Nino Tirelli Man Must Obey God More Than Men

Testimony of a former Roman Catholic priest

Jesus Christ promised, "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32).

So I take great advantage of the opportunity I have to relate to the grace of God in my life. I am very grateful to the triune God for the salvation He gives us without doing anything in return, because Jesus Christ shed His blood for us as the Lamb of God.

In God's Word we read of the beginning of the Church: "And the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great number of the priests came to faith" (Acts 6: 7). This was of course about the Israelite priests of the tribe of Levi, and yet, what happened then has been experienced over the centuries to this day by many priests of the Roman Catholic Church, who have been overwhelmed by God's grace and have been justified. out of faith. I would like to mention in particular the Reformers, many of whom suffered martyrdom for their faith. Their testimony also gave me the courage to overcome my doubts and fears and to dare to take the great step of faith and rely only on Holy Scripture, not on human traditions and dogmas as before.

When I testify now, I do not want to enter into a controversy, but simply to tell the truth, without embellishment or exaggeration. If I relate from the experiences of many years of isolation in the monastery, I will do so only because I would like to clarify how great is the grace of God that brought me out of darkness into light, from slavery under Satan's rule to the freedom of God's children, from death to life and from loss to salvation.

My dear unknown reader who holds this story in your hand, let me first tell you the most important facts of my life: My name is Nino, but my real name is Sennen Tirelli. I was born on November 27, 1917 in Reggio Emilia (Italy). In 1928 I entered the Capuchin seminary in Scandiano (RE). I was ordained a priest on July 12, 1942 in the cathedral of Reggio Emilia by Bishop Eduardo Brettioni. In February 1949 I entered another monastic order, and finally, after 31 years of spiritual captivity, I was born again in February 1959 by the Spirit of God, and I can now be part of the family of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

How it all started

Surely you are now wondering why I left the monastic order and the Roman Catholic Church. In order to answer your justified question, I need to tell you a little about my situation in the past.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor. Because doctors know all about diseases and their treatment, I thought I could have a doctor protect people from death. But then one day our country doctor died, which shook me to such an extent that I changed my plans for my future profession. The desire to receive a good education was achievable for me, a child from a poor family, only if I entered the monastery. Would you like to accompany me in my thoughts as an 11-year-old boy as I stood there in front of the monastery gates?

I rang the bell of the monastery. The bearded Capuchin monk who opened us left us inside and closed the monastery gate behind us, took all our luggage, put it in a space reserved for them and gave us a number. From now on our will was as if dead, and our own ideas were taboo.

Separated from my family, separated from the rest of the world, I spent my high school years here. Religion floated in the air, but I didn't feel it was real.

The gospel was used as a penal code, and the rules of the monastery were above all.

Then began for the budding monks and priests the year of probation proper, the novitiate, which ended with the temporary laying of the three covenants: obedience, poverty, and chastity. This triple covenant is symbolized by the three knots in the rope as a belt of the Franciscan monk.

Rough skills

Before, I had no right to my own will, but now I had to give up many more things. I received a new name (Brother Matias of Reggio Emilia), a rough and thick mantle, worn by Franciscan monks, and my hair was cut, obtaining a special haircut so as not to be attractive to the world. Almost every day, they were scheduled to give up food and wear a belt with nails, as well as self-flagellation with an iron chain. Five times a week we had to get up at midnight and gather in the chapel of the monastery to sing in the choir. I didn't wear socks in the winter, I just wore sandals, and I slept in unheated bedrooms.

Here I want to add just one more thing: All these renunciations and self-punishments have not given me any inner peace. But in myself I longed to be freed from this spiritual slavery.

After the novitiate came the three-year study of philosophy. Then we made the final covenants, by which we bound ourselves for the rest of our lives. The four years of studying theology followed, until on July 12, 1942, I was ordained a priest.

This is just a brief overview of the period between the 11th and 25th year of life. I cannot leave so easily behind what I have learned and lived during these fourteen years of study, and all the inner struggles I have given.

Obedience without conviction

The isolation and loneliness in which I lived, the extremely severe discipline and the pressure associated with it, achieved their goal: I practiced perfect obedience and followed the prescribed path without worrying about whether it was the right one or not.

In the year of the novitiate, however, I began to have great doubts and inner struggles. Suddenly, I wasn't sure if this was really the way God wanted me to be. Should I go on it? Wasn't it better to leave the monastery and return to my parents? I wanted to talk to my superiors about these doubts and I also revealed my state of mind to them, but their only answer was this: Stay where the Lord has put you, all other thoughts are from the devil. Well, I was used to being obedient and saying yes to everything, so I followed their advice and continued on my way, albeit reluctantly. But God, who knows our hearts and most secret thoughts, had long since heard my cry and was about to prepare for my deliverance.

Wallpaper change

The study of philosophy and the change of the monastery in connection with this brought some relief. But in the years that followed, as the ordination drew nearer, doubts grew massively. The superiors noticed my inner struggles and sent me to a distant monastery. What was meant by this today would be called brainwashing.

This measure would prove a success. To the humiliation and isolation would be added the fact that World War II had just broken out, so in the end, for lack of a better alternative, I continued on my way to ordination.

My life as a priest

That's when a new chapter in my life began. I took the death of my parents and the end of the war. Through my work as a priest, I came in contact with many different people. I was moved to several cities, I worked as a confessor [clergyman], professor, hospital priest. But inside I was more and more anxious and looking for peace. Thus, 21 years after entering the Franciscan order, I entered a less strict Franciscan subordination. Thus I arrived at the monastery in Rome. At first, everything seemed wonderful, I thought I had finally found a place to rest, but this too turned out to be a "morgana girl", because again I was assailed by doubts and I was more and more struck by the lack of understanding.

Sezze Romano

I worked for five years as my secretary at Nettiuno High School in Rome. Then I was suddenly moved to Sezze Romano (Latium) in a distant monastery. There I really had everything on one side, but on the other hand I had nothing. This sounds paradoxical, but for me it was a reality.

My life was turning like a wheel: prayers for hours, confessions, liturgies, teaching at school, other duties acelaşi the same thing every day. Radio, television and movies played an important role in the monastery. Life behind the walls of the monastery was led by worldly pleasures. In my covenants I had actually given up the world and all the temptations of sin, but in reality I was sinking deeper and deeper into sin and finding myself on the path to perdition.

The first rays of light

In this remote monastery, however, I began to read the Holy Scriptures and check my whole life according to this standard, as the Jews of Berea did in the past (Acts 17:11). Because of God's work, I began to compare Bible teaching with Catholic tradition. I observed the behavior of priests who lived like me within the walls of the monastery and who worked as "lay priests" in the parishes. What greed and immorality I would discover among the so-called "servants of God"! On the one hand, they were honored by the people, on the other hand, they carried icons and relics or relics on the occasion of the processions, raising Mary and the pope to the position of "god". They justified indulgences and many other unbiblical teachings.

Until then, I had studied the Bible only as much as was necessary to know certain verses that seemed to support the Roman Catholic dogmatic system. However, I now became aware of how flawed, deficient, and distorted my Bible knowledge really was. I had no idea of ​​God's plan of salvation, and I had completely wrong conceptions of the way of salvation. Pagan philosophy and human ideas had dominated my thinking, and the Word of God had been arranged in such a way as to be advantageous to Roman Catholic teaching.

From loss to salvation

In God's Word it is written, "The Lord knoweth His own" (2 Timothy 2:19), and Jesus says in Revelation 2:23, "I am he that searcheth hearts and kidneys . " In Psalm 9:10 we read, "The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of need , " and the prophet Nahum confirms, "The Lord is good, a shelter in times of need, and he knows those who trust. in Him ” (Nahum 1: 7).

For me, the great day of salvation and the light from above came in a completely unexpected way. It was April 1958. Around seven-thirty in the morning I was sitting in front of the chapel to hold the liturgy, but for some reason I had to return to my room for half an hour. I wanted to spend this time listening to some music, so I searched the radio for a station that would broadcast the right music. And then God, in His love, made me find the Monte Carlo radio station. They were just singing a wonderful song, followed by a short, deep message on "Today, if you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts."(Hebrews 3: 7). The show ended with the words "Qui Radio Risveglio" (Here Radio Awakening) and the announcement of a contact address. I can't say exactly what happened that morning. But I know one thing, that on this day a new life has burst into me. Through the contact of the correspondence I kept from then on with Radio Risveglio, I found the way to an inner communion with God, which for me was something completely new. And at the same time, I felt a strong desire to serve God properly. If I thought about my life until then, I was disgusted with myself. The New Testament the brothers from Radio Risveglio had sent me was my favorite reading every day.

Departure to Lugano

My desire to discuss my problems and questions in a personal meeting with the Radio Risveglio team soon came true, and I opened my heart to them. In September of the same year, the Lord arranged the circumstances in such a way that I received a passport, which was quite unusual for a monk. Thus we were able to travel to Lugano, where Radio Risveglio was based. I took part in their divine service in my monk's clothes. The atmosphere was uplifting, and I realized that it is not liturgical ceremonies, human traditions, or philosophical-theological treatises that can satisfy our spiritual needs, but only the Word.

to God, if we receive it unconditionally and put it into practice. Only the Word of God is the truth.

When I returned to the monastery three days later, I had a precious treasure in my luggage: a complete Bible! In the following period I lived a double life: On the one hand I still had to take part in the monotonous and meaningless life in the monastery, on the other hand I enjoyed a true communion with God by reading and studying His Word.

A new direction

I ask you, dear reader: To have remained in the dark, now that I had discovered the light? To have continued in the wrong teaching, now that the truth was clear before my eyes? Never! I don't think you would have advised me to stay where I was, but you would have encouraged me to leave prison as soon as possible, wouldn't you?

So I had to start a whole new life, to turn completely to Jesus Christ, so that He could become my Savior, the Lord, my Teacher, and even everything for me. I had begun this inner process the day I first heard Radio Risveglio, but it became visible only on February 4, 1959, when I - without a doubt - left the monastery and the Roman Catholic Church.

The night before, I had written my spiritual will on paper. I explained in it that I was leaving behind heresy and lies in order to receive the truth of the gospel. When I left my cell the next morning, the enemy tried once again with all possible arguments to make me change my mind. But an inner voice told me, “Be strong and act. And so I held my last liturgy, ate for the last time with the other monks, put the letter with my testimony written in the superior's mailbox, went to the station, and boarded the Lugano train. Once there, I was greeted by brothers from Radio Risveglio. A few months later, a door opened for me to collaborate on this mission by radio, where I was able to work on spreading the Good News over the air until my retirement and even after.

Looking beyond the facade

Today, the Roman Catholic Church shows itself to have a very loving face for people. The cruel demonstrations of power in the past have disappeared from the consciousness of society. But although the Church claims to be deeply Christian, it has not changed at all. It holds, as before, the worldly facets of the papacy and many other teachings that appeared in the history of Christianity in the dark ages of the Middle Ages. The papacy is still the same entity that ruled the world in the Reformation and was stigmatized, nailed to the pillar of infamy by brave men who were ready to die for their beliefs. It is up to the strategy of the papacy to always appear as required by the aims pursued. Rome, like a chameleon, has multiple forms of presentation, but the venomous tooth always remains the same.

Some of the teachings of the Church have held me enslaved for over thirty years. Without noticing this, from my childhood I was enchanted by these "teachings of the demons" - to use a formulation of the apostle Paul (1 Timothy 4: 1).

Rome enslaves, but Christ liberates. Rome blinds us, but Christ enlightens us.

Rome casts doubt on us, but Christ gives us security.

Rome leads us to perdition, but Christ gives eternal life.

However, the most important point of my testimony is not the condemnation of the Roman Catholic Church, but the joy that I have passed from death to life.

There is only one way to heaven: Jesus.

There is only one door through which one can enter heaven: Jesus.

There is only one key that opens this door: the Cross of Jesus. There is only one name in which there is salvation: Jesus.

There is only one Mediator between God and men: Jesus.

This is the incomparable message of salvation, the gospel of grace, the true biblical gospel.

Closing remarks

47 years after my conversion, I feel the same great joy for the grace of God that saved me. As a conclusion of this testimony, which should be much more detailed, I would like to state with the apostle Paul: “So now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and of death ” (Romans 8: 1-2).

"Forgetting what is behind me and reaching out to what is before me, I run to the goal for the reward of God's heavenly calling in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3: 13-14). “The only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ, our Lord, deserves glory, greatness, power and authority now and for all eternity! Amen ” (Jude 25).

Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, "For the love of Christ constraineth us" (2 Corinthians 5:14). Paul is a wonderful example of how the love of God can compel a man to proclaim with all devotion the Good News of salvation. The same love for the Lord Jesus causes me to ask you now: Are you still lost in the fog of Roman Catholic teachings? Are you tormented by uncertainty about your eternal destiny? Then it is time, here and now, to look reality in the eye, to give up unbiblical Roman Catholic teaching, and to trust once and for all in the love of Christ, for He is the only one who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Dear unknown reader, in this testimony you watched my spiritual struggles and saw how I finally discovered the truth. Maybe you're still in the dark and still hesitating, not knowing what to do. Therefore, I pray with all my heart to break through the wall that separates you from God and to choose Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. "For there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). How I want you to respond to the call that Christ is making to you today — perhaps for the last time. He says, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:29).

With what attitude should one come to God we see very clearly in the parable of the tax collector [the publican] and the Pharisee (Luke 18: 9-14). To the one who was aware of his sinfulness and cried out, "God, have mercy on me, you sinner!" , God promised justification, but to the other, who considered himself righteous, He did not promise it.

In God there is full security of salvation and peace. We can keep His promise, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Therefore, I earnestly call you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then the peace and joy of God will come into your life and accompany you until the day the Lord returns and takes us to Himself.

Meanwhile, Nino Tirelli is 90 years old. He is still active for his Lord. He resigned as a priest in his local assembly, but is still responsible for the church's bulletin. This photo of Nino and Alice Tirelli was taken in June 2005 at their home in Neuchâtel, where they have lived for almost twenty years. Previously, they both worked at Radio Risveglio in Lugano. They met there, after Nino left the priesthood. The two children they received from the Lord have since married and are following the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Translator: Olimpiu S.Cosma)

[Source: https://bereanbeacon.org/ro/omul-trebuie-sa-asculte-mai-mult-de-dumnezeu-decit-de-oameni/]