Quote of the day, 5 January: Brother Jean Thierry Ebogo

I know what you are thinking, Mama, but I can assure you that I am preserving my purity. I prayed to Jesus to give me the gift of chastity, and I have no doubt that I will be heard. I want to be a priest, and I want to remain pure until the priesthood.

Servant of God Brother Jean Thierry of the Child Jesus and of the Passion Ebogo

4 February 1982, Cameroon – 5 January 2006, Italy

Note: Born in Cameroon in 1982, Servant of God Brother Jean Thierry of the Child Jesus and of the Passion entered the Discalced Carmelites in Cameroon in 2003, but his formation was soon marked by severe illness. Diagnosed with a malignant bone tumor that led to the amputation of his right leg, he bore suffering with remarkable serenity and charity, encouraging others and abandoning himself wholly to the divine will. In 2005, he was brought to Italy for treatment, where a recurrence of cancer spread throughout his body. With special permission from Rome, he professed his solemn vows in his hospital room in Legnano on December 8, 2005, in the presence of his mother. Drawn to him were many—youth, religious, priests, and the sick—whom he consoled while quietly concealing his own pain. After receiving the Eucharist, he died peacefully on January 5, 2006; his final words, spoken while gazing at an image of divine mercy, were a simple exclamation of love: “How beautiful Jesus is.”

Featured image: Brother Jean Thierry is joined by his mother, Marie-Thérèse Ebogo at his bedside in Legnano on the day of his solemn profession in 2005. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission).

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