original source: www.de-vrouwe.info
Day of Prayer in Düsseldorf, May 21, 2016
I wish to give thanks and praise to God for giving
all of us the opportunity to gather here for this great event of the Day of
Prayer in honour of the Mother of All Nations. I thank and honour our Blessed
Mother for always extending her maternal care towards us her children. May Mama
Mary continue to extend her merciful love towards all of you, her children.
My dear people of
God I am here not to engage in any theological discourse or exegesis on Mary
with you. I am not here for any theoretical debate on whether or not Mary is
the Mother of God. I am here simply to share with you my experience of Mary our
Mother. I am here to share with you how she has been a Mother to us Catholics
in the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri in Nigeria. My being here is to encourage
you, my dear brothers and sisters, that Mary our Mother cares for us her
children, and so you should get more and more involved in her devotions. Mama
Mary has brought me here to stress the fact that the Rosary, which is the most
widely used devotion to her, is very powerful.
The church in the
Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri has suffered grievously at the hands of the
Islamic sect known as Boko Haram. For the past six years when the insurgency
began, these members have caused colossal destructions to lives and property.
Over 70,000
Catholics were displaced last year when the sect members took control of more
than three quarters of the territory covered by our diocese. Even though many
of them are now back, there are still over 20 000 of them who are taking refuge
in some parts of Nigeria and Cameroon.
In that same
year, over 30 priests were driven out of from their places of duty, over 40
nuns were driven from their convents, and over 200 catechists were forced to
flee together with other Christians. The school where the Chibok-school-girls
were abducted by the sect is located within our diocese. And out of the 270
girls taken away, only 56 later escaped and came back. For the rest we do not
know were they are.
Apart from the
Chibok-girls a lot of our women and girls have also been abducted, some before
and others after. Some of our young men have been forcefully conscripted into
the army of Boko Haram. Many of these women and girls taken by the sect are
used for suicide bombings.
Again, we have
over 500 Catholics alone that have been martyred because of their faith. There
are over 5 000 widows that the diocese is taking care of, and the husbands of a
good number of them have been killed by Boko Haram. In addition to these, there
are over 15 000 orphans that the diocese is struggling to help. Again some of
their parents have been killed by Boko Haram.
In terms of
structures, we have lost a lot to Boko Haram. There are over 200 out-station
churches that have been burned down by the Islamic militants. There are over 20
parish churches and over 20 priest’s residences that have been burned down.
Over 20 schools including our Minor Seminary are destroyed and are no longer
functioning. Similarly, a lot of family houses, vehicles, foot stuff, animals,
shops and many personal effects have either been destroyed or taken away by the
Boko Haram members.
After hearing about all this, some of you may be
wondering what these things have to do with Mary, Our Mother. These have a lot
to do with Mary, Our Mother. To start with, despite all these things that have
been happening, the faith of our people continues to grow stronger and
stronger. The faithful in the diocese, including the priests, the religious and
the lay faithful are very bold. They are courageous and still practice their
faith in the midst of this destruction. They openly carry out their religious
activities, going to mass on Sundays and during the week. They engage in other
devotional activities.
Secondly, one may
ask as to source of their courage. It is from Mary, Our Mother. As a diocese,
we have introduced a lot of Marian programs aimed at strengthening our
relationship with Our Mother. We have got a good field for the permanent site
of our Marian shrine. Even though we have not developed it because of the
crisis, it is our hope that in the near future we will get those who will
support us with funds to develop it for our Marian devotions. For the past four
years, we have been having the yearly celebration of the consecration of our
diocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I wrote a pastoral letter on the
importance of the rosary procession. Since then we have introduced the rosary
procession at the diocesan, parish, outstation, and family levels. Similarly,
every Saturday, the morning masses in all parishes are offered in memory of our
Lady. We also receive a lot of rosaries from outside and distribute them among
our lay faithful.
As a church in
this diocese, we are fully convinced that Mama Mary is the solution to our
crisis. And she has proved to us that she will continue to fight the war on our
behalf. How do we know that Mary is fighting the war on our behalf? It is on
record that Boko Haram made more than six attempts to penetrate Maiduguri, but
they were unsuccessful. And we have many Christians inside Maiduguri. We
believe that it is Mary who blocked them from entering the city. Secondly, since
this crisis started no priest or religious has been touched. Mary has been
shielding her sons and daughters from the terrorists. At the end of 2014, over
three quarters of our diocese was under the control of Boko Haram. But because
of our various Marian devotions, Mama Mary has been able to use the security
forces to send Boko Haram back to the forests. And in most of these
communities, our people have come back and are now worshipping God in their
churches.
In addition to
this, we have several instances in which some members were either captured or
surrounded by Boko Haram, but through the praying of the rosary, they either
escaped or were released by the sect members.
a. One young man
was taken into the forest together with other passengers. But while in the
forest, he kept on praying the rosary and singing a particular church song. On
the forth day, the sect members took him to the main road and released him.
b. A mother of
three children was taken to the forest together with some women who are
Muslims. She was the only Catholic among them. She was quietly praying her
rosary. After about a week, the sect members carried only her back to the
village and left her.
c. One old grandmother
was caught by the sect members in one community. The rest of the villagers ran
and left her alone. But she went on praying her rosary. The sect members came
and found her, and told her to become a Muslim, but she refused. And they
started beating her. They left her half dead, but she later regained
consciousness, carried her stick and walked to the leader of Boko Haram in that
area, showed him the wounds inflicted on her by his boys. She asked the leader
why his boys would want to force her to become a Muslim as she would never
become a Muslim. The commander became sympathetic towards her. So he scolded
those boys and transferred them immediately from that area, brought in another
group and ordered them to feed the grandmother. They continued to care for her
until the soldiers came after some months and reclaimed the area.
d. There is a
family that was trapped by Boko Haram when they captured Mubi. Boko Haram
parked many of their vehicles in front of this house but did not know that the
man, his wife, and children were inside the house. The man, his wife, and the
children were praying the rosary, morning, afternoon and evening. None of them
could go out of the house because the sect members would see them. The food
they had inside the house did not run out nor did the water. They were in that
condition for months, until eventually the soldiers came and recaptured the
area. Mama Mary shielded her children from the sect members. What a miracle!
At the personal
level, Mama Mary has done so much for me despite my sinfulness and
unworthiness. I see myself as the last born of Mama Mary. There is nothing I
ask her to give me , that our mother Mary will not grant me as long as it will
give glory to her Son. Because of this, I try my best to get involved in Marian
devotions and I encourage others to do the same. I consecrate myself to her
Immaculate Heart almost on a daily basis. I cherish the novena to our Lady of
Perpetual Help especially based on what we are experiencing. Above all I pray
my rosary as frequently as possible, usually all four rosaries every day.
Yes, I had an
encounter with our Lord at the end of October 2014. Let me say again that that
vision is not about me because I am nothing but a great sinner. That vision is
about Jesus and his Mother, and the people of God. By giving me the sword in a
vision which turned into a rosary, Jesus has one clear message for us: If we
pray the rosary fervently, we will defeat evil in the world. Boko Haram is
demonic, and the rosary is going to defeat it. There are other demons in other
parts of the world. The rosary can defeat them.
So let us remain
committed to praying the rosary in particular and the devotions to our Mother
Mary in general. May I once more give thanks for the privilege given to me to
come here and share my experience with you. May God bless you all.
