Born of Christ’s death…early in the morning, the whole city of Jacmel gathers for the Stations of the Cross. They gather in the parish that is outside of Jacmel, and they walk through the whole city, stopping at fourteen stations. It is a beautiful way of evangelization, born of Christ’s death.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me..” Is. 61:1
On Holy Thursday, in the morning, we went to the Chrism Mass in the Cathedral. In the entrance procession, the Bishop with his priests carried the holy oils to be consecrated in the beautiful ritual that the church gives us for this day. Before that ritual, all the priests had the renewal of their priestly promises. After the celebration, all the priests and religious were invited to the Pastoral Center to celebrate together.
After the celebration, we went to the sea to buy our fresh fish. When we arrived home, we prepared for our Agape meal together.
In the evening, we went to St. Michael’s Parish for the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
On Tuesday, March 26 we said farewell to Sisters Jolene and MaryAnne and welcomed Sr. Giovanni. She wanted to share Holy Week with us and visit a clinic.
On the Monday, March 25, six days before Easter Sunday, Bishop Launay Saturne, celebrated the Eucharist and blest our new home in Jacmel, Haiti. We were blest with the presence of Sister Mary Jolene and Sister MaryAnne, provincial council members. Even though our chapel is small, we were graced with the presence of friends and neighbors who have helped us begin the Felician mission in Haiti. Mass was in Creole and English. After the house blessing, we had a Haitian feast prepared by our neighbor. As soon as our guests left, our neighborhood boys, who come to visit us every evening, stopped by and shared in the feast. It was truly a grace-filled day. We ended our day with Eucharistic Adoration for the first time in our chapel, using our new small monstrance, a gift given to us by SM Christopher and her Council. This was such a great and beautiful gift given to us for this special day! Mesi Bondye mesi!
On Friday, March 22, Sisters Jolene and MaryAnne arrived in Jacmel in the afternoon, thanks to our Felician friend, Yvon. It was a joy to see our Felician Sisters here in Haiti1
Today at 5 p.m., in every Diocese in Haiti, the Bishop celebrated Mass for Pope Francis. It was a joy to be a part of the Universal Church. Since the cathedral was destroyed by the earthquake, we met in the temporary place of worship. This is located in the middle of the public market.
This morning we read a reflection from ‘The Fire of Christ’s Love’ by Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap. The title was “Recognizing Christ in the Poor.” He writes: “Jesus of Nazareth identified himself with the poor. He who pronounced the words ‘This is my body’ over the bread said the very same word about the poor. He said so when, talking of what had been done or not done for those who are hungry, naked, in prison, or strangers, he solemnly declared, ‘You did it to me’ and ‘You did not do it for me.’ Mt 25: 31-46. It is as if he said, ‘that ragged beggar in need of something to eat, that poor wretch with hands outstretched, was me…it was me!…This is my body.'” We had the opportunity this afternoon to meet Christ in the many people we met. Gael took us to the poor elderly she knew. We visited poor homes and saw how clean they are kept, with only a chair, a table and a bed in one room, with a curtain as a door. Yes, this is where we saw and met the Body of Christ. We distributed the hygiene kits we prepared yesterday. People were very grateful for the aspirin and children’s vitamins we included in the small package. We thank the Father for being able to see his Son today in his first love–the poor.
During these last days of Lent, we want to visit the poorest area in Jacmel. Today we prepared hygiene kits that we will distribute tomorrow as we visit homes.
This evening after prayers, we walked the streets and visited our neighbors. We came home with five people who we met along the way, and we shared “chokola cho ak bon bon” (hot chocolate and animal crackers) with them. We bring all of our visitors first to chapel, and they really love it.
For the first time, we shopped as the people here do; we bought the whole bag of rice and beans, as well as macaroni. We will have enough to share with our neighbors. 😉
Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti 