Memorial of Blessed Cyprian Tansi

[Scripture Readings: Heb 7:1-3;  Mk 3:1-6 ]

When Blessed Cyprian Tansi was a young boy, about 10 years old, he was already living a life of prayer, attending daily Mass and spending long hours in Church, much to the derision of other young boys in the village. That all changed to admiration ninety years later when he was beatified in Nigeria by Pope John Paul II. Over two million people were present along with 60 bishops.

During his thirteen years as a diocesan priest and fourteen years as a monk at Mt. St. Bernard’s Abbey in England, Fr. Cyprian Tansi continued to spend long hours in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. One of his brother monks said to him, “Fr. Cyprian, you must be receiving great consolations.” He replied, “What? I don’t receive any consolations at all. That’s not why I pray. I’m there to adore and give thanks, to intercede and to love the Lord. I’m not there for myself.”