AMECEA: Meet a Priest who chose a unique way to evangelize to the Masses through Art
Rev. Fr. Simon Sabvala
By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
Art has a strong way of speaking to the soul and producing effects that words alone cannot explain and to that effect, a hidden treasure is being molded at Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) Gaba Campus, through the work of a Malawian Priest who is slowly transforming a graveyard into a beautiful Prayer garden, where art evangelizes to the soul.
The CUEA Gaba Campus has for many years been known as a place for spiritual renewal for priests and the religious. Formerly known as AMECEA Pastoral Institute, Gaba has been a centre for sabbatical for priests and religious from AMECEA Region and beyond who have worked for quite a number of years and needed a break in the ministry before proceeding to the next pastoral appointment.
Rev. Fr. Simon Sabvala from Mangochi Diocese in Malawi the brainchild behind the beautiful artistic CUEA Gaba Campus Spiritual Ground arrived at Gaba eight years ago for a sabbatical course that was supposed to last for one year.
“I had worked for 20 years in my diocese back home and I needed to rest. So my bishop allowed me and two of my colleagues to come to Gaba to rest a bit,” he said in an interview with AMECEA Online News.
As Fr. Simon would soon discover, the university’s setting was so busy that there was no rest at all. He ended up doing the course work offered at the AMECEA Pastoral Institute with others. Even as he undertook his studies, his desire for a private corner where he could keep to himself in solitude and reflect was growing stronger and stronger. This he said was something that the majority of his colleagues in Sabbatical also secretly longed for. “So when we were established in the sabbatical we said why don’t we create a corner where we can be quiet by ourselves and pray.”
This idea of a prayer corner, was concretized by a visit to the African Bible on the Ground Centre, which was established by Benedictine priest at their Monastery in Nanyuki. It inspired him and his friends to set up the prayer garden. “We realized that we didn’t have enough space and the only available space was a small graveyard. The institution used to be a school for young girls run by some religious congregation and two people died there; a religious sister and a girl of twelve years and they were both buried here. So we decided to convert the place into a prayer garden,” Fr. Simon explained.
Fr. Simon took the concept from the African Bible on the Ground centre and used different themes from the old and new testaments to create the beautiful prayer scenery. From the old testament he chose the fall of man at the Garden of Eden, the call of Abraham, the call of Moses and the ten commandment and modelled them on slabs that strongly speaks to the audience. From the new testament, he created the sea of Galilee, which portrays who Jesus is; I am the bread of life, Proclaiming liberty to the oppressed and good tidings to the poor. Finally, Jesus has resurrected and ascended to heaven but he is still around in our neighbours, so he is asking us what we do the least of our brothers in our midst. Towards the exit to the prayer garden which he is still working on, Fr. Simon has a number of saints and intends to add a few more.
“The idea of the prayer garden was to provide a place within the institution that would break the monotony of books and academic environment and create a serene place where one can retreat by themselves and have a moment of reflection. We started off by establishing stations for the way of the cross and have since added other items.”
When he arrived in the country in 2008, Fr. Simon’s artistic instincts compelled him to do something about the university’s gate which looked quite dull, he therefore approached the then, director of Gaba, Rev. Fr. Pius Male, and asked him if he could remodel the emblem of CUEA at the gate of the campus to make it more pronounced and he was given the go ahead. He took to his passion, playing guitar and doing music with a group of youth as well as remodelling the gate. This got the director of Gaba interested in his work and asked him to stay longer.
Fr. Simon loves painting although the only formal education he has as far as art is concerned is a two-weeks training he got from an Italian painter. He says that seeing his finished piece of art gives him a great satisfaction, which unfortunately usually lasts only for a while.
He wants to continue with his passion of evangelizing through art when he goes back home toMalawi. “I am inspired to make a similar prayer garden not just for my diocese but for the conference if the Bishops allow it.” He is however quick to point out that the limited resources might be a big hindrance towards realizing that dream.
I want to do this because it is my passion, if there is funding somewhere and a place where I can do it then I will put my whole heart to it. All that I need is cement, sand and wire. The wire is for making the structure and filling it up with a mixture of sand and cement.
Born in 1961 Fr. Simon was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Mangochi 28 years ago. He spent ten years teaching, ten years doing pastoral work and 8 years in Gaba working as a staff member there.
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