[1721]
Having been dedicated for 15 years to the apostolate of Central Africa to which I decided to devote my whole life despite the many obstacles and risks I endure among the Equatorial tribes and in the desert which I have crossed four times, I cannot remain indifferent to the fortune and hopes which I seem to foresee for Africa, this part of the world which is the most unfortunate and neglected due to the huge obstacles Islam has created there; I cannot be unmoved by the triumphs achieved by Catholic courage and perseverance. Monsignor, you were the object of my admiration and deep wonder when I learned from the Catholic press in Cairo that you had had the strength and apostolic courage to defend and protect the sublime interests of a large part of this beloved Africa which divine Providence, through the Vicar of Christ’s authority, has entrusted to your great zeal, your acute intelligence, in a word, to your bishop’s heart which vies with the heart of St Ambrose, the distinguished Bishop of Milan.
[1722]
Monsignor, you have overcome the protean hydra of irreverence that was guiding your flock. Incomparable Pastor, you have been able to protect your beloved sheep against the attacks of evil wolves. And the wisdom and heart of the Emperor, God willing, have granted you victory. In my smallness as a poor little Missionary who lives only for the good and happiness of Africa, I make bold to offer you my homage and to congratulate you wholeheartedly, especially since the Holy See and the illustrious Vicar of Christ who is guided by the Holy Spirit, have seen fit to choose the most capable and active person to undertake that extremely hard but most important task, the evangelisation of a great part of central Africa, which after so many centuries still lies in darkness and in the shadow of death. The Vicariate Apostolic of the Sahara is a new element for your great apostolic zeal that will usher in a new age of salvation for the unfortunate Africans. This is one of my life’s greatest joys, because your efforts and care will cast such light that we will gradually find the most suitable and practical way to evangelise the indigenous and nomadic peoples of the African interior.
[1723]
I had the good fortune to see you frequently with Mgr Massaia and to speak to you in Paris on the occasion of the consecration of the Bishop of Chalons: I also had the honour to speak to you in Rome […] your apostolate in Nancy and Toul. But since I could not foresee that you would become an apostle of Africa, I never took the opportunity to consult you about the little work I have undertaken for the conversion of Africa; when last year in Rome I organised a meeting of Bishops, principally the directors of the African Missions, I went to look for you at your hotel there and I was very disappointed not to find you, since you had left for France the previous day. This meeting aimed to establish the foundation of the two first Institutes on the basis of my Plan. In fact, Cairo was chosen, where I have just established them under the protection of Mgr Ciurcia, Archbishop of Irenopolis, Vicar and Apostolic Delegate of Egypt.
[1724]
I commend my work to your prayers and would like to set up a centre of communication between us in the Heart of Jesus. I would like to inform you of developments in my Work, so that in the future it may draw on the light of your practical experience the better to succeed in the aim of establishing the Catholic faith in the heart of Africa which is linked to the Eastern part of your immense Vicariate. I want to give Your Excellency news of the present state of my work which is still in its earliest stages.
[1725]
From 1846 to 1861 we have had 39 Missionaries who travelled in central Africa between the 23rd and 4th degrees, founding four stations: Shellal at the 23rd degree, Khartoum at the 15th, Holy Cross at the 6th and Gondokoro at the 4th. We have compiled the dictionary and a grammar etc., in two languages and have learned the numbers in more than 20. But 32 Missionaries are dead and I have been at death’s door eleven times. We then called on the Franciscans who sent 60 persons, priests and laymen of their Order, but they have almost all returned except one, who is in Khartoum.
[1726]
Do not believe Monsignor, that one dies as easily as all that. We were the first to go there: most of the missionaries were German, very good and very holy, but they wanted to live by eating in the German way which in those lands is harmful. I believe that with prudence and by taking the necessary precautions one can live there, especially in the great desert where the air is pure and healthy. It is enough to live according to the Catholic spirit, with the moderation and sobriety recommended to us by the Church and which are essential for survival. One of our beloved companions, Fr Pedemonte from Naples, a 60-year old Jesuit, lived a long time in Khartoum and among the Bari at the 4th degree. He was recalled to Naples where he is still living.
[1727]
Nevertheless, seeing so many Missionaries die, Propaganda has given serious thought to this matter. Cardinal Barnabò charged me to draft a report on the state of the mission in Central Africa and to suggest a Plan to him, to explain my views on how to establish Catholicism in those central tribes. This Plan is general because Propaganda itself must be the one to implement it, since it has the influence and power to call on religious congregations, etc.
[1728]
As a practical and general system, the Plan was deemed eminently suitable by a large number of Bishops whom I consulted, and by the Pope himself who has read it all. Among other things, it includes the principle of making the Vicars and Bishops who live on the coasts see that the Missions in the Centre are properly run, and Propaganda has already begun to put this into practice. For my part and in my littleness, I have founded the following institutions after asking Mgr Canossa, Bishop of Verona, whom I have known since childhood, to be their head and president. 1. A seminary was founded in Verona for the Missions in Central Africa, in addition to the Work of the Good Shepherd to support it. If God blesses it and we can found other seminaries, I hope that we can be useful to your great apostolate. 2. I have recently founded male and female Institutes for Africans with some French Sisters in Cairo; they are thriving and have already converted many souls, since I have 16 African women teachers who are trained in four languages and in all the feminine skills. We presented some of these African women to the Pope who spent two hours with them in the Vatican gardens with me, Mgr Castellacci and Conte Vimercati last year, and I take the liberty of sending photographs of them to Your Excellency. In Cairo I saw that every time some pagan African girls see my African girls or hear them speak or sing in church, they ask me to become Catholics; I have had many of them instructed and baptised this year. The same thing happens with the boys. However, to choose those who are to be apostles among the others, it is better to accept them when they are young and then we will be truly successful.
[1729]
As you see, Monsignor, my work is still in its infancy. I commend it to your holy prayers. As for me, I will have prayers said every day for Your Excellency’s well-being and for your great work. From what I have been able to understand, I am certain you will have considerable success in the generous work you have undertaken and that the Good Lord has entrusted to your care, since with God’s grace nothing will be impossible to you. As I congratulate you, I ask your forgiveness for my boldness in sending this letter to you, and feel honoured to kiss your holy hands and, with the deepest sentiments of veneration and respect, to sign myself

Your Excellency’s most humble and obedient servant,

Fr Daniel Comboni

Apostolic Missionary in Central Africa
Superior of the Institutes for Africans in Egypt

I offer you the respects of Baron Havelt, with whom I am staying.
As soon as it has been printed in French I will send you my Plan for the Conversion…

Translation from the French.

[1730]
On the occasion of my visit to Germany to take part in the General Congress of Catholics in Bamberg, I spoke a great deal, endeavouring to explain our dear Guard of Honour. I gave away all the medals and cards given me by you, its venerable first promoter. In the famous shrine of Our Lady of Altötting there is a magnificent convent of English Ladies (Mary Ward Sisters) which is the Mother House of eight other convents scattered throughout Bavaria. The convents accept young women of the elite in Germany and Austria and an infinite number of school pupils. I have now arranged with the Superior General to establish the Guard of Honour in all her institutions and in the parishes and dioceses where they are located. This venerable Superior General has admirable zeal and an eminently religious spirit. The rule followed by the Congregation is that of the Jesuit Fathers. She is assisted by an eminently holy Sister with great good sense, who is fluent in many languages and – an advantage in starting up our enterprise – she is French.
[1731]
To succeed in this you must send all you can to Altötting: medals, little pictures, booklets, etc. Send them in Latin also, to establish it with the Redemptorists and the pious clergy of Passau. By sending these objects there, you will be in touch with the Vicar. You will arrange a place for the apostolate of the Guard of Honour, which will give Jesus great pleasure. Here is the address you must write to:
To the Reverend Mother Maria Saveria Koeniger
Directress and Novice Mistress
c/o the English Ladies
Altötting (Bavaria)
Altötting is, like Loreto in Italy, one of Germany’s main shrines where more than two thousand pilgrims come from all over the world every day. Sermons about the Guard of Honour will be preached there too.

[1732]
I ask you to pray and to have prayers said for me and for our Work, for I have so many crosses to bear that it is a miracle I can survive: but God is omnipotent. The Guard of Honour is a strength to me and gives me such courage that the devil will be crushed, for we are working for Jesus alone. And in addition, the same terrible crosses that oppress me are also the greatest consolation, because Jesus suffered, Jesus is a Victim, Jesus chose the Cross. Jesus said: “Those that sow with tears will reap with shouts of joy!…” Oh! This blessed Heart which beats only for souls, which is a continuous Victim and was pierced by a lance, is a great help to us… Oh, how happy I am in my sufferings! I have all kinds, in Egypt and in Central Africa, in Rome and in Verona and also in France. But I am happy because the Sacred Heart of Jesus in his Guard of Honour powerfully assists me.
[1733]
Here is what I am about to write to Cardinal Barnabò, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide who is my Director: “You must know, Your Eminence, that for some time the Cross has been such a friend to me and so constantly close that I have chosen it for my dearest Bride, to the point that I have decided to live with her always until death, and, were it possible, for eternity! You know, your Eminence, that the Heart of Jesus was wounded by the lance on the Cross when he was dead; and that this terrible thrust of the lance also pierced the Heart of our Mother Mary: this lance wound will also have an effect in Africa.
[1734]
With my cross, I took to Africa the Guard of Honour of the pierced Heart of Jesus, with which perhaps Your Eminence is unacquainted. However, I shall have the fortune to bring it to your knowledge. Do you know the strength my spirit derives from this Guard of Honour in which I venerate the Heart of Jesus? It gives me the strength to bear my cross joyfully, as if I had made a fortune for the Mission; and with the Cross, my dearest Bride and teacher of prudence and wisdom, with the Blessed Virgin, my dear Mother, and with Jesus my All, O Eminence, I fear neither the persecutions of Egypt nor the fury of Africa, nor the massive clouds of Verona, nor the devil of hell, because I am the happiest of men and in the most desirable state.
[1735]
Oh! My Jesus showed a completely divine wisdom when, after creating the universe, he made the Cross”. Now with the Cross which is a sublime outpouring of love from the Heart of Jesus, we become powerful. I have an objection to make here, which is that I am convinced I am a great sinner. I am not ashamed to confess my nothingness to you, good Sister, because I also have a powerful remedy. Since Jesus came to save sinners, he also came to save me. And as he deigns to give me his Cross, it is the surest sign that he wants to save me. See how kind Good Jesus is! While he gives me so many crosses, he sees that so much good is done to my Institutes which I have recently founded in Egypt near the Grotto of the Holy Family. I have just heard that a few days ago three 20-year old African girls were baptised by my Missionaries and that another three are waiting for me to baptise them. One died with the enrolment card of the Guard of Honour on her breast, three days after being baptised.
[1736]
So please pray and have prayers said for the conversion of the most abandoned souls on earth, the poor black people of central Africa. It seems to me that at the time when Christians are conspiring against the Lord and his Christ, the Heart of Jesus must overflow with twice as much love for those who are still enveloped in darkness and the shadow of death. I would like to send you my Plan for the Regeneration of Africa which will shortly be published, a Plan that I conceived in the Vatican on 18th September 1864, while I was attending the Beatification of Mother Marguerite Alacoque. In the first edition of 1864, even the day of the Beatification is mentioned. I therefore expect the Blessed to help me because she so loved the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pray for me and write to me. On my return I will come to Bourg. Long live
Jesus in your Heart.

Fr Daniel Comboni

I spent a day in Bamberg near Munich with the Sisters of the Visitation who gave me a little African girl. The Guard of Honour is established there.
I beg you to offer my respects to the Very Reverend Mother Superior.


Translation from the French.

[1737]
I have been slow in writing, I was extremely busy and matters take time in Paris and I spent night after night helping important sick people. I have been courteously offered hospitality by the most distinguished Baron Havelt, Protector of the Holy Land and Papal Commissary for the Universal Exhibition. For my benefit, he asks personalities to lunch who can help me, such as Durin de Luis, Secretary of the Navy, the President of the Propagation of the Faith, etc. In spite of this, matters still take time. Here are the main ones:
1. Subsidies to be requested from the following Works:
a) the Propagation of the Faith
b) the Holy Childhood
c) the Society of Schools of the East
d) the Apostolic Society sacred objects
e) the Society of Tabernacles.
2. Letters of recommendation for the Pasha of Egypt and other influential Pashas.
3. Some subsidies from the funds for the Levant from the Foreign Minister.
4. Passages and the transportation of provisions free from Marseilles.
5. To test the ground at the Institut d’Afrique to discover possible benefits.
6. Special Recommendations from Mustier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
7. Sources to fund Masses for Your Excellency.
8. visits to several worthy benefactors. Hic et nunc almost all are out of town; hence a little patience.

[1738]
Before leaving Bavaria I explored the good source at the Ministry for Religion, in order to have thousands of Masses from Altötting: this is a way to be tried that they suggested to me at the Ministry. And it is necessary that Your Excellency write to Mgr Enrico Hofstaetter, Bishop of Passau, Bavaria, and explain to him that his missionaries and a large number of his diocesan priests… everything you can say… and ask him to authorise you to receive the money to pay for 7 or 8.

(Fr Daniel Comboni)

Incomplete Letter

[1739]
I do not know how to express the comfort your dear letter brought me. I have only just received my correspondence because for some time I did not pass by the building of the Foreign Missions, since I am staying with Baron Havelt. Your great kindness prompts me to come and see you since I would like to see you and also my dear friend, Monsieur Auguste, and thank you for your great kindness to the good young man, Urbansky. I have had news from Dresden of all your kindnesses to this good young man; it seems that your diligent care has saved him from death. You fill me with kindnesses and I feel ungrateful to you.
[1740]
Although I left Cairo unexpectedly, I was nevertheless able to gather some of Mother Rosa’s things in Cairo, which will be very interesting to our dear Auguste. When I reached Alexandria everything got broken. However, I was able to fill a small overnight bag. During the journey to Germany this was almost completely destroyed so that not much is left. In Khartoum (two months’ journey from Cairo) I ordered a collection of African weapons, but they have not yet arrived from Cairo. Today I wrote to Verona to have some relics sent tome; and that small coffer I have for you. I am very busy; when I am free, I shall come to your house. My Plan is being printed in Paris; I am waiting for it to be printed in order to bring you some copies.
Many greetings to Auguste and Désiré, etc. from your most devoted

Fr Daniel Comboni


Translation from the French.

[1741]
If the Camillians have a Mission before the Seminary of Verona does, what does it matter “non quaero gloriam meam sed eius qui misit me”? I have a regular annual sum of 10,000 francs and in addition, anything else I lay out. I cede you 5,000 (with the obligation to pay whatever else I can scrape together) for the Camillians; so that the wishes of my dear Stanislao may be granted.


Fr Daniel Comboni

[1742]
I take this opportunity to send you my respectful and filial respects. In our venerable Fr Callisto we find a man who seeks purely God’s glory, the salvation of souls and the true decorum of the illustrious Trinitarian Order which, with the cessation of the enslavement of Christians, has a right to a part of the apostolate of the Africans. As for the steps to be taken with Propaganda, the Vicariate Apostolic of Egypt and the Franciscans, to help the Trinitarian Order participate in the most important apostolate of central Africa, we shall study matters and examine them with clear heads in Verona, after which we will see the results of matters pending with the Camillian Order.
[1743]
In the meantime let us trust in God and in the One whom Your Most Reverend Excellency has had the honour to be the first to proclaim Queen of Africa, and please accept the affectionate homage of your devoted son,


Fr Daniel

[1744]
I hope that you will come to Paris and that you write to me before going to Orleans. I greet you affectionately. I beg you to give my respects to Madame Girard and the dear children. If you write to me, address letters to “22 rue des Saints Pères” where I am staying. The day after tomorrow my Plan will come out in a bookbinder’s establishment: half of it has appeared in the “Apostolat”. I feel I shall be resuscitated if you come! I am no longer receiving your journal. Goodbye, dear friend. Till we meet again. Our dear and venerable Fr Callisto is a friend like Rev. Girard, that is, incomparable. He has done a lot for me. Farewell. Good news from Cairo, baptisms, etc.
Fr Zanoni, thanks be to God, has left. He did some harm, but it does not matter at all.
The case with the monstrance has already arrived in Cairo.


Fr Daniel Comboni

[1745]
Qui confidit in D.no non confundetur. Yesterday evening, the Propagation of the Faith of Lyons and Paris definitively allocated the sum of 5,000 francs to me, to be drawn immediately in Lyons. This is what I was told this morning by Nicolas, Cochin, and the 80-year old President, who read me the report by the Lyons Council, and the letter from His Eminence Cardinal Barnabò who specially recommended our work and Fr Comboni. This is an extraordinary grace of God, and a sign that it is he who is acting, and not man. God repairs my blunders with his grace. All the members in Paris and Lyons have shown me signs of special attention: sums are never allocated except at the general distribution in May, and they are never granted immediately except to Vicars and Prefects Apostolic. Since Africa is paid by the cashier of Lyons, it is there that I will be given the money. But it is to be hoped that the coming year’s cheque will be bigger. Let us bless the Lord and put great trust in God’s Providence, even when we seem to have been abandoned. I no longer worry now about finances.
[1746]
In addition, the Work of the Holy Sepulchre allocated 500 francs to me. This coming year I shall have more. Furthermore I am organising a Ladies’ Committee; and tomorrow at 4.00 o’clock I shall be received by Princess Clotilde, and perhaps I shall ask her to be its President; it is an appropriate time while Prince Napoleon is in England. We shall probably succeed in forming a men’s Committee in Paris, but it is necessary beforehand to consider the feelings of the Propagation of the Faith, whose council members like to be independent.
[1747]
I asked Abbè Cloquet, director of “L’Apostolat” to form a Diocesan Council for the work of the Good Shepherd, and he accepted. Except that he told me the title was unpopular in France, because that name here is understood only to mean a Committee to help fallen women. Tomorrow Signore Girard is to arrive in Paris: he wrote to me yesterday evening from Orleans that he will come with the Superior of the Greeks of Constantinople and added “tâchez de nous faire admettre à votre table chezM. le Baron du Havelt, où vous êtes logé" (try to have us seated at your table at Baron Havelt’s house where you are staying). We shall see.
[1748]
It would be good if Your Most Reverend Excellency were to reply to Fr Callisto that when I come to Verona we will discuss the way to respond to his wishes, and that Your Excellency is willing and glad to co-operate in introducing the illustrious Trinitarian Order into the apostolate of the Africans. At the same time add that having understood from Fr Comboni that he has assigned him many mass offerings (500), you are asking him to see to this matter because you have hundreds of priests without alms. Fr Callisto could procure many thousands from the Trinitarian Nuns in France alone for Your Excellency. I have already recommended this. But a recommendation from Your Excellency has more influence, and he is hoping that you will favour his African desires. I am waiting for aid from the Holy Childhood and from the Society of the Schools of the East. My dear Baron Havelt did a great deal for me; and I should be pleased, when writing to me, if Your Excellency would express your gratitude, because he invited ministers, celebrities, etc. for my sake.

Your most unworthy son,
Fr Daniel

I send you the work produced by “L’Apostolat”. This evening I shall be
receiving letters from Egypt. To Marchese Ottavio, etc.

[1749]
I send you regards from Madame Thérèse, whom I saw yesterday. She is very well, and greets Marchesa Clelia and all the family and is very keen on our Work with the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. She is a soul who prays.
[1750]
While we invoke help from heaven for the Work of Africa, The Lord wants our co-operation. With his famous circular letter, His Eminence Cardinal Barnabò made the personal letter of the Holy Father ineffective and declared our efforts illegitimate. Furthermore, he was basing himself on the false principle that the Work of the Good Shepherd served to maintain the Institutes in Cairo, and he mentioned that the basis for his prohibition was the wish of the Council Members of the Propagation of the Faith. For love of brevity without many explanations, I announce the initiative I am putting into practice which is paralysing the Cardinal’s efforts. We are doing it for Africa’s good and through respect for the Pope who, with the papal letter in his own hand, attributed indulgences to the Work.
[1751]
I am founding a Committee in Paris made up of the most distinguished Catholic figures in France, in order to collect donations for the Seminary in Verona and others that we shall be establishing. The members of this Committee include three of the most distinguished and active Council members of the Propagation of the Faith in Paris: M. Baudon, President of the Conferences of St Vincent de Paul; M. Cochin, of the French Institute and Academy; M. Auguste Nicolas, Counsellor at the Imperial court and Author of Etudes philosophiques. These have accepted. The following have also accepted:
Baron Havelt, with whom I am staying, founder of the Work of the Holy Land Pilgrimage and Pontifical Commissary for the Universal Exhibition;
M. Faugère, Minister Plenipotentiary and Director of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs;
M. le Comte de Courcelles, former French ambassador to Rome;
M. le Prince Broglie of the Académie Française;
M. le Comte de Mèrode, Monsignor’s brother;
M. le Comte de Ségur, Monsignor’s brother;
M. de Valette, Canon of Notre Dame of Paris;
M. de Reineval, Vicar at the Madeleine, and the brother of a former Ambassador to Rome;


[1752]
M. Edmond Lefont, President of Peter’s Pence.

I have other names and members of the Clergy. I am of the opinion we should not say anything at all to Rome about this Committee, even when it has been formed (which will take a week or two). It is therefore good that Your Excellency fight with the weapons you have; and should the Cardinal win (which seems tome impossible), the existence of the Committee in Paris, composed of the top people, will be the weapon to determine our victory. I shall not extend my letter to note the many arguments in favour of the usefulness of this Committee.

[1753]
I received a magnificent and most affectionate letter from the Duke of Modena in Vienna, which encourages me. I have developed an intimate relationship with Charles VII and his wife, the daughter of the Duchess of Parma. If he succeeds to the Throne of Spain, as I hope, it will be good for Africa. I visit these two most devout young people frequently.
I await your consent and your blessing, and I remain

Your most humble and unworthy son,

Fr Daniel Comboni

Out of respect for the Cardinal, I have not permitted L'Apostolat to publish the Decree of the canonical establishment of the Good Shepherd before youauthorise it.