Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2—The Georgia Bulletin, April 16,1981
Holy Week In Nigeria
BY FATHER ANTHONY DELIS1
Not far from the university city of Nsukka, a certain
village began to stir with anticipation. The Odo was due to
return.
The Christians were disturbed that the Odo returned on
Good Friday, of all the days of the year. Their mission
church, under the direction of a catechist, held services
and some of the bolder Christians and their wives defied
the juju customs and openly ventured out and attended
the Good Friday services. This angered the pagans. During
the following days, the Odo continued to go through the
dirt streets and paths of the village hidden under palm,
orange and cashew trees.
On Tuesday of Easter Week, the Odo, with a group of
men also wearing masks, ventured near to the Catholic
mission church. At this time, a group of Christians were
gathered inside with a seminarian on his Easter vacation.
Another Christian, not far from the church, encountered
the Odo and a group of pagans. The Catholic refused to
give due respect to the Odo and the pagans began to beat
him.
The Christians inside the church heard this and rushed
outside. The battle was on. Soon the man wearing the
Odo mask was unmasked and the pagans were put to
flight.
According to pagan custom, the greatest of offenses is
to unmask the Odo. This sparked the village to a fit of
anger and the pagans went about burning the homes of
the leading Catholics. The seminarian, whose name was
Chukwuemeka, was surrounded. Since he had no
property to destroy, the people pondered what to do. As
they were about to beat him - perhaps to death - the
police car arrived and tear gas was thrown into the rioting
crowd.
A few weeks later, the seminarian came to Mount
Calvary Monastery and related to me the events of Holy
and Easter Week and the plight of those Catholics who
suffered the loss of their homes for Jesus. He wanted to
Native mask-maker.
Once every two years, the pagan god Odo returned to
this village and the celebrations were begun. In March of
1980, the elders went secretly to their closets which no
woman was to open for fear of death. In the secrecy of
the houses, the masks were withdrawn. Some men had
their masks hidden in the fields among the cassava and
yams.
Late March was the hottest part of the year. In a few
weeks, the rains would slowly begin and the time for
forming large mounds of dirt for the planting of yams
would start. This was the last respite before the heavy
work and thus the time to celebrate.
The ceremonial masks were touched up with fresh paint
and the men secretly gathered together to work out the
roles they would play in the coming festival of singing and
dancing according to the native ancestral customs. Each
village has its own peculiar traditions, but here the Odo
was due to return during the first part of April.
The men vowed never to reveal to their women that
they are merely men. The women were to believe that the
men are the gods once they have donned the masks and
dress proper to the ceremony. During the period of the
return of the Odo, no woman was to dare to go outdoors
for fear of punishment. If she encountered the Odo,
death.
The time arrived. The local men dressed up and
marched through the paths of the village. The day: Good
Friday, 1980. Although most of the Ibo peoples are
Christian, in this remote part of Iboland, paganism and
the juju rites of worship are still common and a majority
of the natives still remain pagan.
Washing of the feet at Mount Calvary Monastery.
bring the men to the monastery for a retreat and asked me
to conduct it. He did not tell me of his own involvement
until later.
The following weekend, the men arrived and I
wondered what to tell these Catholics who had sacrificed
all they had in this world for their faith. The more I
pondered, the more unworthy I felt to speak to these men
who were, in a sense, living martyrs. I decided to have
Father Mark, the first superior and a native Ibo, speak to
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them since he was much more in tune with native customs
and thinking. The following day, I had the local Catholic
chief - Chief Joseph - speak to the men and encourage
them during their time of loss.
Holy Week is different in Africa. While the above events
were taking place in this remote village about 20 miles
from Mount Calvary Monastery in Awhum, Nigeria, I was
living with the monks and re-living with the liturgy' the
events of that great week.
On Holy Thursday, the monks got giant basins and
washed each others’ feet. On Good Friday, the passion
was read in four parts, followed by the adoration of the
cross. Each monk came forward, took the cross and
embraced it, holding it to his heart. Meanwhile, I took
another small crucifix and brought it to the laity. As I
extended the crucifix to each one, they in turn would
extend their tongue and touch, the feet of the corpus.
Some did kiss the crucifix but the majority touched the
wounds of Jesus with their tongue. I in turn, after each
person, made sure to wipe the crucifix thoroughly.
Father Mark asked if I would go to the contemplative
convent of the Benedictine nuns in Nike for the paschal
vigil service since the sisters did not have a resident
chaplain. This was my second visit with them, the first
being the Christmas midnight Mass.
The blessing of the fire outside the convent chapel
began at 11:15 p.m. The monastery generator was broken
and we celebrated in darkness. This seemed very
appropriate for the blessing of the fire and the lighting of
the homemade paschal candle. The sisters left their
cloistered area to join the natives around the fire. The
boys sat on the ground and the adults stood behind. After
the blessing, the nuns entered the small chapel while the
natives remained outside in the darkness of the night and
looked through the three large windows located behind
the altar.
The homemade paschal candle on the altar was more
like a bonfire than a candle and by the time the
prophecies were read in Ibo and the responsorial psalms
sung to the accompniment of native instruments, the altar
cloth was covered with wax!
With my American accent, which most natives found
hard to understand, the homily was preached and after
each sentence the catechist translated into the Ibo tongue.
For communion, the natives were ready with a lantern
so I could go out into the darkness of the night to give our
risen Jesus to his poor. This time I could see the faces, as
each knelt on the ground to receive our Savior. On my
previous visit at Christmas, I was unable to see the dark
faces in the blackness of the night and had to ask someone
to bring a lantern.
Paschal vigil service with Benedictine nuns.
The following Easter morning on my return to Mount
Calvary Monastery, I saw hundreds of people standing
outside the monastery church because of a lack of room
inside. That evening, our generator broke and this Easter
week the large paschal candle took on a special character,
adding light to the darkness of our night.
(Father Anthony Delhi, a monk at the Monastery of the Holy
Spirit in Conyers, spent a year at Mount Calvary Monastery in
Nigeria.)
Donatus: A Nigerian’s Faith
BY FR. ANTHONY DEL1SI
It was the Thursday
before the First Friday of
October, 1979 that I went
to the Guest House at my
new home of Mt. Calvary
Monastery in Nigeria.
Many children were
swarming around and they
kept coming in from the
town of Awhum. Soon
their teacher, Donatus
Okonkwo, arrived and he
asked if I would be willing
to hear the confession of
his students in preparation
for the First Friday. “How
many are there?” We
gathered in the conference
room and it seemed
certain that I would not be
able to hear the
confessions of all these
children since vespers was
to be sung by the monks
in about 90 minutes. A
head count proved that
there were some 90
children of the fifth and
sixth grades. My
suggestion to have a
communal service for the
sacrament of reconciliat
ion was accepted and then
followed by private
confession for those
wanting it.
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This was my first
encounter with Donatus
and during my 14 month
stay in Nigeria we became
very close. He was at mass
daily and it became quite
obvious that his Catholic
faith was first in his life.
There was something
special about him as he
walked to mass each
morning with his torch
(flashlight) in hand. In
time I came to know his
wife, Philomena, his
four-year-old son.
Leonardo, his two-year-old
Theresa, who was known as
Chichi. She became special
to me. Bemardette, a
younger sister to
Philomena came as part of
the dowry and her chores
included bringing in the
fire wood and carrying
water from the spring two
miles away. When the
youngest child was born,
he was named Anthony.
Donatus lived in one of
the nearer compounds of
houses, not far from the
monastery and frequently
he would come to me for
spiritual direction. I felt he
had all the qualities of a
permanent deacon, which
is unheard of in that part
of Nigeria. At one time,
Donatus told me that he
had entered the seminary,
located about a half mile
from the present sight of
Mount Calvary Monastery.
Once he got into a fight
with another seminarian
and was expelled. Asked if
he was at fault, he replied
“No.” But he saw God’s
will in what happened.
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On the occasion of the
retreat of the men who
had their homes burned
for defying the Odo, the
seminarian Chukwuemeka
who had been beaten and
escaped when the police
arrived, asked if I knew
the story about Donatus. I
had known Donatus for
some 10 months and still
there was something I did
not know about him. Yet I
knew he was special.
Chukwuemeka then
told me what had
happened in early 1979
when Donatus was the
catechist of a village and
the Odo had returned
there. Donatus defied the
Odo by taking his wife and
family to Sunday Mass and
afterwards the pagans
gathered together and
thoroughly beat Donatus.
It took him three months
to recover from the
wounds inflicted. They
then forced him to give up
his teaching position in the
town and to seek
employment elsewhere. In
that little village where
Donatus was catechist the
Eucharist was celebrated
monthly.
After some time,
Donatus was appointed by
the state to teach at
Awhum, the village where
the monastery is located.
Jesus had blessed him by
bringing him to a place
where he could attend
daily mass and practice his
religion freely.
At our next meeting I
asked Donatus why he had
never shared with me the
experience of his struggles
with Juju paganism. His
only reply was: “It is not
important.” Yes, there was
something very special
about Donatus. How many
of us have been beaten and
suffered for our faith?
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