Author Archives: Felician Mission: Haiti

We continue to prepare for the mobile clinic here and in the States. Thanks to Sr. Giovanni’s participation on the States side, we will be receiving many medical items and supplies from the Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, which is located in Illinois. Sr. Giovanni’s brother, John, went with a truck from Michigan to Illinois to pick up the donated items. These, together with some other supplies, will be on there way to East Amherst, NY. From there, the items will be shipped to Haiti. We thank you, John, for your help and assistance; you are truly a part of this mission!

A few days ago, Alberto, one of our boys, came to our house when he should have been in school.
We asked him why he was not in school, and he responded: “I have no shoes; they are broken.” To go to school in Haiti, you need to have a pair of black shoes. After checking and discovering that he was telling us the truth, we went to buy him a new pair of black shoes. We never before realized how much a pair of good shoes can change a person’s life. On that same day, he went to church with us because he had a pair of good shoes. He even behaved differently and was more responsible. Now he seeks different company. He feels important and worth something. A pair of shoes has given him dignity that to some degree had been taken away by his poverty.

To celebrate the First Sunday of Advent, we went to St. Michael’s Parish. We like to attend liturgy there because the whole Mass is in Creole. Before we went into the place of worship (because they don’t have a Church), we noticed many people gathered outside dressed in purple. They really enter the liturgical season even by what they wear. We each said to ourselves, “Too bad we don’t have purple on for today.” We wish we could share with you a video we took of the choir singing; it is so beautiful. Our Creole teacher, Madam Omanie, is the choir director.

We wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving. We want to take time today to say THANK YOU…first to God, for His faithful love and provident care of this mission in Haiti; and to each of you, for your prayers and support that make us feel we are not alone! Be assured of our heartfelt prayers and thanks for you. And guess what? We had turkey too! 😊

Today’s Mass intention was in thanksgiving for all our friends and benefactors of the Felician Haiti mission.

For weeks now, we have been sharing with you about the new home Lebrun built for his family. A few days ago, we visited them and saw what he had built. He had received donations from one of our benefactors. Now he is working on their outside toilet. After that, he will install some pipes and a barrel to collect rain water. There is no running water near their home, so they need to walk a distance for water, which is very needed. The rain water will help them, even if only a little bit. Next to the house, on the little piece of land they own, Lebrun has already planted some corn. They are waiting for the mango tree above the house to bear fruit. They are happy that they have a home of their own with their own land.

Yesterday, “the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the crowning of the liturgical year, also marked the conclusion of the Year of Faith opened by Pope Benedict XVI, to whom our thoughts now turn with affection and gratitude for this gift which he has given us. By this providential initiative, he gave us an opportunity to rediscover the beauty of the journey of faith begun on the day of our Baptism, which made us children of God and brothers and sisters in the Church. A journey which has as its ultimate end our full encounter with God, and throughout which the Holy Spirit purifies us, lifts us up and sanctifies us, so that we may enter into the happiness for which our hearts long.” (Pope Francis’ homily at the Closing Mass for the Year of Faith held in St. Peter’s Square)

We attended the Closing of the Year of Faith and the Feast of Christ the King here in Jacmel at Sts. James and Philip Cathedral with our Bishop Launay Saturne.

We thank you for all your prayers and support upon hearing the sad news about our electric cables being stolen. Thanks be to God for the help of good people, who enabled us to find someone who was able to replace the cables and get us back on city electricity.

With heavy hearts, we have some sad news to share. Last night, just before our Holy Hour, we noticed that our whole building had been cut off from the city’s electricity. The cables connecting the house with the city poles were cut and stolen. For us, this means that our inverter cannot be charged until we replace the wiring. This happened in the middle of the night. We thank God that we are locked and barred on our floor. This has deeply touched us, since we are working with and for our community here. Please pray for us. 🙏

On November 21, the Feast of the Presentation of Mary and the founding day of our Congregation, we joined Felician Sisters throughout the world in an hour of prayer and celebration before the Blessed Sacrament. It was our first prayer experience in our chapel conducted all in Creole, We used the Holy Hour which was used throughout the province, but we translated the prayers and the songs into Creole. It was moving to see all singing “Blessed Angela, your light we want to be” with passion in their native tongue. We introduced our foundress, Blessed Angela, and gave a short history of our Congregation. At the end of the Holy Hour, the children received Blessed Angela medals and the adults received Blessed Angela rosaries. It was a powerful experience of sharing our mission and charism with so many people gathered in our chapel. After the service, everyone shared in a “bon fet,” with cake and ice cream.

“May this be for your glory, O Lord.”