THE SECRET SCRIPTURE OF THE POOR BY
REV. JOHN HENAGHAN St Columban's Foreign Mission Society
DUBLIN CLONMORE AND REYNOLDS, LTD. LONDON AGENTS BURNS OATES & WASHBOURNE. LTD.
FIRST PUBLISHED 1951.
Nihil obstat.
MICHAEL O'DWYER, D.D.,
Censot' Theol. Deput. Imprimi potest.
+JOANNES,
Episcopus Midensis. Die
21
Dec., anno
1950.
MADE AND PRINTED IN TIIII REPUBLlO OF ntELAND FOR OLONMORE & REYNOLDS BY SEALY BRYERS & WALKER DUBLIN
FOREWORD POVERTY and hardship are the lot of many; suffering and death overtake all. These things provide every man with the opportunity of self-sacrifice and ¡holiness. It is human however to fear them, to be pleased if our lives are sheltered from them, to be rebellious if they come our way. To join issue with our nature is not easy, bu t we have much to inspire us. The life and teaching of Our Lord are a boundless source of encouragement and strength. Christ asked no man to do or suffer anything that He himself did not do or suffer. " He has been through every trial ", says St Paul, " fashioned as we are only sinless." We have also, for our example, the lives of fellow-men. How many souls have been stirred and disturbed by the heroism of Damien the Leper t There are thousands of lives cast in the mould of Damien, young lives growing old in wageless service of others. Every day dawns too on the spectacle of poor homes and sick beds in which poverty and suffering are received in peace and joy. The world sees nothing but the pain and ignominy of such lives; many mistake them for madness. But in fact those souls travel a route to holiness and heaven, charted by the Son of God. The following pages were written by an Irish missionary priest who was put to death in the Philippine Islands in the year 1945. They unfold the secret scripture which sustains souls in poverty, in suffering, and in self-sacrifice.
THE AUTHOR FATHER JOHN HENAGHAN was born in Louisburgh, Co. Mayo, Ireland, in the year l882. He was ordained in St Patrick's College, Maynooth, in June 1909, and served for seven years in his native diocese: at first in the parish of Annaghdown and later in the cathedral parish of Tuam. His memory is still fresh in those parishes. He was quiet, scholarly and unworldly, with the gift of sympathy in a rare degree. While still a young curate he became convinced that he should take an active part in preaching the Gospel to pagans, and in October 19l6, he was one of five priests who initiated St Columban's Foreign Mission Society. He was the first editor of The Far . East, and for fourteen years he wrote and preached on behalf of the foreign missions. In 1931 he was, to his great joy, appointed to a newly established mission in the Philippine Islands. "I am glad ", he said when he received his appointment, "to put on the stole again." When Japanese troops occupied the Philippine Islands in 1942, Father Henaghan was superior of the Columban Missionaries there. On February loth, 1945, he was taken with three other priests from their presbytery in Manila. The people watched them as they were marched through the streets between armed guards, but they dared not follow. It is not known how the priests were put to death. Their bodies lie in an unknown grave somewhere in or near Manila. B
CONTENTS
Chapter I.
Page THE HOLY NAME
13
NAZARETH
15
III.
CALVARY
20
IV.
THE BLESSED EUCHARIST
26
II.
V. MARY, OUR MOTHER
VI. VII. VIII.
IX. X. XI.
SANCTITY SUFFERING DEATH PRAYER
54
THE PAGAN MISSIONS
62
DAMIEN-EXEMPLAR OF NOBLE DEEDS
68
EPILOGUE
B2
32
II5