ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Father Albert Ezeanya, a priest at Sacred Heart Parish in Abilene and Sts. Joachim & Ann mission in Clyde shared what it means to be a spiritual leader.

“To be a priest is to be Alter Christus. Another Christ and it’s a great privilege,” Ezeanya explained.

He was born in Nigeria and showed an interest at the early age of ten, but his spiritual quest began with his father.

“He had made a promise to God that when he was ready to have children to sacrifice one, two or three to become a priest or even a nun,” Ezeanya added. “I laughed and I said, ‘Why didn’t you become a priest by yourself?’ He made a prayer and God answered that prayer through me.”

He served as a priest in Abilene and the Big County for almost four years and 19 years overall. When Ezeanya was introduced to serve Sacred Heart in 2019, he wanted to pick up where Father Robert Bush left off.

“When I came to find out that we had adoration I continued to where he stopped,” said Ezeanya.

Eucharistic adoration for the catholic is known to date back to the early days of the Catholic church. It allowed people to sit and pray in the real presence of Jesus Christ, something that is very specific to Abilene.

“For now, this is the official adoration chapel approved by the diocese,” Ezeanya shared.

The Sacred Heart’s Adoration Chapel is not just known to those in west Texas though.

“You will see people from Germany, from Switzerland, from England. From different areas of the world who come to see that chapel,” Ezeanya said.

Little did he know that he was creating something new in Clyde.

“I was doing it as a private adoration for myself to get ready for the mass… When the people of God saw me doing this, they started joining,” Ezeanya shared.

With the recent completion of the Sacred Heart Parish Hall, Ezeanya held a healing mass in the hall and he shared that the response was overwhelming.

“By our count 175, but when I started to anoint the sick, more people came from home who didn’t even attend the mass. Those who were having surgery, those who were in danger of death, and those who think they needed it because they were sick,” Ezeanya explained. “For two or three hours, I was anointing these people and they come crying and when they were leaving, they were leaving laughing so that gave me a lot of encouragement that God is at work.”