My parents are Teshager Mekonnen and Tsadu Abai. I
was born in 1982 on the borderline between Ethiopia and Sudan. Although I do not
know the exact day I was born, it was forty days later that I was baptized into
the Ethiopian Orthodox Tweadow Church on the Feast of the Baptism of Our Dear
Lord, according to the Ethiopian calendar. I had several cousins and neighbors
who died from diseases, because many people did not trust the medical assistance
given by the Red Cross. I had the flu and was very dehydrated, so my mother took
me to a traditional medicine man. He gave me five lacerations to my back as the
cure for my flu. My mother, Tsadu, prayed to our Blessed Mother and finally
entrusted my life to the Red Cross. She humbly followed the nurse's instructions
and through the intercession of Our Lady I received the mercy of God and was
healed. My mother told me I was very near death. As she recounted the story, my
body gradually felt heavy and my eyes were shut.
My parents had fled from the villages and towns in
Ethiopia because of the civil war. They also left in high hopes for a better
future elsewhere. Both my parents literally had a childhood full of work for
their daily bread. They were not given the opportunity to attend school or
socialize much with their adolescent friends. My father, Teshager, attended only
two months of summer school at his local church. Once they met they eventually
developed a small business and they tried to apply to travel to the United
States. Protestant Christians located in Dallas, Texas sponsored us by paying
for our flight. We stayed at their home until we could get settled in.
Eventually we moved here to Philadelphia, once my mother visited my aunt and
managed to convince my dad that we should live here. After several years my
parents bought a home in a bad neighborhood surrounded by violence and drug
dealers. My parents learned from my aunt's husband about how great Catholic
elementary schools are and how he had sent all his kids to Saint Ignatius
School. My two brothers Solomon, Eskair, and I attend Saint Francis de Sales
elementary school.
My mother and younger brother always had great
devotion to our Lady in the past but I only prayed to Jesus. I love going to
Mass with my mother and brothers at Saint Francis De Sales on Sundays whenever
my mother is off from her housekeeping job. I love reading Sacred Scripture.
Though my dad had little education, he worked from picking fruit on the farm and
washing dishes, to owning his own cab. I came to understand that what made my
parents truly compatible was their understanding of sacrifice and good work
ethics. They taught me by their example that I must take life seriously by
working hard and making sacrifices in order to prepare for my future. They never
perceived that future as being the priesthood but only college and then starting
my own family.
I remember as a kid when my mother told me about my
grandmother and how devout an Orthodox Christian she was because her father was
a married priest. I also remember wishing she were still alive in order to learn
from her about God. Through the grace of God my prayers were answered as I
received two Godparents that were devout Catholic Irish grandmothers. Mary and
Aunt El Fitzpatrick have had the greatest influences in my life in my
understanding of the Catholic faith. They helped my brothers and I with our
schoolwork during elementary school. They impressed me greatly by their virtues
and sincere love for us as a part of their family. The idea to become a priest
came to me only once, when a seminarian gave his vocation talk. I was in the
seventh grade then. But I never gave it any thought as an adolescent. I also was
never an altar server in grade or high school. What impressed me the most was
the mutual love my parents had for each other and I desired to experience the
same in whatever vocation I would be called to in the future.
I went to Parkway Gamma public high school and
graduated in 2000, but I stopped attending Church regularly throughout those
years. I did not have a real prayer life with God for the most part. I
experienced some conversions and began to learn about the Orthodox faith. But
our Lady helped me to hear the Holy Spirit's call for me to officially become
Catholic. The Holy Spirit guided me to imitate Pope John Paul II's practice of
"True devotion to Mary" by Saint Louis Marie de Montfort. That was the
definitive moment I heard God calling me to the priesthood. I made my
consecration to Jesus through Mary on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on
December 12, 2005. It was only then that my relationship with Jesus through Mary
began to take root in my soul. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Our Lady
helped me to earnestly seek Jesus in daily Mass and Adoration. With the help of
Father Zachary William Navit for one year, I was able to discern my call to the
priesthood. It was not only my vocation to the priesthood that was being
strengthened during this time, but also my trust and faith in Jesus. I also
served daily Mass during this time of discernment. I love to serve at Mass, pray
the Liturgy of the Hours, study about God, and build strong bonds with my
brother seminarians. God willing I will be ordained in 2015.
The Holy Spirit has given me the grace to have a
deep devotion to Our Lady. I did not pray to her as a kid, but I have always had
deep love for the Holy Virgin Mary. Our Dear Lady has evangelized to me about
her Son Jesus through the powerful Holy Rosary and devotion to her Immaculate
Heart. It was our Blessed Mother who guided and nurtured my faith in Christ by
obtaining the graces for me to go to daily Mass, adoration, and confession. The
Holy Spirit has revealed to me His will through her and so through her I have
come to encounter Jesus through the sacraments and those who possess the spirit
of Mary. I joined the Legion of Mary and developed skills in working with my
parish family as slaves of Jesus and Mary. My previous pastor at Saint Francis
de Sales Parish, Father Zachary William Navit, became my first Catholic
spiritual director and he helped me greatly in discerning my call to the
priesthood. The bliss and love he has in his relationship with Christ helped me
to finally see the joy of the priesthood. Father Navit was also the first to
invite me to serve Holy Mother Church in some way. He did not know in what
manner and at what moment but he helped me develop my relationship with Jesus.
Many may ask how Our Blessed Mother's role relates
to Christian vocations in a realistic and practical way. Many misunderstand
Jesus as they misunderstand Our Blessed Mother in different extremes. Some may
view our Blessed Mother as just a statue of God's glorious work that we cannot
understand, hear, touch or embrace at all until we reach heaven. Consequently,
we ignore her presence in our daily lives. It is my prayer that through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, many more will come to understand Our Blessed
Mother's role in the history of our salvation and truly come to know Christ, for
she leads us back to Him.
Addisalem Mekonnen is a fourth college seminarian at
Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He can be
reached at (215) 476 5569or email:
Ethiopicartist@yahoo.com.
