![]() The position was vacant in 1840-41 and a delegation was being formed to go to Alexandria and request the Patriarch to give them a new bishop. In Ethiopia in those days there was always only one Orthodox bishop, appointed by the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria. But just at the time he was thinking about this an unexpected thing happened. He intended to make this journey alone, because no one else was going for the same purpose as himself. This realisation led him to the conclusion that the answer to the theological problems would not be found in Ethiopia, and he decided that he would have to go to Jerusalem to continue his research. As his research progressed he gradually came to see that the real problem behind the deterioration of monastic standards was the poor theological formation of the monks. In each monastery which he visited he formed a small group of monks who had the same outlook as himself and he instructed them, and when he left to continue his travels they remained as a nucleus of monastic reform. This gave him the authority to travel around the country visiting various monasteries and studying their practices and doing research in the manuscripts in their libraries. He saw, from his own experience, that there had been a great lowering of standards in Ethiopian monasteries, and he wished to do further research into the reasons for this, and his superiors commissioned him to do so. His great interest was the history of monasticism. He was not, however, preparing for ordination to the priesthood as most Ethiopian monks were not priests. He received some education and then entered a monastery, where he showed himself to be a gifted student. At an early age he lost one eye in an accident, and in his culture that rendered him unfit for most types of work. “Ghebre” cannot be separated from “Michael” and used as if it were a first name. The prefix Ghebre means “the servant of” and is always followed by the name of a saint this combination is a very common form of name in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He died as a result of the long harsh treatment he had received. He was not actually put to death for the faith. In a certain sense, too, he was not, strictly speaking, a martyr. In a letter to the Superior General, Jean-Baptiste Etienne, Justin explained all this but said that he called Ghebre-Michael a Vincentian “because in his heart he already belonged to the Congregation”. A date was fixed for him to begin his internal seminary but when the fixed day arrived he was under arrest, and he died before he could carry out his intention. He was a disciple of Justin de Jacobis for many years, and eventually decided, with Justin’s consent, to become a Vincentian. Ghebre-Michael differs in three ways from the other canonised and beatified members of our Congregation: First, he was African, not European second, he was not a born Catholic, but an adult convert and third, he was not actually a confrere. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |