothers and sisters to each other on our earthly pilgrimage. We must be grateful for the many opportunities God gives us, to bring hope into the lives of many suffering people, through our loving concern for the individual sufferer. In this way, we can help our troubled Nigeria, sometimes on the brink of despair, to discover a new reason to live or to die with a smile of contentment.
His example should continue to guide us today as we find many suffering in our midst by opening up horizons of joy and hope for all those in need of understanding and tender love, and especially for those who suffer. In order to stand with a suffering person, we need that beautiful quality of a human heart – compassion. A touch of compassion, or a look of compassion, can bring hope to the one suffering.
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Remembering Blessed Iwene Tansi: Looking back at 25 years of Beatification.
Nigeria thanks Blessed Tansi for reminding her of what is most important in life. His legacy is his greatest contribution to his country. This will be continuing and will be essential to Nigerians of every generation. He was famous during his lifetime but his beatification 25 years ago brought out to light the magnitude of the man. This magnitude can be measured in part by the massive reaction his beatification has occasioned. Both in Nigeria and around the Catholic world the humble committed and simple way he had to live out his vocation was extolled. Ordinary and simple he is the most prominent churchman that Nigeria has ever produced, and certainly the most influential Nigerian within the country as well as around the world.
We recall that in 1998 the charismatic and loving Pope, John Paul 11 with the heavyweights of his pontificate, was already getting weak on account of age but the importance of Blessed Tansi's beatification to Nigeria, Africa and the Catholic world brought him to Nigeria for the second time during his pontificate. The reason for his second pastoral visit to Nigeria was to beatify Blessed Iwene Tansi. For the Catholic Church in Nigeria, it was the greatest spiritual/religious event of the century. His second pastoral visit to beatify Blessed Tansi marked the greatest positive political turn for Nigeria which was on the verge of political collapse. From nowhere after the death of the military head of state political prisoners were realised and the military decided to hand over political power to civilians. The national election that followed was smooth, peaceful and fair. I think this is the second greatest blessing from the Papal second pastoral visit to beatify the Blessed Iwene Tansi. Nigeria had never had it so good. Thanks to the Holy Father and thanks to the Nigerian son Blessed Iwene Tansi that brought the Holy Father. It is now twenty-five years since that event and what has Nigeria learnt in her religious and political life?
According to the Holy Father, “Father Tansi knew that there is something of the Prodigal Son in every human being. He knew that all men and women are tempted to separate themselves from God in order to lead their own independent and selfish existence. He knew that they are then disappointed by the emptiness of the illusion which had fascinated them and that they eventually find in the depths of their heart the road leading back to the Father's house” (cf. Sermon – beatification Nigeria 1998). Blessed Tansi spent his life teaching us through his own experience the ‘emptiness’ of the world and its material things and ‘the illusion’ that followed at the end. He lived the way of total detachment from material things and sought the way of reconciliation with God and his neighbours. Nigeria in 1998 had a very great and urgent need for reconciliation, especially in its political life. Hence the Holy Father called on all Nigerians to follow the way of Blessed Tansi. “Today I wish to proclaim the importance of reconciliation: reconciliation with God and reconciliation of people among themselves. This is the task which lies before the Church in this land of Nigeria, on this continent of Africa, and in the midst of every people and nation throughout the world. ... For this reason, the Catholics of Nigeria must be authentic and effective witnesses to the faith in every aspect of life, both in public affairs and in private matters”.(ibid)
Twenty-five years after as we recall the Papal second pastoral visit, his words to us, the Blessed Tansi and his beatification we are lifted up and called to our responsibility to one another and to our country. This is our responsibility and we must do it unless we want our Nigeria to continue to “... look more and more like a battlefield, where only selfish interests count and the law of force prevails" (ibid). I am tempted to say that what we have learnt (if any) we have forgotten so quickly. We have to begin again. May the remembrance of the twenty-five years of Blessed Tansi beatification make us ever more committed to seeking peace and reconciliation in ourselves, our families, towns and nation so that our journey of faith and nation-building will be characterised fundamentally by openness to truth, conversion and forgiveness. What is really important in the lives of Nigerians is that the legacy of Blessed Iwene Tansi survives and thrives. The quarter-century remains for Nigeria - 25 years of kindness, hospitality, support, national dialogue, correction, commiseration, and celebration - were for a purpose that the seeds of the blessed Iwene Tansi would continue to bear fruit. It is a great high time in the life of the local Church. Would Nigerians be his equal in fidelity and courage? The Catholic Church in Nigeria is still praying for the one miracle accredited to the intercession of Blessed Tansi to move him to the fullness of the altar. Help and pray sometimes for this one miracle and if you ever receive any favour through his intercession remember to report to the postulation for the cause of Blessed Tansi (postulationtansi@yahoo.com or 2348030958350)
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Silver Jubilee- Beatification – 1998 March 22nd.2023
Nigeria Remembers Blessed Iwene Tansi- An important Church figure and courageous Spiritual leader
“Today, one of Nigeria's own sons, Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, has been proclaimed "Blessed" in the very land where he preached the Good News of salvation and sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another”( JP 11 Nigeria 1998-beatification sermon).
These words of the Holy Father Saint John Paul 11 echoed in Nigeria and the whole world twenty-five years ago (March 22nd. 1998) when the Saintly Pope proclaimed Blessed Tansi the most important man in Nigeria because “Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness. He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families”. (ibid). The church recognized the humble way he lived out his vocation as a Cistercian monk, parish priest in the Archdiocese of Onitsha, professional teacher, and a young child that grew up in the remote village of Aguleri in the early twenty century.
Today Nigeria considers Blessed Tansi as one of the most influential figures in the contemporary local Church, is being celebrated around Nigeria as a courageous leader, a fine priest, and a man of great suffering. He is a courageous leader who inspired so many clergies and lay faithful around Nigeria to proclaim Christ crucified, raised, and with us still. What we will most certainly never forget is his call to leave his flourishing pastoral work in the Archdiocese to travel to a strange land to bring the monastic apostolate to his fellow Nigerians. It was for him to follow Christ in another way – a true call like Abraham to leave his relations and country to find God in a new world. He went but did not return after fourteen years of monastic experience at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey England. At his death, on January 20 1964 Nigerians thought they have lost one of their greatest leaders, a man of fidelity and integrity who was a confessor who did not shed his blood but suffered greatly for the faith. “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest.” (JP 11 beatification Onitsha 1998)
He was a committed staunch advocate and defender of Catholic principles and virtues. He fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel and worked to explain the teachings of the Church. He spoke the truth as he found it, however difficult or unpopular. He was also a man of prayer, of the deep Christian faith, and a loving shepherd to his flock in parishes, schools, hospitals, and throughout his diocese. The former bishop of Umuahia, the late Bishop Anthony Nwedo CSSP has this to say about him: “... it may be a high claim to make, but it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm, candor, and sensitiveness which is their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self-forgetful”. (Sermon at the re-interment Onitsha 1986) The saintly bishop who was a student and contemporary of Blessed Tansi in the seminary gave a magnificent explanation of the contemporary importance and enduring relevance of Blessed Tansi to many who had never heard of him. He prayed that God might set in the local Church strong and mighty pillars that may suffer and endure like Blessed Tansi. In Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi we meet one who came from being a devout pagan village boy to a Catholic Christian, to a Catholic priest, to a Cistercian monk, to the honours of the alter and perhaps God willing soon to the fullness of the honours of the alter. His early search for the truth and God drew him increasingly towards the missionaries, but there were many hurdles on his way. He passed through several stages on his journey, each rooted in his humble acceptance of the will of God and truth. His journey of faith was characterized fundamentally by openness to truth, conversion, and a missionary approach. He will ever be remembered as one of the faithful servants of the church in our days who lived out the call and mind of the church in his life.
Sunday, February 5, 2023
The lasting legacy of Blessed Iwene Tansi
Blessed Iwene Tansi (1903-1964) left a lasting legacy over the course of his lifelong service to the Church as a teacher/catechist, priest, and monk. While most of the current generation of Nigerian Catholics will know Blessed Tansi through his legacy as the first Nigerian Cistercian monk, it’s unlikely that he would have been entrusted with such a lofty position if it was not for his immense and important work as a priest starting, most notably, with his work as a zealous evangelizer in the Archdiocese of Onitsha.
Blessed Tansi Influences – Blessed Tansi has a special charism of having an influence on people. His influence started very early in his life. In his early years in school, he was leading his fellow students – to prayers, to games, and to catechism instructions. When he speaks others will obey. As a school teacher and headmaster, the story is the same. He has a great influence on the other teachers and on the parents of the pupils. The reason – he has a character and is zealous for the welfare of the pupils, the teachers, and the parents. He makes sacrifices for all. He is in charge and has command of everything. In 1925 he entered the diocesan junior seminary at Igbariam. The students were very few – only eight in number. He was given a very responsible function –master of manual labour. Manual labour was third in importance after studies and prayers. The students worked more than three hours a day either on the farms or in the fields cutting grass. Through his personal dedication to manual labour he excised great influence on other students and encouraged them to persevere in their hard manual labour. Another function of the great influence he held for many years in the seminary was the seminary bursar/procurator. As a priest, the story was the same, his zeal, charity, dedication, compassion, and mortified ascetical life won him great respect and influence. His period (1937-1950) as parish priest and pastor of souls saw the greatest commitment to pastoral renewal and reform in the Archdiocese, we mention a few:
Sanctification of marriage and family: he considered family basic for the parish's growth, so he started by sanctifying Christian marriages, educating the would-be wives in domestic work and wifely skills. He did not leave out the youth – boys, and girls he organized them and offered them a Christian education.
Radical changes in Igbo culture: Fully to understand Blessed Tansi the, parish priest, it is necessary to grasp the role played in shaping the Archdiocesan parish apostolate. Before he joined the Archdiocesan apostolate as a priest the young missionary church was enveloped with a great fog of uncertainty by some practices carried over from the Igbo traditional religion. With his knowledge of Igbo culture and tradition his aim, therefore, was to help relieve that condition by explaining the Christian faith to his converts without compromise. The traditional culture that offends Christian moral principles was abolished not only for Christians but for the whole community. By his charity and special option for the sick and the needy, he brought Christ's compassion home to the people recovering from the evils of slavery, apatite, and colonization. Before he left for the monastery in 1950 Father Tansi had gained a reputation as a holy, zealous, and progressive pastor.
‘Osu and Oghu’ System: A kind of cast system which existed long before the advent of missionaries. The system discriminates against people because of either their birth, heritage, or status in society. He relentlessly with the Christian social concept threw a great convincing light on the Igbo traditional social discrimination. However, it was not easy. Here he had his greatest opposition. The hostility and suspicion toward him grew among his opponents and for years carried over where ever he went until his withdrawal to the monastery. Future pastors of souls continued from where he stopped.
Liberation of Women: The Igbo culture excluded women from many public and social activities. Some of these sometimes offend the dignity of their human person. Blessed Tansi fought for the rights and liberation of women from these customs.
Demythologized the Masquerade cult: This cult in some parts of Igbo land was fearful and deadly. Nobody could oppose them and their decisions. They are regarded as demigods. In some places, they are used to perpetuate injustice. They could molest women especially those that resist their love advances. Blessed Tansi in his fight against this cult, exposed them, unmasked them, and advised his Mary league girls to unmask them – a serious taboo in some parts of Igbo land.
Abolished the evil myth of leprosy and smallpox: Grounded in his experience growing up in an environment dominated by belief in traditional religion Blessed Tansi for years had expressed deep concern and regret over the faith of lepers and smallpox victims. In many parts of Igbo land leprosy and smallpox are deadly sicknesses considered as a punishment inflicted on persons who offended the deity. Nobody, not even their relations could associate with them. They are avoided and in case of death, they are not buried but thrown into the evil forest to decay on the surface of the earth or eaten by wild animals. In part even as a young man, he had a tremendous and unwavering faith, tenacity of purpose, and rugged physical strength to fight these evils. It was no surprise when in 1937 he became a priest he launched an all-round attack on this traditional belief and sought to restore sanity to save the lives of innocent victims, The way he did it was by teaching and showing personal compassion and friendship to the victims of these sicknesses.
The cost of these reforms to him was certainly great but later he gained more than he seemed to have lost. He found peace for himself and his brothers. He was a unique person. Nobody would be him. He had his own life and vocation. His life helps us to see and to appreciate what is important at the core of our being and faith and also helps us to renew our awareness of the things that really matter in our lives. His life is important to us because it is an exemplary life of faith, humility, and perseverance in following what he saw to be God’s will for him, even when it cost everything. His faith and his ideal held fast to the end. For us there will always be suffering that cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbour is indispensable- namely, loving personal concern.
Sunday, January 29, 2023
After the feast on January 20: How do we remember Blessed Tansi?
Nigeria celebrated the annual feast of Blessed Iwene Tansi on Friday, January 20. Throughout Nigeria, many Christians including the members of Blessed Tansi Solidarity, devotees, and friends gathered in different dioceses to celebrate the Eucharistic Celebration to mark the feast. In the Archdiocese of Onitsha, the feast was celebrated this year on the parish level – each parish gathered in their parish/station to honour our national hero. Now that the celebration is over, how shall we continue to honour and remember Blessed Tanis? Blessed Tansi is our patron and companion in our life journey. He is with us seven days a week and twelve months a year. Feast or no feast we should be aware of his presence in our lives. In the following ways:
Paying homage to him is a way of showing honour to him just as honour is given to and shared among human beings. Among us, many paintings, statues, and other remembrances of notable leaders, heroes and saints have been set forth for our edification and inspiration. In the Catholic Church, we give special honour to the saints for their heroic virtue and example. This honour is technically termed “dulia,” to distinguish it from the worship (latria) due to God alone. Get some of his statuses, pictures, medals and photographs as a kind of memorabilia. Besides we all need a saint to challenge us. There are many things in this life that distract us from looking toward Heaven. Whether it be work, life struggles, or any other thing we are all guilty at one time or another of becoming stale in our journey of faith. God forbid we stay there. We pray and we can look to Blessed Tansi who came before us for help and guidance. The bottom line is that there is always some aspect of our spiritual lives that we need to develop. Blessed Tansi can help us. His words are as challenging today as when they were first spoken. Studying his preaching, teaching, and lifestyle is a good way to reinvigorate our faith.
Take part in the program for his Silver Jubilee: March 22 2023 will the Silver Jubilee of his beatification. Make sure you take part in the Archdiocesan program for the celebration. Above all use the occasion to pray for a miracle for his canonization. You remember the deteriorating social and political condition of Nigeria in 1998 before he was beatified. I believe that the grace of beatification calmed down the social and political confusion of the time and brought in a civilian administration the following year. Thank you, God.
Make a pilgrimage to the Blessed Tansi Shrine: This is another way to pay respect to Blessed Tansi. The temporary shrine is at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. Here you can find his mortal remains. Visit him individually and in groups and have personal contact with his mortal remains. There is mass every Monday at 9.30 am before his remains. Joining in this mass is one of the most perfect ways of honouring him and obtaining favours. At the end of the mass, there is special ministry for the sick. When you come you will also have the opportunity to leave your written request before the mortal remains. In this way, you will benefit from other masses/prayers celebrated at the shrine.
An agent of peace: The Blessed Tansi spent his life working for peace and praising those who work for the cause of peace. People like that are too few among us. Peace in the homes and families used to be his greatest concern. Considering the need now to bring peace into your world would be another way to honour Blessed Tansi. In fact, everyone who has joined the ranks of Blessed Tansi must be a glowing point of light in his world, a nucleus of love, a leaven of the whole mass. Peace belongs to every Christian, flowing from the unity of the Church and our vocation to discipleship. It is not an optional pursuit. It is part and parcel of our vocation. To continue the fight for peace is to be aware. Our Nigeria will never be the dwelling place of peace, till peace has found a home in the heart of each and every Nigerian, till every man preserves in himself the order ordained by God to be preserved.
Helping to bring the Cause to a happy conclusion: The Blessed Tansi needs only one miracle recognized by the Vatican to get to the fullness of the altar. Only God can perform miracles. We as humans cannot. But we can beg him to perform a miracle through the intercession of Blessed Tansi. This we must all do if we say we love Blessed Tansi. Pray every day for this miracle.
Promote the Cause of Blessed Tansi: Apart from praying for a miracle, you can also ask other people to pray. If you love Blessed Tansi talk to your friends about Blessed Tansi. Offer them medals, prayer cards, leaflets, and books dealing with the life of Blessed Tansi. Help all you know to learn about him.
Report Favours Received; when you receive favour from Blessed Tansi you must report that favour to the Postulation Blessed Iwene Tansi, Basilica Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. Email- postulationtansi@yahoo.com, phone – 08030958350.
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Celebrating Blessed Iwene Tansi Feast day Jan. 20:
God did Nigeria good in giving us Blessed Tansi
The Blessed IweneTansi (1903-1964) whose feast day we celebrate on January 20 is truly a saint for everyone. He was a devoted teacher, pastor of souls, zealous evangeliser and a Cistercian monk. As a good shepherd pastor of souls he is a man worthy of being called “Father”, people see and feel in him that love that the Almighty God has for each one of us. We are His creations and adopted children, the Christian faith teaches us he created us and adopted us as his children.
We see this man surrender daily himself and all that he has to God in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass just as he did years ago when he abandoned his government lucrative teaching profession and opted for the seminary and when the left his flourishing parish apostolate and opted for the monastery in 1950. Many who knew him and his pastoral capacity thought he was making a mistake. But for him it was a call to follow Christ in another way. He was urged by the love of God and of his fellow men and women. He was a man of prayer, intent on personal union with the Lord. He wanted to bring the monastic and contemplative life to Nigeria for Nigerians. For him at that time it was God’s call and will – it was an invitation to go into the unknown, to leave his country and his family like Abraham and so many others, and to undertake what he believed to be a deeper and more enduring apostolate. It was, like all true calls from God, a venture of faith
He lived his life of faith better than anyone i know and no one could explain it. Through his words and teaching, he could make the faith so accessible to a ll because he lived what he taught. Some of my favorite of his teachings are found in his apt use of Igbo idioms and metaphors which bring home to his audience the real meaning of the mystery he wanted to conferee. Some of these metaphors are still repeated today even by those who did not know from where they originated. When he talked about some of his Christians who wanted to be Christians but take interest in pagan feasts and sacrifices he said that if one wanted to eat a frog he should better eat a fat one so that when people call him a frog eater he should be proud of the name. He spoke about religious women who loved God and lived to praise Him with their lives with such awe that religious life became attractive to many. He was a man who loved women with the purest reverence and fought relentlessly to liberate them from a certain Ibo culture that enslaved them. The kind of teaching and training on sexual purity and chastity he handed to his Mary League Girls and intending couples are today meant for all the women of the world. Sincerely can’t help now but think as we celebrate his feast day. God wants us to see this man and his life again. He has a message and legacy that will bring us Nigerians nearer to him but not many of us actually heard and live this legacy. We need more of him. We can learn a lot from him.
Blessed Iwene Tansi fatherhood is both extraordinary and infectious. Fatherhood including spiritual fatherhood is a rare gift in our world today. I remember during my pastoral ministry at Dunukofia where Blessed Tansi was parish priest for a number of years people continue telling me that Blessed Tansi fatherhood was extraordinary. Again and again especially among the older people I continued hearing tales of his pastoral zeal, love and compassion. How much I wished to be remembered like him that after I had left the place. They were at that time calling him a saint even though his cause for canonization was not yet initiated in the Archdiocese. Again I suppose this was partly due to the kind of penitential mortified ascetical life he was living and partly due to his love and compassion which were all-inclusive. Because at that time his cause for canonization was not yet initiated I cynically thought that was too good to be true. They were local parish people and couldn’t have predicted how this would all play out, but they were convinced of God’s love for us to give him to us for a time. In Blessed Tansi the hour is now when the Christian vocation is being achieved in its fullness, the hour in which Nigerian Christians acquire in their world an influence, an effect, and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when Nigeria is under-going so deep a transformation, Christians impregnated with the spirit of Blessed Tansi can do so much to aid others in not falling.
Are You Ready for Your Healing this time around?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday January 15, 2023
Celebrating the feast of Blessed Tansi January 20:
What we have learnt.
Every year at the feast of Blessed Tansi Nigeria remembers with heartfelt gratitude his consistent and committed witness and his dedication to the Gospel and to the local Church, his pastoral initiatives in the Archdiocese of Onitsha which today serve as foundations for both teaching and deepening the faith in our land. His pastoral zeal, determination and wisdom are his legacies for future Nigerian priests. His perseverance even in the hour of trials authenticates his ministry. He was such a figure of strength, and endured so many trials with such faith and courage, that he seemed invincible. He is one of the great national churchmen of our time.
Our yearly celebration of the feast of Blessed Tansi is meant to help us to be better than we were last year, especially in the practice of our faith and our daily lives. In other words it is meant to help our self-improvement. If it does not then something must be wrong. Either we are not serious about it or it does not mean much in our priorities. Remember you don’t need to be better than anyone else. You just need to be better than you used to be – some improvement you must have noticed in yourself. During each year's novena to prepare for the feast we want to be able to look back and say, “I led a good life; I have improved in this virtue or the other.” But what exactly is the measure of a good life? To have lived a good life has nothing to do with comparing our possessions or our accomplishments with anyone else. It’s all about comparing where we started and where we wound up. We may have stumbled along the way, but we want to be able to honestly say we made slow but steady progress from last year to date. That means continually striving to be a better person than we were last decade, last year, last month, last week—even a better person than we were yesterday. We should all the time aim at being the best possible version of ourselves.
In Blessed Tansi the Holy Father John Paul 11 presented Nigerians as an example and a model of a Nigerian who lived lives of moral strength and honor, overcoming difficult challenges to become the best person Nigerians could possibly be. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much. He was first of all a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness” (Sermon Beatification 1998) His life offers a series of life tips and standards to live by. They may not change your life immediately, but I believe if you incorporate them into your life, they will put you on the right path. They can help you live a life of meaning and character. Some of these include:
Honesty. Blessed Tansi lived a life of honesty to himself, to his neighbor and above all to God. He never pretended even at the greatest trying moments of his life. His honesty nourished his prayer life.
Man of prayer. His prayer life nourishes his soul, keeping him regularly in communication with God. “... his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love”. ( JP.11. Beatification sermon 1998) we too must have time each day to meet God in prayer at least once a day, break away from your work or home routine and take a little time to feed your soul. This may involve a walk out in nature, reading a spiritual text, spending some time in quiet contemplation. Know how to quiet the inner self because only by quieting the self can you be open to the external sources of strengths you will need. Only by muting the sound of your own ego can you see the world clearly. That means engaging in a regular practice of meditation, contemplation or centering prayer.
Gratitude. In prayer the Blessed Tansi finds something to be thankful for each day. We too can find something to be grateful for, even if it is just to give thanks for the food on the table or the roof over our head or the fact we lived to see another day. Have a prayer of gratitude each morning, giving thanks first for your family and friends.
Humility. Blessed Tansi is extremely humble. “He was then a man of the people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families” (St. JP 11 Sermon beatification 1998). Be humble. Humility reminds us that we are not the center of the universe. This means keeping our ego and pride in check. Be willing to hear out from others. Be open-minded. Trust in a force greater than yourself. The world can be a tough place and we need all the help we can get. We all need someone or something to lean on.
For some of us spiritual life is about becoming stronger and less afraid. Our practices help us build spiritual abilities and help us feel fearless and secure. I believe spiritual life is all about living where we are afraid and overcoming our daily challenges with love and trust in God and overcoming constant fear and anxiety. We celebrate the feast of Blessed Tansi with devotion because we know that he can help us because we live in a frightening world. We grow in spiritual wisdom and maturity as we recognize that our world is full of valid reasons to be afraid and to trust in the assistance of those who have gone before us marked with sign of faith. Some of us are afraid because of remarkably real things we have already experienced. We live with the memories and the trauma which continue to haunt our present and our future. Even when we have moved on to find somewhere safer, we continue to live in a frightening place. Recognizing and understanding our challenges require us to spend time reflecting on them; we contemplate what makes us afraid and why. We share our stories with a trusted, listening friend/brother who can help us see them clearly and learn their lessons.
Are You Ready for Your Healing this time around?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday 25 December 2022
Blessed Tansi a great Catechist of our time.
As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords and the Saviour of humanity we recall that there has been none and shall ever be a historical figure as widely known as JESUS. Today so many of his followers (Christians) live with the illusion that they really know him when in reality they simply have various impressions about Him. Impressions however, are not knowledge. Some of these impressions come from different sources – experiences with churches, families, friends, catechists, books and social media. You can now begin to think of how you came to know Jesus. I am convinced seeing what is happening around me with my fellow Nigerian Christians that many of these sources are either completely wrong, mostly wrong, or mostly right but with significant errors. As a result of this, it is hard to imagine any subject more fraught with confusion, misinformation, and deception than the subject of who Jesus really is. The most important person who has ever lived is also the most misunderstood.
The name Jesus is on the lips of so many and thoughts flow the moment we hear the name Jesus Christ but which thoughts are true, and which are false. Even more important than His teachings on life and ethics is who Jesus actually claimed to be. Scripture itself presents Christ not as a myth, but history. It emphasizes the role of eyewitnesses. Our faith in Christ is only as good as the authentic reality of the Christ we believe in. Jesus is God who took flesh and became man to bring the kingdom of God to humanity. Nothing is more important than who Jesus is and what He has done. Christianity is not simply a religion about Christ but a relationship with Christ. You have never met him in person, and you don’t know anyone who has. But there is a way to know who he is. Jesus Christ has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls through so many things that happen in our lives. It is like seeing the sun and knowing it is light, or tasting sugar and knowing it is sweet. Again we know him through so many who have gone before we marked with the sign of true faith. The lives of these people are so startling that they challenge us to make up our minds about this most remarkable person - JESUS.
The Blessed Iwene Tansi, a Nigerian, Christian is a perfect example of a follower of Jesus. “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian”. (St. JP 11, Sermon-beatification 1998). The universal call for holiness alone would be insufficient to explain Blessed Tansi's consistent pursuit of being a true Christian. He is a great Catechist of our time – a true catechist who taught and lived the kingdom of God as Jesus taught. Even as a young man he had a tremendous and unwavering faith, tenacity of purpose and rugged physical strength to fight the evils in his society. Sometimes his efforts seemed pitifully futile in the gigantic morass of trouble and despair that was the moral and social condition of the time. But he never despaired, and pushed on until success was achieved. Now looking at the huge success that he achieved one might think that he got all on a plate of gold. Not one of the reforms introduced by him was accomplished with ease, and having been introduced not one would have survived a month without his aggressive pursuit. That was his life, his call to be a Christian, an invitation to do a service for God and humanity, which later on matured into leaving his country and his family like Abraham and so many others. An invitation to undertake what he believed to be a deeper and more enduring service - a venture of faith and love. The cost to him was certainly great but later he gained more than he seemed to have lost. He found peace for himself and his brothers through darkness and suffering. He was unique - nobody would be him, he has his own life and vocation. His life as a Christian helps us to appreciate what is important at the core of our being, faith and vocation as Nigerians. His legacy helps us to renew our awareness of the things that really matter in our lives. His life is important to us because it is an exemplary life of faith, of humility and perseverance in following what he saw to be God’s will for him, even when it cost everything, even when all was cold and dark. His faith and his ideal held fast to the end even to realizing that he fulfilled his vow of stability perfectly by dying in the Abby far away from his own people and land and being buried happily in the monastery of his profession.
Christmas and Christ mean nothing to us if we are not ready to make every effort in our Christian life. The kind of effort that leads to godliness – putting on the full armour of Christ and standing fast against all kinds of evil (Eph. 6.), putting to death the deeds of the flesh (Rom.8.13), the old self and putting on the new man (Eph.4.22), to be a Christian is to be proactive - to fight the deeds of darkness with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). Daily Christian living is daily Christian dying. Jesus likened the pain of Christian living to "gouging out an eye" and "cutting off a hand" indicating that growth in godliness requires parting with things the Christian initially thinks he cannot do without - a truly gruelling process but a true way to peace and happiness. This is his universal teaching and message, a message that provides hope and guidance to people from all walks of life. This message also reveals how this humble priest-monk impacted the lives of millions, both those who knew him personally and those who indirectly came to know him or read about .him. His message is so universal because it is basically the message of the Gospel applied to concrete situations in the world of today. Our lives on earth have a purpose and this purpose must be taken seriously. His words and advice also have such wide appeal because they touch on a fundamental thirst that is in every human heart, and that is the thirst and search for love, goodness, and for truth. He knew that this thirst could find its fulfilment only in God living among and identifying with the poor, the sick and the dejected of society.
Sunday 18 December 2022
Blessed Tansi shows God’s Love in the Pursuit of the Common Good
In his love and search for God, Blessed Tansi understands that God is the beginning and the end of everything, that is, God is the source and summit of every good. Hence his absolute respect for God even in the search for the thing of this world. He has a good sense of the good of reason which helps him determine the proper good for any particular person or thing. When he has discovered it he does not go back but uses all his strength to pursue it. He does not mind what people may say when he is convinced of a particular good. In those days when some of his Catholics were living without sacramental marriage he was convinced that the condition was not good for them even when the people did not understand him. He applied a kind of force to separate such couples. Discrimination of women in certain areas of social and political life of the community was traditionally accepted but he considers it bad and gross injustice and fought for a change for the good of every one. There is no single change he made that does not bring good and value to the entire community. Even today there are many ways in which we could engage the good, and each way is of value. His abandoning the teaching profession for the junior seminary in 1925 and abandoning his rich pastoral work in 1950 for the monastery are all examples of his good sense of the good of reason. In each of these instances people around him objected but he saw the common good and universal value of his undertaking. His good is always the common good of all. Since these are proper goods for him, pursuing them connects him with God, they come from God. “Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (Jas. 1:17).
It was hard for Blessed Tansi to sleep when the poor leper is homeless. He cannot enjoy a good meal when he knows of a poor widow without food. Personal evidence has it that many times he asked his cook to take food prepared for him to a beggar. He cannot close his hear when a sick person or a beggar is knocking at his door. Today our problem is many because we often remove God when we pursue what we consider to be good for us. We pursue them in an inordinate fashion, engaging them without their connection with the greater good – concern for God and our neighbour. The fact that they can be and are often abused does not mean we should deny their value, for if we did that, we would have to deny every other particular well, for they can be similarly abused. Reason is good, but it has its limits; beauty is good, but we must not assume if someone is beautiful, that means they are of good character; politics indeed, is good, but it must be aimed at the common good, and the common good itself must take into consideration the fullness of the good and how it applies to the community and everyone in it.
Blessed Iwene Tansi loves God with all his heart and soul, believes in him, and has unshakable faith in God’s providence. He knows God’s divine activity is the source and foundation of every good. His own activity must take from the source that is good that is God himself. In such activities, God is loved and honoured. He leaves us Nigerians a good legacy – to honour God by our decisions and activities. We are not to treat particular goods be it personal, family, social or political in any way as if they are “the God”. We must recognize that their good is relative, and so the love and honour we give them is relative. This is why honoring and loving our neighbor, supporting them with justice, is itself proper; this is also why we cannot avoid society, for we are called to participate in it, indeed, to love it in relation to the goodness which it has been granted. This leads to the conclusion that engaging in politics, and embracing work for the common good, is truly work for someone who loves God.
Blessed Tansi today reminds his fellow Nigerians that when they act when they seek and honour the good found in creation, they must always make sure the means they use are just and will promote the common good. When they engage in politics and the love for the common good involved them, they must not ignore the dictates of justice, but rather, fulfill them. If they look to help the rich and powerful more than the poor and needy, they are not looking after the good of the community, they are not looking for the common good, but only helping those who have already taken more for themselves than is just and right. Nigerians to find true peace must work for common good and so encourage change in the face of any abuse. The common good is a part of the good that they must seek to preserve and protect; those who are virtuous will pursue it, even if it is costly to them. Such self-sacrifice shows that they truly love the common good for the good itself and not out what they selfishly hope to attain from it for themselves. The pursuit of social justice turns us to God and connects us with God, for through its pursuit we pursue the good which finds its fulfillment in God.
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Tansi: the lasting legacy of love and joy
My dear friends in this life journey with the Blessed Iwene Tansi, for more than one year we have been meditating weekly on the life and relevance of Blessed Tansi. As the liturgical year comes to end and a new one begins to bring us to Christmas let us with the Blessed Tansi enter into a living and redemptive way of celebrating the birth of the Saviour who comes to deliver and save us. Our weekly meditation is for us a powerful opportunity to recommit ourselves to the narrow way the Lord Jesus talks about. The bridge legacy of Blessed Tansi provides us with resources to help us take full advantage of the graces of the holy season. Advent and Christmas are good times to take stock of our spiritual progress and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, determine a course for the years ahead.
Blessed Iwene Tansi is both important and relevant in Nigeria today when the nation seems to be without order and when even tacit rules are flouted with seeming impunity. A nation with a legitimate and professional military general president and commander of the National Army that cannot defend either the citizens or their properties, where all public efforts to manifest dissent are crushed, and the rising cost of essential commodities reduces many to hunger and poverty. A nation in which non-state actors, like terrorist organizations, wreak havoc on others from their bases in failed states. All this is having an impact on us now, and surely will in the future. In these times when social concerns are so important, I cannot fail to mention the Blessed Iwene Tansi our national saint whose life and the mission were for peace and joy. He left us a legacy that promotes and encourages the common good. His social activism, and his passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed, were inspired by the Gospel, his faith, and the example of the saints. He is the kind of guide Nigeria needs now as we think of his merits and service to the poor and needy.
In the midst of our present national confusion, we remember the Blessed Tansi a determined activist for peace of his time, who offers us a response. Unequivocally he condemned all kinds of injustice to the masses and sought to rehabilitate those who suffer because of unjust laws of the state. His zeal for peace in the family, village and community together with his loyalty to the Gospel and Our Lord’s call for peace might well stir up similar aspirations in our hearts today as we welcome the Prince of Peace at Christmas – peace in our families, our towns and our states. His zeal to open up remote outstations, build schools and gather them together broke the loneliness of the countryside dwellers as they become vibrant communities. Today many Nigerians, though may be living in towns and cities are struggling with unparalleled levels of isolation and loneliness. Would Blessed Tansi zeal and love for community and common good not inspire us as we meditate and celebrate the joy of Christmas? His Christmas celebration, sacraments, gathering and organising the youth for music concerts and liturgical choir awaken the souls of many and recall to them the fact that God is their destiny. His Christmas preparation, decoration and celebration fascinate and bring joy to everyone in the community – Christians and non-Christians alike. Life and gifts were shared, those who have gave to those who have less or nothing. Christmas was joy shared by all. In the midst of that, he delivered the spiritual meaning of Christmas – love and joy. The inevitableness of the celebration, the recurrence of it, made the community feel that inevitably they would have to pause in the mad rush of living to remember their first beginning and last end.
Finally, we remember his uncompromising attitude on chastity and sexual immorality. Even though he would encourage everybody to join the celebration of the infant King, he would not allow any immoral behaviour at all costs. With the problem of immorality – indecent dressing, dance, play and social gathering associated with our celebration of Christmas today, we have a lot of healing words and attitudes to borrow from his legacy. Pastors of souls should remember that many of our young people today use the Christmas period as an occasion for immoral and unchaste behaviour. They should play their role like Blessed Tansi and save many uninformed young people from falling into trouble. It is true we cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other but to know each other we must have good and right intentions. The exchange of gifts at Christmas must be with good intentions. We know God in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Like St. Paul Blessed Tansi made it very clear that we are to imitate and emulate him, as an example, as he, in turn, imitated Christ also that we should imitate God, and other holy persons, and be an example, ourselves, to others.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Archdiocese Prepares to celebrate Silver Jubilee of Beatification.
Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Onitsha on December 19, 1937, by the missionary Archbishop Charles Hieery in the Cathedral of Most Holy Trinity (now Basilica) Onitsha. He celebrated his first mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church Aguleri, his home parish. He was among the first Nigerians to be ordained Catholic priests, and for thirteen years in the Archdiocese, he led his people by word and example building new churches and outstations. In 1950 he felt the call to follow Christ in another way. He was urged by the love of God and of his fellow men and women. He wanted to bring the monastic and contemplative life to Nigeria. For him, it was God’s call, an invitation to go into the unknown, to leave his country and his family like Abraham and so many others, and to undertake what he believed to be a deeper and more enduring apostolate. It was, like all true calls from God, a venture of faith. As we know, things did not turn out like that. God’s ways are strange. He was not to do this personally, for he died on January 20, 1964 and was buried in the abbey before his longing could be carried out.
The Archdiocese of Onitsha – Archbishop Stephen Nweke Ezeanya initiated the cause of his canonization on January 20 1986 at the basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. The Holy Father Saint John Paul 11 in his second pastoral visit to Nigeria beatified him at Oba near Onitsha on March 22nd. 1998. (will be 25 years – in four months' time). His beatification touched the whole Catholic world but in Nigeria made very serious impact in the religious and political life of the nation. He became the first National Saint and later in 2004 proclaimed Patron of Nigerian Priests. His Cause has only one step to the fullness of the altar – one miracle. Now Prayer at all levels and by everybody is needed to get this miracle as the Archdiocese prepares to celebrate this Silver Jubilee to boost the promotion of the cause – get the one miracle and to make the life and legacy of Blessed Tansi available to the new generation of Nigerian Catholics. The most important thing during the Silver Jubilee celebration is PRAYER, PRAYER, PRAYER, AND MORE PRAYER.
The Archbishop has formed some priests’ committees for preparation. The committee is suggesting:
Between January-February a weekend celebration/prayers in the six regions of the Archdiocese.
Parishes that wish may organize a one-day prayer/celebration
One day Archdiocesan grand finale celebration
For a period of one month (February to March) the official prayer for canonization is said every day after each mass in all our parishes.
Beginning on December 1 the official prayer for canonization be said every day in all Archdiocesan primary and secondary schools.
The kind and unassuming Pastor, Blessed Tansi left a legacy of love and joy for the new generation. We remember him running around his parish like a busy bee looking after his flock – sacraments to those who needed them, compassion to the sick and hungry. We remember him a pastor who represents the image of a poor Church for the poor, a pastor close to the abandoned and forgotten, a pastor who conveys the tenderness of God, a pastor who goes forth to announce the joyful message of the Gospel as well as accompanies the faithful on their journey, a pastor whose whole life was lived as an evangelizing moment. We remember the outbreak of smallpox in his parish, many were sick, and a lot more were dying he was a pastor, nurse, food provider, and funeral undertaker. He humbly served with the utmost care and attention all that were in need and thus was bringing joy to those who were suffering. Today many Nigerians have different kinds of suffering. Blessed Tansi example is a challenge to all. We are to imitate and emulate him as an example. This provides a strong rationale for the veneration we give to him. He would like St. Paul to say to us “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1) It is hoped that the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of his ‘blessedness’ will leave a lasting impact on our minds - to relive his life and legacy, his mission, his vision and the way he cared for his fellow men and women who just put everything into his hands - their heart, their very self, everything. All of us have felt the holes in our hearts because of the kind of indifference we show to our fellow Nigerians
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday, November 20, 2022
Blessed Tansi legacy to a new generation
Twenty-five years ago, the Catholic world was moved by the beatification of Blessed Tansi at Oba Nigeria by Pope Saint John Paul 11. The news of this saintly Nigerian pastor was everywhere. For Nigerians in particular his pictures, voices, and teachings took the country by storm. The humble way he lived out his vocation and his vibrant approaches to local pastoral problems, marked by his unfailing charity to the poor/ needy and his visible personal piety, were a staple of international news - Catholic and secular. And now it will be 25 years (March 22nd’ 2023) since that event. Many of our emerging generation of Catholics have no personal memory of this humble /pious pastor. In my own personal experience promoting the cause of his canonization, our younger generation has heard the name of Blessed Tansi and knows his face, but I have found that the sense of his mission is not there. It is the accomplishment of this mission that makes him special and a saint. The new generation of Nigerian Catholics in particular needs to know and understand this in order to appreciate the relevance of his life.
Today many in Nigeria do not really know his zeal for evangelization, his love, and zeal for proper Christian families, his work for the poor, and his love for prayer and contemplation.
They do not know how outspoken he was against bad traditional rulers, corrupt leaders, and injustice. They do not know his monastic experience and intimate life of prayer. They did not see the news clips of Pope Saint John Paul 11 visit to Nigerian to beatify Blessed Tansi, which famously coincided with the tragic death of the then military head of State, General Sani Abacha. Perhaps they do not even know how Nigeria after so many years of unwanted military rule got back the civilian administration. They do not know that fact. To help a new generation know, love, and appreciate Blessed Tansi and his legacy, the Archdiocese of Onitsha through the Postulation for the Cause of Blessed Tansi has just re-produced a documentary on his life. The film, “The life of Blessed Iwene Tansi, Priest and monk”.This film is very much a work of the Holy Spirit and a dogged lover and devotee of Blessed Iwene Tansi, Fr. Ed. Debany SJ, who pioneered the production and made very considerable efforts and sacrifices in the midst of severe challenges to see the documentary out. He remained faithful to his commitment with the utmost attention and dedication to see the project through. The postulation for the Cause of Blessed Tansi shall ever remain indebted to him for this work. This film is not only about the biography of Blessed Tansi, his spirit, his mission, and legacy of love and joy carried on and shared today throughout Nigeria and beyond by his spiritual sons and daughters, devotees, and solidarity members but also the legacy which he has left for the new generation of Nigerian Catholics. The documentary cuts back and forth from the essential moments of his life as a teacher, seminarian, priest, and monk and current stories of his love and charity to the poor. Anybody who watches it will not fail to be impressed by the way he lived out his own vocation in his own time and how each one of us called to our own vocation will see our hidden call for ministry, evangelization, and service to the poor in our midst. It is often wonderful, beautiful, and touching to me to see a large number of his devotees in prayer and sacrifice. In their faces, one can see the face of Blessed Tansi. It is beautiful and it is touching.
We recall that the Blessed Tansi left his very flourishing parish ministry in 1950 to become the first Nigerian to answer the monastic call. He hoped to bring this kind of apostolate to his country but the way of providence is different he did not for he died in the abbey just before his pioneer team left for Cameroon near Nigeria to begin a monastic foundation. For those who love God, everything works unto good, today, sixty years after his death the monastic apostolate is indeed flourishing in many dioceses in Nigeria. The Archdiocese f Onitsha has one Cistercian foundation for men and one Benedictine foundation for females. This is undoubtedly the work of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of the Blessed Tansi. Indeed God wants the world to know that Blessed Tansi's labours at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey shall never be in vain. Those who knew Blessed Tansi on the world stage as a teacher, seminarian, priest, and monk watching this documentary would appreciate a marvelous job capturing his life, telling his story, and sharing his legacy with future generations.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday, 12 November 2022
Blessed Tansi Youth Apostolate is for a better Nigeria.
The prophetic words of the saintly Pope on the relevance of the life and ministry of Blessed Tansi today make more meaning to me and remain very important in our national, social and political problems. “The life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria that he loved so much... in a special way, the education of young people was precious to him”. (JP. 11 Nigeria, Sermon Beatification 1998)
When we think of what is happening today in our country we cannot but remember our origin, our past, and our great leaders and their inspiration. Today Nigeria bleeds. The blood of innocent men and women, children, religious leaders, and faithful increasingly shed by armed militant groups who kidnap and kill them in their homes, workplaces, and on their religious duties tell a real story of how barbaric we have become. Any true Nigerian should be concerned about the fundamentalism, terrorism, and banditry that are growing in this country. Many men and women of the church suffer. These happenings are like we are going to real social suicide and of course our national ultimate destruction. In the face of these challenges, young people cannot be passive. Their future is threatened, and their ultimate survival is blinking. They have a duty to resist, organize and take dutiful responsibility. Their involvement in politics is good and is now. It is the highest form of charity to their nation because it strives for the common good.
Blessed Tansi because he was a good Nigerian and a man of God, detached and concerned for the common good, and devoted much of his apostolate to education and formation of the young people to be able to take their future responsibility in the new independent Nigeria. Because of his generous and courageous love, he was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of families and the growing generation. He touched the lives of young people with his goodness to prepare them for the future. He tried in every way to promote their dignity and respect, especially for women. He had boarding schools for boys and an association for girls. Though this association was religious it prepared them for everything they would need in their future lives – to face challenges with courage, to fight for their rights always, to get organized in fighting for their right, and to depend on the advice and guidance of elders. He did not build universities to give them professional abilities and integration to face their future but he did a lot by organizing them in all his outstations and villages to become a powerful voice in what concerned them in the daily affairs of their community life. Today the state and many religious bodies have schools and universities which equip young people with both knowledge and skill but what have you after graduation - they end up seeking jobs in Europe and North America while some fall prey to criminals and outlived politicians who turn them into militant groups to achieve their evil political ambition. Nigeria should be a land of opportunities and promise but the absence of these has resulted in many tragic deaths for many attempting to cross the Mediterranean, which has become the Nigerian youths’ graveyard.
But who is to blame – complex but irresponsible on the part of the youth will get a lion's share of the blame. Their age gives them lion shares of the opportunities that abound in this country. Why should the youth allow those on the verge of their grave to lead them to the same grave? After sixty years our natural ability begins to decline and is a time to give way to the younger person – simple logic. Despite the crippling social and economic conditions that we live in today, the youths cannot underestimate themselves and if they do not struggle, who will? Blessed Tansi taught his youth to work for full independence and to draw on the strength of their youth to continue in their struggle, continue to strive toward putting an end to anything that jeopardizes their future - war, hunger, poverty, and the semi-permanence of refugees. Sad to notice that many young people don’t care for the roots they received, their families, countries, and history – in that situation they cannot be mature.
The lessons and relevance of Blessed Tansi youth apostolate are still important for youth to participate in the leadership of this country. He urged the youths of his time and of today to be cautious, but courageous and brave in their efforts to overcome personal and community challenges. He made them understand their responsibilities, to continue to be strong, continue to struggle with all their youth abilities, the feelings they have, and all of all strength and unity. This was the reason why his girls were able to face the masquerade cult in Dunukofia and Aguleri. They had the courage to challenge and unmask the masquerade. Their past was not always positive, there has been obvious discrimination against them but they changed their fate by struggle, proved their maturity, and created a better future for others. Today their discrimination is a thing of the past. Nigerian youths are not meant to be exploited by the older generation nor are they meant to be a subculture. Nigeria and its many natural resources are our common wealth and heritage. Jesus taught us to be engaged and to struggle for justice. To be a true Nigerian in this day and age mean to be engaged, to stop all those structures that want to keep Nigerian youths from being engaged to live in the present with a firm grip on reality, and try not to be alienated in shaping the future of this country.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday, November 5, 2022
Blessed Tansi opposed the bad Government of his time
Those who have gone before us marked with the sign of true faith have always been not only the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult and trying moments of any nation but also have shown us a way out of the mess which enslaves the nation. Their way of life inspires countless individuals in their faith and hope for a better tomorrow. They have played their role in life and have walked through the sands of the streets of our towns and villages living us their wisdom that continues to resound. Blessed Tansi as a teacher, pastor of souls, and contemplative monk lived for others reconciling families and the peoples among themselves, and with God dropped for the new generation of Nigerians some spiritual wisdom along the way. “Today, one of Nigeria's own sons, Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, has been proclaimed "Blessed" in the very land where he preached the Good News of salvation and sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another... Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria...” (JP 11 Sermon beatification 1998)
The Catholic Church has from its origin been an advocate for common good and stood with severity for the poor and vulnerable. Christ the Master and model rebuked many bad teachers of the people who were obstacles on the path leading to the true knowledge the God. “... woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you shut the door to the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. (Matthew, 23, 13). Jesus warned against those who like to emphasize and promote rigorous legalism while acting contrary to the rules they use to control the people. He indicated that they were hypocrites who, despite trying to hide their hypocrisy, could only do so for so long before their malice was revealed: In the time of Blessed Tansi there were bad traditional chiefs and rulers who like to embrace power for their own gain, using the pretense of being religiously pious to the tradition of the land as a way to achieve power and milk the poor, the widows, the voiceless and women to death. Blessed Tansi condemned them and was not afraid of having their hypocrisy exposed. Off course it was not easy when exposed; he had to deal with the fallout of that exposure. The masquerade cult and the dehumanizing rites of wood hood stood out so clearly in my mind. In his fight, he stood his ground that those who show themselves so dishonest should not be given any power in secular society. This is because their interest is not in the common good, nor in any objective good, but in their own personal gain. They will use and abuse particular notions of the good for their own sake, pretending, by doing so, that they are on the side of the good, but when confronted by what they have done, and how and why they act contrary to their own rhetoric, they will try to find a way to maintain the power they have attained.
Today the plight of an average Nigerian is pitiable because of the bad economy and insecurity resulting from bad government. Bad politicians who know only themselves and their selfish ambitions come out during the elections and ask for the mercy which they have been unwilling to give to others. They will say that they have or will change, and that should be good enough. However, the way they have treated or treated others who make similar mistakes should serve as a warning; their concern remains for their own private gain, and they are willing to do anything to achieve their desires. This is where I think that the Blessed Tansi, whose core values in social program centre in diversity and inclusiveness ought inspire and help honest voting Nigerians – to tell dishonest politicians that enough is enough. Unfortunately, from experience, the purity of faith and practice which submits to God alone suffers because of the cult of personality even though Christians and their leaders should as a community of free persons be able to speak frankly against abuse of power, and hypocrisy in the pursuit of political office. Hypocritical politicians, politicians who pretend to be something they are not, certainly are afraid of the public finding out what our problems are – dishonest management of our country. They know that if their true way of life is revealed, they risk suffering the way they have made others suffer even as they might lose power and authority, as the people they used to get such power might turn on them. They hide the cause of our national problem from the electorate.
As a matter of fact, our Christian leaders, as moral leaders should tell their people that no one who wants power for the sake of personal gain, and who holds no objective values, should be given such power. Those who would tell us not to be concerned when someone is revealed to be a hypocrite, those who would say we should show mercy to those who made mistakes in the past, while not being willing to give the same mercy to others, also tell us who and what they are, and that is hypocrites who like to lord it over others. The current times are very different and challenging especially for Christian leaders who should speak up and act on behalf of people kept poor for a long time. Over the years, a large part of Nigeria's territory has been occupied by terrorists and the inhabitants of those areas are living in fear in refugee camps, farmers were driven from their farmland, Christians stoking fears over illegal conversion or possible death if refused, life is meaningless, especially those belonging to the marginalized ethnic groups. Yet the fascist state of mind denies the right to speak and act differently, dissent is unacceptable: The one language, one creed, one party program is detrimental to democracy. Such an agenda puts the very fabric of the nation at stake. Therefore, the challenge is huge, and the urgency can’t be put off. We need to be awakened to this new reality. Unfortunately, all of us are not aware of these dangerous moves taking place.
As Nigerian Christians committed to justice and peace, we have concerned about the deteriorating situation of our nation on every front. The poor have become poorer every day; the rich and powerful continue to profiteer at their expense and amass scandalous amounts of wealth. As devotees of our National Hero, Blessed Tansi, we maintain that targeting Christians with hate speech and persecution, by a regime that systematically and continuously denigrates and demonizes them with a divisive and violent agenda and claimed intolerance is on the rise. The silence of religious leaders on issues that are destroying the democratic, pluralistic and secular fabric of our country is unfortunate.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday, October 30. 2022
Blessed Tansi Worked For Common Good
We remember Blessed Tansi as somebody who lived for others. He seemed to have been born and given for the good of others – the family, the youth, the poor, the sick, and the voiceless. The choice of this kind of life was for him true freedom. He chose to live that way. It was true freedom that came with responsibility. For him those who try to deny their responsibility to their neighbour and society lose their freedom one way or another. For they will find they will have to face the consequences of their actions. He was so concerned with the dignity of every individual – dignity that must be respected at all cost. It cost him great amount of time and energy to fight for the dignity of every individual especially of women. Village and traditional laws that offend human dignity were attacked in his ministry. The ‘osu/ohu’ system in Igboland (a kind of slave system) received his greatest condemnation and violent attack.
He looked for a society that would provide freedom and in such society people must work together and must promote the common good - basic human rights. His pastoral reform of widowhood and masquerade cult were aimed at this. The chiefs and traditional rulers who are not concerned with the common good but are concerned about their ability to fulfil all their desires, whether or not others suffer as a result of their actions must change their ways. They are tyrants and must not continue that way. They are the ultimate libertines, having no one to stop them when their desires hurt the common good. Off course their condemnation generated a lot of conflict and opposition but he never gave up. Many of those who opposed his fight for freedom and promotion of the common good see his philosophy as the worst kind of evil. This can explain why many abandon their sick relations to their fate in cases of small pox and leprosy. Blessed Tansi looked after them and provided for their needs.
With what is happening today it is not hard for us to see that when people put their personal, private interest over the common good, society falls apart; when society is dismantled, there will be no protection for human rights, which means, and their basic freedoms will no longer be guaranteed. Those who want to protect liberty know that liberty promotes the freedom for people to follow goods which do not hinder or harm society as a whole. The common good must be protected if freedom is to be protected. This is why so many of those who put themselves against the common good and speak of it in the guise of freedom end up being tyrants when given the chance. We even see this ideology taking over faith communities that should give examples. Their indifference to their neighbour comes from the way they embrace their faith; it is all about themselves and what they can get from God without any consideration of what God expects from them in return.
We like Blessed Tansi but for many the way they live shows they are more concerned with their own private pleasures, safety and the freedom to engage all their inordinate desires, than they are for the good of their neighbour, and therefore, the common good.
If they are expected to change their ways for the sake of their neighbour, they show they are not willing to do so as long as they are not forced to do so. If they are forced, some will comply, but others will fight back. It is clear, so many do not want to fulfil their obligation to society. For such people mandates are necessary. But mandate would not have been necessary if everyone fulfilled their obligations. To put it simply many of us are selfish. They will not embrace the common good when they find it inconvenient to do so. They will fight any attempts to make them do so, even if the attempts are for their own good.
Blessed Tansi charges his fellow Nigerians with serving the common good, directing their efforts to the integral renewal of their communities and society as a whole. This entails confronting the deeper causes that the crisis has laid bare and aggravated: poverty, social inequality, widespread unemployment, and the lack of access to education. Inequalities in society which exist among Nigerians help make or worsen the problem in part, because they reinforce the notion that the common good does not matter. The breakdown of civilization is due in large measure our acceptance that freedom has no obligations on us. We have been led to believe we should not put a stop to malign interests who would work to subvert and overthrow the common good for the sake of their own private whims. Poverty is not the result of fate; it is the result of selfishness. What is shown to break down and destroy the common good is unacceptable, whether it is from bad Governments or from bad citizen who think they should be free to full their every whim, even if it means that others will be needlessly harmed for the sake of their whim, must be stopped so that the common good can once again be re-established.
What path of justice must be followed so that social inequalities can be overcome and human dignity, so often trampled upon, can be restored? Individualistic lifestyles are complicit in generating poverty, and often saddle the poor with responsibility for their condition. The massive wealth inequality in this country that leads to people needlessly suffering without food, shelter, clothing, or basic health care, is unacceptable. This is where Blessed Tansi principle of preferential option for the poor and needy comes into play, for it is about restorative justice so that the common good can indeed be common, and the basic needs of everyone is met in common by society. Individualistic lifestyles, as they are about the promotion of the private good over the public good, must be put in check.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive a healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday October 23, 2022
Blessed Tansi Chose the Way of Peace
The path to Peace is the path of Jesus but following Jesus is not always about saying a prayer so that we can live forever in a mansion in the sky after we die. It is not either about following biblical principles so we can have a successful, happy life here on earth. And it certainly is not even about being a patriotic citizen of whatever country we happen to be born into. Following Jesus is about loving God, our neighbours including our enemies, and all of creation. It is a new and only way to be human – it is a path of peace. It is about living together in peace. It is about choosing to see the image of God in every member of the human family. It is about choosing love over fear and finding peace within no matter what is happening around us. Path to peace is fundamentally a choice – to have peace or to live in fear and war.
Let us remember our national hero and Saint, Blessed Tansi, who chose the path of peace. He lived and worked at the time of British colonial administration and shared the fate and condition of all his country men and women. He was among the first groups of Nigerians who had western education in the colonial administration. While his counterparts, the Nationalists were fighting for freedom and a place in the Government he took to the way of peace and love – a way of radical holiness. Rather than being quick to judge and slow to forgive, he was uncompromising with himself and generous with others. His example gives us today a path forward in civilized discourse. His choice was simple – a class room teacher, then a headmaster as if he had not enough to offer himself for the service of the masses and the poor he chose to become a priest with all its commitments and scarifies in order to offer himself completely to God and his fellow men and women. His vocation and mission helped him to bring people together to offer them the true path to peace and reconciliation. He spent most of his spiritual and mental life dealing with the suffering of others. He seemed to be made and given to build, reconcile and sanctify families, to wage relentless war against any form of discrimination and to bring to the youth the future Nigerians a sense of dignity and true patriotism. His lifestyle which is his legacy speaks to us of a way of love and peace. As no violence can ever bring peace, he will urge every Nigerian not to be consumed with fear but to be led by love-even for their enemies. In his cultural revolution he avoided the way of fear which is the broad path that leads to violence, destruction and pain. His philosophy is the way of love, the narrow path-taken by only a few-that leads to peace.
Every person and every generation must choose their own path. Unfortunately, Nigeria has recently chosen the way of fear and destruction. But it is never too late for us to pilot a different course. The choice remains ours to make. We can choose the narrow way of Jesus or the broad, bloody path of empire. Unfortunately, Nigeria today has got it wrong with her choice. Nigeria is living in threat and fear of what may happen next. Security is almost at the edge of collapse. Almost every Nigeria is living under the occupation of either boko haram or unknown gunmen. There are in some places whispers of a violent uprising to come in which Nigerians will purge their land of these killers. Blessed Tansi will tell us to live out of peace within and the cycle of violence must end somewhere. He suffered no delusions that everyone would join his revolution to form some sort of utopian society built upon love and peace. There is always a price to be paid for choosing peace in a world addicted to violence. Many called his philosophy pacifism but at the end he won.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive a healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Blessed Tansi - Re-interment Anniversary (Modified October 18, 2020 reflection)
Every year on October 17th the Archdiocese Onitsha celebrates the anniversary of the re-interment of the Remains of Blessed Iwene Tansi at the priests’ cemetery, basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. We will recall that Fr. Tansi was among the first Nigerians to be ordained priest. He led the people by word and example. In the Archdiocese of Onitsha he had a very flourishing parish apostolate as parish priest. He had a great influence on the people, Christians and non-Christians. But at a stage in his very active pastoral ministry he felt the call to follow Christ in another way – the monastic apostolate. He was urged to do this by the love of God and his fellow men and women. He was a man of prayer, intent on personal union with the Lord, and was also urged by a great desire to bring the monastic and contemplative apostolate to Nigeria. He left his extremely active and flourishing pastoral ministry and left for Mount St. Bernard Abbey England in 1950. When he left Nigeria he completely disappeared as far as Nigerians were concerned. He had gone from light into darkness, from a life in the sight of all to a life hidden from the world. From the world of authority and command to a world of powerless and inferior, from a life of master to the life of last in the community - all perfection and holiness. God’s ways are often strange. He did not come back alive, for he died on January 20th 1964 just before his longing to bring monastic apostolate to Nigeria could be carried out. He was buried in the Abbey.
At the heart of his monastic adventure was God’s call, an invitation to go into the unknown where God was waiting for him. It left his country and his family like Abraham and so many others. It was to undertake what he believed to be a deeper and more enduring apostolate. His was like all true calls from God, a venture of faith and love. The cost to him was certainly great but later he gained more than he seemed to have lost. He found peace and God in the darkness. His faith and his ideal held fast to the end even to realizing that he fulfilled his vow of stability perfectly by dying in the Abby far away from his own people and land and be buried happily in the monastery of Mount Saint Bernard England. After the Archdiocese of Onitsha had initiated his process for sainthood in 1986 Archbishop Stephen Ezeanya, the Archdiocese of Onitsha, got the permission of the Vatican and Mount St. Bernard Abbey to bring back his Remains to Nigeria. He was reburied in the priests’ cemetery Onitsha on 17th. October 1986.
Every year we remember this event because his life helps us to see and to appreciate what is important at the core of our faith, helps us to renew our awareness of the things that really matter. His life is important to us because it was a life of faith, of humble and persevering following out of what he saw to be God’s will for him, even when it cost everything, even when all was cold and dark. His faith and his ideal held fast to the end dying in the Abby far away from his own people and land and be buried happily in the monastery. After his death the monks of Mt. St. Bernard Abbey praised his refined meekness, his serene equilibrium, rectitude, loyalty, reasonableness and special approach to meditation. Today in Nigeria his testimony invites us to be able to combine love of God with love of neighbour and not to tire of building relations of brother hood and reconciliation. His pastoral life was full of life and vigour as he made converts in great numbers and attracted many people to God. His pastoral gentleness and compassion are even today remembered and admired.
October 17th every year has become for all devotees of Blessed Tansi special day of prayer. We celebrate his return after 13 years of Monastic experience in England. We celebrate and cherish his memory with love and affection. We pray to him for assistance. This year our novena started on the 9th October. We shall spend the next nine days reflecting on his life and the message which is the message of the Gospel. We will join our prayers, in a crescendo of intercession, asking for his intercession for Nigeria and for the happy conclusion of his worthy cause.
Monday 17th October Eucharistic Celebration to end the Novena
Venue: Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha: Time 10 am.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
•Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
•Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive a healing?
•Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday October 9, 2022
What every Nigerian should know about Blessed Tansi
The Blessed Tansi’s life was Blessed Tansi’s own life. That was his vocation as our own life on earth is our vocation – a call to service and holiness. He lived a life admirable in so many ways. What strikes me most is his radical fidelity to his vocation that lent stability to the lives of countless others. Fidelity can take many forms. Important is his heart’s stability, translated into embodied living. In reflecting upon his lifestyle, we are all, clergy, religious, laity, meant to focus on the things that are at the core of our faith, to renew our awareness of the things that really matter. If his life is important, it is because it was a life of faith, of service, of humble and persevering following out of what he saw to be God’s will for him, even when it cost him everything, even when all was dark and cold. He was just one Nigerian and one more disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. We Nigerians can learn from him as we can from his Master - Jesus. As we pray for him and to him, ask God that he may be an inspiration to many Nigerians, whatever state of life they are called to in life. He lived with all the seriousness that successful life demands. Life, especially the Christian life is like a man who carries a flickering flame through a long, stormy night. The wind blows, the rain lashes down. To keep his flame from going out, he cups it with both hands, focusing all his attention on keeping it safe as he makes slow progress towards his destination. What keeps his courage up is the certainty that he will, as long as he is faithful, arrive his destination one day. The hope and certainty of reaching one day keeps the journey alive. In his life journey Blessed Tansi had a life-long charism for friendship. He knew that, in order to serve God, we have need of one another, and that this fellowship of truth-seeking hearts is life’s sweetest gift. We need one another in other to make it as individuals, as families and as a nation.
Blessed Tansi resonate with us most because he had similar experiences to ours. He came from true Nigerian family background; survived assault in many ways; had very poor parents; grew up in difficult situations; survived in many professions – teacher, catechist, student, diocesan priest and religious monk. In all these life experiences he had enormous struggles remained faithful and committed to love of God and his neighbour. Anything that is significant to you is significant to God, and Blessed Tansi is a saint for that. As we approach his feast day 20 January, and with it the 25th anniversary of his beatification (22 March 1998), I know that I cannot be the only one trying to think of ways to honour his legacy. His legacy is his life and a gift to his fellow Nigerians of all works of life. Here are a few things every Nigerian can do to honour his legacy and bring his blessings to Nigeria.
Prayer: Blessed Tansi is known for his life of service, but his service would have been impossible had he not fully centred himself in prayer. Like his Master Jesus Blessed Tansi prayed always and often spent all night in prayer, Cardinal Arinze, a student in his boarding school told me that the students did not know when Blessed Tansi went to bed and when he got up. The students saw him in prayer as they went to bed and again saw him praying when they rise. Through prayer our love of Jesus becomes more intimate, our love for each other more understanding, and our love and service for the poor more compassionate.
Get to know him better: Knowing a saint – what he wrote and said are most accessible way to understand him. He acted and spoke the truth with love. One person told me that that he preached the truth and gospel without discount. He had really no enemy because in his cultural and socio-political reforms he did not view anyone who disagreed with me as an enemy. He was able to reach out to those who hold different views without insults, anger or overwhelming judgment.
Every person is important: He had a mindset of dignity for all he treated each and every person he met with the inherent dignity that they deserved as children of God. It didn’t matter if that person was a criminal, sick, a lapsed Catholic politician or a poor, dying person. All were deserving of respect and love. Every individual is created in the image and likeness of God, and treating them that way helped to remind them of that fact.
Discern your mission from God: At each stage in his life, Blessed Tansi heard God calling him because he was listening, opened, and knew what God’s voice sounded like. He had spent years cultivating a deep relationship with him. It was this confidence that made it possible for him to say yes and stand firm even when it was tough. In reality he had many hurdles to overcome and lots to tempt him to go back to his previous life at each stage. Like him the mission to which God calls us has and will continue to change with the passage of time and seasons. In him we find a reminder that discernment is not a one-and-done event but rather the process of continually turning to the Lord throughout our life to seek his will. What is he calling us to today? What mission is lying heavy on our heart? What work do we need to do to accomplish it? Are there tools or skills we need to acquire in order to do his will?
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive a healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Blessed Tansi a National Moral Hero
Archbishop Stephen Ezeanya, a gentle and holy bishop, a true devotee of the Blessed Tansi returned the mortal remains of the Blessed Tansi to Nigeria. We recall that Blessed Tansi left Nigeria in July 1950 to bring to Nigeria the monastic way of life. Before he could do this he died in 1964 and was buried in the monastery where he took his vow of stability. The bishop got the Vatican and the Community of Saint Mount Bernard Abbey consent and permission. The exhumation itself took in the Abbey from September 12-17 1986. The body left England finally after thirty-six years of stay to Lagos Nigeria on September 18, 1986. The Eucharistic celebration for the re-interment took place at the basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha on October 17, 1986. Two things left a deep impression on me that day: the miraculous healing of an eighteen-year-old Aguleri lady and the powerful testimony of Bishop Anthony Nwedo CSSP in his sermon during the mass - “... it may be high claim to make, but it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering”. In similar words the Holy Father, St. John Paul 11 at the beatification mass on March 22nd. 1998 gave almost the same testimony. “ Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian. So too the Nigerians of today — young and old alike — are called to reap the spiritual fruits which have been planted among them and are now ready for the harvest ... Father Tansi's witness to the Gospel and to Christian charity is a spiritual gift that this local Church now offers to the Universal Church”.( Oba –Onitsha, 1998).
The Blessed Tansi life, as a lay professional teacher, a diocesan priest and a religious monk is an inspiration to everyone young and old. Many who know him testify of his great love for God and his fellow men. Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness. His heart filled with generous and courageous love made him a man of the people who put others before himself. The climax of his pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha includes pastoral care of families, the sanctification of marriages, education and development of the youth and ascetic charity to all especially to the sick and needy. “He took great care to prepare couples well for Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way to promote the dignity of women. In a special way, the education of young people was precious to him”. (John Paul 11, Sermon Beatification 1998)
He was greatly concerned for the sexual morality of his flock, especially the youth. He offered them protection and guidance. For the girls, he fought for their rights and dignity and protected them against the masquerade who used to molest them, especially those to whom they refused their love advances. His Mary league girls were given permission to fight the masquerade. He offered sacrifices and prayers for the sanctification of his flock. Even when he was far away in the monastery he did not forget his own people. He did not fail to offer prayers and sacrifices for their continuous sanctification.
As a young priest, he fought against the ‘osu – oru’ system (a kind of cast) which was an inherent injustice inbuilt in the traditional customs and practiced against its own people. By this system, one becomes a slave to either an idol or a prominent rich individual. Another thing that disturbed his concern was the amount of suffering, hunger and disease prevalent in his society. To these, he found the solution the gospel way and so he lived it out in practical terms. With his tremendous and unwavering faith, tenacity of purpose, and rugged physical strength fought these evils. He was but one man, and sometimes his efforts seemed pitifully futile in the gigantic morass of trouble and despair that was the moral and social condition of the time. Now looking at the huge success that he achieved one might think that he got it all on a plate of gold. Not one of the reforms introduced by him was accomplished with ease, and having been introduced not one would have survived a month without his aggressive pursuit. He understood the need to make every effort in the Christian life. That effort was for him a growth in godliness which required exertion on the part of the Christian – to put to death the deeds of the flesh (Rom.8.13) to put off the old self and put on the new (Eph.4.22).
He distinguished himself as an excellent, tireless confessor and spiritual director. Passing with a single inner impulse from the altar to the confessional, where he spent a large part of the day as long as the penitents were there. He did his utmost with preaching and persuasive advice to help his parishioners to rediscover the meaning and beauty of the sacrament of Penance, presenting it as an inherent demand of Eucharistic participation. Fr. Tansi was very aware that we were all prodigals invited back to the embrace of the Father. For this reason, he gave great importance to the ministry of confession. He made the sacrament possible and available and stayed on it as long as there was a need. “He encouraged people to confess their sins and receive God's forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He implored them to forgive one another as God forgives us, and to hand on the gift of reconciliation, making it a reality at every level of Nigerian life”. (ibid)
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
• Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
• Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive healing?
• Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing
Sunday, September 25, 2022 Nigeria needs Blessed Tansi now more than ever
We recall that on the 22nd of March 1998 pilgrims from around Nigeria and the world gathered in equatorial hot sun-drenched Oba temporal airport square in the Archdiocese of Onitsha Nigeria to hear Pope Saint John Paul 11 officially declare what most Nigerians had known for decades that Fr. Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi OCSO is a Saint. The atmosphere was one of jubilation, certainly, but it was more than that; there was also an unspoken recognition of how the life of this humble and selfless priest can change Nigeria and the world. In his homily during the beatification Mass, Pope challenged the Nigerians to continue the work of Blessed Tansi — work, he noted, that was not easy, and that took humility, courage, and compassion to perform. In two words: love and reconciliation. Pope Father said:
“Father Tansi knew that there is something of the Prodigal Son in every human being. He knew that all men and women are tempted to separate themselves from God to lead their independent and selfish existence. He knew that they are then disappointed by the emptiness of the illusion which had fascinated them and that they eventually find in the depths of their heart the road leading back to the Father's house (cf. Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 5). He encouraged people to confess their sins and receive God's forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He implored them to forgive one another as God forgives us, and to hand on the gift of reconciliation, making it a reality at every level of Nigerian life... he was always available for those searching for reconciliation. He spread the joy of restored communion with God. He inspired people to welcome the peace of Christ and encouraged them to nourish the life of grace with the word of God and with Holy Communion” (John Paul 11. Oba Nigeria 1998).
Blessed Tansi's mission to the poor, the sick and the voiceless remains for us today an eloquent witness to God’s closeness to the poor and the weak. Today, the poor and the vulnerable are still with us. Nigeria today needs other Blessed Tansi to look after them. Blessed Tansi is a model of holiness for Nigerians. His holiness so tender and so fruitful is so near to us. A tireless pastor, a worker of mercy who understood that our only criterion for action is gratuitous love, free from every ideology and all obligations, offered freely to everyone without distinction of language, culture, race, or religion. If we find a place in our hearts for the poor and those who suffer and give to those whom we meet along our journey, especially those who suffer we will be bringing blessings that will change the face of this country. In this way, we will open up opportunities for joy and hope for our many brothers and sisters who are discouraged and who stand in need of understanding and tenderness.
Today twenty-five years after his beatification, and 58 years after his death in January. 20, 1964, we could use his inspiration and intercession now as much as ever. Thousands of devotees all over Nigeria are finding meaning in his mission and apostolate. Since his death in 1964 vocation to the priesthood and religious life particularly the monastic apostolate are ever increasing in Nigeria. He was among the pioneers of the priesthood in this country and the first Nigerian to embrace the monastic apostolate. He is the father of monastic apostolate in this country. We cannot forget his indomitable fight against traditional customs and practices that offend life and human dignity and discriminate on the basis of gender, religion race, and tribe. His life is relevant today in this country where many are being discriminated against and killed because of religion. We could use him where the rich are using the poor to become richer and where so many are fleeing — or trying to flee — from the vicious and poor administration of the public resources. Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other - that man, that woman, that child is my brother or my sister. If everyone could see the image of God in his neighbour, do you think Nigeria would not be a better place to live. We could still use his lifestyle in any number of situations, where too many people are hungry and thirsty, where too many people are sick and dying, where too many people have lost their faith in God and man. He remains for Nigerians an example we need to inspire us to become beacons of God’s light in Nigerian world of darkness.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive a healing?
Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Blessed Tansi showed God’s goodness
The Blessed Tansi, our national saint and heavenly advocate showed Nigeria and the world God’s goodness by living the Gospel without compromise. We remember him a great and compassionate pastor of souls who stopped at nothing to bring the joy of the gospel to his people. A man of God and the people who used his heart filled with generous and courageous love to show goodness to his people. He embodied the poverty of the disciple, which is not only detachment from material goods, but also victory over the temptation to put oneself at the centre, to seek one’s own glory as he followed the example of Jesus and was a meek and humble pastor. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness. He always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to the pastoral needs of everybody. How can we forget his attention to the families, the young people, the sick and the needy. He brought them hope by putting concrete meaning to their lives more than ever. Today our country is experiencing hard time of personal or societal crisis when most people are especially prey to feelings of anger as fear and uncertainty threaten their future. Many have become more susceptible and look to those, who with skill and cunning, take advantage of their situation, profiting from their fears and promise to be the saviour who can solve all their problems, whereas in reality they are looking for wider approval and for greater power. Blessed Tansi preached and lived the truth and joy of the gospel – love, forgiveness and reconciliation as opposed to selfishness, greed, corruption and violence. This same truth which he presented is even more vividly needed in today's Nigeria. Because we have neglected his advice and way of being true Nigerian our nation is experiencing the painful consequences of this neglect – Nigeria is looking more and more like a battlefield, where only selfish interests count and the law of force prevails.
As Nigerians venerate their national Saint – Blessed Tansi, they are drawn deeper into the great mysteries of the Most Holy Trinity who woks through His saints. We also venerate him in order to draw closer to the Communion of Saints and in so doing give glory and honour to God. His life and mission are reminders of the hope we have in Christ and the journey we undertake each day striving to love as Christ loves, so that one day we too may be saints. Furthermore that our country may become a home for all where the truth of the gospel is lived. Examining the life of Blessed Tansi the way he lived in the joy of the Gospel, without compromises, loving to the very end some might be tempted to immediately dismiss the deeds attributed to him as tall tales. The reality, however, is that miracles do occur and are tall only insofar as they stretch our faith, inviting it to grow. One of the distinctively Catholic signs of devotion is the keeping and veneration of saints which act as a reminder that these holy people are not simply fairy tale characters, but that they did in fact live as truly as you or I. The very tangible reality is that the way Blessed Tansi lived is the way Christians today are called to live their lives. A way that should inspire great confidence in God’s great love for us and help us to place complete faith in Him as we live worthy of the saints. who are signs of our faith alive throughout history and active beyond the pages of the Bible. The Blessed Tansi did not exploit the needs of others or use their vulnerability for his own aggrandizement. He did not want to seduce his people with deceptive promises or to distribute cheap favours. His continued struggle to live out goodness should inspire us to love - to be purified of our distorted ideas of God and of our self-absorption, and to love God and others, in the church, society, and nation, including those who do not think the way we do, to love even our enemies. This must mean for us to love even at the cost of sacrifice, silence, misunderstanding, solitude, resistance, and persecution.
Sunday September 11 2022
Blessed Tansi legacy of humility and holiness
The holiness of Blessed Tansi lived in humility, zeal for the salvation of souls, love for the under privileged and daily dedication to church and neighbour is a legacy that has much to offer for the modern church and Nigeria. The church recognized the holiness of his life when twenty-five years ago in 1998 the holy Father John Paul 11 officially recognised the humble way he live out his vocation – Christian, priest and monk. Today all who knew him still talk of his zeal and holiness. I met Francis Cardinal Arinze a few weeks ago as he was spending his holidays at Onitsha - Nigeria. As he talked to me about Blessed Tansi I cannot but believe in his best authentic memory of this man: a man of assiduous and profound prayer, of attentive listening and capable of human and spiritual support, a pastor of priests and of the people of God, learned and prepared as a teacher of the faith and a good communicator of the word of God, a friend and brother of priests, a visitor of the sick and an incomparable catechist. As he talked to me I had the impression in my heart that he was a man who prayed, a priest who loved his people, a priest who loved the Eucharist and the church. The Cardinal was baptised by Blessed Tansi, served at his masses at Dunukofia, prepared him for the seminary and sent him to the seminary, followed his seminary career until he became a priest. I doubt if any other person can know the depth of Blessed Tansi spiritual life better than Cardinal Arinze. Their friendly son/father relationship continued until his death at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in early 1964.
Blessed Tansi embraced poverty and was someone who felt good with the people. He lived for his people and spent himself for them and their sanctification. Some 58 years after his death, Blessed Tansi testifies to us the face of a humble, hardworking, and serene church, concerned about following the Lord, far from the frequent temptation to measure the incidence and value of the Gospel by the state of opinion of the people, of society, towards itself. His example of holiness is important for the church and for today’s Nigeria torn to pieces by hatred, violence, corruption and selfishness. Through his example legacy we are called to the heart of the Christian life: to the humility and the goodness of those who know how to recognize themselves as sinners in need of mercy, and of those who serve with generous dedication and with good works to others, announcing the joy of the Gospel.
Born January 3, 1903, in Aguleri Anambra State of Nigeria, Blessed Tansi was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Onitsha at the age of 35, at the basilica of the Most Holy Trinity Onitsha. He left his pastoral print of holiness and zeal at the parishes where he worked- Nnewi, Dunukofia, Akpu and Aguleri. He ended up fulfilling his vows of stability at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey England on January 20 1964.
His cause for canonization formally opened at Onitsha in January 20, 1985, 21 years after his death, and was formally submitted to the Vatican May 21, 1990. Five years later, in July 1995, Pope John Paul 11 approved of Blessed Tansi heroic virtue, allowing him to be declared “venerable,” and on June 25 1996 the same Pope recognised the miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Tansi and moving him forward on the path to beatification. On his second Pastoral visit to Nigeria, Holy Father, John Paul 11, beatified Fr. Tansi on 22nd March 1998, recognizing the humble way, he lived his Christian life. Fr. Tansi became the first Nigerian Saintly Model, advocate and benefactors. On 3rd. June. 2010 in the year of priests he was solemnly proclaimed Patron of Nigerian Priests at Onitsha during the closing the National ceremony for the year of priests. The Archdiocese of Onitsha during a solemn celebration of his feast January 2017 inaugurated the Blessed Iwene Tansi Central Shrine at Igboezunu Aguleri.
Blessed Iwene Tansi is a Nigerian, a Christian, who had a vision of what the essentials of being a Christian are. And had the courage to put them into practice. He was also an apostle of the church and was someone dedicated to living out his priesthood. He had a positivity that he never sought to condemn, he looked for what was good, and he didn’t judge or condemn people. He was a true Nigerian who maintained this sense of serenity with his richness in humanity and that meekness that was characteristic of his personality throughout his life. All though he was strict he lived in the joy of the gospel without compromise loving to the very end. He embodied the poverty of the disciple, which is not only detachment from material goods, but also victory over the temptation to put oneself at the centre, to seek one’s own glory.
Blessed Tansi left for us Nigerian priests and religious a very relevant legacy for our vocation. We therefore must surely be willing to appreciate it and live it with love and devotion. And, while there are human limits to what we can do, and while it is important to get proper rest etc., we ought to embrace the truth of offering our lives in sacrificial love and service for the people and country as our patron saint did. He worked so hard for his people that he routinely went to bed tired. As a pastor he lived for his flock, did not use them, but lived for them to give them a shepherd’s care, loving attention, the protection of prayer, the Sacraments, and the truth of God’s word. Woe to priests who live selfishly for the people rather than sacrificially for them. Surely priests do at times tend to the physical weaknesses and illness of our people. But more usually ours is a ministry to those who are spiritually weak, and injured by sins, whether their own, or the sins of others who have hurt them. We are very much needed in the present Nigerian situation. Sacramental confession ought to be generously and conveniently supplied to God’s people. God’s people have wounds that need binding with the medicine of the sacraments. The doctor is usually near his patience. God’s people need care and we who are priests and shepherd ought to do everything we can to become more available and effective in healing the spiritual sickness of sin and helping to bind the wounds of those hurt by the human struggle with sin.
Sunday, August 4, 2022
Blessed Tansi thirst for Righteousness
Blessed Iwene Tansi lived the monastic spirituality to the full. We must also remember that he lived his vow of stability to the full. The God he was all his life seeking in conversion lead him to Mount Saint Bernard Monastery. All the time it was returning from guilt to grace, returning from sin to righteousness, returning from wrong-doing to virtue as Isaiah would say: “Transgressors, return to your heart” ( 46:8) His conversion in the heart means also making progress in charity, moving from one virtue to another, until he was able to see God in contemplation. His main reason for leaving the flourishing parish apostolate in the Archdiocese is to meet Jesus, to find his face, to find solutions to some important life questions. Such true monastic love liberates and decentralizes him from himself in order to center him on God and his neighbors putting him at their service.
Before even he entered the monastery BlessedTansi had been in complete service to God and his neighbor. He was on the road to righteousness. He preached justice acted and lived just- those who know him revered him as righteous man. Even the traditional corrupt leaders of his time who opposed some of his cultural reforms respected his sense of justice and righteousness. His devotion and sense of duty as a professional teacher, seminarian’s bursa in the seminary and parish priest in the Archdiocese of Onitsha were extraordinary. In all he humbly and faithfully persevered in his duties and tasks which sometimes could be annoying and burdensome. His prayer life both as a pastor and monk reveal a continuous beholding the face of Christ not just in imploring help but also in thanksgiving, praise, adoration, contemplation, listening and ardent devotion. Being constantly in the face of God he had nothing to hide from him. His heart was always open in love with Christ also open to the love of his brothers and sisters. His habit of prayer developed his conversation with Christ and made him the intimate friend of Christ he had always imitated. ‘Abide in me and me in you.’ (Jn 15:4) This reciprocity is the very substance and soul of all his priestly and monastic apostolate.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6). Blessed Tansi person and lifestyle is without a doubt that of a person who is intent on heaven. His desire for righteousness is not, of course, the false righteousness performed by those who like to glorify themselves and receive accolades for what they have done on an external basis, but his true righteousness, a righteousness which is borne out of love that seeks the good for all. His desire for righteousness not only gives him the appearance of holiness, but rather the true holiness of life. For fidelity to his vocation he acted in accordance with the dictates of justice, working for and promoting the common good. His thirst for righteousness is not just for some time it is all the days of his life. There is no end to what he would do in order to find it. But he sought for it, not just for himself, but for the common good of all. His rigorous fight against injustice in the traditional system was to lift others up with whatever holiness he had achieved, and so in sharing that holiness, he found it returned to him exponentially and the more he sought to share it with others, the more it filled him up with its glory.
For us the pursuit for righteousness is a lifelong pursuit. Righteousness is a way of being. To be righteous, we must constantly act, living out the dictates of love. We all have a mission before God and man. If we think only of ourselves, no matter what virtue we pursue, we will be far from righteous, because we will have ignored the core of righteousness itself, that is love. So long as love is ignored and rejected, what is desired is not righteousness, but its simulacra, the reason so many who seek after the appearance of holiness. This is also why they often end up doing something which demonstrates how far they are from true righteousness. It is better to listen to a humble sinner than a proud would-be saint. If we truly desire righteousness, if we truly thirst for it, we will receive it, it will be ours, but it will be ours in due time. We must struggle for it. We must not give up when we stumble. Righteous life is not impossible. If it were, God would not tell us to be righteous, for God knows it would be foolish to ask us to do what is impossible. However, it is impossible without God. That is, it is impossible without grace. God asks us to be righteous while offering us the very means by which we can achieve it. He doesn’t make holiness cheap, something easily attained without struggle; we must prove we want it. We must cooperate with grace and let it heal us so that we can gain the strength we need to resist temptations when we encounter it. When we ask God to lead us not into temptation, we are asking God to give us the strength we need to resist temptation and not fall for it.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive a healing?
Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday 28, 2022
Blessed Tansi Penitential Mortified life.
Christians must overcome all their self-cantered, selfish inclinations. They are called to die to the self so that they can truly love others, thereby following after Christ. They are told that if they put into practice such self-denial, they will get a reward. “Lo, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life” (Lk. 18:28-30). So, what exactly does Jesus want from us, and why are we told to deny ourselves everything to follow after him, if we will be rewarded as he says? Find the answer in the life style of Blessed Iwene Tansi who right from the time of his conversion had given the impression that he was wholly intent on eternal life, was preparing for it, awaiting for it and living for it. In doing that he did not neglect his duties at any time in his life. He saw clearly his goal and in his simple quiet way prepared for it. As a school boy he led others to religious functions: mass, prayers and catechism instructions. His domestic responsibilities in the house of his cousin/master did not stop his religious duties. As a teacher, seminarian and priest the story was the same. Even today fifty eight years after his death blessed Tansi is still exercising a great influence over the lives of many people especially those who know him. During his life he seemed to have a special charism, to lead and to inspi
From the early start of his spiritual life such practices as fasting, vigils, long prayers, solitude and various other forms of mortification played an important part in his spiritual development, strengthening him in virtue and liberating his spirit from all selfishness. He was never at any time robust. Sometime his health was undermined by the severe mortifications to which he subjected himself. This was so much so that his bishop at the end of his pastoral visit to his parish at Dunukofia in 1943 worried by the young priest’s emaciated appearance thought that the young parish had not enough to feed the priest. On the contrary the priest had too much but was giving out to others and managing with little comfort. In 1948 at Akpu the parishioners were touched by his strenuous exertions and voluntarily raised by a collection some sum of money and sent the same to the bishop at Onitsha to buy a kit-car for their Parish Priest. The bishop an Irish kind prelate knew that Blessed. Tansi would not accept the car however he bought the car which Blessed Tansi eventually rejected and requested the bishop to buy for him a motorcycle. Blessed Iwene Tansi never departed from the severe asceticism of his early years. If anything, he greatly increased his austerities.
Besides, other physical sufferings and mortifications, he had other trials to overcome, these were far greater torments. Through his personal poverty he identified with his flock, his generosity made him revered and loved. He could build a decent rectory as his colleague but he chose to identify himself with the local buildings. His house was built with mud and grass thatched roofs. He could afford a clean rest house in the outstations but he decided to live in the school store whenever he was visiting an outstation on trek. All through his life he had great potentials to wealth but he had always rejected them choosing a poor state. His leaving a very rewarding teaching profession with all its great future promises for the Seminary seemed a kind of madness for his relations. The majority of his flocks were poor. Their houses, meals and clothes were poor. He by his personal industry, education and status could rise above the general poor condition of the average man. He did not want to do it. He chose to raise their standard of living but himself remaining poorer than all. Most of his flock ate three times a day, a little food in the morning, then midday meal if during the farming season was taken in the farm, otherwise at home and a heavy pounded yam or cassava in the night. Bl. Tansi had enough to eat but rather the food prepared for him he chose to give to the poor and needy and fed on groundnuts and roasted yam, a diet poorer than that of the poorest villager. His house furniture was also poor consisted simply of three or four simple local-made back-chair, with a long bench at the centre of the room. The bed was a wooden bed with a grass mattress on it. He used locally-made pottery vessels for his meals. The provisions which he bought from the market for himself were usually the ones most people would not like to buy. He was very generous to people especially to the poor and the sick. But his spirit of poverty and sense of justice prevented him from helping materially his own relations. He wanted them to work for what they needed. He consistently resisted the financial and other material pressures coming from his immediate family.
The Blessed Iwene Tansi dying to the self, denying himself by taking up his cross after Jesus is about training himself to overcome our fallen, sinful inclinations, inclinations which are based, not upon the loving nature given to us by God, but rather, on the way we have developed a false sense of the self and made ourselves to be the ultimate good above all other goods. Selfishness ultimately makes it impossible for us to know how to love others especially the poor. Attachments to self hindes us from loving and being loved. For his vocation in particular self-denial and asceticism are therapeutic tools to empty himself all thoughts of the false notion of the self. We all seek what we think will give us pleasure but what we get will never fully satisfy us. We need to find ourselves open to the world at large, acting, not out of selfish desire, but according to our proper nature, that is, in and through self-giving love. Thus, we will be open to grace, allowing it to transform us and make us better, and in our betterment, we will find ourselves not holding onto that grace as if it were an object to be hoarded, but rather treat it as a gift to be shared by all, so that we will share it with others, allowing it to spread throughout the world and make everything better.
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive a healing?
Are you bound by the injuries of your past?
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday August 21, 2022
Driven by Passion for Souls.
To appreciate Bl. Iwene Tansi passion for souls, let us go back to his time - the 1940’s when it was still dark, no road, no means of transport in order to relive what the dawn was like when he walked in his white cassock through the towns and villages, from Umunachi to Ukpoakpu, to Ukwulu down to Nando to reach the huts of his sick and dying Christians. From the parish centre Umudioka there were narrow bush tracks leading to villages and farms lands. Those bush paths were mostly used by farmers and hunters. Both sides of the path there were infinite forests and farmland often dangerous because of wild animals and dangerous snakes. These were the only way open to him to reach his parishioners in remote villages and towns – it was a matter of trekking – continuous trekking in search of his parishioners. As he went, he opened mass centres which later became stations and Christian communities. Among those early missionary priests in our land who best represent Christ, were the founders of the faith and Christian communities, and preeminent among them are the indigenous priests who with their knowledge of the people and culture brought faith into the heart of Igbo land. They were the earliest evangelizers in the era of Christianity in our land. They helped to set up and hold together the Christian community and faith when it was just beginning. It was through them and their valiant work that the faith has been passed down so that it could be received by present generation. We owe them a lot. This is not to say they were perfect. They were not. But they showed us how to overcome such imperfections arising from the religious transition from the traditional religion to Christianity. They let their love for Christ overcome their worst inclinations and impulses, so that when the time came, that love helped them prevail against temptation, including and especially, the temptation to lapse from the faith to save their temporal life. These for the sake of Christ and souls were slain all the daylong and accounted as sheep for the slaughter. (Ps. 44:21).
Blessed Tansi zeal for vocations is a result of his zeal for Christ and souls. Blessed Tansi and a few others were the first indigenous ordinations in this land in the 1930’s. The priests were few and the apostolate was great. The Church needed priests badly - both the indigenous and missionary priests were over worked. Aware of this need, Blessed Tansi gave himself to answer for the need. The importance which he attached to answering this call was shown by the seriousness with which he lived his priesthood. The zeal to live his own priesthood perfectly was his greatest contribution to fostering vocations. Some of his seminarians then said that his personal life as a priest was an eloquent sermon for vocations. Boys and girls were inspired by his life to opt for the seminary and religious life. In his days his Parish had always the highest number of seminarians and aspirants to the religious life. As soon as the seminarians arrive in his house, he welcomed them, found out what he could do for them, cheered them up and saw that they had a little comfort. Even today as humanity is undergoing transformation in social, cultural, and religious spheres we find in him permanent values of the priestly life and ministry. His message carried by his examples, has not faded away, but still today attracts many.
Similarly the monastic vocation now flourishing in Nigeria has his inspiration – his zeal for Christ and souls made him opt for the monastery even when he had a flourishing pastoral ministry. He was a pioneer monk in Nigeria. When he heard of the monastic apostolate with its worldwide apostolate and benefit he desired it. His bishop began making arrangement for it. Though he had little control and even less choice regarding the time and exact location of the monastery - that was Archbishop’s task when, in July of the Holy Year 1950, Blessed Iwene Tansi walked through the main gate of Mt. St. Bernard Abbey in Leicester, England - he entered into a world that was foreign and exotic even to most European Catholics. For an Igbo priest, originally hailing from an environment and culture that was Eastern Nigeria 60 –70 years ago, the transition must have been both painful and at the same time enthralling. It was for him a call. He answered. We can only speculate as to how difficult he found the transition from spiritual guide and teacher in Nigeria, to learner in Mount Saint Bernard. One would expect that the severity of the monastic Rule would have been tempered a little for the benefit of this little middle-aged Nigerian, but my informants were unanimous that there was nothing of the kind. He followed every monastic rule for his thirst for his Master and souls. He was basically delighted with what he found. “Here I have found a place where charity is practiced as it is preached” he wrote back to his Nigerian friends.
That was his life and calling. He does not expect us today to follow him but he expects us today to get seriously committed to the practice of our faith. As today we might not be tempted by gold or silver or the promises of earthly tyrants, but we can be tempted by various passions and inclinations which encourage us to act contrary to the dictates of love. We must die to the self, rejecting those inclinations and desires of the self which lead us away from such love. If we do so, we imitate the Blessed Iwene Tansi and find ourselves not only sharing in the divine glory, but sharing it with others, for we will become vessels of God’s love in the world, no longer tempted to hold it in to ourselves as some exclusive glory but recognizing it as something which is to be shared and used to make everyone better
Are You Ready For Your Healing?
Have you prayed To Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive a healing?
Are you bound by the injuries of your past
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing.
Sunday, August 14, 2022
Blessed Iwene Tansi is relevant in Nigeria today.
The Blessed Cyprian Tansi lived a life of witness to peace and love, capable of overcoming every sentiment of hatred and revenge. As a true Nigerian and lover of his country, he warned against the temptation that reconciliation between our ethnic groups is not possible. He fought against any unhealthy attachment to one’s group that leads to despising others. There was to be no place for intimidation and domination of the poor and the weak, for arbitrary exclusion of individuals and groups from political life, for the misuse of authority, or the abuse of power. When he was fighting these ills with the traditional rulers of his time he was showing a way for a new Nigeria. The key to his social, political, and economic philosophy in resolving economic, political, cultural, and ideological conflicts was justice; and justice was not complete without the love of neighbours or any ethnic group. His fight for the widows, women in general, girls, and the poor was to give them their rights and justice in the community. His life and witness remain an inspiration to everyone in Nigeria. His destiny and mission - a life of prayer and self-giving love was not an end in itself, but was literally for others.
We will recall that Blessed Tansi was among the first Nigerians to be ordained priests in the 1930s, and he led his people by word and example. This was the time when the nationalists were fighting for a new Nigeria. There is no saying what his future would have been had he taken to political life. But he felt the call to follow Christ in another way for the interest of Nigeria. He too likes the nationalists was urged by the love of his country - his fellow men and women. He was a man of prayer, intent on personal union with God for the good of his country. In his ministry, he learned that all men and women are tempted to separate themselves from each other and from God in order to lead their own independent and selfish lifestyles. He knew that they are then disappointed by the emptiness of the illusion which had fascinated them and that they eventually end up in trouble until they can find in the depths of their heart the road leading back to true peace, love and reconciliation. His life and legacy are still relevant in today's Nigeria. His life and mission were a kind of moral revolution against injustice, hatred, and marginalization of any group, the poor and the weak. He was succeeding but he was just one man - he is today calling all Nigerians to be part of the revolution he started.
You too can be a part of something of life-changing in the present-day Nigeria in crisis. Blessed Tansi needs each one of us to be his partner in this moral revolution to save the nation. He is seeking lay people, families, religious and priests all men of God, and politicians to volunteer their time, talents, and prayers in pursuit of the grassroots renewal our country so desperately needs. Just as many humble pieces come together to form a glorious stained-glass image, so too will God use each of us, however ordinary or imperfect, to bring about this renewal in Nigeria. He only asks that you listen to his voice. We can all respond to one—or all three—opportunities for participation.
Become a prayer partner for Nigeria: Join the team of spiritual advocates for the Blessed Tansi lifestyle - help us cover the whole promotion in prayer, fasting, and penance.
Share a testimony of how the life of Blessed Tansi has touched you – bring forward the favors received through his intercession. Share your testimony to open more hearts.
Change your own lifestyle – become a bearer of peace – a distinctive sign of a Christian - something that begins with us; from you and me, from the heart of each one. By doing so, peace will dwell in your home, in your church, in your country. Blessed Tansi underlines the importance of community and brotherhood by uniting families and towns and by solving conflicts and destroying every instinct of supremacy, oppression, greed, and possession.
So let us, as we pray for him and to him, ask God that his cause may prosper, and that he may be an inspiration to many Nigerians, whatever state of life they are called to, and that he may draw many to a deeper truth that God has not forgotten us. Finally, may this truth remind us that we all need each other, and depend on each other. We are all members of same blessed Nigeria, and may our sharing in the brotherhood and blessings of Nigeria make us more aware in a very concrete way our collective responsibility to this country. Blessed Tansi’s life and death can contribute even a little to that awareness that by itself will be no small achievement, for it is something that Nigeria of today most needs.
[Are You Ready For Your Healing?
Have you prayed to Blessed Tansi for God to heal you or someone else without results?
Are you beginning to wonder if you or a loved one will ever receive a healing?
Are you bound by the injuries of your past
There are many reasons why being ready for your healing and actually receiving your healing are two distinctly different things. All too often, the two never get together because of the barriers that hinder God's work from being done in us. Come to Blessed Tansi and you will know what it will take for you to receive your healing].
Sunday, August 7, 2022
Blessed Tansi a Martyr for Christ
Christians are meant to follow the example of Christ, to glorify the Father in the world by doing what he did - to empty themselves of all attachments which cut them off from God, including, and especially, their attachment to self. If they do, they will, like him, share in the glory which God rendered to him. From eternity Jesus possessed glory in his divine nature. It was something which he did not hold onto, but rather, through his love for humanity, he became man and assumed human nature, so that he could present that glory to the world. He emptied himself of his glory out of love so that he could and would share it with us. It is love which is the bridge. It is love which connects us to him. It is love which lets us not only to experience the divine glory, but to share it with others. Indeed, it is love which makes us want to share it with others. When we embrace that love, we find ourselves united with Christ, and in that unity, we then continue his work in history.
We have the privilege of having the Blessed Tansi who offered himself as a sacrifice give us an example of Christ-like love. “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7). By his life and Christian witness Blessed Tansi was just another disciple of the Lord who came before us, followed Christ, and continued his work in history in our midst. Today his life is very relevant. If we want to learn how to be Christians and receive the glory which Christ promises to us we must imitate him.
“... it may be high claim to make, but it is hard to think of any other indigenous priest who has left a deeper imprint upon the Nigerian church in the last fifty years than Fr. Cyprian Michael Tansi. He was cast in a heroic mould and his life was short with suffering. He had a very high degree of energy, enthusiasm and candor, and the sensitiveness which is their concomitant. He had a generosity of temperament which was entirely self forgetful”. (BP. Anthony Nwedo-Sermon at the re-interment Onitsha 1986)
In Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi we meet one who came from being a devout pagan village boy to a Catholic Christian, to a Catholic priest, to a Cistercian monk, to the honours of the altar and perhaps God willing soon to the fullness of the honours of the altar - saint. His early search for the truth and God drew him increasingly towards the missionaries, but there were many hurdles on his way. He passed through several stages on his journey, each rooted in his humble acceptance of the will of God and truth. His journey of faith was characterized fundamentally by openness to truth, conversion and missionary approach. He will ever be remembered as one of the faithful servants of the church in our days who through his cross lived out the call and mind of the church in his life. His pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha was that of suffering. He did what many at the time considered pastorally impossible:
Changed not only the pastoral method invoke at the time but also the daily life of the entire community he ministered and reset the trajectory of the traditional Igbo culture.
Created new and concrete pastoral initiatives which made his wishes realities.
Did not just preach from the pulpit rather he went down to the people in the environment of their daily life.
Dedicated a lot of effort in building and sanctifying marriages as a bed rock of his parish community.
Exhorted the youth to have faith, brought them together and gave them a boarding accommodation in the mission parish school where he took special care to prepare them for future leaders.
Did not just ask the community to love one another but he fought customs that offend the dignity of the human person and stood for equal right to women. The traditional masquerade cult received a deadly blow from where it never recovered during his presence.
Did not just say be kind to the poor and the sick, he went out on his way to become not only the voice of the poor and weak but he helped them to the extent of sharing his meal with them. The tradition avoided the lepers but he became their best friend and helper.
His highest priority for his parish was the Sunday Eucharist and other Eucharistic pieties.
Next, to the Eucharistic pieties was the sacrament of reconciliation. He spent very long hours in the confessional.
nothing shows his love for the future of the church more clearly than his love and care for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
His spirit was contemplative and missionary, missionary because contemplative. He knew that personal union with God, prayer and sacrifice, however hidden, were fruitful for the whole Church and therefore missionary. When he left for the monastery he went to another culture and people to adapt to the ways that were strange - he had to get used to a cold climate and to different food, and to many things that even those who came from England found decidedly peculiar and contrary to what they were used to. It was not easy. His entire spiritual life was aimed at a conversion of heart, from bad to good, from good to better, and from better to best. It was an ongoing process, from bad to good to better to best. It was a process of the heart shown and lived in – conversion, devotion, and contemplation.
Sunday, July 31, 2022
Blessed Tansi: Model of Perseverance
There are days, sometimes weeks or years, when we wonder how much further we can go. Sometimes it feels like a long time since we made any real progress or accomplished anything. There are obvious reasons for worry, we are stuck or sitting up on blocks turning to rust. We might be frustrated because other people do not seem to even remember our most significant work. We feel we are being hindered and hampered as we struggle to make a meaningful contribution. This could happen to anybody at any time. Perseverance is a challenge to us humans.
The Blessed Tansi gave us an example of dedicated perseverance and remained a model for us. As a child, a teacher, a seminarian, a priest and a religious monk he had challenges and difficulties but he got through them all by perseverance and determination. His childhood was rough, lost his father at an early age and in order to make his primary education he has to live with his cousin teacher for his up keep and education. He was literally a servant to his cousin doing all the house work, studies and church activities. He had great opposition from his family to go to the seminary. His seminary days were rough. Those early seminarians to the priesthood were unnecessarily tried at the formation houses. He and his few companions persevered through determination. His pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha had trials and oppositions. He was a man of prayer, intent on personal union with the Lord. He wanted to bring the contemplative life to Onitsha and since no one seemed ready to go; he himself asked to go to a monastery so that in due time he could bring that way of life back home. When he left Nigeria for England, he disappeared as far as his own people were concerned. He had gone from light into darkness, from a life in the sight of all to a life hidden from the world. Yet he did not see it as a running away, as an avoiding of responsibilities. For him it was God’s call, an invitation to go into the unknown, to leave his country and his family like Abraham and so many others, and to undertake what he believed to be a deeper and more enduring apostolate. It was like all true calls from God, a venture of faith. The cost on him was great. He went to another culture and people, he had to adapt to ways that were strange, he had to get used to a cold climate – his greatest mortifier and to different food, and to many things that even those who came from England found decidedly peculiar and contrary to what they were used to. It was not easy but he persevered. However, things did not turn out like that. God’s ways are strange. He did not bring the monastic way of life personally, for he died before his longing could be carried out.
We too have a unique opportunity to practice living in new ways. The ways we understand and live into life, based in our reflection, will change what our lives become. Any of us who want to make a successful life must persevere all the time. We may realize we need to be responsible for leading ourselves before we can take responsibility to lead others. We may have been following good advice, exceeding expectations, getting things under control. It is possible we have even overcome opposition and outscored our competitors. We may feel less hopeful about making a significant difference. Do we still believe in what we are doing? Are we feeling discouraged, tired, or ready to give up and stop trying? We might see ourselves as out of options, out of time, out of luck. Here is a real danger to perseverance. It can happen in spiritual life. A lot of people do different things for different reasons, looking for their own answers. Some people want to become better or stronger. Other people would like to develop new skills and learn to do things in new ways. Some people want to find peace, happiness or calmness which has eluded them. Each of us is seeking something different. Are we dissatisfied, disappointed by what we have found so far? Each of us wants to heal the pain of lacking the depth and joy for which we hunger. Everyone wants more than just to be reassured or comforted. Each wants something real which will make his life different. In all that each wants to find deep, underlying truth which transcends life’s challenges. The value of our experience is not in how it makes us feel. We have not worked so hard or so effectively just to add to our resumes. What determines how much further we can go is how willing we are to allow the insights of our faith to shape our actions. The challenges we face in the future are not about replicating the effectiveness we have demonstrated in the past. Our leadership will be less about efficiency or meeting goals and more about wisdom. When we take time for contemplation and reflection we begin to dip our toes into wisdom. Contemplation allows us to hold our experience up to the light and see new facets.
In all his life adventures Blessed Tansi persevered because he was living his own life that was his vocation. He focused on the things that are at the core of his faith and continually renewed his awareness of the things that really matter. Today his life is important, it is because it was a life faith, of humble and persevering following out of what he saw to be God’s will for him, even when it cost everything, even when all was dark and cold. In that way he was just one more disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we can learn from him as we can from his Master.
Sunday, July 24, 2022.
Blessed Iwene Tansi Prophet of Nigeria.
There is a great cry of the heart in the land; the poor innocent and wounded hearts are beating loudly all over Nigeria—and we all must take heed. Nigeria today needs more than ever the ascetic love and charity of its national hero and saint, Blessed Iwene Tansi call for the work of national emancipation and freedom has not been completed. His life detachment warns us about a danger that all of us face. The danger of complacency, comfort, and worldliness in our lifestyles and in our hearts - danger of making our well-being the most important thing in our lives. He warned that whenever material things: money, worldliness, become the centre of our lives, they take hold of us, they possess us; we lose our very identity as human beings.
Today his lifestyle and message is relevant, his lessons on zeal for common good to inspire us to destroy finally the systemic injustice and tribalism that is our nation’s original sin that subject millions of Nigerians to levels of intimate and intrusive, and therefore volatile treatment no democratic community would ever tolerate. The political rules and decisions are there so that the dignity of each human might be respected and safeguarded. To safeguard them Blessed Iwene Tansi, spent his life and strength among us his fellow Nigerians preaching and living the Good News of salvation and seeking to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another. He is a true prophet of peace and reconciliation in our time. He did not live for himself but for others. He spoke words of love and forgiveness in the family life, village town and nation. As if what he did in his life time is not enough, after his death he brought the Holy Father, St. John Paul 11 in 1998 to remind Nigerians the whole truth about love and living together: “Today I wish to proclaim the importance of reconciliation: reconciliation with God and reconciliation of people among themselves. This is the task which lies before the Church in this land of Nigeria, on this continent of Africa, and in the midst of every people and nation throughout the world”. (Onitsha-Sermon beatification 1998). Without reconciliation "the world [Nigeria] will look more and more like a battlefield, where only selfish interests count and the law of force prevails" (Ecclesia in Africa, 79).
Most of us will remember what the political atmosphere looked like when the Holy Father came and what happened after that. But today Nigeria has failed even to hear this truth. Nigeria has failed to hear that the plight of the masses and the poor have worsened over the years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that small segments of the privileged class are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s present disorder and unrest are caused by our nation’s wintersthis truth. failure or delay to listen to the Prophet of our time. And as long as Nigeria postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.
Next year 2023, the silver jubilee of the beatification of Blessed Iwene Tansi, Nigerian national Prophet and of the second pastoral visit to Nigeria of Saint John Paul 11 coincides with national elections in Nigeria. It is fitting. In such a year with the usual political empty promises and of reckoning, let us take to heart, listen to that prophetic call for justice especially for the most vulnerable, the truth that Nigeria cannot be Nigeria until the common masses lives matter for all of us. The Blessed Iwene Tansi life and words of prophecy should reecho once more deep into our hearts to produce the desired change as we prepare for our national political elections. Let our hearts remember the hidden sufferings of so many. Let our hearts break for the anguish of many innocent lives lost over the yearsentkshould reecho oner justicef , beaten down, disrespected. Let our hearts sing the freedom-song of limitless love—sing and dream a dream of Nigeria where truth will set us all free.
It is common knowledge that over the years in this country, the poor and vulnerable were not only neglected, but abused by those with money and power. Those who live on the lives of others, those who live a life of luxury, relying upon others so that they can maintain that life of luxury for themselves, would find that such a lifestyle came at a high cost. They would eventually be looked upon by others who saw their luxury and wealth and would come and take it from them, just as they had taken it from others. Social injustice, systematic evil, can last only so long before the whole system breaks down. Those who take advantage of others will find that they will likewise be taken advantage on another day. It is common for those with great wealth, those who enjoy extreme luxury, to be blinded by it. They hide from themselves the suffering and injustices which are around them, so then they can ignore the fact that they are the cause of pain and sorrow for others. We must not become prideful of our own prosperity, especially if our prosperity employs systematic sin to give the benefits of that prosperity to a few at the expense of many others. So long as we promote and accept injustice, so long as we let our prosperity and a luxurious way of life get in the way of justice, our worship of God is reprehensible, because there can be no true worship of God without the promotion of justice. We must do what we can to dismantle systematic injustice and make sure those who suffer at the hands of injustice receive what they need in order to be healed. We must dismantle systematic evil. We must fight against oppression. If we do so, if we work for justice, then, we can offer our own sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God and find ourselves vindicated by God for following the true spirit of prophecy.[I don’t know whether you know that Blessed Tansi needs only one miracle accepted by the Vatican to reach the fullness of the alter-join us to pray for this one miracle]
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Blessed Tansi - Pray for Nigeria.
Nigeria today is hurting. Nigerians all need healing, yet many of us are separated from the very source of our strength. Jesus Christ and his one and only national Saint who invites us to return to the source and summit of our faith—the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. Nigeria is like a world that has forgotten God and without the sacred to give it orientation, it has fallen into chaos. Not only societies and communities, but families and individuals are fragmented and dismayed. A deeper truth remains - for though we have forgotten God, God has not forgotten us. Recently the victims of terrorism are of another category to which nothing can be compared. It is very clear to anyone who has been closely following the events in Nigeria over the past years that the underpinning issues of terror attacks, banditry, and unabated onslaught in Nigeria that we need heavenly assistance and immediately too. Terrorists are on free loose slaughtering, massacring, injuring, and installing terror in different parts of Nigeria since over eight years not because of any reasonable thing but because they are evil. Recently, the massacre of men, women, and children during liturgical worship in the church has added a new and fresh dimension to the crime wave in the country. There is a profound fear in every part of the country due to widespread kidnappings, as well as attacks on churches, markets, and public transport. Many have lost their home, family, friends, and community. The youths take a great risk to come out and live their true authentic lives. In some places people are badly rejected by family and community, thrown out like trash. Kids beaten, disowned, thrown to the streets—all because they belong to this ethnic group or religion. The situation breaks my heart.
At the face of these our political leaders with the national security seem not to have any fruitful ideas on how to protect the citizens and make Nigeria a safe place to live. This is where the only Nigerian saint comes in - heavenly solution and not human. Our National Saint, Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi a true son of Nigeria, a living witness of the power of God at work in human weakness, lived in love and peace in this country and handed the same legacy which we have so quickly lost and forgotten. This Nigerian saint saw his mission as indispensable for the Church, for his suffering people and for Nigeria, a mission which called him for complete fidelity to Christ and constant union with him in reconciling his fellow Nigerians with God and with one another. He knew that there was no other way than to abide in his love which, entails constantly striving for holiness and growing ever closer to Jesus, who counted on him, his minister, to spread and to build up his Kingdom and to radiate his love, truth and reconciliation. He had an extraordinary influence, a magnetic personality which seemed to attract everyone to him. He had great influence over his companions and his fellow Nigerians. “Father Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi has been proclaimed "Blessed" in the very land where he preached the Good News of salvation and sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen with God and with one another. . . the life and witness of Father Tansi is an inspiration to everyone in the Nigeria that he loved so much”. (Pope Saint John Paul 11, sermon Beatification Nigeria 1998)
Realising that we have failed, some Nigerians particularly in the crime torn areas of our state are desperately seeking assistance both human and divine since the Nigerian Government for these eight years or more is completely helpless on this matter. Some groups of Blessed Tansi devotees are remembering Blessed Tansi particularly because of certain elements of his biography that are exceedingly relevant to our day. He was a man of peace who devoted his entire life for the service of God and his neighbour. He loved peace, spoke of peace and lived for peace. Blessed Tansi had been a voice of love to those who were rejected and ill treated. Today he is still our true fulltime Advocate and Allie. We need him badly for a vibrant community full of extensive resources for love and care - with free hearts to love and be loved. The Blessed Tansi had taught us that political and religious leaders hold our future in their hands—and their response matters. They hold tremendous power for change in our communities, schools, places of worship, and homes. If human power has failed we turn to our heavenly advocate – he cannot fail us.
“All Nigerians must work to rid society of everything that offends the dignity of the human person or violates human rights. This means reconciling differences, overcoming ethnic rivalries, and injecting honesty, efficiency and competence into the art of governing” (ibid).
A heavenly assistance will come but before then each and every Nigerian has something to do in the present situation - that is lavish inclusion. Real love accepts people as they are with room for who they may become. We need listen more than we speak. Do your own part of the work. We can err on the side of love and acceptance - default toward love and acceptance, not judgment and rejection. “Reconciliation necessarily involves solidarity. The effect of solidarity is peace. And the fruits of peace are joy and unity in families, cooperation and development in society, truth and justice in the life of the nation” (ibid). We must all choose love over being right, because love is always right. Support the change and be the change. Focus on inclusion, acceptance, and affirmation. Focus on diversity in our lives. Expand your worldview. Switch your focus away from who is right and wrong to what is loving and unloving. Then choose love, because love is always right. Become inclusive because it is humane. It is kind. It is how we love well. Look for people on the edges, and be love and kindness. Your heart, so many other hearts need us to be part of that change. Be inclusive. Be affirming. Be the change and the love you want to see in our Nigeria.
Sunday, July 10, 2022
Blessed Tansi detachment is union with God.
Last week we saw that Blessed Tansi started to practice detachment early in his life. From the time he accepted God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ his attitude towards material thing changed. His former interest for traditional feasts and dances changed, he began to focus more on God, the church, the Blessed Sacrament and the activities of the parish. Even after school classes he is either found busy with house work in his master house or in the church before the Blessed Sacrament. When he became a teacher after his elementary school the salary he received was used for the up keep of his widowed mother, his poor siblings and poor children in the village. It is said that he kept nothing for himself and that often he went to school without shoes even though he could afford one. His interest was not on what he wore but on his duty and responsibilities. His decision to leave his lucrative teaching profession for the diocesan junior seminary in 1925 was a practical demonstration of his detachment from the world. Similarly, his leaving the very flourishing parish apostolate in 1950 for a total life of enclosure in Mount Saint Bernard Abbey Leicester, where he became the last in the community speaks eloquently of total spiritual detachment. Again from the Abbey, was his novice master, Fr. Gregory Wareign, a man who stood by him in the dramatic and extraordinary vicissitudes which characterized his life in the Abbey. He was an accurate annotator of Fr. Tansi spiritual itinerary, especially in the Abbey, he has this to say:
“Here we meet one of the outstanding lessons of Fr. Cyprian’s Monastic life at Mt. St. Bernard ― the deep conviction of the over-riding value of the contemplative life and its worldwide apostolate. His high esteem for it impelled him to sacrifice so much willing to obtain its blessings for himself and for his own dear people. He left an extremely active and very blessed apostolate in the Onitsha Archdiocese, including his determined drive to foster vocations, sanctifying marriages, care for the poor and sick, spending himself in the confessional, and in answering sick calls to travel to a foreign land and a severe climate purely in order to learn in the school of the Lord’s service how to love and serve his fellow monks under a rule and an Abbot, to praise God night and day in choir, to study the Bible and other holy reading so that in the end his soul could be liberated from all earthly ties and cling fully to God in Divine love. He was asked to forgo many things during his thirteen years as a Cistercian monk. His faith and his ideal held fast to the end ― even to realizing that he would fulfill his vow of stability perfectly by dying here in England far away from his own people and land and be buried happily in the monastic cemetery of Mount St. Bernard Abbey ― where he rested while the pioneer band went off without him to make the longed foundation in Bemenda and not in Nigeria.”
These testimonies hold primacy of place not only because they were fundamental in revealing the religious personality of Fr. Tansi but also because they constituted a unique and precious revelation of his inner life and disposition. They revealed candidly and openly all the warmth and feeling of a life that was completely wrapped up in a love affair with God and detached from the world. By these Blessed Tansi was opting for his union with God and personal spiritual growth hence denying himself of anything that could hinder progress - material goods and relationships. It is vital to note that the detachment of the soul from worldly attachments must never be divorced from either faith in or love of God. God created human beings with desire, especially with the desire for God. Detachment and self-denial are a means to an end by which one properly orders one’s desires to obtain spiritual perfection or union with God. For us Christians, the goal of detachment is union with God. To be in union with God requires that we have adequate knowledge of God which is often difficult for natural humans. Fortunately, natural human knowledge is not the only way of knowing. God can infuse the intellect with supernatural knowledge - the theological virtues; faith, hope, and love. Having faith in God means man freely commits his entire self to God (CCC 1814) willing and able to deny and detach himself from those desires that interfere with his commitment.
Like Blessed Tansi we too could become spiritually detached from any worldly thing that impedes our spiritual growth. It is quite simple and quite difficult. It involves denying one’s own will in favour of the will of God which can be simple and at the same time difficult. With grace and human effort one can overcome the natural inclination to put one’s own desires and needs first and achieve detachment. The human effort must include prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The purpose of these spiritual practices is to take the focus off of oneself and onto the love of neighbour by which we love God frees us from sinful desires.
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Blessed Iwene Tansi: Why So Detached from World.
Jesus advises his followers to enter through the narrow gate into eternal life. Only through detachment from worldly things could the followers of Jesus enter heaven through the narrow gate. The purpose of detachment is to order human beings to God. When we adhere to worldly things, we become worldly. When we adhere to God, we participate in God’s Divine nature (2 Pt 1:4). It is common among the Church fathers to practice spiritual detachment. Saint John of the Cross likens it to a form of blindness whereby the soul is cut off from worldly attachments and must rely entirely on faith. Properly practiced, spiritual detachment can serve many benefits. The most fundamental basis of spiritual life requires recognizing that we are creatures and that God is our Creator.
In considering the life of Blessed Tansi we notice that the tricky part about his life of detachment is that material goods are not ends in themselves, and so we should never seek our soul’s satisfaction in their possession or enjoyment. In the same way material goods are means to an end, and so if ever a possession or a practice is inhibiting one from achieving ones end (holiness and spiritual fruitfulness as a child of God), then those possessions or practices need to be discarded. For me with many years of pastoral experience knowing how naturally pushy an average Nigerian is finds it hard to explain the kind of detachment Blessed Tansi had at that time when the practice of detachment would look like going against the current. It must have been for him a hard tiring task which could be accomplished only by grace and strength of will. He opposes all inclination of nature and makes his will to do what is repugnant to nature like denying himself all legitimate comfort. This was, however, a sweet task for a soul in love with God-a soul which knows that everything it refused to self is given to God. His consistent attitude is that material goods should be sought, welcomed, and used insofar as they help us achieve our purpose of glorifying God and helping to save souls. Money was the great deceiver and must be kept on a leash. Considering the present day Nigerian greed for money Blessed Tansi shows many Nigerians the face and presence of God. He speaks to us, and offers us a sign of God’s kingdom in our material pursuit.
His stand on material possession is a solution to the economic crises now in the country. The sky-rocketing essential materials, food and fuel prices have precipitated the worst social and economic unrest in the country in years, leading to thousands of demonstrators marching for change. People are stranded without basic needs such as food, fuel, domestic and industrial gas. Patients are left in the lurch without the medicine needed to sustain their life. Parents are yearning to find milk food for infants and children. Crimes are multiplying daily all over the country. Explosion of real violence is a real danger as the country’s economic crisis worsens. The real cause of all these is material corruption, greed and bad economic management. Something must be done and rapidly too. Blessed Tansi life style of detachment is a way out – to bring about justice, equity and open the way for our youth to have a country to live with dignity.
His life is a voice of a prophet to Nigeria at this moment. Even though he himself in his days often felt unworthy and of no use but God knew well what he was worth before him and effectively using him to preach the Good News of the Gospel. God gave his silence, his quiet, his self-forgetfulness, his words and his gestures a certain virtue, which unknown to himself, worked in the hearts of those around him. His love for poverty and detachment does not mean that he is hostile to people who do not follow his life style. The desire to give His life for the salvation of the world constitutes the most remarkable example of detachment from worldly things. His life is very relevant to Nigerians of all tribes, religion and occupation today.For us Christians generally, detachment occurs within the context of Catholic asceticism. Asceticism is a form of spiritual exercise whereby one seeks spiritual perfection that properly orders one’s appetites and affections of created things for the purpose of serving God. Detachment is not reserved only for those in a religious order. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt 16:24). In other words, Christians, as followers of Christ, must detach themselves from all worldly attachments and appetites no matter what the cost.
Sunday .June 26, 2022
Blessed Tansi Penitential mortified life.
Christians learnt from the early church that it is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. The Church has not changed her apostolic and highly organized structures and traditions. The cross is still an integral part of Christianity. Jesus the founder of Christianity announced the cross without ambiguity. He himself endured hostility, hardship, and the horrors of the cross yet triumphed and showed that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. He caught the wise in their craftiness and showed that the thoughts of the wise of this world are futile (1 Cor 3:20). The soft Christianity of many today, who remove the cross and replace it with a pillow and who insist upon inclusion and affirmation to the exclusion of all else, is strangely absent in this early setting. Christ himself was emphatic: if you want to follow me carry your cross daily and follow me. We are Catholics sent to proclaim the gospel: that God has loved the world and sent His Son, who by dying and rising from the dead has purchased for us a whole new life, free from sin and the rebellious obsessions of this world. He is victorious over all the death-directed drives of this present evil age. Simply put, He has triumphed over these forces and enabled us to walk in the newness of life. To walk in that newness of life is not easy but some have done it and left us an example to follow.
The Blessed Tansi is an example of those who discover the easy way to succeed and carry the crown. Let us follow him and see the secret of his success. He accepted his vocation and remained faithful to his mission. He went forth announcing the Gospel as good news, with joy and confidence, admonishing his converts especially those obsessed with pleasures to embrace the cross as our only hope, appointing catechists and teachers in every outstation he opened to teach and follow after him. Because these and all his faithful have to look up to him for example and model he remained accountable to them by his way of conduct. He suffered in his mission, long and endless treks under the equatorial heat- sometimes going without food. Everybody knew he was working beyond normal human capacity. His labours and happiness were linked to his harvest. He knew he was to announce a new life, set free from the bondage of sin, rebellion, sensuality, greed, lust, domination, and revenge. His was to announce a life of joy, confidence, purity, chastity, generosity, and devotion to the truth rooted in love. He has to live that himself in order to make an effective proclamation. For this reason, he had to be extra hard on himself. There is no doubt some—indeed many—were offended and sought to convict him and his Christians as disturbers of native tradition and then of peace. Some evil men who benefit from certain unjust customs don’t like him and his mission and don’t want to change their way of life. They prefer darkness to light, immorality to holiness and slavery to freedom.
He suffered and as a weapon to fight back, he resorted to a life penance and mortification, long hours before the Eucharistic Lord all for his flock and for his enemies. The saying “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” made sense to him and he sought to put it into practice. He announces and teaches that “If you’re not willing to endure the cross, no crown will come your way. If you can’t stand a little disappointment, if you can’t stand being talked about sometimes, if you think you should always be up and never down, I have come to remind you: no cross, no crown.” Our glory is through the cross. There is a test in every testimony, a trial in every triumph. There are demands of discipleship, requirements for renewal, laws of love, and sufferings set forth for those who want the glory. The Blessed Tansi left us an example to follow. Through his penitential and mortified life, the cross becomes not suffering but life, power, and love. Because of his mortified life, it is possible for him to live without sin, learn to forgive, live the truth in love, and overcome rebellion, pride, lust, and greed. Many today insist that the Church soft-pedal the cross, that we use honey, not vinegar. We joyfully announce and uphold the paradox of the cross and must be willing to be a sign of contradiction to this world, which sees only pleasure and the indulgence of sinful drives as the way forward that exalts freedom without truth or obedience, and calls good what God calls sinful.
Sunday 19, 2022
Blessed Iwene Tansi: A Path to Hidden Holiness
The saints are human. They did not drop from Heaven. They are human just like you and me. We are all called by God Himself to be great saints – just as the saints were. January 20th. is the feast day of a Nigerian who answered that call to be a saint.
Blessed Tansi was born in Aguleri, Anambra-Nigeria on January 3, 1903. He had a typical childhood with his parents and many siblings in a small town a few miles from Onitsha, attending the local parochial school with his mates. There he became a great example of charity to his friends. Nearing the age of 9 in 1912, he was baptised and took the name Michael. From an early age, Michael was eager to do God’s will. Soon after his baptism, he heard a sermon about achieving holiness. Three points impressed him: first, that it is God’s will for everyone to become a saint; second, that it is easy to do so; and third, that there are great rewards in Heaven for those who become saints. Consumed with zeal for God, he began attending more frequently the parish church and the Blessed Sacrament, fasting on small piece of yam and water and imposing harsh mortifications on himself. However, when his cousine/teacher realized what he was doing, he forbade him from undertaking this fasting regimen and these penances on the grounds that doing so was damaging his health and banned him from assuming any further penances without permission. It is said that the parish priest told him that he could become the great saint he was striving to be by being completely obedient to his Cousin/teacher in whose house he was living at the time. He obeyed but was not satisfied. He considered obedience a necessity, and therefore, insufficient as a penance. However at his age and dependence on his master with obedience he could give more glory to the Lord than by many long and arduous penances, for God delights in obedience more than sacrifice. (cf.1 Sam 15:22). It was in this manner of obedience, then, that he surrendered to God, trusting that he would become a saint by obeying his teachers and master. He subsequently abided by the maxim: I cannot do big things, but I can do little things with great love.
We recall a very strange thing that happened on the eve of his baptism something of a kind of a sublime example of hidden holiness. He was baptised at the age of nine. As the parish priest was giving the last instructions for baptism and the necessity of parting completely with the agents of the devil, the young boy recalled that he has an idol [chi] which his pagan parents made for him at birth. He ran straight home and in front of his mother brought out the idol and broke it – an abomination - an offence punishable death in the traditional religion. His mother was dumb founded – could not understand the boy. After breaking the idol the boy ran back to the church and joined others for baptism. He was baptised the next day January 12, 1912. On that day, which he called the happiest and most wonderful day of his life, he made four resolutions, which guided him from then on - to go to Confession and Holy Communion as often as his confessor allowed him; to sanctify Sundays and holy days in a special manner; to have Jesus and Mary be his chief friends; and to choose death before sin.
His quiet, unassuming example of sanctity lays out an imitable path to sanctity. He gave himself entirely to the service of his master and lived an ordinary servant’s life in an extraordinary way - attending Holy Mass and receiving Holy Communion with utmost love and reverence as often as he could, going frequently to Confession, performing hidden mortifications. By doing the simple and ordinary things he became great because he was faithful in doing God’s will. That, in the end, is what makes great saints: doing the will of God. We know that great thing like “prophecies…will pass away, tongues…will cease, knowledge…will pass…, but love never ends” (1 Cor. 13:8). Therefore, it is love that will make us saints and it follows that to love God is to do His will. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn. 14:15).
All great saints imitate Christ to a heroic degree. They endure their trials bravely. They are steadfast in faith to the end. Life is a continual battle with the forces of darkness, and it will not get any easier with age. But with the prayers and example of Blessed Iwene Tansi, we have another faithful protector to guide us to God. We would do well to act on his words: “if you want to become a Christian better be a good one ...go to confession regularly and to Communion as often as you can.”
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Blessed Tansi: Pastoral approach to culture
Blessed Tansi cultural creativity was for change. Many who went before him did their best with the opportunity available to them but they did not make much powerful and lasting impact on Igbo tradition and Christian culture. They did not do more than just either consume, criticise, condemn, or copy it. The Blessed Tansi method was the only way to truly change what was wrong in Igbo culture; he sought to create something new for it - something that will inspire people enough to start to reshape their lives, behaviours, belief and surroundings. This is what he did; first he embraced his calling as a God given opportunity to help others and to change the society. He accepted the desire to take what existed in the world around him and make something better. He took his vocation serious by accepting all its demands to be creative.
He took good care of the good things that the culture has already given him. Preserved and nourished the best of what people before him have contributed to the culture in the areas of family, marriage, youth initiation, festivals/ masquerade and role of women in the society. These areas were very sensitive because of their connection with the traditional religion. In Igbo tradition life is intimately connected with the worship of the deity. The daily life of an Igbo man is not different from his religious life. In these areas he focused his greatest attention making them more acceptable to Christianity. He was also aware of their future role in the society. By the payment of the bride price tradition permits the couple to live together but not so with the Christian tradition. It was difficult for converts to accept the Christian view. Blessed Tansi sought to present a true experience of authentic Christian vision for marriage and family life in order to achieve the spiritual fruits that come from living out the nuptial sacramental vocation.
He dared to take risks for the people. He was brave and willing to think and do things that have never been thought of or done before (such as separating even with force young men and their wives who were living together without sacramental marriage) - things that would make his environments a better place. His faith and trust in God helped him to overcome fears that would block him from using his creativity to the fullest. Distractions and obstacles were many but knowing that he was not pursuing a vague and naïve general idea of changing the society, he thought and prayed about the specific ways God wanted to use him to do His redemptive work at this particular time and in this particular place. He was strengthened by the Gospel's power to transform culture as such power cannot be contained in any particular culture; it reaches into every culture and changes it by changing the lives of the people within. With God's power at work to make even the impossible gloriously possible, every culture can be changed for the better. Relying on God's unlimited power instead of his own limited efforts he was able to dethrone the myths of the evil forest, challenged and defeated the masquerade cult and bettered the status of women in general. Gradually through his efforts the community where many people have rejected or were unaware of the truths of the Gospel began to be committed to approaching their society’s challenges with an apostolic mindset. His humble way of life and trust that God was at work through him in such a way that even his efforts on the smallest scale was hugely significant if God had called him to do it. Today Nigerians reap the fruits of the risked which he took in his time. Now, when we are living in a time when killing for money is a hobby, when money seems to answer and solve all problems, when bribery and corruption are at their highest level when children cannot pray in school, when many youths are unemployed and many take to violence and horror, witchcraft and Satanism. It is time for us to learn about those who strove for and achieved sainthood; it is time for Blessed Iwene Tansi whose strong determination proves today that convinced pastors of souls who are mindful that people need to be shown Christ’s love and compassion before they will be ready to understand and embrace many of the Church’s teachings will make a similar success in the ministry. If Blessed Iwene Tansi a Nigerian at my own age, living right here, open to the same, if not bigger dangers, still found time and means to keep himself a true follower of Jesus Christ, why cannot I do the same. Real religion is not made up of only words; we must come to deeds. Faith without good work is useless.
Sunday June 5, 2022
Nigeria needs Blessed Tansi message now.
There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult our problems may become there is hope in Blessed Tansi message and heavenly intervention. His message is an inspiration to everyone in the Nigeria. His life is his own and his vocation. In reflecting upon his vocation and how he lived it out we are focusing on the things that are at the core of our life and faith in order to renew our awareness of the things that really matter in our life. His life is important because it is a life of faith, of humble and persevering in and following out of what he saw to be God’s will for him, even when it cost everything, even when all was dark and cold. He was just one more disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we can learn from him as we can from his Master. As we pray for him and to him we ask God that his cause may prosper, and that he may be an inspiration to many Nigerians, whatever state of life they are called to, and that he may draw many Nigerians to a life worthy of their state. He spent much of his life in reconciling families, groups, towns and cultures. “Father Tansi knew that there is something of the Prodigal Son in every human being. He knew that all men and women are tempted to separate themselves from God in order to lead their own independent and selfish existence. He knew that they are then disappointed by the emptiness of the illusion which had fascinated them, and that they eventually find in the depths of their heart the road leading back to the Father's house”( St. John Paul 11. Sermon. Beatification 1998) He was a champion for forgiveness, encouraged and implored all to forgive one another and to hand on the gift of reconciliation to everybody. In this way he made reconciliation a reality at every level of Nigerian life. He inspired people to welcome the peace of Christ, and encouraged them to nourish the life of grace with the word of God and with Holy Communion.
Today Nigeria needs to live in peace with one another. Perhaps this is the greatest problem now confronting this great nation. This peace can only come through the witness of the sons and daughters of Nigeria. With individual reconciliation Nigerians can bring to society at large the forgiveness and reconciliation of Christ our Peace. If we don’t do this our country can become more and more like a battlefield, where only selfish interests count and the law of force prevails. Like Blessed Tansi we Catholics in Nigeria must be authentic and effective witnesses to the faith in every aspect of life, both in public affairs and in private matters.
The real measure of this man is to be found in what God accomplished through him. His humble but zealous apostolate brought massive expansion of the church through building new outstations where reconciling and sanctifying marriages, families and towns took place. One of the obvious effects of his reconciliation efforts was relief and help to the poor, sick, needy and abandoned. His message is universal because it is basically the message of the Gospel applied to concrete situations in the world of today. For him human life on earth has a purpose and this purpose must be taken seriously. His words and advice also have such wide appeal because they touch on a fundamental thirst that is in every human heart, and that is the thirst and search for love, for goodness, and for truth. He knew that this thirst could find its fulfillment only in God lived among and identified with the poor, the sick and the dejected of society.
The life of Blessed Iwene Tansi teaches Nigerians how to give more and give all for the good of all - common good - how to suffer more and by this means to bring relief and to save more souls. Through his penitential and mortified life he brought God’s blessings for his people. There are, of course, many ways to sacrifice for the good of others. If God permits physical sufferings, we can convert them into a bodily self-offering. We can sacrifice monetarily — truly sacrifice, going without things we need — in order to help those who often go without many of the basics we take for granted. And we can make the commitment to give our life to spread the message of love and forgiveness whether in far distant lands or in our own neighborhoods.
Sunday, May 29, 2022
Relevance of Blessed Tansi Family Apostolate.
Family, the domestic church, is the key to the renewal of society and the Church at large. But how is the family to live out its mission in an apostolic way? From my pastoral experience over these fifty years, I do not believe there has been ever an easy time to be a parent or raise a family. We are certainly in a time with its own unique challenges, especially regarding our faith. I am confident, however, that if the Lord has allowed the Church and the family to live through an age such as this, then He has a plan for how we are to remain in Him and communicate His Gospel to the world. However, the church and parents need to double down on their commitment to Christ and take the posture of sharing our living faith with our children who will in turn become the next generation of apostles.
In this regard, Blessed Tansi has a message for our generation. In my early years in the junior seminary, I remember being regularly inspired by the missionary journeys of St. Paul and the other Apostles. I used to dream of new mission fields, extreme situations, and heroic crusades that the Lord had in store for me when I become a priest. In fact, one of my hopes in discerning the priesthood and celibacy was the perceived freedom to radically follow Christ to the ends of the earth. Later few years after my ordination to the priesthood my bishop, Francis Arinze, now Cardinal introduced a heroic missionary priest - Fr. Michael Iwene Tansi to me. I picked an interest and studied his life and ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha. Needless to say, what I imagined in my missionary dreams became real in the life of this holy priest. I love his zeal for the salvation of souls. His pastoral approach to the family fascinated me. Today we are hearing the repeated calls of pastors declaring that the entire Church must embrace our missionary callings and each takes up his part to proclaim Christ to all creatures. That we can no longer live as foreigners and allow the invading surrounding cultures to take away our Christian family values. I continue to tell myself that if the present-day pastors of souls were to adopt Blessed Tansi's zeal and approach to family apostolate some of our problems might be minimized.
The Blessed Tansi baseline is that experience will outweigh instruction. Instruction must be followed up by action and experience and this guided his pastoral approach to families. For families to take up their role in the mission of the church they must be involved in apostolic activities, which means intentionally building the kingdom in response to God’s calling. He began with the sanctification of marriages and families. Parents need to be holy first before they can initiate their children into it. Father Tansi promoted the status of women. He insisted that betrothed girls should attend his marriage training center where they were taught Catholic doctrine, home keeping, Christian family traditions, sewing, knitting, etc. He thus laid solid foundations for Christian families in the mothers-to-be. He opposed the Igbo practice of men calling their wives "onye be m" (the person of my house) because this suggests inequality of the spouses and undermines the proper role of wives in the family.
He promoted the education of young girls and young boys in many senses of the word. He had primary schools and succeeded in inspiring his teachers, who saw their role not just as teachers but as formators of the growing population. At Dunukofia and other places, Father Tansi had boarding houses for pupils in Standards five and six, young people around the ages of eleven and twelve. The boys lived in the mission compound from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon then they would return to their parents and help on the farms at the weekend. These children in the boarding house had fixed times for morning and evening prayers. They took turns in serving Mass which they all attended each morning when Fr Tansi was not visiting the many outstations of the parish. Fr Tansi himself read the spiritual reading to them for fifteen minutes each day with explanations. For his teachers who taught these children, he insisted that those who have young girls and young boys must teach them dignity, respect, and love for life. They must teach them purity and holiness. Teach them not to be afraid. Teach them to love one another and to keep the commandment of God about love. Teach them not to touch each other in an immodest way so that on the day of their wedding they could give to each other a virgin heart and a virgin body. The young people must be able to control themselves, to be able to love and to be able to pray. Only a man with a great concern for the future role of the family could do these things.
He was sometimes hard on parents who neglect their parental responsibilities. He made his parishioners realize that by God’s design, the family is the place where we really learn everything. Parents who have seen their children grow into adulthood know their longing for a home, especially for Christmas and many other holidays. Families are necessary for every age of human life and history but we need to adjust our understanding and practice of family life to better suit the needs of the age we find ourselves in.
Sunday May 22, 2022
Tansi had quick and deep understanding of Christianity.
Looking at the way Blessed Iwene Tansi lived out his life and the kind of lifestyle he adopted one would think that the Blessed Tansi lived in the Light of Heaven. The Holy Father St. John Paul 11 thought that way. “He was, first of all, a man of God: his long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and courageous love. Those who knew him testified to his great love of God. Everyone who met him was touched by his personal goodness”. (Beatification sermon 1998) Remember that the Blessed Tansi family background was not Christian. His parents were devout members of the Igbo traditional religion. He was brought up in the practices of this religion: attending feasts, sacrifices, and dances with his parents. At the death of his father when the young boy was only seven, he was sent to live with his Cousin Robert Orekeyie for upkeep and education. This devout teacher brought him to the catholic school where he was exposed to Christianity. He began to learn the Christian religion which was just being introduced by the missionaries who combined evangelization with western education. The young Iwene Tansi was so absorbed and fascinated with the Christian religion that within three years he was ready for baptism which he received in 1912. He was among the first group of children in Aguleri who were received and baptised by the just coming missionaries. “Blessed Cyprian Michael Tansi is a prime example of the fruits of holiness which have grown and matured in the Church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries, and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African and Nigerian” (ibid).
Coming from a pagan background and very quickly rose to ‘Blessed’ is for everybody a remarkable evidence of grace and human personal effort. The way he lived his life from the age of twelve when he was baptised shows a clear and quick understanding of Christianity. He did not only accept the content of the Christian way of life but living it he made it African-Nigerian. Because he made Christianity his own and Nigerian his pastoral ministry made great impression and impact on the people. What he learned as a child in the traditional religion he transferred into the richness of Christianity.
The most important judgement any of us will ever make is about the intentions of God – his very nature and the purposes of his heart. This judgement in and of itself shapes the rest of one’s walk of faith. If we judge God to be angry and vengeful, we will not feel safe in his presence and will steer clear of spiritual intimacy; if we judge him to be merciful and gracious, we can discover the most incredible, tangible connection with the Lord, and walk closely with him each and every day. This was the first and most important step in the life of Blessed Tansi. He seemed to have understood who and what God represents in his life. He judged God faithful, and in doing so received the blessings that radically transformed his life, his future, and his view of the entire human race. Judging God faithful, the young Tansi measure expanded to contain the uncontainable. He was able to see the world in a different way – with the eye of faith. He understood what to take from the world and what to reject. It was moving away from the old and moving towards the new – accepting Christ and his way of life. He struggled to trust God and his neighbour, and to see God as he is. He succeeded because his trust in God was as easy as his breath. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. (Rom.12:2) One of the great lessons Blessed Tansi tried to teach his young people is to make a correct and true judgment of God which will lead to a true and unlimited intimacy with God. Thinking falsely of God will prohibit one from lightness of spirit and will lead one to walk around with heads full of lies and shoulders bowed. He helped them to maintain a clear, accurate image of God at the forefront of their minds. “... show us the Father and that will be enough for us. . . Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14: 8-10. He understood Christianity as the way of life of Jesus who is the way the truth and the life. Jesus God became for him the healer, the deliverer, the protector, the provider, and thinking otherwise was undermining the faith. The day he accepted that God is good was the day he truly learned to adore Him. His worship of God was as free as it was because he trusted Him completely and loved to be in His presence. His detachment from the world is another proof for us of his belief that humans are aliens and strangers in this world, and should be longing for a better country - that better country is not up in the clouds—it is down on earth. While the world now under sin and curse is not our home. The New Earth filled with beauties and no longer under sin and curse will be our home forever.
Sunday May 15, 2022
Tansi Pastoral approach to Fallen Catholics.
Because his was an era of primary evangelisation, there were strictly speaking not much fallen Catholics. What were obtainable were lapsed and uncommitted Catholics most of whom were lured to returning to the traditional religious practices after their conversion by the excitement of its feasts, dances and social affiliations. Blessed Tansi would never allow that because of the dangers to their faith evolved. For him converts must reinvigorate their faith with a strong hunger for Christ by all time fidelity to their baptismal vows, intimate relationships with others, depth of their own interior life, and growth in personal virtue. When they are strong they can form others into intentional disciples by their evangelization. This was actually how he sent out teacher catechists as evangelizers to the remote areas of his parish. He believed that the multiplication of disciples in this way could and would change traditional culture as well as individual lives. His zeal is such that no time, no energy and no resources should be wasted for evangelization and he himself taking the lead. His Dunukofia mission included Uke, Abatete, Ogidi, Eziowelle, and Abacha; others were Umudioka, Umunachi, Ogbunike, Umunya, Awkuzu, Abba, Ifite-Ukpo, Ukpo-Akpu, Enugu-Agidi and Ukwulu. For the purposes of his pastoral trek, he divided his very vast mission into three zones: the central zone, Umudioka, Umunachi, Ogbunike, Ifite-Ukpo, and Umunya: the Eastern zone, Ogidi, Abatete, Uke, Eziowelle, Abacha and Ideani, and the Western zones Ukpo-Akpu, Abba, Ukwulu and Enugu-Agidi. Each week he concentrated his pastoral ministry in a zone, the others were visited only on emergency cases like a sick call or death. “Going on trek” became a regular thing for him and when people looked for him and could not find him the conclusion is ‘he is on trek’. The only means available for him for such distance and vast area was a bicycle. He did most of the trek on foot.He had very strong words of condemnation for towns and individuals that did not meet up to his expectation. Abatete, Ogidi and Ogbunike were singled out in this connection. “Agwo talu Ogidi julu Ogbunike odu, bua Abatete aso” (The snake that bit Ogidi rubbed its tail on Ogbunike and spat on Abatete). He hated sin and denounced wrong doing, by using strong measures, which the undiscerning may described as harsh and irritable. To see his flock giddily intent on justifying their evil ways with contempt for God afflicted and tortured him, made him suffer agonies, exhausted his mind and rent his heart. He commented denouncing the hardened heart of some Abatete Catholics: “Abatete, Nkwuputa unu na eyim egwu, Olili Nso unu na anata na eyim oyi” (Abatete people, your confessions terrify me, your sacramental communion are shameful). This impelling need to make others understand the error of sin and the offence committed against God and his determined will to do everything possible to collaborate in the salvation of souls, led him to be sharp at times and even harsh toward others. This brusque treatment served to startle sinners to make them realize the seriousness of their offences against God, induce them to reflect and to repent. It suffices to think of all the times harsh words and seeming curses were pronounced over an individual or a group of individuals. “Ogbunike, mango di na uno uka unu na ekpe unu ikpe” (Ogbunike, the mango tree on your church yard testifies against you). His pastoral method and action is all motivated and guided by love and compassion. In other words, he was willing to love others enough to do whatever it takes to help them grow closer to God and, to get them to heaven. He was willing to suffer with them and for them. And willing to do more at all times for them.
Sunday, May 8, 2022
Blessed Tansi Pastoral Method has an attraction to the Young.
One of the attractive sides of Blessed Tansi pastoral approach is his attention to the young people. His ministry attracted them and they followed him. His apostolate had a great attraction to the young. We can think of the success of his school apostolate, his boarding houses for boys and girls, and the formation of Mary league girls who were organized with a kind of military rules and discipline. Above all was his great zeal for evangelization and expansion of the church and the compassion for the poor, sick and aged which attracted the interest of the young people. The young people could see immediately his concern for the spiritual and human need of the people. Francis Cardinal Arinze told me that during the holidays his house looked like a mini-seminary. He worked beyond the normal human capacity in his pastoral ministry. It was clear to everybody that he was for them and cared very much for both their spiritual and material needs. It was easy for them to follow his instructions. Some of his pastoral methods for bringing back sinners to the sacrament may be too hard for the present day pastors but they were appropriate for his time. What was important was the goal of his apostolate which goal is still the same today but the method may differ.
Today one of the most worrying features of our day is the falling away of young people from the ways of faith. Many are no longer attracted to the church and clergy. The sad fact is that as the priests and church leaders struggle to fill the young hearts with the joy of the Gospel — with the certainty that each has an indispensable role in salvation. The secular society insists that anything transcendent is an illusion. Power, money and success/happiness seem to answer all human quests and problems. As a result meaning and purpose are absent from the lives of many young people. The local church must solve this great puzzle of how to reach the young people on a spiritual level. Even though times are different and culture has undergone great changes a good study of Blessed Tansi approach to youth apostolate might help. The good news of the gospel is the same to every generation and should be attractive to all at the same time. Blessed Tansi used the method he was convinced appropriate at his own time. His personality and lifestyle are something else to consider. He was a holy man, what he believed he lived and preached. Cardinal Arinze said that his person and presence are like fire to which no one who comes close could remain indifferent. When the holy pastor spoke the audience listened with rapt attention and interest. In digging into some of his writings and advice to young people who followed him I have come to appreciate his attempts to teach them love and sincerity to oneself - a way out of the blankness and despair of skepticism of the time and into the easement of moral certainty. In his time life was difficult and filled with suffering. There were afflictions people couldn’t control, like illness, the loss of loved ones and natural disaster. Even worse was what tradition called malevolence - the dark parts of our nature that hurt others, and the malevolence of those around us that wound us. This was the baseline condition of life, and to young people who suffered it came as a relief to learn that it was everyone’s experience. The good news, according to Blessed Tansi was that we could still prevail. We could take up arms against the sea of troubles, and by opposing we could courageously confront them. Humans were not victims but protagonists, and able ones. From the beginning he adopted a lifestyle of responsibility for himself showing everyone that life has a meaning and purpose. Before everyone his personality and actions were like light shining and lighting up the dark world that others rely on. People simply believed and followed him. Even certain tragedies of his own life like the mysterious murder of his mother did not change his optimist and positive lifestyle. The malevolence that adds the horror of purposeful injury to the accidental cruelties of our days is nothing else but original sin, the inky darkness that lives deep inside each of us, without exception.
He taught his youth that they must be responsible, maintain self esteem and dignity even in the pursuit of happiness. The young men of his days were aching for a challenge and for a citadel to conquer as much as the young of today. Only that the old knew, inside them, that they were created not for the banal pursuit of comfort but for the glorious adventure of heroic deeds and noble purposes. This idea of noble purpose that Blessed Tansi taught them made all the difference. Some present day pastors have presented our religion as a comforting, healthy way to pursue happiness and grow our self-esteem. We have forgotten the meaning that comes from taking on responsibility — for our relationship with God, for the beautiful practices of our faith, for our brothers and sisters. It is in the fulfillment of duty that the heart is engaged and enkindled, and that dysfunction becomes peace. Jesus Christ modeled and proposed a life of valorous responsibility. “Take up your cross and follow me”.
Sunday May 1, 2022.
Turn to Blessed Tansi when life gets messy.
We considered some weeks ago the benefits of knowing Blessed Iwene Tansi. Part of knowing him is to be able to learn from the way he himself managed the difficult stations in his lifetime and to be able to run to his patronage when we are in difficulty. When the Blessed Tansi in 1949 arrived to become the first indigenous parish priest of Aguleri he found almost everything upside down: his own people did not want him as their pastor, the mission and the schools were bankrupt, the teachers and other church workers were owed salaries for months. In this embarrassing situation, he reassured his assistant priest Rev. Mark Uluogu that they have two most important things they needed to begin their mission; there is God for them and there is a roof over their heads. We all know that when life gives us too much lemon the best thing to do is to make lemonade instead of wasting the lemon. But what should you do when the lemons come in multiples and so quickly that there isn’t time to look for the juicer? This was that sort of situation for the parish priest and his assistant in Aguleri 1949.
What happens in real-life situations when all of our best plans and preparations get thrown out of the window at a moment’s notice by factors beyond our control? It could be difficult and trying if you have ever had such a situation. Like the Blessed Tansi at Aguleri incident be optimist and trust in God with the hope that things will get better. Sometimes one feels it is hard to be optimistic in the midst of stressful situations. But often this is due to a misunderstanding of what true optimism really means. Authentic optimism is not wishing our problems away or telling ourselves pretty lies that things are not really as bad as they seem. Rather it is a true belief that at the beginning of time, God had a plan for the world and that–in spite of sin thwarting that plan in the present–God’s plan will be restored through grace at the end of time. It is another way of saying that all things work for good for those who love God and earnestly work hard for that good. Be positive and act positively. Do what is humanly possible and wait for God’s action. You can change the situation; you have the means available to you. Recall your past blessings, your strengths, and your skills as a reminder of what you have to work within responding to life’s challenges. God has not changed, has not forgotten you, and has not finished with you. Keep the big picture of God’s blessings in mind – this requires us to be able to step out of the chaos of everyday life and remember who we are and what is important.
This requires us to stay connected to God–to be able to see things from his point of view. People who look at Blessed Tansi thirteen years of monastic experience from the outside may think that it was the most difficult station in his life. It may be or may not but surely it was the most fulfilling station of his life because he found God where he could relate most intimately with him. Like him, if we find ways to bring the present moment to God no matter how crazy it is. God will take over and we find joy in managing the situation. Often we forget the positive thing to do and look on the negative side – coming up with the wrong questions – who has done this to me, my enemies are on me. Forget such thoughts and focus on little ways to be a gift to others all day long. As you go about your day, consciously ask yourself: how you can make a difference in this moment? Is there something I can do to make this person’s day even a little easier or more pleasant? Is there something you can do to take down the tension in this situation?
You don’t have to be a martyr about it. Just look for those little ways to be a gift or create caring connection while you are passing by or passing through. These little acts of kindness increase your joy by helping you see all the ways you are making a positive difference in your world and in the lives of those around you. Then have you prayed to God with Blessed Tansi : O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me! The Blessed Tansi said this prayer many time in his life time. When you repeat it with him the difference will be clear. As you do these things remember that at the different and difficult stations in his life he persevered trusting God will not abandon him.
Sunday April 24, 2022
Blessed Tansi Lifestyle is radical
The Lord is truly risen indeed...! As we rejoice in God’s love and mercy shown to us in the resurrection of Christ we see a reason to take responsibility for the great gifts received. For we walk no longer in darkness but have the light of life. Jesus has laid out a path for us, showing what will truly give us joy and happiness. As we celebrate the ‘Mercy Sunday’ we remember God has forgiven us in Christ and his mercy has a mission which is not licentiousness, lawlessness or a permission to continue in our old life of sin. Mercy given calls for new beginnings – radical change, so that we can go and sin no more. Blessed Tansi understood very well that the mission of God’s Easter mercy is ultimately one of self donation. And he lived it out by a radical way of choices and life so as to die to sinfulness, selflessly serve others and became a second chance for others.
In 1950 Blessed Tansi left his flourishing apostolate in the Archdiocese of Onitsha for unknown plunge into the monastery of Mount Saint Bernard England. The decision to do this was radical for he was leaving the security of the world, even his own safety, in order to answer a divine call to live his life according to the Gospel - close to the poor and to his people, with a heart drawn to Jesus and his brothers and sisters. It was not an easy adventure but he was happy because he found God whom he was looking for. It was what he thought to be the will of God for him. He was radical after his Master Jesus who gives all and asks for all. He gave to Blessed Tansi a love that is total and asks from him an undivided heart. Blessed Tansi understood that his Master Jesus is not content with a percentage of love. He cannot love him twenty or fifty or sixty percent. It is either all or nothing. He cannot treat his Master like the gospel rich young man who went away sad after Jesus had asked him to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor and come and follow him. Off course Blessed Tansi gained at last; it paid him. He did not loose anything giving up all for the sake of Jesus and his gospel. He is now officially counted among the Blessed of God.
This radical lifestyle stated early in his life. I now can think of his leaving the comfort of his parent’s house to live and serve his cousin teacher in order to go to school and to become a Christian. At his time the teaching profession was among the most rewarding profession but he gave it up for the seminary in 1925. He was a very successful parish priest in the Archdiocese of Onitsha from 1937-1950 but he gave it up for the monastery in 1950. In his pastoral ministry some of his methods were also radical. His vehement opposition to the traditional rulers who used their laws to suppress the right and dignity of the people especially the poor is among some of his radical decisions. He fought for the right and freedom of women and opposed any one who stood on his way. Girls were literally instructed to fight the masquerades that often molested them for refusing their love advances. Some of the traditional laws on widowhood were unfair and degrading, these he could not allow to be going on. He was not afraid to denounce them and boldly preached love and human respect to all. I should also mention his radical love for the poor and sick. The lepers come readily to my mind. The lepers in the traditional religious belief were offenders of the earth goddess. They were being punished by the gods and nobody should associate with them for fear of incurring the wraths of the gods. Blessed Tansi broke that concept at the displeasure of the people. He befriended them, fed them, treated them and found a home for them and nothing happened to him. This radical step opened the eyes of the people and they responded to his call to love and help the lepers.In all these Christ was the highest lover he was looking for. Like the biblical trader he was looking for the goods of great value and when he found one, went off and sold all he had to buy it. (cf. Matt. (13: 44-45). God was his object of highest value – wherever and whenever he saw this valuable he abandoned everything and went for it. In each of his radical changes he was greatly criticised. But he was certain on what he was doing and nobody could stop him not even the cruel death of his mother. His desire to uphold the supremacy of God regardless of any social status was not appreciated by the majority of his contemporary. What they thought he lost in each case the Blessed Tansi gained a hundredfold.
Sunday Easter, April 17, 2022
Your help is still needed!
The Lord has truly risen indeed! Alleluia.
This Easter, as you experience the great joy of the Lord’s resurrection and as you make more Easter people welcome, think of going out of your way to make new devotees for Blessed Tansi. The start of one’s relationship like a faith journey is an exciting and blessed time, and each one of us should go out of our way to make these new devotees feel excited and supported by the protection of Blessed Iwene Tansi. We need a kind of grassroots campaign once more to bring Blessed Tansi to every corner of Nigerian community. If Blessed Iwene Tansi is a product of the Nigerian local church who we want to bring to the universal church for recognition (Sainthood) all Nigerians must know him and take part in this great work. During this Easter season spend some time learning about Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, a Nigerian, beatified by the Holy Father, St. John Paul 11 on March 22nd 1998 at Oba near Onitsha. The members of Blessed Iwene Tansi Solidarity Prayer Group, the Devotees, and the members of his associates are embarking on a campaign to inform Nigerians through understanding and prayer how to encourage the Vatican to canonise this humble Nigerian priest. Learn about the life and virtues of this holy Nigerian, and then share his stories with your family and friends. Support his prayer groups in your parish. If you do not have any help to start one immediately. Children, schools and organizations can become effective means to increase awareness of his canonization. Parents and teachers can become great and effective agents in this regard.
I am particularly happy that after two years of pandemic uncertainty, things are beginning to get back to normal in our churches this Holy Week and Easter. The Lenten Friday Stations of the Cross, Palm Sunday, and Easter Sunday Masses were celebrated without any significant restrictions for first time since 2019. This is a great reason to thank God and to consider doing so with an ever-increased attitude of love and hospitality for the rest of our lives. “Welcome one another … as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God,” (2 Cor. 15:7). This will become our mission as we bring the Blessed Tansi to the fullest of the altar. The stories of the way Blessed Iwene Tansi celebrated and lived lent and Easter are hopeful and inspiring. His dedication stemmed from a totally selfless and pure love of God and from a profound faith -- faith that he was being called to do God's work, what he had asked of him and faith in the Gospel message. It was through doing what he believed to be his work that he saw, loved, and consoled Jesus in his neighbours. The trials and difficulties he experienced were only on the sense level, for he was in reality constantly united to God and lived in an unbroken union with him and was able to declare that his mind and heart are habitually with God. He chose to focus on what was beautiful and had a special gift of perceiving God's action even in challenging circumstances, accepting whatever happened as permitted by him for some greater good. It was again a reflection of his strong faith. During lent in spite of his mortified and penitential way of living he seemed to work harder – even beyond normal capacity. Increased his long hours in the confessional, more pastoral treks, increased visits to the sick, made more provisions for the sick and needy, longer fasts and prayers. Remained more available to his parishioners.
As we move about we can see for ourselves that in some parishes there are some old members of our prayer group whom we have not seen for a long time. They may have stopped attending our gatherings due to one reason or another. Please help them to find their way back for we still need them. We probably may even know families or individuals who, for one reason or another, have decided not to return — or who have simply drifted away, believing to be out of sight and out of mind. Do not be afraid to ask your parish priest or religious in your parish for help. These as well as the laity have an important role to play in encouraging the faithful to come back to Mass and popular devotions. As members of the Body of Christ, we are part of a family of believers. This Easter, let us remember that our important duty - to promote the cause of Blessed — of making him known and of praying for a successful conclusion of his worthy cause.
SUNDAY April 10, 2022
The Simplicity of Blessed IweneTansi
Blessed Tansi extraordinary life began in 1910 in the village of Igboezunu, Aguleri. From his humble beginnings as the child of peasant farmers Blessed Tansi would one day become a powerful spiritual leader in the Archdiocese of Onitsha and from his penitential and mortified life would bring the monastic apostolate to Nigeria. He started to be extraordinary when at the age of 9 he was preparing for baptism and in order to renounce Satan and all his works went and broke his personal ‘chi’ {God} made for him at birth. This act is an abomination in the traditional religion – the consequence is death. People thought that he would die but he did not. People feared what would happen to him later. By his action he did not condemn the traditional religious practice of his parents but taught that he knew something much better. From that time he followed the incoming missionaries, joined their schools and apostolic work.
As a priest he was much devoted to the poor, sick and needy. Spoke much of helping the sick and the poor so that one might assume that charity was the virtue he valued most in his life, but it was not. Rather from his most constant emphasis on simplicity before God and his personal lifestyle, simplicity would be the personal virtue he valued most. It can also be said thatsimplicity was his “gospel”. What exactly is this holy simplicity that is so important to him and how can we imitate this virtue in our own lives? From the way he lived we can describe what simplicity meant to him. His whole life has one single purpose which is freedom from complexity or division into parts. It was to love God with his whole heart and with his soul and with all his mind. (cf Matt. 22:37). He did not want to do things to impress anybody or out of human respect. He was single-minded in intentions and in his pursuit of God’s will. He was free from any kind of luxury or ornament. He was completely detached from material wealth. He had no superfluous furniture, pictures or decorations in his house where everything was simple. I think that he knew that possessions bring attachment, and attachments hinder one from living for God in complete freedom. He lived Jesus command: “Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poo r, and you will have treasure in heaven.” (Lk 18:22) Finally he was free from any form of deceit or guile. He was very sincere with himself and with the people. He was sincere in words and actions saying things as they truly were to avoid any duplicity or deceit. He was a “true Israelite, in whom there is no guile or deceit.” (Jn 1:47)
How can we imitate this virtue? In all humans there is a war going on inside each one of us daily. We struggle with a deep yearning for power, control, honor and praise. All of which we falsely believe will bring us comfort, love, and peace. Without consciously knowing it, we constantly seek to satiate these aspects of our egos in large and small ways. This battle leads us to spend our days trapped in cycles of fear. We all do it. It is a part of our fallen nature. Therefore, we live in a society where it is considered normal to present an image of ourselves that is not authentic. Just as in Blessed Tansi day, this is an obstacle for evangelization and service to the poor. If people sense any lack of authenticity in us, then they know we cannot be trusted and our message or service to them will be empty. On the other hand, if we have the courage and humility to be seen as we truly are, to speak the truth in love, and to do everything with authenticity as our guide, then we will be effective in sharing the gospel and in helping the poor, the way Tansi was. Simplicity is the spirit of Jesus and no one has ever embodied simplicity the way Christ did. Looking at the life work of Blessed Tansi we see that by imitating Jesus in His spirit of simplicity, he became Christ to the poor, the sick, and the abandoned. He was move with pity at the condition of the lepers just as Jesus was moved with pity for the widow from Nain whose son had died. (Lk 7:13) His heart was filled with compassion when he encountered the widows and orphans of his parish who suffered, and he wanted to do all in his power to help them. We too can do the same in our neighbour hoods.
Sunday April 3rd. 2022
Benefits of Knowing Blessed Tansi
Befriending the Saints can give us a boost when we feel lost, lonely, and afraid of trusting God. Today living a wholehearted Christian life is becoming increasingly difficult. Our culture is becoming anything but Christian. Secular culture is bombarding our spiritual life on all fronts. If we lose the ability to be intentional about setting aside moments each day for solitude, we will lose our faith without realizing why, how and when. Sometimes our faith can become stale and stagnant and we desperately grasp at frayed floss to keep hanging on. Whether you are a Catholic from infancy or a convert well into your adulthood, faith relies on more than what we can see. Friendship with Blessed Tansi somehow brings us back home. We are inspired by his dramatic conversion and equally so by his quiet fidelity in all the stations of his life as a teacher, priest, and monk. We are drawn by his wonderful pastoral leadership and example. We are edified by his courage in facing difficult situations in his life. Our hearts fill with compassion at his spirit of poverty and detachment from material things. But mostly our hearts drop at his excellence in clemency, love, and compassion to the sick and the poor.
We long to do great things for the poor when we read about his pastoral ministry to the lepers, the widows, and the abandoned. Meanwhile, the tireless work for educating and catechizing the young people reminds us that this is our work too. His concern for the sanctification of family and marriage, education, and liberation of women help as we strive to love and give equal rights to all people we encounter. His missionary experience and practical zeal for souls which found fulfillment in his call to the hidden way of life - contemplative and missionary help us to understand the importance of our personal union with God, prayer, and sacrifice. As a good pastor of souls, he shows us that holiness does not have to be flashy, but involves the basic virtues in which he thrived — faith in God, the twofold love, heart-felt compassion, the capacity for hard work, and a real fatherly sense of protection for those entrusted to us. “ …Fr. Tansi's witness to the Gospel and to Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local Church now offers to the Universal Church”. (JP 11 Nigeria 1998) He lived out the Gospel in a way that was convincing and in a way that gave credible witness with a very high degree of credibility. The type of witness that is contagious. The work we are called to do is the work of the Saints. But we need the histories and legacies of the Saints to bolster the belief that we, too, are called for something greater than acquiescing to the world’s clamor.
We know that the beginning of every relationship often feels awkward and forced. Don’t loose courage if you find in Blessed Tansi lifestyle a little difficult, it has to be so. You are a different person and called with your personal charism. Educate yourself on whom Blessed Tansi is. Understand more about the lives he lived and the works he did. Pray, and continue to pray! Spread the information about him. Share this information with your friends, family, bible study groups, knitting circles, committees and more.
Continue your acquaintanceship with him by offering traditional prayers, such as novenas or even chaplets. Later, you may likely move to a more organic and natural conversation with him. Put his picture that you love best on your reading table, near your bed or any other place you frequent very often. Form a habit of mentioning his name often but more importantly when you need his assistance. If you can join one of his prayer groups and attend masses celebrated in his honour. Wearing his blessed medal is an intimate and constant reminder for you to strive for virtue throughout ordinary and especially difficult days in your life. Wearing his medal can help us in our spiritual journey, even as we offer a brief aspiration or cry for help. Parents may like to give their children his name at their baptism in this way you will be accustomed with his name in the family. Friendship relies on reciprocity. It is important to move from a superficial knowing to a deepening of fondness for a person. It might sound strange at first, since the Blessed Tansi is a person physically distanced from you. But the give-and-take of this relationship will enliven you, because you will learn how to move from asking to thanking. And he will always, always lead you to Jesus, your True Love and model.
Sunday March 27, 2022
Beatification of Bl. Tansi – Blessing to Nigeria.
Last Tuesday, March 22, 2022, the Archdiocese of Onitsha celebrated the 24th anniversary of the Beatification of Blessed Iwene Tansi. The venue was the beatification site at Oba. It will be recalled that the Holy Father John Paul 11 now Saint, beatified Blessed Tansi in his second pastoral visit to Nigeria. During his sermon the Holy Father described Blessed Tansi as “a prime example of the fruit of holiness, which have grown and matured in the church in Nigeria since the Gospel was first preached in this land. He received the gift of faith through the efforts of the missionaries and taking the Christian way of life as his own he made it truly African” As we celebrate this unique event we remember that this fruit of holiness which grew and matured in this land is our own brother. He was like us and lived with us. He made his Christian way of life truly African. In him, Nigeria has something to offer to the universal church – truly Nigerian/African holiness. This is a good reason to rejoice and to be proud of. Furthermore, the Holy Father said that “Father Tansi witness to the Gospel and to Christian charity is a spiritual gift which this local church now offers to the universal church…” We have something in Blessed Tansi that Nigeria can offer to the universal church. What a happy memory. It is fitting that we celebrate a Nigerian, true servant of the Lord who exemplifies what it means to be a true Christian disciple and a model of holiness. During his ministry in the Archdiocese of Onitsha, Blessed Tansi was a great and inspiring spiritual leader who offered direction and inspiration to everybody.
The second visit of the Holy Father to Nigeria was in itself a great blessing to Nigeria. He came only to beatify Blessed Tansi. The beatification brought the Holy Father a second time to Nigeria. We remember that his coming brought Nigeria many social and political blessings. Before his coming Nigeria was in a bad state, fearful, insecure, and was in great social and political tension. It was a military rule I quite remember, political tension was at its highest and there were many political prisoners. Soon after the Pope’s visit, intervention and beatification of Blessed Tansi tensions began to die down, many in prison were released from detention, political parties were formed and the country returned to civilian rule. I see a hand of Blessed Tansi who loves his country so much in all these changes. Certainly, heaven was at work for and in Nigeria.
Twenty-four years after, one would ask: what have Nigerians learned? This may be a good question for reflection for every Nigerian especially the politicians and those in public office. The Blessed Tansi is still very much alive in Nigeria; his fame of holy life is spreading among Nigerians. Many Nigerians are inspired to live a life of penance and devotion after his example. Many more are relinquishing their worldly desires and devoting themselves to a new way of life in service to others and the common good. Could more Nigerians who aspire to worldly success and fame after blessed Tansi example sacrifice some of their wealth for the good of the common people and become missionaries to spread the Gospel of love to the poor and voiceless in this country. Could more wealthy and powerful Nigerians learn to give to the poor instead of taking what belongs to the poor? Blessed Tansi travelled to point of exhaustion the length and width of his mission in the Archdiocese of Onitsha to bring help and hope to millions of his people.
The beatification of Blessed Tansi which came at the period of Nigerian religious and political history is a profound symbol of the deep Divine love and blessing through the intercession of his devoted and humble Servant. I have great hope that this year’s celebration will increase our zeal for perfection which will lift us up from our tepidity and selfishness and inspire us to strive more diligently to work for love and peace for our brothers and sister many of whom almost seem to be weakened or at death’s door through starvation.
Sunday March 20, 2022
Beatification Memorial: Tansi Mindset a Challenge.
On Tuesday 22nd. March 2022 we remember the 24th anniversary of the beatification of the Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi at Oba near Onitsha by the Holy Father, St. John Paul 11. We celebrate the event today with sense of devotion, thanksgiving, commitment and responsibility. It is his lifestyle, his legacy for all Nigerians of today and of the future. He lived among us as a professional teacher, a diocesan priest and a religious monk. His life and priestly vocation in particular was outstanding model of asceticism, piety, devotion to the Eucharist and of pastoral zeal. Today his life teaches us the basics of Christian vocation, love and responsible living. His concern for the under privileged, orphans, the needy and the poor speak eloquently to all Nigerian of life giving values we seem to forget today. To ignore these values may have a catastrophic effect on nation building and future Nigerians. We learnt when we became Christians that the human curse started with Adam when he lost the close communion he had with his Maker. Ever since then, mankind has been emotionally afraid, emotionally naked and emotionally in hiding. Our problems all stem from the fact that we are separated from the presence of God in our lives which has been the legacy of Blessed Tansi. We all know that we have gone astray over the years. Nigerian need to return to the basics Blessed Tansi taught for no particular age group, no level of economics, and no strata of social standing is immune to the biting fangs of guilt. Unfortunately, Nigerians have sacrificed this basic truth at the altar of egoism and selfishness. Those who seem to believe in his legacy have actually failed him by refusing to accept or even simply to acknowledge his great truth.
The love of God and of his fellow men and women urged him to live the way he lived. A man of prayer, intent on personal union with the Lord. We, clergy, religious, laity, are meant to focus on the things that are at the core of our faith, to renew our awareness of the things that really matter in our lives. If his life is important, it is because it was a life faith, of humble and persevering following out of what he saw to be God’s will for him, even when it cost everything, even when all was dark and cold. He was just one more disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we can learn from him as we can from his Master. So let us, as we celebrate his life, pray for him and to him, ask God that his cause may prosper, and that he may be an inspiration to many, whatever state of life they are called to, and that he may draw many to the priesthood and the monastic life. We will always count it a great privilege to have had him as a brother, to have witnessed his beatification on a Nigerian soil. He gave a great example of faith, fidelity, humility, love.Finally, our hearts go out to him in our struggle to find our place in this vast, confusing world. And we pray that we see ourselves through the eyes of the One who knows us better than anyone else does and who loves us beyond we can ever imagine. To do this, we must start thinking like the Blessed Tansi did and heeding our own call as devotees who are living today. May our celebration today remind us that we all need each other, depend on each other. We are all members of the same Body, and may our sharing in this Eucharistic celebration make us more aware in a very concrete way of the catholicity, the universality of the Church, and of our real oneness in Christ. Blessed Tansi life and death can contribute even a little to that awareness that by itself will be no small achievement, for it is something that the world of today most needs
Sunday March 13, 2022
Blessed Tansi lived against the current
Sometimes his actions looked like going against the current of natural behaviour. But for him, it was a matter of justice and self-conviction. For an average Nigerian who was naturally pushy it was a hard tiring task which could be accomplished only by strength of will. Blessed Tansi opposed all inclination of nature. This was a sweet task for a soul in love with God; a soul which knew that everything it refused to self was given to God and that when it had reached the point of renouncing self in everything God Himself will give it the precious pearl of divine union. He was united with God’s will in all his actions. Because he surrendered completely to God’s providence and living in God there was nothing left in his self, nothing was provided for the future, no road was mapped out, but like a child was lead wherever God pleased. Even though he often felt unworthy and of no use, God knew well what he was worth before him and effectively using him to preach the Good News of the Gospel. God gave his silence, his quietness, his self-forgetfulness, his words and his gestures a certain virtue, which unknown to himself, worked in the hearts of those around him. This may be the reason why everyone who came in contact with him was touched by his goodness. No one remained indifferent after meeting Blessed Tansi.
His love for poverty and detachment did not mean that he was hostile to people who did not follow his life style. His two assisting priests at Akpu, Fathers Panaki and Emerenini were allowed their own life-style. He did not despise the innocent joys of this world. In appearance he looked at least ten years more than his actual age. Toil had thickened his figure from slimness to a broad sturdiness. He was very generous to people especially to the poor and the sick. But his spirit of poverty and sense of justice prevented him from helping materially his own relations. He wanted them to work for what they needed. He consistently resisted the financial and other material pressures coming from his immediate family. While parish priest at Dunukofia his brother came from Aguleri asked him for money to buy seed yams for the planting season. He refused and made him to understand that the mission fund did not belong to the parish priest. On another occasion his cousin brought Aguleri fresh fish to sell in the market at Akpu but was not able to sell all the fish before some went bad. He was stranded, he had no money to travel back home. When he learnt that his cousin Fr.Tansi was around, with every hope of rescue he went to him for help. To his greatest embarrassment, Fr. Tansi gave him a knife and asked him to cut grass in the field in order to earn his return fare. His brother Vincent might never forget the day when he visited him at Dunukofia and Fr. Tansi asked him to split stones in order to pay for the food he ate.
Even though hardship and rigorous self-discipline have exacted an inevitable toll on his face yet his friendship with people did not change. Gray was beginning to temper his hair. His eyes already weakened through excessive reading with poor light especially during student days were beginning to tell on his sight. The body stress from the continued unrest and long treks under hot afternoons of equatorial region had very little mercy on the ascetic young man. And with all these his sober mannerisms were normal and cordial.
Sunday March 6, 2022
Tansi lived with detachment from worldly riches/pleasures.
Human nature likes easy comfort and pleasure. Sometimes the demand could lead to frustration and despair if not achieved. St. John of the Cross proposed a golden rule to curb and to subdue this incessant demand of nature for inordinate desire for pleasure: ‘ ... never incline to the easiest thing, but to the hardest; not to the tastiest, but to the most insipid; not to the things that give the greatest pleasure, but to those that give the least; not to the restful things, but to the painful ones; not to consolation, but to desolation; not to more, but to less; not to the highest and dearest, but to the lowest and most despised; not to the desire for something, but to having no desires’. This has guided generations of seekers to spiritual peace and progress.
Jesus himself lived each and every moment of his earthly life doing the will of his Father and to the young rich man who admired him wanted to live after his example he asked him to give up everything and follow him. The Blessed Tansi took serious the words of Jesus to this young rich man and made it a pattern of his life style. Very early in his life in the village living with the parents who had not much and who lived by providence from hand to mouth he learnt contentment at having nothing and trust in providence. He was not attracted to wealth and pleasures. When in 1919 he became a school teacher a position that earned him some salary but money was not his priority rather what he can do for others with his position and money.
As a parish priest he did not own anything, he gave everything away to the neediest; he did not feel the necessity of having anything for himself: His ridge fasts, incredible pastoral trek and labour, sleepless nights, austere penances and continual mortifications were natural consequence of his detachment and love of poverty. Most of the spiritual sons and daughters today echo the most constant and repeated advice of their master, “…the world is nothing, only God. We should leave this world and have time for God”. For him to have time for God meant to dedicate his activities to him, to spend his life and be spent for Him. To give himself time for the service of God was to give back to Him one of the most precious gifts he has given to man. He looked at the world as something which was passing away, his attitude to temporal things was total detachment. His favourite Igbo adage summarized this: ‘Chakulu chakulu cha. Anu felu akpili, ogaa’ (Chew a piece of meat once, twice and thrice, once dawn the throat, it goes and never returns). With this he presented to his parishioners a very realistic picture of the world, its pleasures, its wealth, honours and beauties. They pass away so quickly. The world is not a lasting place. He undertook difference kinds of penances, imposed many hardships on himself in order to subdue the flesh and to make it the servant of the spirit. Through his personal poverty he identified with his flock, his generosity made him revered and loved. He could build a decent rectory like his colleague but he chose to identify himself with the local buildings. His house was built with mud and grass thatched roofs. He could afford a clean rest house in the outstations but he decided to live in the school store whenever he was visiting any outstation on trek. His house was poor, diet was poor, clothes was poor, last to go to bed and first to rise and spent long hours at night in prayer. Throughout his life he had always had great potentials to wealth and high positions but he had always rejected them choosing a poor state. In spite of his rigid lifestyle he was cheerful without dissipation, humble without pretence, serious without constraint, giving fraternal correction without haughtiness, edifying his neighbour by word and example without hypocrisy, strict on himself without imposing this on other people, confiding in divine providence without presumption and blending most beautifully work, rest and prayer.
He is a model of evangelical life not only for priests, but for laypeople, especially for those who work in the vast field of charity. He learnt to love the poor from childhood, the traditional society where he grew up had special place for the weak. He saw how his parents welcome and share their meals with the poor and needy. As a priest he became still more detached and his heart opened for everyone. To have such a new heart was to see and experience his desired change. He became less desirous for himself and focused less on passing worldly things, and more on the lasting treasure of heaven. He concentrated attention on the other things and began to love what and who God loved. He began to love holiness, justice, chastity, goodness, righteousness, and truth. His heart became alive with joy and zeal for God and an evangelical spirit impelled him to speak what he believed and knew to be true. This love for other things led him, in the course of his priestly life, to give away everything he had.
St. James had similar warning when he said: “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God … Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:4, 8).
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Blessed Tansi Lived with Prudence
The faith is to be lived out. To do so, we are expected to act with prudence. We should not expect God to do everything for us. If we believed God should do everything for us and so we do nothing, there would be no purpose for us, no reason for us to live. God can and will often help us in various ways, but more often than not, it will be through inspiration instead of direct intervention. If we do not engage such inspiration properly, if we do not engage it with prudence, we might end up suffering greatly, or worse, dying when we need not die. On the other hand, if we are faithful and wise, we will put our trust in God while doing what we can for ourselves. This is exactly the kind of legacy Blessed Tansi left behind: that to make a right choice we should remember one thing: good decisions are always about others, not just ourselves
Choosing is a challenge. It involves facing the fear of the unknown, emerging from the chaos of uniformity, deciding to take your life in our hand. Blessed Tansi was a pious man of God, a man who acted in accordance to wisdom and grace, doing what he could to fulfil his role as a monk, pastor and teacher in the world. The decision to leave his rewarding teaching profession a sure financial means to support his poor aging mother and family was not an easy one. The opposition from the family and relations was tough. Exercising his usual wisdom and prudence and trusting that God was calling him to the priesthood he had to leave his teaching profession for good. He entered the Archdiocesan junior seminary at Igbariam in 1925. Ordained priest in 1937 and worked as an assistant priest at Nnewi for two years. He was appointed to the new virgin parish of Dunukofia in 1940 where he found no structure on arrival. He was given an ‘evil forest’ to build his mission. It looked like an impossible task but he trusted in God and used his wisdom and prudence to make Dunukofia a viable, flourishing and enviable parish in the Archdiocese. He trusted in God and trusted God would work in and with him in his actions. God never disappointed him. With the same trust he took a great unknown plunge in his monastic vocation where he suffered greatly at Mount St. Bernard Abbey. He knew that God was calling him to a monastic life which he knew nothing about. It was God he was seeking and following, the place was immaterial. He suffered but was happy because he found God. He did not say to God: “Why should I leave my home where I have a flourishing apostolate? Instead, he knew that it was God calling him and it was his responsibility to obey without counting the cost. The cost was great indeed. He became the last in the community with absolutely no responsibility. This was after he had been a parish priest for ten years in the Archdiocese. The cold was his greatest mortifier after food. He was patient with all of them. At last he gained more than he lost and today he left us a flourishing monastic legacy in Nigeria
In his prudent life adventures there are many things we can learn. First and foremost among them is that when uncertainty is near, we should be prudent and wise and not presume that we can do nothing thinking that God will keep us safe from any and all harm. We must do what we can to protect ourselves and those around us. God cannot do for us what we can and should do for ourselves. God might inspire us, God might give us special graces which will help us in the situations which we find ourselves in, but in the end, God wants us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, that is, God wants us to cooperate with grace, doing what we can so that there is something for grace to take up and perfect.
If we have faith, we show it by what we do. We are to trust in God in everything we do, but to do that we must trust that God will work in and with us in our actions. If we don’t give God something to work with, then grace has nothing. Blessed Tansi did exactly what we should all do. In every difficult and uncertain situation he trusted God would assist him and would engage it with prudence. This attitude helped him to succeed as a good pastor and monk. If we want God to help us, we must be willing to do our part, or else suffer the consequences of our inaction.
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Blessed Tansi and Self-denial
Last week we discussed the Blessed Tansi commitment to service and the common good. This action is rooted in his humility and self-denial. He made his life service, a sacrifice to his ministry and vocation. He denied himself comfort for the sake of those entrusted to him to serve. Their comfort was a priority for him. He never allowed his own passions or selfish wants and desires to dictate his actions. Instead, he was docile and receptive to the will of God preoccupied solely with what will bring souls to Christ and improve a lot of his people who were at the time extremely poor and exposed to various sicknesses.
The world in which we live is getting overly complex. We are so enamored with gadgets, technology, material wealth, fashion, and entertainment/pleasure that we often miss what is essential. That is not the world of Blessed Iwene Tansi. His greatness stands out even more because his mission was carried out in humility and silence. He chose this way and style of life — humility and simplicity in his apostolate and relation with others. He invites you and me to be disciples who serve others first, not ourselves. Even today opportunities abound and can take a variety of forms. We can volunteer our time at church or in our communities assisting at something that can promote the common good. We can visit homeless shelters or refugee camps. We can assist those around us who are struggling right now financially, emotionally, and especially spiritually, either in person or through charitable organizations in our parish. Or, we can make visits to those who are homebound, in hospitals, in their homes, or widows who are struggling to make ends meet.
Blessed Iwene Tansi teaches us a lesson of simplicity. Stories abound how he slowed down to appreciate the people of all classes, blessing and encouraging them. His house during the school holidays was a semi seminary/convent. He took great interest in seminarians and postulants especially the indigent ones serving and spending time with them, sharing faith and experiences, or even making a personal retreat is of benefit in keeping things simple. The church women never forgot that he helped them to sweep and scrub the church floor for Sunday mass. His priesthood was not out to make a name for himself. He was no social media influencer. Instead, the reason for his life was to remain humble before God and to bring as many souls as possible to Him. There was another thing to his simplicity that allowed him to increase his trust and dependence upon God. Because he was not distracted by the trappings of culture, he was able to have fortitude in God’s plan because of his simple trust in a God who loved him. The same trust is accessible to us if we keep it simple. The sacrifice which is always a mystery but not devoid of meaning is necessary for all of us in our vocations, Tansi invites you and me in the struggles of life to carry our pains in life with patience and to unite them to the cross of Christ. Tansi in denying his own objectives wants and desires made his will one with God. We are also called, like him, to unite and to make sacrifices. This can be done through charitable giving, fasting, increased prayer, or giving away things we do not need. His silence, service, simplicity, and sacrifice are not easy pills to swallow, but they do lead us closer to Christ and salvation.
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Blessed Tansi: Service and Common Good.
Living out the Gospel demands can often be difficult. Christians ought to see the face of Christ in every person they meet, but when that person is deformed, disabled, or unpleasant, it can be hard to reach out with the gospel demand of charity. We have the example of many saints who lived out the gospel of love despite trials and obstacles. The Christian goal is so much more than being a hero in the eyes of the world. Christians strive to become saints - like Blessed Tansi, who build a culture of life in our society by serving and saving the lives of lepers and bringing comfort to the most hated and feared people in society.
When we think of Christians in our Nigerian situation that lived out the gospel call for love and service we typically think of Blessed Iwene Tansi, who heroically chose to befriend and to serve the lepers against the traditional exclusion—a choice which cost him a great disaffection from the community even from his own Christian converts. That is the way he lived the gospel of love and service. He saw Jesus in every person – in the faces of disfigured lepers, in the agony of the sick and hungry, and in the anguish of those who suffer because of traditional laws which militate against the common good. He was outspoken when it concerns the lepers and the underprivileged in general. He condemned society’s apathy to them.
Today people speak more of his service to the poor and weak and his concern for the common good than his marvelous achievements in the pastoral life of the Archdiocese. We sometimes forget that he not only stood up for the problem of lepers but also brought attention to the needs of the poorest of the poor and the sick. Fr. Tansi changed the ugly destiny of the lepers in Nnewi – giving them a home and a sense of being human. In the tradition of Nnewi people, as it was in many other places among the Igbos, leprosy was a dreadful sickness. Many abhorred and shunned the leper, who was regarded as an ill-fated person. Lepers were abandoned and isolated. Relations did not even help their lepers for the fear of the gods. Such was the fate of the lepers that Fr. Tansi met at Nnewi in 1938. When he met them he had no doubt about his love and sympathy to them. He denounced publicly this obnoxious belief that they were ill-fated and that they committed serious crimes against the gods. His Christ-like-sympathy to the lepers quickly like a bright flame lighting up the darkness of peoples’ mediocrity, revealed what Christ was constantly asking of them, that was, a whole field of man’s relationship with the needy neighbours
Before he left Nnewi for Dunukofia in December of 1940 on transfer he has already gained the people’s welcome response to his call to assist the destitute and lepers. His personal love and initiative to all human problems had that piercing shattering effect in penetrating the people’s apathy caused by traditional religious belief. Gone but his message remained, his life speaks his message, his deeds form the content of that message, his testimony, his protest to indifferent man. When it comes to spending the money available to him he had priorities. He placed the sick and the destitute first in his priority, then the widowed and poor. He was sympathetic beyond compare to the destitute and orphans. He rendered financial aid to them from his merger tithes. He fed those brought to the mission house, especially the sick. Today people remember his charity and concern for the common good, his going to the village visiting the sick, comforting the bereaved, and feeding the hungry children.
Sunday, February 6, 2022
What does a Saint look like?
"Open to me the Gates of Holiness: I will enter and give thanks." Holiness is at once the point of departure and the destination of humanity. All are called to holiness of life – Sainthood. Bereft of what is holy, life easily drifts into meaninglessness. Failure to respect that the human person is first of all spiritual and religious before he is biological and political is a catastrophic failure of our secular society. Our life especially the Christian life has a process of maturity from baptism to the fullness in Christ – holiness. (Ephesians 3: 16-19). This fullness is the end goal of our journey with God and is union with Christ.
With so much solemnity Nigeria has given recently to the celebration of the annual feast of Blessed Tansi some are asking the question: how does a saint look like. When Blessed Tansi was alive and working in the Archdiocese of Onitsha people saw in him some saintly treats - the reason they flocked to him for holiness. He was a saint. Seeing him was for them seeing a saint. He looked and acted like a saint. Why was he different- because he lived entirely for God and others. We are constantly told by our culture that we have to take care of ourselves. This is true in the proper sense. If we do not take care of ourselves, then we can’t take care of other people. But we are not supposed to put ourselves first. When we do, things become disordered within our souls. It is in times of suffering that this becomes a greater danger and we forget to serve the people around us. It becomes dark, and we focus too much on our own affliction.
Jesus came to preach the gospel to the poor and the weak. This particular mission plays a very important role in the life of the church and in the ministry of every priest. Blessed Tansi lived and acted with a belief that God heals us in our grief in the measure and manner we reach out to others in their needs and suffering. He opened his arms wide so that in his bodily pains and sufferings united with Christ—he can open himself up to others who are suffering around him. He was able to bind the wounds of others, through his willingness to love in his grief. The Nnewi lepers benefited, the sick especially those with a deadly disease and abandoned ones benefited immensely, the smallpox victims of Nando in 1943 got relief and the widows of Dunukofia found in him a saviour. By doing saintly work he became a Saint. Similarly, if we do the work of saints we too will become saints. Like the Apostle Paul, the Blessed Tansi has been crucified with Christ; it was no longer him but Christ bringing his salvation through his servant. (Gal. 2:20).
We all aspire to be heroes in worldly matters. But as Christians, our goal is so much more than being a hero in the eyes of the world. We strive to become saints—like Blessed Tansi, who build a culture of life in our society by serving and saving the lives of lepers and bringing comfort to the most hated and feared people in society. One of the things that militates our desire for sainthood is our fleshly desires but our faith tells us that God helps us to grow and acquire good habits and increase in the virtues - holiness. As we increase in the acquired virtues, God also increases us in holy prayer and can bring us to such depth in wordless prayer and holy encounter with Him.
Sunday, January 30, 2022
Blessed Tansi: Our pathway to humility.
Last week Nigeria celebrated the life and legacy of Blessed Tansi, our national religious hero, whose leadership helped bring about massive changes to the pastoral life of the Archdiocese of Onitsha in the 1940’s. We remember not only the justice he pursued but also the compassion he showed to the poor and the weak. Today we look at his life and mission as a pathway to freedom/humility. Blessed Tansi opened up for Nigerians the pathway to freedom, peace and happiness and this is the pathway of humility. More than half of a century after his death, Nigeria faces many challenges — issues of economic inequality and regional discrimination, violence in our communities, the struggle to have a good government and many more. In recent years, our nation has also become more polarized and our divisions angrier. As we look to our future, let us continue to draw from Blessed Tansi wisdom, especially his commitment to the beatitudes and the principles of nonviolence and love for our enemies.
He was among the first Nigerians who received the faith from the early missionaries in this country. He so absorbed this faith that he made it his own and truly Nigerian. The love for this faith and its demands set him on fire that revolutionised and changed the life and culture of the people at his time. People, traditions and cultures that militate against the Christian faith and culture received serious attack. Love alone knows how to find this trail and faith, unshod and thus vulnerable, progresses step by step into what would seem to be powerlessness. Such an adventure can only be possible through courageously engaging the task with total reliance on God. It is a task that one takes under the authority and power of heaven. He won at last. The poverty and chaos of his time did not hinder his total and relentless pursuit for common good even though he was aware his own power and authority are subject to futility and conditions of the time. He knew that in a world that is passing away, self-preservation means either gaining control over circumstances as long as possible or else losing it all together. Furthermore he knew that the more one lives by the struggle for earthly power and authority, the more one's own freedom is diminished. He gave up all these, subjected himself to self denial and extreme detachment that he may unite himself with heaven for the good of others. The years of his teaching career was a service to others, his pastoral apostolate in the Archdiocese of Onitsha was itself love and compassion. He could have time for himself but he chose not to. This is his royal pathway of true freedom and recourse is made to earthly power only as love for Christ deems necessary and then it is quickly surrendered. Regarding the possession of earthly goods, power and authority devotees of blessed Tansi must take the path of humility which requires total indifference to anything that is not God's will. This kind of indifference to earthly possession and power is impossible except to those who by faith live under the power and authority of heaven. Again and again we are reminded that to overcome all our self-cantered, selfish inclinations we are to die to the self so that we can truly love others, thereby following after Blessed Tansi. This way of life must not be understood nihilistically. It is not about destroying ourselves, denying ourselves of the good given to us. It is rather about training ourselves to overcome our fallen, sinful inclinations which are based not upon the loving nature given to us by God, but rather, on the way we have developed a false sense of the self and made ourselves to be the ultimate good above all other goods. Such selfishness ultimately makes it impossible for us to know how to love others because all we love and worship is our selfish self. Blessed Tansi is telling us that we need to move beyond all particular attachments we might have in the world, especially attachments to ourselves, which hinder us from loving and being loved, that is, all those attachments which would hinder us from the state we need to be in to experience God and his glory.
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Lessons From the feast 20 January.
Nigerians and devotees of the Blessed Tansi everywhere have celebrated on January 20 the annual feast of the Blessed Tansi. Nine days to the feast many joined the novena prayers to prepare for the feast. Many dioceses in Nigeria have a grand Eucharistic celebration to honour and venerate our National Saintly hero. In the Archdiocese of Onitsha, the devotees gathered yesterday, Saturday 22 January to honour our patron saint with a grand solemn Eucharistic celebration at the Central shrine Aguleri. Now the grand jubilation is over one may begin to ask what have we learned and gained from these celebrations. Yes, for some, prayers have been answered, for others, healing has taken place but for the majority, great spiritual joy has taken place. But beyond all these something more important – a change in the ways we live.
Blessed Tansi lived out his vocation and mission in a very simple, humble, and consistent way all his life. His whole life and activities were grounded in the love of God and neighbour. His thoughts are on loving God, acting the way God wants him to act, which means loving and supporting his neighbour the best he can with the gifts which he was given. Because of giving himself, overcoming the self, that is dying to the self and abandoning all attempts of self-glory he received eternal beatitude, a beatitude which is shared by all who find themselves one in Christ. The reason the church recognized his simple/humble life on March 22nd, 1998 – making him Blessed.
We too have a mission/vocation in life. To live out that mission, to fulfill it, one must be grounded in love, to realize it is not about rising up and becoming a spectacle in the world for others to love and respect, but rather, it is about loving and respecting others, lifting them up so that they too can be that which they are meant to be. Blessed Tansi's life and mission promoted the service to others. Think of his untiring labours to evangelize his parishioners, the youth, the women, the family, and indeed the whole of Igbo culture. By fulfilling his ministry and turning himself into a living sacrifice of love for the sake of others he laid a foundation for future Nigerians to imitate. He did not selfishly prop himself up, nor did he allow others to do so for him; rather, he always made sure his parishioners knew that his mission, as great as it was, was a limited one.
Our life too must be lived for the sake of others, indeed for the sake of the whole world. It is only in such service that true glory is found, true peace, and when it is found, it is shared. Nigerians, when properly living out their mission, live for others, promote the common good working to make sure that the next generation will have the best guidance possible so that they, too, can live out their mission and be as God desires them to be. By living out and fulfilling our duty, by acting out of love, not selfishness, Nigerians will receive not only what is promised to those who properly live out their vocation; but will enjoy loving peace as brothers. . In that way Nigerians will look like brothers and sisters of Blessed Tansi.
Sunday, January 16, 2022
January 20, Feast of Blessed Tansi
Spend the feast with Blessed Tansi.
January 20 every year is the feast of Blessed Iwene Tansi, spend the feast day with him. Many devotees have been preparing for the feast with nine days novena prayers. We remember him as a very devoted and energetic Christian, simple priest and monk. He spent a greater part of his life in Nigeria as a child, a school teacher, a seminarian and a priest until he joined the Cistercian Monastery in England where he fulfilled his monastic vow of stability on January 20 1964. With his sure guidance devotees who are struggling with the frustrations of our present day Nigeria will soon have a sigh of relief as they experience within themselves an ever-growing desire for the coming celebration of his feast day. In today Nigeria with so much darkness, so much anger. so much sadness, so much loneliness, so much angst and so much fear we need the Blessed Tansi in our lives. Our loving Patron- Blessed Tansi knows all this pain, yet has us happily prepare and follow his lead. We follow him not all to the priesthood or monastery but to our own given vocation charism. Each of us has been given a charism thanks to the grace imparted to us in our baptism. It is this charism which gives us our particular mission in life. Not everyone has the same mission, not everyone has the same work to do. Nonetheless, all have something invaluable to contribute to the world. All missions complement each other. Thus, no matter what one’s mission is, what one’s charism is, if they live it out properly, they will find themselves receiving not only grace, but great personal satisfaction, as they will have realized who they are meant to be in Christ.
For us in Nigeria this feast will help us to examine our life and living, our spiritual journey which is very relevant to our patron — Blessed Tansi. His impact on our life of faith, perhaps will be a worthwhile opportunity to examine what lessons he has taught us and consider how we can carry these into everyday life. At this time more than ever he is calling on all to follow him to a life of righteousness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6). Nigerians should desire righteousness not the false righteousness performed by those who like to glorify themselves and receive accolades for what they have done on an external basis, but true righteousness, a righteousness which is borne out of love and seeks the common good as Blessed Tansi lived out in his life. Nigerians should act in accordance to the dictates of justice, working for and promoting the common good which sends selfishness to its untimely death.
Blessed Tansi showed us how to love and whom to love. His preferential love for the poor and the weak is for us today a yardstick. As long as love is ignored and rejected common good will suffer and suffering will prevail. In his humble life Blessed Tansi showed us that pride will lead to destruction and suffering. Pride is a common sin that all of us battle. It causes division within ourselves and in our relationships with other people. We see the devastating impacts of pride in our families, friendships, relationships with co-workers, strangers, and in the inner-workings of the Church. Pride is the original sin through which we desire to be God, to always be right, and to have power. No joy can come from pride.
During this feast “have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7)
Sunday January 9, 2022
Serving you on our journey to Sainthood
You know what...Words really can’t express my appreciation adequately. On behalf of all of us in the postulation, I say thank you for your prayers and commitment to this worthy Cause. I know that without the assistance of your prayers and support we would not have been where we are today. Thank you for being true partners in this worthy Cause of the Canonisation of Blessed Iwene Tansi.
Please continue to keep this Cause in your prayers and be assured that I offer up every suffering for you and your journey towards the conclusion of this Cause and God. That is what moves me most - that all we do is serving the Cause and drawing you closer to God. Please keep all of us in the Postulation in your prayers that our mission may soon come to a happy conclusion.
May the Lord bless you and may Mary, the Holy Mother of God, be your light as we journey into 2022, please God our year of promise and favour. Jesus Christ be praised, now and forever. . I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU ALL for being with us in the year 2021, and may 2022 bring with it vibrancy and great opportunities for all of you and help us remain strong as we collectively work for the promotion of this cause. 2021 has seen a great progress in the Cause. My special thanks and appreciation to the members of the Onitsha Archdiocesan Tribunal who investigated the alleged miracle attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Tansi. They did a very excellent job. To them and all the various groups in the Blessed Tansi Prayer Solidarity I extend my warm greetings and best wishes for a very happy, stress free, prosperous, and safe 2022
With the Vatican investigation on the alleged miracle opened, the process now needs more prayers than ever. Blessed Tansi feast day comes up on Thursday the 20th. January 2022 with the novena for the feast stating on Tuesday 11th, January 2022. Let us all pray during the novena for the success of the Vatican investigation on the alleged miraculous cure. The Archdiocese of Onitsha will be having a grand assembly and solemn Mass at the Central Shrine Aguleri on Saturday 22 January 2022 at 10 am. All devotees of Blessed Tansi should be there.
Your prayers certainly will make a difference in the promotion of the Cause. Our commitment to this cause in this year provides us new seasons in life that invigorate us to live with more passion, purpose, and direction. The novena for the feast this year is the most obvious time many of us hit, reset and start on new ventures in life. We are all going to see the new things God has planned for us. Please join us with your prayers for the happy conclusion of this worthy Cause
Sunday 19, December 2021
Tansi Priestly Ordination-84 years ago.
Today Sunday 19th December 2021 marks the 84th. anniversary of Blessed Tansi priestly ordination. In those days priestly ordination was not a common event. It was a very rare event. The first African priestly ordination in the Archdiocese of Onitsha, Fr. John Cross Anyogu (later bishop) was in 1930. Seven years later, on 19th. December 1937 the second priestly ordination of William Obeleagu, Joseph Nwanaegbo and Michael Tansi at the Holy Trinity Cathedral (now Basilica) Onitsha took place. These three had been companions in their struggle to the priesthood in the seminary since 1925 when they entered the junior Seminary at Igbariam. Each of them took his priestly vocation serious and touched the lives of many people in different ways as God shows to all, in a vivid way, his presence and his face in the lives of those He called to minister to his people.
Blessed Tansi in his own way and through his personal charisms become an example of the first fruits of the early missionary’s evangelization. He became perfectly transformed into the image of Christ (cf. II Cor 3: 18). He spoke to us, offered us a living hope for God’s kingdom to which his converts were powerfully attracted. Fr. Tansi for the rest of his life always expressed the highest esteem for the gift of the priesthood. It was clear to him what he was called to be and to do - Sacerdos et victim. He loved and lived it out to the full. He wanted and inspired all the youths in his parish to become priests or religious. It was his youthful dreams. He pondered on his desire to become a priest but it was far from easy for him to achieve it. Indeed, he arrived at priestly ordination only after many ordeals and misunderstandings, with the help of far-sighted priests who did not stop at considering his human limitations but looked beyond them and glimpsed the horizon of holiness that shone out in that truly unusual young Nigerian.
By this gift of his priesthood he knew that he was consecrated to serve, humbly yet authoritatively. He knew that the Lord had given him great graces at his ordination and urged him more strongly than ever to throw himself into the work of his sanctification, that so he might draw many other souls to Him. And so the young priest wanted the greatest possible fervor and exactness in all his priestly duties. He saw this mission as indispensable for the Church, for his suffering people and for the world, a mission which called him for complete fidelity to Christ and constant union with him. He knew that there was no other way than to abide in his love which, entails constantly striving for holiness and growing ever closer to Jesus, who counted on him, his minister, to spread and to build up his Kingdom and to radiate his love and his truth. From the moment of his ordination he determined to be completely enthralled by Christ. This was the goal of his entire life and the goal of the entire priestly ministry.
Today we remember him as a good priest who lived according to the heart of Christ. A good shepherd of souls, a devoted evangelizer, a compassionate brother, a good Samaritan to the sick, needy, poor and voiceless. Through his priestly lifestyle he emphasized the indispensable role of the priest. As a pastor the parishes where he worked and the people who met him knew that he was the greatest treasure that the good Lord could give to a parish and at the same time one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy. His life and witness is “an inspiration to everyone in the Nigeria that he loved so much…” (John Paul 11 sermon at beatification). He was a man who through his intimate friendships with God lived not for himself, but for everyone. He was for everyone a man of divine word and of the sacred, a man of hope and joy. Tansi loved his people, worked and prayed for their sanctification. He radiated hope in an age with so little of it. He was a true disciple of Christ in his love and service. He was always serious about the message which he delivered, a message of hope in Christ who gives full meaning to life because he loves human beings. Through his ministry he was a living witness of the power of God at work in human weakness. Fr. Tansi really went to every corner of his vast parish, untiringly, in order to seek for his flock and to bear fruit that lasts. He was a priest to the last, for he offered his life to God for his flock and for the entire human family, in a daily self-oblation for the service of the Church. And in this way he became one with Christ, the Good Shepherd who loves his sheep.
Sunday, December 12, 2021
Tansi detachment: Powerful message to Nigerians today
An average Nigerian would not accept poverty. It is a curse but the simple gospel message is that Jesus lived poor each and every moment of his earthly life doing the will of his Father in heaven. "My meat is to do the will of my Father in heaven”. Detachment to material world represents to every soul the words which touch the heart and urges every person to take serious the words of Jesus to the young rich man give up everything and follow me. None of us can slow the passage of time; and while we often focus on all that has changed in the intervening years, much remains unchanged, including the Gospel of Christ and his teachings.
Today money and material pleasure seem to charm us with seductive and insistent messages that focus on easy gains, false needs, the cult of physical wellness, and of entertainment at all costs. All these are like fireworks that flare up for a moment but then turn to smoke in the air. The evils of their pursuit have put Nigeria on a dead-end road. The only way to resist these evil trends is to return to the beauty and amazement of the faith and the examples of our father in faith. We take a great risk forgetting who we are and becoming obsessed with appearances, bombarded with messages that make life depend on how much we have in the bank, what we wear, the car we drive, the house we live in, the friends we make and how others see us.
The Blessed Tansi, a true Nigerian continues to bombard us with his strong message of detachment to material possession and worldly pleasures which remain valid today. A peculiar aspect of the life of this humble Nigerian priest was his detachment from material goods. He did not own anything, he gave everything away to the neediest; he did not feel the necessity of having anything for himself: His ridge fasts, incredible human labour, sleepless nights, austere penances and continual mortifications were natural consequence of his detachment and love of poverty. Most of his spiritual sons and daughters today echo the most constant and repeated advice of their master: “Remember that your worth is in who you are and not what you have”. Ascetic but not austere he loved genuine pleasures and entertainments. Stressed and weak from his continued unrest and long pastoral treks under the hot afternoon heat of equator he still had time to sit with the villagers whereby a score or so of them would gather outside their huts at the tropical moonlight, to converse, make jokes, play flutes or drums and to share some calabashes of palm wine. Good humoured arguments might take place, a flute man perhaps would break the monotony, and then the drum, sooner or later, songs and dances would begin. Whenever he had time to join them he used the occasion to impart some religious instruction. His sermons became richer when he made use of lessons drawn from these ancient stories. He also mixed with young people and enjoyed their jokes.
Tansi is a model of evangelical life not only for priests, but for laypeople, especially for those who are entrusted for common good or those who work in the vast field of charity. He learnt the love of the poor as a boy, the traditional society where he grew up had special place for the weak. He saw how his parents welcomed and helped the poor and needy. As a priest he became still more detached and his heart opened for everyone. To have such a new heart was to see and experience his desired change. He became less desirous for himself and focused less on passing worldly things, and more on the lasting treasure of the Kingdom of heaven. He concentrated attention on the other things and began to love what and who God loved. He began to love holiness, justice, chastity, goodness, righteousness, and truth. His example constitutes a constant invitation to everyone to open arms to every person who had need. In many ways his message has been for our times.
Fr.Tansi through his personal poverty identified with his flock, his generosity made him revered and loved. He could build a decent rectory but he chose to identify himself with the local buildings. His house was built with mud and grass thatched roofs. He could afford a clean rest house in the outstations but he decided to live in the school store whenever he was visiting an outstation on trek. All through his life he had great potentials to wealth but he had always rejected them choosing a poor state. His leaving a very rewarding teaching profession with all its great future promises for the Seminary seemed a kind of madness for his relations. Through his personal industry, education and status he could rise above the general poor condition of the average man. He did not want to do it. He chose to raise the standard of living of others but himself remaining poorer than many. Most of his flock ate three times a day, a little food in the morning, then midday meal if during the farming season was taken in the farm, otherwise at home and a heavy pounded yam or cassava in the night. Fr. Tansi had enough to eat but he rather prepared the food, gave to the poor and needy and fed on groundnuts and roasted yam, a diet poorer than that of the poorest villager.
In 1948 at Akpu the parishioners were touched by his strenuous exertions and voluntarily raised by a collection the sum of a hundred pounds. They sent the money to the Bishop at Onitsha to buy a kit-car for their Parish Priest. The bishop an Irish kind prelate knew that Fr. Tansi would not accept the car however he bought the car which Fr. Tansi eventually rejected and requested the Bishop to buy for him a motorcycle. It was not easy for the people to accept poverty kindly. Fr. Tansi was the one man who left relative comfort and security for poverty. A mentality, which was hard to understand by the majority.
Sunday, December 5 2021
Blessed Tansi Road to Sainthood
Our greatest goal on earth is to become saint. A saint is a human being chosen by God for a special purpose. All are called to be saints in one sense or another. We all have a special job on this earth that nobody else can do. We can either do it or fail to do it. It is another way of saying that nobody can be you or can replace you. To achieve that job in its fulfilment requires a multitude of sacrifices and of steps growing in virtue. Saints’ way of life in a in certain sense is to be an enemy to the way of world, the way of the flesh, and the devil. Reading the lives of saints as in the life of Blessed Iwene Tansi we notice their great detestation to every sin. Saints are totally dependent on Christ for all things. They are above all Servants of Christ, willing to give up every aspect of their being for the greater good of being closer to God. Saints are in every way human. We cannot become saint without becoming human. Human beings in their nature are fearful and panicky and these are good qualities to sainthood. A human being realizes and acknowledges before God that he is in need of salvation. That is what it means to become a human being. Our sin and weakness define us as the human race in great need of mercy.
Our weakness can become our greatest strength if we allow God to make it so when we trade our sinful natures for humility before God. We know that humility is the basis of all other virtues. Love without humility is selfish and self-serving. Charity without humility is an empty gesture. And so on. Humility is the most important thing in God’s grand economy. Love springs from humility, and from love springs mercy. Genuine Christian love and mercy for our fellow man is nothing without humility and humbleness before God.
The church canonises some Saints in heaven to show us that we too can become saints. Being a saint does not mean to be a holy superman or superwoman. It is quite the opposite in deed. In fact, saints know and revile their own sin. The Blessed Tansi lived a very happy social life. Though ascetic in his way but was very cheerful with others and people felt at home with him. His house as a pastor in the Archdiocese of Onitsha was home to all especially to the youth. During the holidays seminarians and aspirants make his rectory their home. He allowed lawful enjoyment for his youth. He gave nice food to all who were visiting. His onetime cook Mr. Uchendu remembers that the only time the pastor came to supervise in the kitchen was when a visitor was around or when he was preparing the meal for some poor people. It was said the once he offered the visiting seminarian, Mr. Godfery Okoye (later bishop) his only camp bed in the out station while he himself passed the night on a wooden chair. He always advised his youth to enjoy themselves as much as they could – if only they kept away from sin. Each and every one of us can march towards sainthood and achieve the highest of human potential if only we can be humble. Pride is the greatest obstacle to holiness. The road may seem endless but rest assured that God’s own grace will guide your steps if you let Him.
Sunday November 28, 2021
Friendship with Blessed Tansi
Making friend with Blessed Tansi or any Saint for that matter goes hand and hand with faith in God. You make friend with a saint because the life of the saint reflects the image of God. Without faith it will be impossible to love or please God. In Blessed Tansi we meet a simple priest who many Nigerians remember with pride and who the universal Catholic world on the 22 March 1998 recognised the humble way he lived out his vocation. He is dynamic and endowed with fiery zeal for souls, gifted in native common sense, full of wits and piety, very humble and given to charity and love of the neighbour. As a professional teacher, a priest, and religious monk he followed the path of integrity, and his message today for his fellow Nigerians is his simple lifestyle detached from the mad pursuit of material wealth. His memory lives on in his spiritual sons and daughters and in the parishes he initiated and pastured in the Archdiocese Onitsha, where his cause of canonization was initiated in 1986. The Blessed Tansi Prayer Group and the knights of Blessed Tansi carry on his work to this day. In imitation of his strong faith, members are fortified in the Catholic faith. In the shadow of his compassion to the weak and charity to all, the members contribute time, talent and commitment to Christian faith for building up the local Church and Nigerian society.
To befriend a man like this you need faith which is “... confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) So, healthy faith is based on hope and the assurance that God loves us and rewards us. Similarly, to befriend Blessed Tansi you need an assurance conviction he loves you and will be ready, if you are, to lead you to God. You and I all have faith. You know when you have faith. We believe in God and know when we believe in Him. We believe in ourselves also and we can believe lies or the truth. So we know really when we have a faith-interest in the Blessed Tansi and want to become his friend. Even if you do not have what it takes to become his friend you can ask for help to become his friend and your making this request is already a sign that the friendship has begun. I can guarantee he will answer your prayers, and it will start with you evaluating and changing your beliefs. Start believing what I will now say to you.
Blessed Tansi loves you and will help you get through God’s plan for your life
Blessed Tansi greatest interest in heaven is to see you true and effective ambassador of Christ.
Your life has a purpose – you are salt and light for so many
You can make a list of many other things you are expecting to get out of this friendship. Can you agree and make my list yours. I believe this will help you build a stronger and healthier friendship and faith in Blessed Tansi. Then will your long awaited miracle come.
Sunday, November 21, 2021
Blessed Tansi legacy continues to inspire
With a heart for the poor and dedication to the suffering, Blessed Tansi's humility and generosity continue to inspire his devotees. We remember that his holiness which became noticeable early in his life grew and matured slowly but has now become legendary. He had a heart for the poor and was dedicated to the service of those suffering from poverty. His humility and generosity have propelled his devotees to greater charity in recent times. Since after his beatification in 1998 many groups and associations have taken to his way of charity to the poor and less privileged. Although Blessed Tansi became most well-known for his works of charity, he was also a reformer in the family and marriage. Worried by the influence of Igbo culture and tradition which weighed down on Christian family and marriage, he staged a battle to reform Christian family and marriage. His reform helped the Christian family and marriage to refocus its mission.
Born into a poor peasant farming family in Eastern Nigeria in 1903 the Blessed Tansi went to seminary in his twenties after some years of profitable teaching profession. The experience was anything but a time to grow spiritually, as he encountered more conflict and violence than study and prayer. The Christian marriage culture of his era consisted of two: those who live without sacramental marriage after the traditional marriage which recognises them as husband and wife and those who after the traditional marriage go for sacramental marriage before living together. After his priestly ordained in 1937 at the age of 34 he started his family reform at Nnewi. First fought for the right of lepers in the family, (for lepers were excluded from the family), the right and education of married women and the sanctification of Christian marriages in general. This fight continued wherever his priestly apostolate brought him: Nnewi, Dunukofia, Akpu and Aguleri. He insisted that lepers who traditionally were regarded as cursed by the earth goddess should be helped and assisted by the family. Young traditionally married couples should not live together without sacramental marriage. He founded and built hostels where he kept young traditionally married girls. Here they were taught wifely skills and prepared for sacramental marriage. He was aware of what corrupted family culture was doing to the Church. Hence he resisted the opposition of young Christian men whose wives were taken to the premarriage training centres. He realised the great importance of good chrisitan family to the local church. As he poured out his life in ministry for others, especially those on the margins, he desired to build the local Church in renewing family with a focus on sanctification and the needs of the poor.Blessed Tansi today should be seen as a heavenly patron of all charitable works and special advocate for holy family life. The cause of his canonisation has reached an advanced stage in the Congregation for the causes of saints. The postulation for the cause calls for more prayers to get this cause to a very happy conclusion.
November 14, 2021
Tansi Loving Concern for Souls in Purgatory
Last week we discussed purgatory and some of the ways we can help those who are there. Apart from helping them our belief in purgatory itself provides consolation for the living. Looking out for the good of others is necessarily wrapped up with the pursuit of our own holiness. Union with God is our ultimate life goal. As such, it is our ultimate joy. So whatever truth helps us attain our ultimate goal of union with God necessarily is a joyful truth. The doctrine of purgatory is one of those truths that help us achieve ultimate union with God. The ultimate destiny of every soul in purgatory is secure. Since they died in God’s grace and friendship their destiny is heaven. Every soul in purgatory is secure with respect to his salvation. Therefore, purgatory is a joyful truth. It inspires the pursuit of holiness.
Our belief in Purgatory elicits loving concern that manifests itself in acts of charity, which in turn contributes to our pursuit of holiness. The holy souls need our prayers –and at the same time, they can be powerful intercessors for us. “Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.” (CCC 958) When we pray for them, it makes them able to pray for us. Their intercession could be a tremendous blessing in our life. This reciprocity can be understood since from the early days of the Church the faithful not only pray for the Souls in purgatory but also asks for their intercession.
The Blessed Tansi had a loving devotion and concern for the souls in purgatory. He celebrated the feasts of All Saints and the All Souls with great solemnity and encouraged his faithful to pray for those in purgatory through the month of November. At every outstation of his parish under the supervision of his teacher-catechist he established a devotion and novena prayers for the holy souls through the month of November. He himself took part in the devotions at the parish centre. He taught that as member of the body of Christ we have obligation to pray for our members who are suffering. Just as the knowledge of some relations suffering somewhere elicits sentiments of love within our hearts that manifests itself in acts of help, so too knowledge that fellow members of the Mystical Body of Christ are suffering across the boundary of death can elicit a movement of charity within the heart and manifest itself through acts of charity on their behalf. Such acts may include offering the Mass, almsgiving, indulgences and prayer.
True concern for the good of others is necessarily wrapped up with the pursuit of holiness because it is the essence of love. Love for our neighbour is the second greatest commandment (Matt. 22:39). So love for neighbour is essential to our pursuit of holiness. Our concern for those in purgatory reminds us that love of neighbour extends beyond the boundaries of death to the suffering souls in purgatory. So whatever acts of love we perform on their behalf, whether it be offering the Mass, almsgiving, indulgence, or prayers, such acts contribute to our growth in holiness. We become more conformed to Christ, who always lives to make intercession for us. (Heb. 7:25). Each November, the Church, in Her goodness, offers a gift for the faithful to give to the souls in purgatory. From November 1-8, the faithful can gain a plenary indulgence for the souls in purgatory by visiting a cemetery and praying there for the dead. In order to obtain the indulgence, a Catholic in the state of grace must have the intention to obtain it and fulfill the following condition
(a) visit a cemetery and pray there for the dead, even if only mentally
(b) make a sacramental confession ( within about 20 days before or after)
(c) receive Holy Communion
(d) recite at least one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the Holy Father
(e) be free from attachment to all sin, including venial
God is on our side. He wants us to be able to obtain this indulgence as an act of charity for the souls in purgatory, and He will help us fulfil the conditions if we only ask.
Sunday November 7, 2021
Purgatory: They need your help.
When our loved ones die, we naturally want to honor them with flowers, a funeral Mass, kind words, and sometime an extravagant funeral expenses. But the best present we can give them is to pray that they might be united with God. On All Souls’ Day November 2, the universal Church prays for all those in purgatory, people who were much like us, whose offense may have been less than ours. On that day, and during the entire month of November, we remember our departed brothers and sisters as we go to the cemetery where they are buried, obtain indulgences for them, give alms, do some good work, ask for Masses to be said in remembrance, all on behalf of those close to us and to others we may have neglected during the year. We remember that when the Church canonizes a saint, we are confirming he is in heaven. The Pope does this based on the supplied evidence of a holy life, and also the evidence of miracles attributed to the prayers of the saint. Canonization says they are in heaven now and that any purification they might have needed is complete.
Catholics have always believed in a place of final purification for the faithful who died. From the earliest days the Church believed that those who died a martyr are already with God since they were perfectly conformed to Christ and his cross by their death. But for many faithful who never had the opportunity to give such a public witness, the church offers prayers, especially the mass that having been purified from every imperfection they would enter into heaven. Th