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World Youth Day for some of our youth?
Tuesday 15th March, 2011
At the last two World Youth Day gatherings (Germany 2005 and Sydney 2008) a large organization called Juventutem have been gathering young people from around the world to participate in the WYD but to do so in a “traditional” Catholic manner. Mass is celebrated in Latin in the extraordinary form and the event is looked over by priests and seminarians mainly from the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP).
This year the event held in Madrid, Spain and Juventutem are expecting a large turnout. It is the wish of the FSSP priests at our parish to send three young people and a leader to represent our parish at the WYD. After careful and prayerful consideration the four were chosen for their virtue and humility. It was essential that those chosen show the requisite qualities that they would bring glory to God and honour to our parish. We acknowledge that many unscrupulous youth would be prepared to go to any lengths to ‘get out’ of Nigeria, so our choosing of these four was taken in a very serious manner. They are pictured below; from left to right, Basil Okwara, Mary-Valerian Onyebuchi, Frances Ojinnaka and Justin Ezeigbo.
Juventutem International www.juventutem.org the organizing group, is hoping to be able to fund the airfares for two of the pilgrims. This act is supported by WYD organizers who allow some WYD fees to be allayed if the fees are used to help the less financially privileged. But that still leaves us with the task of finding funds for two others.
So, we ask if you are able to help in any way, please contact us by email at NigeriaFSSP@gmail.com or send a donation to one of our district HQs and state that the donation is for Juventutem Nigeria. Details are on the website labeled “donate”.
Report on the Emekuku Pilgrimage
Tuesday 15th March 2011
Despite the large numbers in attendance, the enthusiastic welcome of the mother parish of the arch-diocese and the historical significance of the pilgrimage in the Centenary of the arch-diocese there was still one thing missing, the Mass. The weather cooperated with the prayers of the walkers and the first few hours of the walk were under cloudy skies and as such the pace was quite quick. The parish truck carried water and biscuits and after the first 10 kms was also able to carry some of the more senior walkers. When the sun came out in the afternoon the temperatures rose sharply into the high 40s (deg C). But the pilgrims were in good spirits as they prayed the rosary in three language groups, namely Latin, Igbo and English. For the last section all of the walkers walked together into Emekuku town and so ended the 29 kms of hard but enjoyable penance. The whole group knelt down in front of the imposing church and the statue of Our Lady of Mt Carmel, and sang the Ave Maria in thanks to their protectress.
Inside the church the walkers made the Stations of the Cross as it was a Friday in Lent and then the hospitable parish priest Fr Anthony Eze, greeted the tired pilgrims with a warm and sincere speech and expressed in no uncertain terms his admiration for the effort put in. He described the day’s walk as an “outstanding achievement” and something that should be known of by others. Many of the pilgrims said they would be very willing to walk again at another time, but preferably if Mass would be said at the end.
Album of the Pilgrimage
www.fsspnigeria.org/pages/photos/emekuku-pilgrimage.php
Fr Eze was very enthused by the pilgrimage and admitted that Mass ought to be said at the end of the long trek, but he, out of respect for the position of the prelate, decided to seek the permission of the Arch-Bishop for the Mass. The Papal Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI allows the parish priest the right to decide on the form of the Mass without any further permission required, but out of respect to the office of the Bishop, the priest, who is the Vicar-General of the diocese decided to ask anyway.
But, unfortunately the Arch-Bishop did not want the Mass in his diocese unless it was celebrated in the vernacular. This decision shocked many of the faithful, both of the Umuaka and Emekuku parishes. The priests had to field many questions as to the reasons for the “ban” on the Mass, some of them quite angry.
The first missionaries amongst the Igbo people bought a strange religion in a strange language, but it made no hindrance to the conversion of the people. It was embraced and lived, many lives were bettered and many holy people emerged, none more so than Blessed Iweni Michael Tansi who celebrated the older form of the Mass exclusively up to the time of his death. One of the (many) reasons for the pilgrimage was to show that ‘what went before, cannot be considered bad for now’. Igbo people are very closely tied to their traditions and they know the sung parts of the Mass in Latin very well. Most lay-people have little or no opposition to having the Mass as it was for their forefathers. The same cannot be said for the clergy sadly.
What was supposed to be a great spiritual journey lost some of its soul, thus for the pilgrims who arrived in Emekuku, they felt great jubilation at their achievement but were denied those inestimable spiritual graces of the Mass and thus left a bit empty, unlike their ancestors who came to Emekuku and left fulfilled.
Archdiocesan Centenary pilgrimage
Tuesday 2nd March 2011
In 2011 and 2012 the Archdiocese of Owerri is celebrating its Centenary and our home diocese of Orlu is part of the archdiocese. In order to commemorate this important event it has been decided to make a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the first parish of the archdiocese, Emekuku, the spiritual home of our own humble parish. The pilgrimage will take place on Friday 11th March 2011 leaving Umuaka at 7am. The plan is that the youth of our parish and town will retrace the steps taken by their ancestors in walking from Umuaka all the way to Emekuku. When the missionaries first arrived, all the new converts to Catholicism had to walk 29 kms through the bush in order to meet the missionary priests for the Sacraments. Nowadays the thought of having to walk long distances for the sacraments would scare off most people, but those first converts showed a zeal that is, sadly, lacking today. With this in mind, the pilgrimage will aim to reflect on the faith of the early Catholics, the missionaries and the zeal which converted a whole people.
It is hoped that by walking a pilgrimage such as this many of the young people will grow to understand that this is the meaning of ‘actively participating’ in the life of the church and in the centenary. That this is how to work out one’s salvation and get souls out of purgatory, that this is how be an example to others and to live in the patrimony of our holy religion. The pilgrims will sing songs as they walk, pray the rosary and be given a series of meditations on the mysteries of the rosary on the way.
As the church in Emekuku still has the original altar which is ideal for the Extraordinary form of the Mass to be celebrated, we are praying that to complete the pilgrimage we will be able to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the same form as was celebrated by the missionaries, and which led to the conversion of the Igbo people. The Archbishop of Owerri, His Lordship Anthony Obinna is a native of the Emekuku parish and he must have fond memories of the missionaries and the "immemorial Mass of all ages".
Pontifical Mass a great success, 1500 in attendance.
4th August 2010
His Lordship, Most Reverend Dr Gregory O. Ochiagha celebrated the Golden Anniversary of his priestly ordination in 1960 in glorious style with a Solemn Pontifical Mass in the extraordinary form of the Latin Rite. A large crowd had come from all over Nigeria to enjoy the music, splendour and pomp and they were not disappointed. Since the money ran out during the pouring of the concrete floor some of the guests were left on seats in the dirt. Canopies were provided, yet proved inadequate for the crowd, and the sanctuary was covered in a temporary aluminium roof. His Lordship had said that he wanted the Mass to highlight the incredible beauty of the Church's liturgical traditions. He vested and unvested at the throne so all could see. The parish choir had practiced for 12 weeks to be able to sing the Mass propers and they were joined by a choir from Lagos. The Assistant priest was Fr Evaristus Eshiowu FSSP, the deacon Fr Antony Sumich FSSP and the sub deacon Fr John-Bosco Ohadugha. The Mass servers were all (excepting an FSSP seminarian) parish servers. In his sermon the Bishop emeritus made mention of many of the glories of the old Mass and had a few criticisms of the new. We hope to be able to provide the full text of the sermon as soon as we have the script.
Concrete floor construction halted - funds are finished one week before Bishop Ochiagha's Mass!
24th July 2010
With 60% of the large concrete floor poured and incredibly the rains still holding off (1 day of rain in the last 14 days is unheard of in July) work has had to stop as the funds dried up with the weather. Estimates are that another 2 Million Naira (US $14,000) will be needed to complete the concrete floor. The Mass servers who have been providing the labour are very disappointed and although it appears there will be enough concrete to have many of the guests sitting on concrete rather than in the dirt. Please donate if you are able to help. The account numbers in Nigeria Europe & US are on this site..jpg)
Serious need for US$20,000 to put down concrete floor before Bishop's Mass.
22nd May 2010
With exactly 10 weeks to go before the Bishop Emeritus will celebrate Mass at the shrine, it is becoming clear that although we can handle the Mass, our little shrine is inadequate for such a great occasion. The Bishop has said that, if we can concrete the floor of the new church, he will celebrate outside under canopies. Since our fundraising drive 3 weeks ago which was quite successful we have agreed contracts with an architect and structural engineer, and they have been paid. Now the emphasis shifts to the floor. Two companies have given us prices and there are many local workers who can do parts of the work, but (as is always the case) nothing will be done without the funds to make it work. So our appeal now goes out into cyberspace where we hope it may be heard. There will be no shortage of prayers from the parishoners who are only too well aware that storming heaven is the most sure way to achieve their goals.
The photo here is of the site of the new church taken 12 months ago whilst the filling was going on.
If you are so able to help us raise this amount, we humbly ask for your donations. The information concerning our account numbers can be found in the "donation" page on this website.
May God reward you for your generosity.
Bishop Emeritus to Celebrate at Shrine
The Bishop Emeritus of Orlu Diocese, His Lordship, Gregory O. Ochiagha will be celebrating the extraordinary form of the Mass at the Shrine in Umuaka on Sunday 1st August, 2010. This day is a very special day for the Bishop as it will mark the 50th year to the day that His Lordship celebrated his first ever Mass, having been ordained on the 31st July in 1960. Since 2010 also marks the centenary of the arrival in the Owerri Archdiocese of the first missionaries, who (naturally) also celebrated the same form of Mass, it is particularly fitting that the Bishop Emeritus has chosen to celebrate at Umuaka, where the extraordinary form of the Mass is celebrated daily.