JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — “My journey reminds me that we are all God’s children and that we need one another as we walk together toward eternal life.”
Felicia Annunoby’s words echoed off granite walls etched with Scripture verses and ceiling panels emblazoned with images of past immigrants to Missouri hard at work.
“By God’s grace and with persistent prayer and the support of my faith community, I was able to overcome the challenges I faced as an immigrant,” said Annunoby, a member of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City.
She was one of several people who spoke of their immigrant experiences during a “Prayer and Witness to Stand with Migrants” event in the rotunda of the Missouri Capitol on Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption.
About 300 people gathered in the Capitol with Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell of Jefferson City and Father Scott Jones, the episcopal vicar of the Northern Vicariate of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
In her remarks, Anunoby, a registered nurse, recounted that when she was young and vulnerable she traveled from her home country of Nigeria to find work in the United Kingdom. During difficult times, “I held firmly to my faith, which sustained me,” she said.
Her journey led her to the U.S. in 1966, where she endured emotional and verbal abuse in an arranged marriage marred by addiction. Local service agencies helped her set out on her own. She went on to pass her nursing board exam and earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing and two master’s degrees. She later reconciled with her husband, and they raised their children together.
Thirty years ago, she joined St. Peter Parish. “The parishioners and perpetual eucharistic adoration became the sanctuary I needed during my struggles, isolation and loneliness as an immigrant,” she said.
The crowd in the rotunda prayed for strangers to be welcomed, as Anunoby was, with compassion and for the God-given dignity of every human person to be upheld from conception to natural death.
The people began in the nearby Proto-Cathedral of St. Peter by meditating on the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary.
Several people took turns leading the prayers in Igbo, Tagalog, English, Spanish and Burmese. Marissa Madden-Flores, director of Family and Immigrations Services at Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri, offered a brief meditation for each mystery.
The prayers reminded Bishop O’Donnell of how his grandmother, a daughter of immigrants from Germany, would pray the Rosary in her native tongue.
“From generation to generation, we learn and carry the faith,” the bishop said.
The people prayed quietly before processing in sacred silence to the Capitol. Hymns, antiphons and petitions rose up within the Capitol rotunda.
Bishop O’Donnell said the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46) is an urgent reminder to notice people who are hungry, thirsty, estranged, naked, sick or imprisoned and to help them on God’s behalf.
“Let us pray today that all will come to know the Lord’s mercy,” said Bishop O’Donnell, “and in receiving that gift extend it to one another.”
Representatives of various communities offered prayers for churches and communities; for unaccompanied minor children; for neighbors, friends and family members; for migrant workers; for all who have been driven out of their homeland by violence; for government leaders; for people in law enforcement and first responders; and for all who have died while searching for safety.
Father Scott Jones gave voice to prayers from Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis, who had hoped to take part in the event but was unable to attend.
“You love each one of your children regardless of the lands they come from,” Father Jones prayed. “We ask that you make our hearts humble and willing to welcome those who knock at our doors.”
On the archbishop’s behalf, Father Jones urged everyone to pray daily for hearts to be open to seeing Christ in every person; for immigrants, migrants and refugees to find safety, hope, justice and welcome; for wisdom and compassion to guide elected officials, civic leaders and law enforcement; and for this nation to grow in unity, justice, peace and respect for the dignity of every human life.
“Go forth today,” Father Jones proclaimed, “with a simple prayer on your lips: ‘Lord, help me to see you in every person I meet, and make me an instrument of your peace.’”
