Nigerian priest promotes Rosary devotion (1)

Five years ago, Father Justine John Dyikuk promised to always pray the 20 decades of the rosary (all four sets of mysteries) every day for the rest of his life. This was after experiencing what the Nigerian priest described as a divine encounter that changed his life for good.

While serving as parish priest of St. Mary’s Jimpi Parish of the Diocese of Bauchi in northeastern Nigeria, Dyikuk faced opposition and threats from a member of the pastoral team of the parish. But then he witnessed the man’s conversion. (...)

When Dyikuk could no longer endure the threats, he started having special Eucharistic celebrations for the man’s conversion, accompanied by 20 decades of the rosary and novena prayers. 

“Three days into the novena, I heard a knock on the door. Guess who was at the rectory? The same man and his wife,” Dyikuk told ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, in a June 24 interview.

“As soon as I opened the door, they prostrated on the floor,” he continued.
“While I was busy urging them to get up, [the man] said to me without looking up, ‘Father, I am deeply sorry for what I did to you. We could not sleep in our house yesterday. We saw a bright light and a voice told me that if I did not come to apologize to you, I would die.’”

“I assumed he had a divine visitation,” said Dyikuk, who is now based in the U.K.

“It was from that day that I [made] the decision that I would say 20 decades of the rosary every day for the rest of my life. And it is now five years [later], and I have not defaulted,” he said. (...)

It is this experience that inspired Dyikuk to promote the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first thing he did was to construct a grotto at the parish, which he dedicated to Mary. He also animatedly encouraged the daily rosary prayers among different groups of the parish.

Father Justine Dyikuk recently wrote a book called Me and my Rosary.

Agnes Aineah, June 26, 2024

Source (adapted): www.catholicnewsagency.com 

Note:This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.