STAY WITH US LORD
“From Gethsemani to Onitsha : A Spiritual Journal”
By
Bishop Edward K. Braxton
Part One
During the past two months, I have had the opportunity to share the story of the Catholic Church in Southern Illinois in two very different Catholic communities: the first was the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani Trappist Monastery outside of Bardstown in Trappist, Kentucky; and the second was the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha in Nigeria . Both communities of faith were eager to hear about the strong Catholic faith of our people and the many generous efforts that many individuals and groups are making to build up and strengthen the Church and to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ amid the many spiritual and material challenges that we face today. They were particularly interested in my Pastoral Letter, “We Are His Witnesses: Our Common Spirit-Filled Mission as the Church in Southern Illinois .” It was very interesting for me to learn that both the monks and the Nigerian Catholics recognized the important role of “common meaning,” shared experiences, understandings, judgments, and commitments in their own lives of faith.
I first went to Gethsemani in search of Father Thomas Merton , (1915-1968), the renowned Trappist author in 1967. Armed with my well marked copy of his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain , I was a curious seminarian. I had the privilege of meeting him and I have returned for my annual week-long retreat almost every year. Gethsemani is a Cistercian monastery: it traces it origins back to St. Benedict of Nursia, the 5 th century Father of Western Monasticism, and to the “New” Monastery in Citeaux , France which rejuvenated monastic life in 1098. The monks devote themselves to prayer, work, community life, and lectio divina (the slow quiet reading of Sacred Scripture, the Church Fathers, Church documents and other spiritual reading) under the leadership of Abbot Damien Thompson , O.S.C.O. Currently, there are sixty monks in the community and six novices. Their backgrounds range from scientists and businessmen to farmers and widowed grandfathers.
I went on retreat this year in late June. Entering the grounds of Gethsemani (especially, the restricted “monastic enclosure”) is to enter a timeless river of silence. The inscription above the entrance states “God Alone.” While on retreat I entered into the rhythm of monastic prayer (Vigils ( 3:15 a.m. ), Lauds ( 5:45 a.m. ), Eucharist ( 6:15 a.m. ), Terce ( 7:30 a.m. ), Sext ( 12:15 p.m. ), None ( 2:15 p.m. ), Vespers ( 5:30 p.m. ), Compline ( 7:30 p.m. ) Lights Out ( 8:15 p.m. ). This schedule, without any intrusions from the outside world, makes it easy to focus on the centrality of prayer and union with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in the Word of God, and in the community. I sometimes joined the monks in their work making fruitcake, cheese, and fudge. ( Benedict 's Rule says monks must be self-sufficient.)
However, I spent most of my time in prayer, study, spiritual direction, walking in the vast countryside (praying the rosary and the Stations of the Cross) and writing in my journal. I always make time for extended periods of silent waiting and listening in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, an annual review of life confession, a complete examination of conscience, a study of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and an interior preparation for death. Since I know the community well, I appreciated the opportunity to spend time at Thomas Merton 's hermitage, where he lived his final years as a hermit. I always spend time at his grave-a simple cross in the monastic cemetery marked “ Fr. Louis ” (his monastic name).
Chanting the Liturgy of the Hours (Vigils to Compline) with the monks is a central part of the retreat for me. I take my place in the choir stalls next to the Abbot as the cantor leads us in a beautiful, slow, quiet, effortless musical meditation on the words of the psalms. Our changing postures: standing, sitting, kneeling, bowing, and our measured breathing transform our sung prayer into a sacred mantra. The differing lights shining through the yellow, gold, tan, beige, brown, and white of the renovated monastic chapel's abstract stain glass windows throughout the day are like a series of impressionist paintings.
One night after Compline instead of retiring, one of the monks took me out to view the heavens through the monastery telescope. What sights we beheld! A very clear view of Jupiter with 5 of it 38 moons, Saturn with its dramatic rings, Vega, a giant blue-white star, Antares, a massive red-orange star, the Great Hercules Cluster of half of a million stars, several exploding stars, and, of course, our own moon, lit by the distant sun as bright as day, with details of craters so clear you felt you could reach out and touch them. It was an overwhelming encounter with the incomprehensible vastness of the universe; the minuscule smallness of Earth, and the seeming “insignificance” of man. When I returned to the darkened chapel to chant Vigils, I prayed with a new intensity, “Sun and moon bless the Lord; stars of the night bless the Lord. Praise and exalt Him above all forever!”
At the invitation of the Abbot, I break the Great Silence of my retreat every year to address the monastic community in the Chapter Room. We gather after I serve as the Principal Celebrant and homilist at the Sunday Community Mass (attended by a large group of visitors). At the end of my address the community assured me that I, my family (especially my mother, Evelyn Braxton ), my friends, and all the Christian Faithful of the Diocese of Belleville would be remembered often in their prayers.
A silent retreat at Gethsemani, “far from the madding crowd,” is an indescribable experience. It is completely restful and refreshing; yet it is not a vacation. Some might think that it is an “escape” from the hard challenges of the “real world” into an “unreal world.” However, in truth, nothing is more real. In these encounters with silence, I am flooded with the peace at the center, the inner serenity, the hidden gift of Divine Love that sustains me in tranquility amid the sound and fury of everyday life.
As Thomas Merton has written:
“There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness. There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humility. This is at once my own being, my own nature, and the Gift of my Creator's Thought and Art within me, speaking as Hagia Sophia , speaking as my sister, Wisdom.”
Part Two
My second opportunity to share the story of the Catholic Church in Southern Illinois was during my pastoral visit in mid-July the Catholic Church in southeastern Nigeria (where Catholics are the majority). I have had the opportunity to visit most of the countries of Africa and I have been to Nigeria several times. The primary reason forthis visit was to celebrate two ordination liturgies and to renew my contact with bishops who might be able to assist us with some of their priests in the future.
Nigeria (population 123 million, %50 Muslims %27 Protestant, %14 Catholic, %10 Indigenous Faiths) is a complex country still recovering from colonial rule and civil war. It is a struggling third world country with first world potential because of its vast oil reserves. The challenge facing President Olusegun Obasanjo is to find ways to call the Islamic majority to a non-violent acceptance of religious pluralism, to overcome corruption in the government, and to keep the bulk of the oil wealth from leaving the country so that education, health-care, housing, and employment can be drastically improved.
I began my visit in the Enugu Diocese as guest of Bishop Anthony Okonkwo Gbuji and Fr. Michael Ngoka , C.M. , Vice Provincial of the Vincentians, who had visited with me in Lake Charles . My first impressions were of the wonderful spirit of hospitality, the warm welcome, the deep Catholic faith of the people, and their great appreciation of the priesthood. On first visiting any home, the head of the household welcomed me with the “Kola Nut Ceremony.” The host first addresses the Kola nut in the Ibo language expressing hope for the health and prosperity of the guest. He then breaks apart the bitter Kola nut and offers it to the guest with breadfruit and homemade peanut butter. While attending this ceremony at Bishop Gbuji 's residence, he told me that in the past month he had ordained twenty-six priests and witnessed the profession of thirty-five religious sisters.
The Vincentian priests, seminarians, and deacons to be ordained gathered at the seminary where I resided. I had the opportunity to speak at length with each of the six excellent candidates whom I would ordain the next day. They had received an enviable pastoral and theological education. They were full of questions about the Church in the United States and about pastoral life in Belleville . The ordination was at the large unfinished Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. The church was overflowing with families in festive attire; the men in their elegant Agbadas, ceremonial walking suits and the woman in richly colorful full length skirts and very large ornate fabric head cover (head-ties). The ceremony, with its spirit-filled music and its concluding rite of the Bishop blessing all those presenting gifts to the Church from the extended families of the newly ordained (goats, fruits, vegetables, chickens, cassava roots, eggs, sheep, etc.), lasted more than four hours, which raced by. It was the first time I had ever ordained in Africa and the largest number I had ever ordained. It was an experience of rare and reverent magnificence.
The next morning a gentleman arrived to drive me over some very rough terrain and eye-filling sights - the 2 and1/2 hour road to Onitsha . While I have heard of the Archdiocese of Onitsha for many years from its former Archbishop, Francis Cardinal Arinze , Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship, I had never been there. I have come to know the Archdiocese even better through its current Archbishop, The Most Reverend Valerian Okeke. I was very happy to accept his generous invitation to ordain half of this years “small” class of eighteen deacons. The Archbishop had ordained ten deacons the previous Saturday and I ordained eight on July 15 th . This was the first time in many years that there were fewer than twenty ordinandi .
One of the main reasons for accepting this invitation was, of course, to show my deep appreciation to the Archbishop for lending us Reverend Father Patrick Okwumuo (Administrator of St. Stephen Parish in Flora ) and Reverend Father Ignatius Okonkwo (Administrator of St. Mary Parish in Eldorado, St. Mary Parish, in Harrisburg and St. Joseph Parish in Elizabethtown ). I had the joy of meeting many of their family members, former parishioners, neighbors, and close priest friends who miss them very much. My experience of these powerful family and community ties gave me a much greater appreciation of the great sacrifice our two priests have made to come to us.
The headquarters of the Archdiocese (the Cathedral, Archbishop's Residence and office, the chancery, two priest's residences, a large convent, a hospital, two schools, guest quarters, and more) are located on a vast track of land on the banks of the Niger River , secured by the Irish Missionaries in 1885. There is a large piazza in front of Holy Trinity Cathedral surrounded by the twelve apostles. The square was always filled with priests, sisters, and lay people coming and going. They all went out of their way to welcome me and to ask for my blessing.
Archbishop Okeke welcomed me as a brother and showed me every kindness during my stay, including the use of the same apartment used by Pope John Paul II during his two visits to Onitsha . We had excellent conversation about the concerns of our individual dioceses and those of the universal Church. As everywhere in Nigeria , he put before me a delicious array of fresh vegetables, fruits, fish, and poultry. The evening before the ordination I had a long visit with the eight deacons who were eager to be ordained. We had a very heartfelt discussion about what it really means to be a priest today and the willingness of those being ordained to commit themselves to the service of the Church of the present, not a romanticized memory of the past, and not an imagined Church of the future.
Since their churches are filled to overflowing for Sunday and weekday Masses, they were very interested in the nationwide phenomenon of a significant drop in Mass attendance in the United States during the last twenty-five years. This led to an excellent discussion to the many cultural, ecclesial, and liturgical differences between the Church in Nigeria and the Church in America . During our dialogue all the lights went off several times as is often the case in Nigeria because of the inefficiency of the electricity supplies. Happily, a backup generator restored power. We had to bring our discussion to a close because of a government imposed 7 p.m. curfew, due to a political “crisis” in Enugu State .
The ordination itself was a major community-wide experience. More that five thousand people filled the stands of the outdoor amphitheatre, which is also part of the Archdiocesan complex. The faithful seemed to happily brave the heat and sunshine during the almost five hour liturgy. Nearly two hundred of the more than three hundred and fifty young diocesan priests concelebrated. Large numbers of nuns were in seats of honor in their white and blue habits. For the Ordination Mass we wore the beautiful blue and white vestments from the recent Diocesan Synod. The rite was a wonderful mixture of English, Ibo, and Latin. As with the Vincentians, the ceremony concluded with long lines of gaily dressed well-wishers from each of the new priest's villages advancing to the sanctuary singing, dancing and drum-beating, and bringing forth gifts of gratitude for the blessing of a vocation from their community. The ordination was followed by festive receptions for each of the newly ordained at stations around the amphitheatre. The meals were delicious, making wonderful use of local vegetables and meats. The local cassava root and plantanas were prepared in many different sauces.
As the day ended I gave thanks to the Holy Spirit for the opportunity to ordain fourteen priests in one week and to ordain them on African soil. I could certainly appreciate why Pope Paul VI saw a special vitality in the young Church in Africa and asked the Catholic Bishops of Africa to enrich the larger Church with the gift of “Africaness,” which she needs at this hour.
The next day, Sunday, I concelebrated with other African Bishops who joined Archbishop Okeke for the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood in his home parish, St. Anthony in Umudioka-Dunukofia. This was another outdoor Mass with a huge number of the Christian Faithful participating. Everyone (school children, altar servers, teachers, catechist, musicians, ushers, knights, etc.) proudly wore distinctive uniforms designating their particular service to the Body of Christ.
St. Anthony Parish has a unique importance because this was the parish where Fr. Cyprian Iwene Tansi served as Pastor. A priest of the Archdiocese, Blessed Tansi was beatified by Pope John Paul II during his visit in 1998. Blessed Tansi is revered throughout the region for his devotion to the Church and for his success in encouraging young men to consider the priesthood. There are literally dozens of priests (including Cardinal Arinze who served Mass for Father Tansi ) from the villages surrounding St. Anthony Parish.
That evening I enjoyed a Gala Reception in the square in front of the Cathedral, during which the Archbishop made me an honorary chief (Obinwanne I) and presented me with ceremonial attire and regalia to mark the occasion.
The next day we visited the minor and major seminaries of the Archdiocese. Archbishop Okeke had been Rector of the major seminary when he was made Co-Adjutor Archbishop. Until it was divided into four seminaries to serve the region, the major seminary, Bigard Memorial Seminary ( Enugu ), was the largest seminary in the world (1,120 seminarians). There are currently over four hundred major seminarians at the Onitsha campus. The Archbishop shared with me the rigorous formation program for future priests. Because of the inclusion of extra years for spiritual and pastoral formation and because of the careful scrutiny of the seminarians in eight different pastoral settings before they are ordained, his priests are usually ordained at age 30 or 31 rather that at age 26, which is the practice in the United States . The Archbishop believes that this formation and the careful screening of candidates is the reason why very few of the graduates leave the priesthood after ordination and why none have been accused of sexually abusing minors. We also had a very fruitful discussion about the ways in which the Archdiocese of Onitsha might be of further assistance to the Diocese of Belleville in providing us with priests in the future.
My annual retreat with the Trappist monks in Gethsemani and my visit to the Church in Nigeria were very enriching experiences for me. I have tried to convey something of the experience in this two-part essay. I do not, however, wish to romanticize or over idealize either of these experiences. I have for the sake of space omitted the many discussions I had about the similarities and differences between the Church in Belleville and the Church in Enugu and Onitsha . The people of God in Nigeria have a keen interest in the Church of our country and they were anxious to learn about how our seminaries and convents are doing, about our Conference of Bishops, about how our parish councils, liturgy committees, finance councils, and other organizations work. They were interested in our retreat houses and spiritual direction programs as well as in our large Catholic universities in secular environments.
In light of world events they wondered how American Catholics were accommodating themselves to the large influx of Muslims in our country. They expressed again and again their genuine gratitude for the generosity of American Catholics who made it possible for priests to come to them in the past. They are happy that they are able to share some of their priests with us in the present.
The monks of Gethsemani and the People of God in Nigeria assured me of their prayers for us and asked me to ask the Church in Southern Illinois to pray for them as well.