Albizuri Among the Lyngams (A Brief History of the Catholic Mission Among the Lyngams of Northeast India) (An Old and Rare Book)

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Fr. Manolo Albizuri will occupy a high place in the roster of missionaries who dedicated their lives to the cause of Christ in Northeast India. The Church in Northeast India has been privileged to have been served by a large number of men of remarkable apostolic spirit; men whose courage, generosity and spirit of self-sacrifice were raised above ordinary levels of achievement by the exacting physical and spiritual conditions under which they laboured.

A mountainous terrain, harsh weather condition, paucity of roads, dense forests, long journeys on foot, a primitive people; each made severe demands on the physical resources, the moral strength and the spiritual resilience of the men who brought the light of the Gospel into this inhospitable region. The rich harvest of souls, the proliferation of institutions of education and social service, the multiplication of dioceses, in a word, a flourishing christianity, is a valuable tribute to apostolic labourers like Fr. Albizuri, SDB. For him, no sacrifice was too great, no privation too exacting. no danger too daunting to prevent him from preaching the Gospel to a distant village situated almost in some impenetrable forest or perched on some inaccessible mountain ledge.

His death, in a jeep accident, was symbolic of his life. He always lived dangerously, and a peaceful death-bed would have been out of character with his life as he chose to lead.

A laughing cavalier of Christ, he always retained, despite the mishaps and trials of his life, an irrepressible good humour for the entertainment of his fellow Salesians.

It was a happy thought of Fr. Sebastian Karotemprel, SDB, to make his life and work accessible to the reading public specially to Catholics whose appreciation of missionary vocation may have suffered an eclipse under the impact of the social orientations abroad iu the post-Vatican Church.

The historical, geographical and anthropological information contained in the book enhances its value.

It is always somewhat presumptuous to venture into writing about a remote tribe, remote in culture, language and customs. The task is made even more difficult as there are no written records, when its language has no script.

The mission centre too of Sonapahor is a reflection of the people in the Lyngam area. Fr. Albizuri was not a man for records, beyond baptism and marriage registers. When I inquired about mission chronicles and records and stressed their importance for future historians, his reply was quick: "I do not keep a record of history. I have no time for it. I only make history" Indeed, he was a maker of history rather than a chronicler of history!

On the other hand Fr. Albizuri had a very sharp memory and an extraordinary capacity for narrating past events, though not without exaggerations. In fact, some of the information I have been able to gather about the Lyngams comes from him, while for the rest I am indebted to Catechists, the Lyngam people themselves and the priests who have been connected with the mission of Sonapahar. I have also made use of written records about them by anthropologists and historians.

This short work was planned during my brief stay at Sonapaаhar during the Holy Week of 1982, from April 7 to 12. There I was able to interview the Sisters of the Society of Christ Jesus, several Catechists, Presbyterian Church leaders, etc. Subsequently, I was able to discuss matters with priests connected with the Lyngam people and with the growth of the Catholic Church in that area. I have also done some research in the Vendrame missiological Institute library at Sacred Heart Theological College, Shillong.

I must say a word about the structure of this study. It is divided into three distinct chapters.