Miguel Augusto
Sunday, October 10th, the Church celebrates the feast of St Daniel Comboni.
Pope St John Paul II, in his homily on the day of the canonization of Daniel Comboni, on 5 October 2003, said, “We need evangelizers with the enthusiasm and apostolic outreach of Bishop Daniel Comboni, an apostle of Christ among the Africans. He relied on the resources of his rich personality and solid spirituality to make Christ known and welcomed in Africa, a continent he loved deeply.”
Daniel Comboni was born on March 15, 1831, in Limone sul Garda (Brescia – Italy). From childhood, felt the desire to be a missionary and go to Japan, where, at the beginning of the 17th century, more than two hundred Christians, including bishops, priests and lay people, had been killed as martyrs for the faith.
At the age of 18, as a student at Fr Nicolau Mazza’s College, which took in poor children so that they could continue their studies, he listened to the testimony of Fr Vinco, a missionary returning from the African continent. The priest spoke of unexplored regions where entire peoples were dying of hunger, disease, and the slave trade. He also said that many Christians had tried to get there but would die from fatigue and tropical diseases or return to Europe sick and discouraged.
Comboni felt challenged and decided to devote his life to the evangelization of the African continent; he later said: “I am entirely ready to endure death without fear, with the most atrocious martyrdom, even to save a single person in Africa.”
In September 1857, at the age of 26 and already a priest, Comboni fulfilled his dream: he left for Africa with five other companions. A month after arriving at the “Holy Cross” mission, the head of the missionary expedition, Fr Oliboni, died. Before he died, he told his companions: “Do not abandon the work that has been started. Even if only one of you remains, do not be discouraged! God wants the evangelization of Africans.”
On September 15, 1864, Comboni wrote the “Plan for the Evangelization of Central Africa.” In 1867, to fulfill his plan, he founded the Institute for African Missions, today called Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, and in 1872, he founded the Pious Mothers of Nigritia, today the Comboni Missionary Sisters.
In 1877 he was appointed bishop of Central Africa. He then said: “Among you, I will never cease to be yours. Night and day, sun and rain, will find me equally and always ready to help in your spiritual needs: the rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick, the young and the old, the master and the servant will always have equal access to my heart.”
On 10th, October 1881, only 50 years old, marked by the Cross which, like a faithful and loving bride, has never let him, he died in Khartoum, among his people. But he is aware that his missionary work will not end with him: “I am dying,” he says, “but my work will not die”.
This brief introduction of St Daniel Comboni is taken mostly from the Comboni Missionaries resources.
St Daniel Comboni, pray for us!
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