(Editor’s Note: Father Thomas Fidelis, OSCO, a member of the Trappist Community at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, is currently serving in a Cistercian Monastery in Nigeria. This begins a two-part account of his work there.)

By Father Thomas Fidelis, OSCO

Last April I was asked by my superiors to volunteer to teach Scripture and theology to the monks at the newly-incorporated monastery near Enugu in Nigeria. After months of negotiations for my visa, I finally arrived in Nigeria and was immediately amazed at the flourishing condition of the monastic life here. This monastery of Our Lady of the Mount Calvary has had a unique history, being the first non-Cistercian monastery to be incorporated into the Cistercian Order in modern times.

The founder of this community was Father Abraham Ojefua, a diocesan priest, who before the Biafran War, had joined the Benedictines at Port Harcourt, Nigeria. But that monastery was disbanded due to the unfavorable conditions prevailing. Nevertheless, Father Abraham still kept his resolve to be a monk. After a visit to Gethsemani in the United States, he desired to bring the Cistercian way of life to his country. Unfortunately, none of our monasteries was prepared to initiate a foundation by supplying personnel and resources.

Undaunted, Father Abraham, with the active support of Bishop Okoye of Enugu, started his own monastic community, naming it “The Friends of Jesus.” The bishop and the people of Awhum donated some land to him, and so with a few volunteers, they started their own Nigerian-Cistercian brand of monasticism. Although Father Abraham had the Rule of Saint Benedict and the Cistercian Regulations, certain adaptations had to be made, because of the culture, climate, and geographical features prevailing there.

For four years they struggled to support themselves by the work of their own hands, eking out their subsistence from the sandy soil, so ill-suited for agriculture, as Cistercians usually make their living from farming. They then had to branch out into two other means of self-support: starting a small bakery, and raising chickens for eggs and meat. God blessed their endeavors, so that the community was self-supporting by 1974. Meanwhile, they also carried out the difficult regime of Benedictine-Cistercian life.

Father Abraham, a man of indomitable courage, decided that his country and Church needed a vigorous form of monasticism, so that he and his monks preferred a more strict form of observances than is now customary in our Post-Vatican II European and American monasteries. One of the practices he insisted upon was that according to ancient monastic tradition, the whole Psalter was to be recited once a week. But not only that, this monastery has the typically African way of doing it, by polyphony. Each of the canonical hours, from Lauds to Compline, is sung in harmony, ranging from two, three to four parts. This not only enhances the solemnity of the Office, but makes the choir service that much more beautiful and enjoyable.

Apart from the ordinary monastic observances and penitential aspects, this first Nigerian monastery has some “penances” that are part and parcel of the very existence in this climate and place. As I write this, we are in the “dry season.” The temperatures are slowly rising to the high nineties, and a hot, dry wind, the Hamarton, is blowing down from the Sahahara. The sun is directly overhead during a good part of the day, thus making manual labor that much more difficult and sweaty.

But even worse than the heat, is the vicious sand fly. This is a very small “beast,” but it has a terrible bite. When I first arrived in August, I was warned to keep my arms and legs completely covered. As I saw that the monks were going only in sandals or bare-feet, I thought I would try it too, disregarding their warnings. Sure enough, I soon felt the effects of these sand-fly bites. Welts and swellings occurred on my arms and legs, so much so, that I had to go to the hospital for medicine. Hence, there is no need for taking the discipline, or any kind of totally artificial mortification here.

Of course, there are many other “incidental” inconveniences, like no indoor plumbing, no screens on windows, thus letting in anything from huge moths to all kinds, colors and shapes of lizards: in a word, a veritable zoo of creeping and crawling things.

Within the first four years, the buildings of the primitive Our Lady of Mount Cavalry monastery went from thatched huts to our present cement structures. The monastery has its own pump for its water supply (though lacking the necessary filters, which necessitates boiling the water for drinking and cooking purposes.) Thus by 1974, Father Abraham thought his monastery was in a good condition to apply for incorporation within the Cistercian Order. The General Chapter received his petition favorably, but considered it prudent to do this in several stages. And so, the abbot of Genesee, USA, was appointed to supervise and cooperate with Father Abraham over the next four years to bring this newest monastic community within the Cistercian family, with its own long and tried tradition.

First, a Cistercian novice-master was supplied: Father Mark Ulogu, who is himself an Ibo, having joined the monastery of Mount Saint Bernard’s, England, way back in 1951. In 1963, he had gone to the Cameroons to be one of the founders of Bamenda. Then other Cistercian personnel came to Awhum from time to time, plus the Regular Visitation by Abbot John Eudes of Genesee each year. Genesee also supplied generous financial assistance, especially to equip the bakery, buy a large pump and provide a large tractor, plus numerous other items.

Finally, at the Visitation made by the Father Abbot last June, he was authorized by the General Chapter to receive “The Friends of Jesus” officially into the Cistercian Family. The ceremony of incorporation took place in the little monastery chapel, with Dom John Eudes reading the mandate authorizing this procedure, then receiving the vows of 24 of the monks, with 13 others being accepted into the novitiate and Postulate. It was the turning point in the unique history of this monastery. Present for the solemnities was not only the bishop of Enugu, the Most Reverend Michael Eneja, who gladly donated all the movable and immovable properties to the new Cistercian monastery, but also on hand for the ceremony was His Highness, Chief Joseph Igboji, of Awhum District, with many of his people. The chief and his people are very proud of the monastery in their midst. Many a time they have come to the aid of the monks. Although most of these people are not Christians, they still have a keen appreciation for the “men of God” in their midst.

At the end of August, Father Marcellus and I arrived to continue forming the monks within the Cistercian tradition. Father Marcellus is the cantor at Genesee, and a skilled musician and composer. Pretty soon he had the monks singing new songs in harmony, so that now their choir is one of the finest in the Order, certainly by reason of the harmony it is unique. I have been teaching classes in theology, Scripture, Church history, besides counseling and other instructions. Although I miss my brother monks at Conyers and my many friends in Georgia, the Lord certainly compensates by letting me feel His presence here and know that He is blessing me and these monks abundantly.

In a future article I would like to tell about the extraordinary explosion of vocations to the priesthood and Religious life here in this section of Nigeria. But meanwhile, I ask for the continued prayers and moral support of “you-all.”