By Ononye VC
It was a solemn event as the Archdiocese of Onitsha, led by the archbishop of Onitsha, the Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, celebrated the silver jubilee of the beatification of Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi.
The bishop of the Aguleri Diocese, the Most Rev. Denis Chidi Isizoh, and hundreds of priests, members of the religious, hundreds of members of the Tansi solidarity movement and other lay faithful gathered to pray for and celebrate the illustrious priest.
Delivering his homily, Rev. Fr Michael Okagbue described the late Tansi as one who had a humble beginning in life that did not deter him from sacrificing his life for the service of God.
Okagbue travelled down memory lane from the birth of the little Iwene (Iwegbuna) Tansi in 1903 to his priestly journey, his life as a monk, qnd up to his death and burial.
According to available records, St Tansi, the only beatified West African—by the then Pope John Paul II (now a saint)—was beatified on March 22, 1998, at Oba in Nigeria. In 2010, he was named a patron of Nigerian priests.
Born in 1903, he received his name Michael after he was baptised by Irish missionaries at the age of 16, and received his first school leaving certificate, which qualified him for teaching.
He taught at Holy Trinity Primary School in Onitsha for 3 years, becoming a headmaster at St Joseph School in Aguleri, Anambra State, for a year.
Although his parents and family were not happy about him becoming a seminarian at St Paul’s Seminary in Igbariam in 1925, he went ahead to study philosophy and theology and was ordained a priest at the Onitsha Cathedral on December 19, 1937, by the missionary Bishop Charles Heerey.
He served as a parish priest of Dunokofia (Umudioka region) in 1939, and of Akpu from 1945 until 1949, when he was transfered to Aguleri. By 1950, Tansi had obliged for a monastic life and through the help of Bishop Heerey who loved him dearly, he was accepted as an oblate of Mount St Bernard in Leicestershire, England.
In the summer of 1950, he led his parishioners on a pilgrimage to Rome and after two and a half years as an oblate, he was admitted to the novitiate at the vigil of the Immaculate Conception, taking the name Cyprian.
Tansi left a lasting impression on the locals when he was a parish priest; he lived a very common life unlike other priests and reportedly built his own house using local materials. He slept on any bed, however uncomfortably, ate even poorer food than the locals, surviving on tiny portions of yam, and he preferred walking or using a bicycle to reach out to communities.
His lifestyle amazed Nigerian Catholics so much so that he became extremely famous and loved among the four parishes that he served in, namely, Nnewi, Dunukofia, Akpu/Ajalli and his home town, Aguleri.
He was involved in helping to build the homes of the residents using new building techniques or mud bricks. He also rallied women to fight oppression aimed at them, including helping them to win cases against erring men in court and this made him to be loved by the women folk, while setting up a place to prepare young women for marriage.
In accordance with the Cistercian rule, he spent seven years leading a life of prayer and work as well as humility and obedience. He took the simple vows and solemnly professed on December 8, 1956.
He, however, wanted to return home and build a monastery so as to raise monks in Nigeria. But his dream was cut short and he ended up in the African monastery in Cameroon where he served as a novice master.
Tansi died on January 20, 1964, in Leicester having complained of pains in his legs. He was diagnosed with thrombosis and aortic aneurysm. His burial at Mount St Bernard on January 22 attracted nobles and Nigerian priests in London.
In 1988, Tansi’s remains were exhumed and reburied in the priests’ cemetery near the Cathedral of Onitsha, where he had been ordained a priest 51 years earlier.
The first miracle attributed to him was on October 17, 1986, when a cancer patient who prayed over his remains was healed and canonically approved.
Father Okagbue called on the faithful to imbibe the virtues of St Tansi while facing the sorrows and tribulations of this world.
Credit: TRINITAS NEWSPAPER.
