Writings

[5870]

“… My journey from Cairo to Khartoum with the large caravan was very long and difficult. Since most of my camels died of hunger and thirst because there had been virtually no rain, it was very difficult to find others to cross the great Atmur desert with my people. I was forced to divide the caravan in two, one section for the transportation of people through the Atmur, and the other for the provisions which crossed the deserts of the kingdom of Dongola, reaching Khartoum 125 days after it had left Cairo. The former, which I was leading myself, arrived after a 77-day journey: we had been on the move 17 hours a day with the temperature reaching 58°, so we arrived more dead than alive.

[5871]

I found Central Africa devastated by a horrible famine which had lasted 7 months and had spread so relentlessly that there was nothing left. There was not even any salt to season our food, which is a worse privation than it might seem. Wheat, that used to cost 20 francs an ardeb (a 90 kilo sack), was all used up, even after its price had soared to 360 francs. Anyway, for a while some local grain was to be had, but the durra (with big brown grains), the dokhon (a kind of millet) and other items of absolute necessity were selling at 50 to 60 times their normal price.

[5872]

In the kingdom of Kordofan where we have three establishments, salty, dirty water was difficult to find at 3 francs a bormah (a 4 litre measure). A Sister with some orphan girls would have to get up at 4.00 a.m. to go to the wells because ours had dried out, and to have this blessed brackish water we waited until noon and used it for cooking, drinking and washing. It was impossible to do the laundry. The very water used to wash our faces was then avidly drunk. There were thousands of abandoned villages: people were dying like flies from hunger and thirst, not to mention the animals. Furthermore, in countries like these where we are fighting fevers at every moment, they caught several infectious diseases and a lightning fever that takes you to the other world in half an hour. For 4 months, I did not sleep a full hour in each 24-hour day. After so many disasters and horrors and with such a dreadful calamity oppressing my Vicariate, a large number of my missionaries, sisters, lay brothers and pupils were cut down by death, and those who were spared fell ill like me!

[5873]

But the works of the Lord, especially that of the Apostolate, must be born and grow on the slopes of Calvary and their story is summed up in these two words: Cross and Martyrdom; the cross, the royal way, along which all who wish to triumph must pass! So many deaths among us are unprecedented; the victims included my Vicar and general administrator, my right hand in the work, Fr Antonio Squaranti. There was a period when I was the only one left to administer the sacraments since all the other missionaries were dead or dying and at the same time I was Bishop, parish priest, Vicar, superior, administrator, doctor, surgeon, nurse and orderly to the sick day and night! One day I wanted to buy myself a piece of meat at the price of gold so as to make some broth, but none was to be found. Sister Arsenia Le Floch (born in Brittany, France), Superior of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition from Marseilles (a real angel of piety) was desperately ill in Kordofan, and wanted some bread dunked in water but it was impossible to satisfy her; when eventually some was found at a Jewish merchant’s the poor sick woman had already passed on to a better life”.

+ Daniel Comboni

[5874]

Everybody knows how difficult it is to convert Mohammedans. Thousands and thousands of Missionaries have worked for many years in the Orient. For over 6 centuries, the worthy Franciscan Fathers have been struggling in Palestine, and a great many of them underwent severe suffering. The reverend Vincentian Fathers, the Capuchins, the Jesuits, the Carmelites have flourishing Missions and very popular institutes there. Among the women’s orders we should mention the Sisters of St Vincent de Paul, those of the Apparition of St Joseph, of Nazareth, the Ladies of Sion and other associations and congregations. There are Bishops, Vicars Apostolic and Patriarchal Delegates, and a great many Bishops of the Greek-Catholic rite, Armenians, Maronites, Chaldeans and Sorians, with a multitude of Oriental priests and friars.

[5875]

Yet, although there have been and still are such a large number of personnel and a troop of Missionaries of all the rites there, the conversion of a Mohammedan is a great rarity! Let us move on. In Algeria we find a Catholic Archbishop with Bishops and a considerable number of French Missionaries and many other religious establishments, since this land became a French possession in 1830.

[5876]

Nonetheless the very reverend Canon Lebouf of Algiers Cathedral told me that in all 36 years of his mission in Algeria, during which he fulfilled the office and duties of parish priest, not a single conversion of a follower of Mohammed to Catholicism was recorded!
However, we can report a few conversions of this kind which occurred in Central Africa, although here too such cases are rare. The conversion of the Mohammedans whom I solemnly baptised and confirmed in the Khartoum church is the hidden work of divine grace which amazingly called two grown men to the faith. One is 22 and received the names of Alfredo Salvatore in Baptism, and the other, who is about 20, took the names of Pietro Giovanni.

[5877]

These conversions were not however due to me, nor to anyone in my Vicariate. They were due exclusively to the worthy Reverend Brothers of the Christian Schools in Cairo, who perhaps know nothing of the good effects of their so virtuously regulated life. But they will learn about them from my report which reveals the identities of the two people on whom these good religious had so beneficial an influence. The two young men were born in Dongola, in my Vicariate. Their parents are Mohammedans, traders in dates between the kingdom of Dongola and Socoth, and Cairo and Alexandria. Both young men were brought up according to the laws of Mohammed.

[5878]

I cannot explain how they came to be in Cairo with their parents, were received as servants at the Christian Brothers’ Institute and were serving in the hostel. The fact is they assert that they met me years ago and served me at table on a visit I had made to these religious, with whom I used to stay when I went from Old Cairo to New Cairo on business for the Institute.

[5879]

These young Mohammedans to whom divine grace was revealed, could not free themselves of the impressions necessarily inspired by lives given to piety and devotion, lived in constant harmony and love for the pupils. Each day they saw the virtuous way of life of these brothers, the purity of their habits, their continuous exercise of humility, gentleness, mortification and goodness; and they were persuaded that only in the religion of these teachers and educators who were so devout could they find the pure truth on which it rests, that it is only there that the strength of virtue is found.

[5880]

The grace of Jesus Christ who brought them to know the call of the true Faith also imbued them with love and enthusiasm for it and gave them the strength of will to comply with what it teaches. They must have reasoned and said to each other: “But isn’t this religion far more beautiful and sublime than that of the Koran? What a difference, even just in the music, the ceremonies and all the external forms of worship in the Brothers’ chapel, compared with the shouting to be heard in our mosques!” Although they were touched by grace, they did not dare obey the voice of God who spoke so loudly in their hearts, for they were aware that in Egypt there had not been so much progress as to remove from the law capital punishment for any Muslim who became Christian or for any Missionary who attempted to convert a Mohammedan.

[5881]

Nonetheless, the two young men who were most obedient and well-behaved in their service made every effort to acquire some Catholic notions and to learn by heart much of what the Catechism teaches. The example constantly before their eyes had the same effect on them as the most eloquent homily by a Missionary; so that when they were put into my hands they were already converted to the faith and I had no more to do than to instruct them and cultivate the good seed which the Cairo Brothers had unwittingly sown in their hearts. After a trial period, I baptised them solemnly on 1st May in honour of the blessed Virgin Mary, in the splendid month of May consecrated to her. I sent Giovanni to the Mission in Kordofan and the younger one to the Khartoum Mission. The flourishing schools under the direction of the worthy sons of venerable La Salle are one of the most effective and important means available to the Apostolate of the mission in the Orient. Their activity is a slow and silent apostolate, but it is safer and more successful than any other, given that they are dedicated to educating the youth of all sects and of all rites which is precisely why the Christian regeneration of the whole of the Orient is under way.

+ Bishop Daniel of Claudiopolis, in partibus infidelium

[5882]

I am very pleased to learn from your letter that you have returned to Paris with your children and that the journey was without problems. I have been dreaming, thinking that in these days when the papers are speaking of the dreadful cold in Paris and Brittany, you had to make the whole journey from Finistère to the Seine but, thank God, you are safe and sound. I hope it will not be long before I come to Paris. I will be happy to see you again. I was sorry about the death of Mgr Gaume who was a true luminary of the universal Church and a star of Catholic France. In Italy he was mourned by all; he was also very popular with the people for his work, the Catechism of Perseverance, but he was mourned above all by the clergy.

[5883]

As soon as I am able (I have been incapacitated through illness) I shall write my report for the new President of the Apostolic Work who has written to me twice since the death of the founder, Mademoiselle du Chesne, for whom funeral services with solemn high Masses were celebrated throughout Central Africa. So I will be sending you the list of the articles I need for my Mission.
The defection of Fr Paolo, who has completely lost his apostolic spirit and also his head, caused me great sorrow and harmed the Mission. He was completely below the standard required to direct even the administration. I have replaced him with someone who is far more able, in order to repair the disorder and damage that he caused; he left without saying a word and without telling me that he was leaving, and he told some of my friends: “I will never go to Africa. Either they let me be Superior of the Institutes in Verona, or I shall never come back”. He never obeyed. We are suffering famine in Africa and although I wrote to him more than ten times not to spend on building, he built for 20,000 francs or more, and had resources destined for Africa sent to him in Verona.

[5884]

Fr Bouchard brought him 15,000 francs from Paris that were destined for Africa and he never deigned to send them to me. Madame, I tell you this in confidence, but it is the truth. He spent all this money on my houses in Verona, but against my will. In the end I managed to put everything straight. But without a miracle by St Joseph, I would have been ruined by Fr Paolo. This is a small matter, I must have patience. These crosses show once again that the Work I founded is God’s Work, so: “Africa or death!”

[5885]

I am as yet unable to form a judgement on Bouchard. His words are splendid, he always says he would give his life for love of Mgr Comboni, but when I order him to do something, if it he does not like it, he does not do it. He is with me, and I am sure I can make him work, but he does not easily submit to other Superiors.
Finally, he is American and has too high an idea of freedom. St Ignatius of Loyola said: “Lord, take all my freedom”.
He left Cairo on 22nd November and I hope he will reach Khartoum with 14 others in the middle of this month. I will write you more about Bouchard when I come up to the Work.

[5886]

I am glad that the good Anna is tormented by my money. Well, tell this dear daughter kindly to take it to the Société Générale in Rue de Provence and to have a Société Générale cheque made out to me and to send me this cheque here. I will have it cashed by my banker in Rome, Mr Brown et Fils, in Via Condotti. Through Brown et Fils I have changed more than 1,000 francs with the Société which has representatives all over the world.

[5887]

Could you tell me the name of a priest in Rennes who might give me information on a certain Jules Simon, Chevalier de Saint Grégoire, who was a zouave, a book-binder, fought at Patay, joined the Missionaries of Algiers and was then in Tunis, etc. He had magnificent letters of recommendation and I received great praise of him from Arras, etc. I have two letters from the Superiors in Tunis and Valenciennes; he left for Central Africa with Bouchard. Now, from Lille, they have written to me saying that he is married, that he has a woman and children whom he has abandoned; but the people in Lille do not know him and believed he was a religious. But in Rennes they know everything and so does the Bishop of Rennes. If all this is true I will give orders for him to be sent home, since his duties to his family come first.

[5888]

Will you, who know the capital of Brittany, therefore be kind enough to find out about this Jules Simon who, they tell me, has tricked many convents, etc.
I now wish you and all your family a happy New Year and remain
Your most affectionate

+ Daniel,
Bishop and Vicar Apostolic


Translated from French.

[5889]

I was really happy to receive your letter of 31st December and to know that you have reached Paris. After the news of the dreadful cold in Paris, I thought you were still blocked in Prat-en-Raz with Auguste and Madame de Villeneuve (where the besieged are still better accommodated than during the siege of Paris in 1871) and that the cold was preventing you from returning to Paris. I therefore hope to see you this winter. I wouldn’t have believed in 1878 that I would once again to be able to enter the Villeneuve house and see Auguste, you and your venerable mother. I thought I would never see Europe again; I told His Holiness Leo XIII that Job had been in a garden of delights compared to me who was suffering so much!

[5890]

Now I am still suffering the consequences in my bones and in my health. But, harder than a rock, I shall be steadfast to my war-cry: “Africa or death!” I beg you, Madame, to tell Mr Auguste of all the affection and immense interest I have for him, for he is good. I beg you to pay my respects to Madame your mother (oh… how I love my friends!…) who will tell me all in Paris, in her lovely voice. A thousand greetings also to my esteemed correspondent, your sister, Sr Anna. I also send my wishes for prosperity and happiness to Mr Gaultier and Miss Jaury.
In the hope of seeing you soon and embracing my dear friend Auguste, I remain in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Your most affectionate

+ Daniel Comboni
Bishop and Vicar Apostolic


Translated from French.

[5891]

Today the most worthy parish priest of S. Giorgio came to see me and confirmed the pleasant news that you will be doing your Spiritual Exercises after Epiphany and will then be coming to Verona. To the Child Jesus (who never grows old), to his Mother Queen of Africa and to my dear bursar St Joseph (who never dies and never goes bankrupt, but always administers things well with good judgement and is the perfect gentleman), to these three objects of our love I am now making a novena to obtain the grace that before the anniversary of the Nuptials of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the 23rd of this month) or on that holy day, dear Fr Sembianti may be installed in his important office as Rector of the African Institutes in Verona; and St Joseph, who is the perfect gentleman, has never denied me any temporal grace and together with Jesus and Mary, forms a most holy Triad that will certainly not deny me this spiritual grace that I ask.

[5892]

In your Spiritual Exercises, please pray fervently that the Heart of Jesus may convert our one hundred million Hamite unbelievers to the faith, and that with the help of the prayers of all the worthy sons of the great Father Bertoni we may wage bitter wars and break the horns of the devil in Africa, renewing it, destroying him and establishing the kingdom of Christ there and making it triumphant. Pray also for me in a special way, because of all the Bishops of the world I am the most isolated (and I am in the middle of the world). I said this in Rome. For in Central Africa, if I wanted to seek advice from a confrère Bishop nearest to me or to my residence, I would have to travel for at least two months… But the answer I was given by holy and eminent persons was: “Do not fear, God will always be with you”. But you see that I need prayers. Pray, therefore, and never cease.
In the hope of seeing you soon in Verona, I remain in the most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Yours most affectionately in the Lord,

+ Daniel,
Bishop and Vicar Apostolic

[5893]

The other day I was hoping to visit you and spend an hour with Your Most Reverend Excellency, my fellow Brescian and son of that holy Bishop and worthy Pastor, Mgr Verzeri, who with his zeal and virtue renewed the spirit of God in our beloved Diocese of Brescia and perfected its clergy through the example of his ecclesiastical spirit, discipline and true attachment to the Holy See and the Pope. I had hoped, as I said, to go from Milan (S. Calocero) to Cremona to pay my respects to you and to the devout Countess Lily Vidoni Soranzo and her noble family with whom I have had excellent relations for many years; but a telegram summoned me to Verona.

[5894]

However, I hope to pass through Cremona on my return from Sestri Levante, and I will be happy to make your acquaintance personally, and commend to your fervent prayers poor Africa and my Vicariate which is the most enormous, laborious and challenging mission in the world.
In the meantime, I beg you to forward the enclosed letter to Palazzo Vidoni, while I have the honour of remaining in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Your Most Reverend Excellency’s most devoted and respectful true servant

+ Daniel,
Bishop of Claudiopolis
and Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa

[5895]

I cannot express more devotion and deeper gratitude for the proposal Your Eminence deigned to make me on the 14th of this month. Thus I willingly accept the priest John Joseph O’Connor who, if I am not mistaken, is Irish. In my lowliness I shall do all I can to make the best possible use of his good qualities for the apostolate of Central Africa. As soon as it is less cold, it would be good for Fr O’Connor to move into my African Institute in Verona, both for us to be able to know him better personally and for him to be able to start learning Arabic as soon as possible with the most able and active Syrian professor of Arabic in the Institute. He will find here candidates who speak his language and especially English.

[5896]

In the meantime, I ask Your Most Reverend Eminence to invite Fr O’Connor to contact me directly and immediately to send me a résumé of his life, studies, ministry, etc. in a short letter.

[5897]

After very careful consideration, I hope that my dear Bursar St Joseph has given me the grace of finding a holy and very capable Rector for my African colleges in Verona. His Eminence Cardinal di Canossa was very kind in helping me find a new Rector. The foundation at Verona, which has the purpose of testing vocations and preparing candidates for a spirit of sacrifice and the apostolic virtues required of those who work for the Gospel in the holy but arduous Central African Mission, is of the greatest importance. This is the first Mission House of the Vicariate, and I have been busy there for four months. I hope that I have been able to make up for the losses suffered in the fearful year 1878–79 which decimated the workers in the vineyard entrusted to me. My hope, in the sweet Heart of Jesus, is that neither those stormy times, which reduce the number of vocations, nor calamities and death nor any obstacle whatsoever will prevent me from organising and consolidating my Vicariate. In its cause I am ready to give my life a hundred times over to win these peoples to the faith of Jesus Christ.

[5898]

I hope that Fr Geremia Properzi, professor of philosophy, etc. whom your Eminence suggested to me last June, will give good service to Africa. I hope for the same from O’Connor. Should your Eminence notice anyone else of good spirit and ready to suffer for Jesus Christ and for souls, you would do me a great service by giving him to me. The first characteristic of the missionary to Africa is the love of suffering. Jesus Christ, who, after all, had a good heart and a fine brain, decided in all his wisdom to construct the cross – and not a carriage – to take people to heaven. Even his mother was not dispensed from this and she became the Queen of Martyrs. Nor did Jesus dispense his Vicar on earth nor his most noble helpers, their Eminences the Cardinals, to whom he gives a thousand crosses and thorns in the government of his immaculate Spouse.
Kissing the Sacred Purple, I remain
Your Most Reverend Eminence’s most humble and obedient son

+ Daniel,
Bishop and Vicar Apostolic

[5899]

Thank you for your letter of 10th January. I received everything from the bank in Verona. All is in order. Thank you for your charity.
I made a quick journey to Milan, Como, Genoa and Sestri Levante, where I must return for a few days.
I am pleased to hear that your dear children are well, as well as Madame de Tanquerelle. When I arrive in Paris we will allay all those worries and alleviate your delicate stomach. Here it is extremely cold and that is a great hardship for a poor devil who is used to 60 degrees in Central Africa.

[5900]

In the meantime, please give my affectionate greetings to my dear Auguste, to Madame Paule, to Mademoiselle Anne and to Madame de Tanquerelle, while I remain ever
Your most devoted

+ Daniel Comboni

Mgr Massaia has been released and sent into exile by the despotic king of Abyssinia. He might come to Europe. Would it be possible to bring him to your house and have dinner again at your table? He is a saint.
Have you made any headway in Rennes in discovering the secrets of the Jules Simon I mentioned? Pray for me.


Translated from French.