Catholic Diocese of Broome

When many years ago Cyclone John bore down on Broome, Cecilia Djiagween was

living in an old, wooden house with her family. The kids, watching news on the TV, asked her what to do. So she said: “we have to pray now”. Then they sat together and prayed the Rosary until they heard Cyclone John had changed its course, and hit Bidyadanga!

Cissy, as she is known, firmly believes in the power of prayer.
Cissy was born in Beagle Bay 75 years ago. Her father, Bandak Bernard, was a member of the Jugun tribe and her mother, Senanus, of the Yawuru people. During her childhood in Beagle Bay Cissy attended the kindergarten run by the nuns, and has vivid memories of midnight masses organised by them.

The family had been based in Beagle Bay where Bandak worked as a stockman, and then they moved to Broome after the Second World War when Cissy was 9 or 10 years old. Her father’s father had died and, according to custom, the family returned to his country. They lived at Kennedy’s station. Her father did yard work and loading for Jim Kennedy at his store. Cissy remembers helping in the vegetable garden, while her mum worked in the laundry.

On significant dates such as Christmas and Easter the elders insisted on family pilgrimages back to Beagle Bay to receive the sacraments. Cissy recalls with fondness the work involved in assembling money to hire a truck to transport the whole extended family on the long, slow journey to Beagle Bay.

A strong relationship exists between Cissy and the Sisters of St John of God. She attended school at St Mary’s Primary School when it was run by them and, for many years during and after her schooling, she worked at the Old Convent in the laundry. Life in those years was blessed with the gift of common prayer and faith. Cissy recalls praying everyday after school at the Old Convent, attending the Eucharistic Adoration conducted three evenings per week and going to prayer meetings at Beagle Bay. She says that she could feel “the Grace” strengthening souls.

Cissy recounts feeling a similar grace when, in 1986 at Alice Springs, Pope John Paul II met the people and held her hand. She will also never forget going to Rome for the Jubilee Year with Bishop Saunders and, whilst walking through the catacombs, seeing the statue of St Cecilia, her patron saint. Cissy says that she remembers Rome in a positive light, even if Father Anscar did “lose” his wallet in the bus!

As an elder of Broome’s Aboriginal Community, Cissy is entrusted to undertake traditional cleansing ceremonies based upon the use of smoke and water. The smoking ceremony is a custom used for a variety of purposes, including strengthening newborn babies. The smoke heals and purifies; the heat makes the baby’s joints strong. In this and other ways Cissy seeks to maintain a special relationship with the young Aboriginal people of Broome. She is proud of the fact that they often come to her seeking advice.

Cissy believes that more families and teachers should encourage young people to come to Church, to discover together the importance of Sundays as holy days dedicated to God. Young mothers and fathers should go back to Church as a central place of the family life. Or perhaps, as she did with her children at the time of Cyclone John, we should all be able to sit down and pray together.