Rev. Bro. Stephen Donald Lucas, O.P is dead. Bro. Stephen as he is fondly called by Nigerians is a member of the Dominican Order.
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| Rev. Bro. Stephen Donald Lucas O.P |
According to Rev. Fr. Thomas McDermott O.P, Bro. Stephen died on July 6, 2021, which happens to be his 89th birthday. He prayed that he now enjoy the fullness of God's light in the kingdom of love and peace.
Bro. Stephen Lucas came to Nigeria in 1959. He arrived Yaba when it was all bushes and Jiggers. There were no roads and according to him on This Day newspaper of September 3, 2016, he said: "I have built several Churches since I have been here. One is at Iwaya, Mafoluku, Makoko and Tarkwa Bay and I assisted with others. I also built a medical center here in St. Dominic and at Mafoluku. The Clinic is in Yaba Community Center, fondly called YCC Hall. I built it in 1976 within yje premises of St. Dominic Church, with the assistance of the German Community in Lagos. The YCC is the main hall in the Parish and it is used for all major Church functions, wedding receptions and for social activities of various societies in the Parish. The Center also accommodates the DOMNET. The Clinic was officially opened in 1978 and has been providing medical services to outpatient parishioners and non parishioners within Lagos State. It is divided into five units: Child Welfare and General Clinic, Workshop, Ante natal, optical services and laboratory services. They offer HIV/AIDS counselling and natural family planning counselling. The Clinic operates between 8am-3pm (Monday- Friday). The laboratory drug store, consultation and treatment rooms are fully equipped while there is also an Ambulance assigned for clinical uses. I also established the Makoko Clinic in 1988 with the assistance of the Dominican Sisters of Monte Mario, which I sought in 1977. It is an extension of the St. Dominic Clinic and it caters to the Egun fishing Community within Makoko and it's environs.
The Clinic consists of an out-patient Clinic or an in-patient sections including ante-natal and immunization units. It is administered by a Reverend Sister. There are two Doctors who run shifts while three Nurses available at the same time. We sank a borehole there with the support of Arlington Heights Rotary Club in the United States of America; it supplies clean water to the Clinic. I bought a large piece of land in 1965 at Mafoluku and it has been built a complex housing St. Jude's Catholic Church, St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center, St. Martin de Porres filling Station, Dominican Sister's House and Art Shop, Dominican Nursery and Primary School as well as Dominican Secondary School. There is a broadcasting studio close to St. Dominic but I am no longer in charge of that; someone else is in charge of that now. The Studio started in 1994 with the acquisition of the former Crown Hotel located at No. 364, Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba, which was later renamed to Veritas House and later turned into a Studio. "Veritas" means truth in Latin. The Veritas Studio was set up basically to preach the truth to listeners, but in Nigeria, the law does not permit the establishment of Religious broadcasts media thus, the Studio was restricted to packaging and coordinating the broadcast of Dominican Productions in the various electronic media available in the country. It also sourced for materials from Catholic Radio Stations e.g. Radio Vatican and St. Joseph Catholic Radio USA for evangelical purposes.
However today, it has expanded from a purely Dominican facility to a fully equipped studio, rendering various services to the public like, production of jingles, recording and waxing of compact digital audio, CDs, production of tapes etc. There is also a book store. The book Center was initiated by Late Rev. Fr. Ambrose Windbacher O.P and started operating in 1955. I got involved in running it in 1962 and from the little store in the old Father's House, the book center has grown into one of the biggest Catholic bookshops in the country with patronage extending to neighboring countries like the Republic of Benin, Ghana and Cameroon. It has been relocated to a bigger space beside the Parish Office and a warehouse for books is a St. Jude's Mafoluku."
Parishioners of Saint Dominic Catholic Church, Yaba, will attest to the fact that Bro. Stephen is loved by all. His achievements are so unique that the storyline of Saint Dominic Catholic Church, Yaba, cannot be told without mentioning his name.
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| Rev. Bro. Stephen Lucas (second left) with members of St. Dominic Catholic Church during the period of his send forth in 2016 |
Bro. Stephen Lucas also engaged the Youths and Young at Hearts. He founded the Young Christian Workers, who's in charge of the Good Friday Processions and Passion Drama. The Young Christian Workers is now a regional thing as it had grown beyond the level of Parishes. He also founded the Society for vocation Support, that helps raise finds to train Seminarians.
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| Left to Right - Rev. Fr. Thomas McDermott O.P, Rev. Fr. Celestine Nwankwo O.P, Rev. Fr. Edward Riley O.P and Rev. Bro. Stephen Lucas O.P |
Rev. Fr. Thomas McDermott in his post on Facebook, called Bro. Stephen a good man, as he requested prayers for him while he was sick in Chicago.
Lots of People, even on social media express their condolence to the Dominicans, and even to themselves because Bro. Stephen O.P is for everyone.
Rev. Fr. Felix Udolisa O.P, in his post said, he does not need an explanation of a true Dominican Friar, having met Bro. Stephen, he prayed he enjoy the divine embrace.
May God in His infinite mercy grant him peace. Amen.
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