Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi
Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (born September 1903 AD in Aguleri, Anambra State, Nigeria; died January 20, 1964 AD in Leicester, England) was a Nigerian Catholic priest of the Igbo people and later a Cistercian monk who is venerated as the first person from anglophone sub-Saharan Africa to be beatified. He was ordained a diocesan priest, served for many years in Nigeria, then left to enter the Cistercian monastery of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in England, where he died. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II at Onitsha, Nigeria, on March 22, 1998. His feast day is January 20.
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| Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | January 20 |
| Profession | Catholic priest (Diocese of Onitsha, 1937-1950); Cistercian monk (Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, 1950-1964); schoolteacher (before ordination); Igbo Catholic from Aguleri, Anambra State |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Cistercian Order (OCSO — Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, Trappists); Diocese of Onitsha; Nigerian Catholic tradition; West African Catholicism; Igbo Catholic heritage |
| Patronage | Nigeria; Igbo Catholics; West African Catholics; anglophone Africa; Cistercian monks; those called from mission to contemplation; African seminarians and priests; those who suffer from heart disease (died of aortic aneurysm) |
| Attributes | Cistercian white habit; cross; chalice and Host (Blessed Sacrament devotion); Igbo heritage; Niger River; Mount Saint Bernard Abbey; January 20 feast |
| Birthplace | Aguleri, Anambra State, Nigeria |
| Death Place | Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, Leicester, England, United Kingdom |
| Cause of Death | Aortic aneurysm; he died on January 20, 1964, in the infirmary of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire, England; he was approximately 60 years old; he had entered the Cistercians (OCSO) in 1950 and lived as a Cistercian monk for 14 years; he had been preparing to move to a new Cistercian foundation in Cameroon when he died; he was the first person from anglophone sub-Saharan Africa to be beatified |
| Primary Shrine | Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, Leicestershire, England — his relics; January 20 feast; JPII beatification March 22 1998; also venerated in Aguleri and Onitsha, Nigeria |
| Liturgical Class | Not in universal Roman calendar; January 20 feast in Nigeria and the Cistercian Order |
| Historic Class | Not in 1962 calendar |
Biography
Iwene Tansi was born in September 1903 in Aguleri in what is now Anambra State, Nigeria, into a non-Christian Igbo family. He was attracted to Christianity from childhood, received Catholic baptism and education in mission schools, and worked as a schoolteacher before entering the priesthood.
He was ordained a Catholic priest on December 19, 1937, in the Diocese of Onitsha, one of the first Igbo priests. For thirteen years he served the Igbo communities of eastern Nigeria with great pastoral energy, known above all for his strict priestly discipline, his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, his uncompromising preaching on Christian marriage, and his extraordinary personal holiness.
In 1950 he made the surprising decision to leave Nigeria and enter the Cistercian monastery of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire, England. He spent the last fourteen years of his life there as a monk.
He died January 20, 1964, at Mount Saint Bernard, of an aortic aneurysm, on the eve of what was to be a departure to help establish a new Cistercian foundation in Cameroon.
He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on March 22, 1998, in Onitsha, Nigeria — the first person from anglophone sub-Saharan Africa to be beatified. His feast day is January 20.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: Aguleri, Anambra State, Nigeria
Death location: Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, Leicester, England, United Kingdom
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Feast day
January 20
Veneration
Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi (1903–1964) was a Nigerian Igbo priest and Cistercian monk — the first person from anglophone sub-Saharan Africa to be beatified — known for his extraordinary pastoral zeal in the Diocese of Onitsha and his austere monastic life at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in England; beatified John Paul II in Onitsha, March 22, 1998. Feast January 20.
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