Cistercian Monk
Mass Homily below.
The Mass Introduction was moving quoting from Dom John Moakler:
Of Bl. Cyprian, "His holiness was a hidden holiness... Humility is central to St . Benedict's Rule, and that means, in St. Bernard’s words, that the monk is one who loves to be unknown, Ama Nesciri".
January 20th.
BLESSED CYFRIAN TANSI
(from a homily given by Abbot John Moakler at Mt. St. Bernards on the occasion
of his beatification 1998)
It must be quite unique for a mass
to be offered in honour of a beatified member of a community by those who actually
knew him. Of course there have been occasions in this century when relatives and
acquaintances of a person have been present at his or her beatification or canonisation,
but I cannot recall any case of a priest offering mass in honour of someone who
not so long ago had stood next to him in choir.
The person next to one may always
be a .saint. But don’t expect halos to be visible. When Sister Therese of the Child
Jesus died, in 1897, one of her community wondered just what could be said about
her in the death notice that was sent round to other Carmels, this has usually
been taken as a lack of perception on the part of that particular sister, but I
think Therese herself would have understood. She" certainly did not want to
be thought of as a saint during her life on earth. And I think all of us who knew
Father Cyprian would have to admit that when he died we did not think we had lost
a saint. His companion Father Mark Ulugu, was the one we would all have spontaneously
canonised.
The fact is that we did not really
know much about him, beyond the fact that he had come from Nigeria with the intention
of taking monastic and contemplative life back to his own country. His reputation
as a parish priest and as an apostle was not known to us in any detail. He came
among us as one breaking new ground, for what European community at that time,
1950, had any black members?
And it was for him an adventure into
the unknown – he had come to a country whose people he had only met as colonisers
and exploiters; he had been treated by both missionaries and government officials
as a second class person; he had not experienced the damp and cold of our northern
climate; he had never seen ice and snow at close quarters before; and this was
not enough, he was not just coming to England he was coming to a Cistercian
monastery in England, which even most English people themselves would have
found difficult to survive in, so the challenges to perseverance were considerable. In addition the novitiate regime at the time was very strict
Some of the present community
worked with Cyprian. They have their own memories a and stories. He was uncompromising
in his living of the life, yet there was always a gentleness and a. humour
there, and he did not give the appearance of a hard ascetic. The strict rule of
silence at the time meant that many of us were never able to converse with him,
and although he was next to me in choir for some time, and acted as a deacon at
the first Mass in 1956, I could not say that I really knew him. But one thing
is certain – he did not appear extraordinary in any way. His holiness was a hidden holiness. It was the holiness of an
ordinary person who lives his faith and his union with God at a level not apparent
to others. Those who had known him in Nigeria and had seen his apostolic zeal
and dedication as a parish priest were no doubt more aware of what was in the
man than we were. Members of a monastic community are not heroes to each
other, and they are often more conscious of each other's failings than of their
virtues.
Humility is central to St . Benedict's Rule, and that means, in St. Bernard’s
words, that the monk is one who loves to be unknown, Ama Nesciri.
Cyprian lived that and only after
34 years after his death is he becoming known – even to those with whom he
lived.
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