Author Archives: Felician Mission: Haiti

Early in the morning as the sun was rising, the parish family of Sts. James and Philip gathered in the mission for the blessing of the palms and solemn procession.

Today we gathered together
to herald with the whole Church
the beginning of the celebration
of our Lord’s Paschal Mystery,
that is to say, of his Passion and Resurrection. For it was to accomplish this mystery that he entered his own city of Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem was here in Jacmel, Haiti. With faith and devotion, we commemorated the Lord’s entry into the city for our salvation, following in his footsteps,
so that, being made by his grace partakers of the Cross, we may have a share also in his Resurrection and in his life.

After Mass all our kids participating in our Faith Formation gathered to greet us and followed us home. There some sweets were awaiting them.

Almighty ever-living God,
who as an example of humility for the human race to follow
caused our Savior to take flesh and submit to the Cross,
graciously grant that we may heed his lesson
of patient suffering
and so merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity
of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

May you all have a blessed Holy Week!

We thank our God with great joy! On Wednesday, March 24, Sister Izzy returned with Sister Julitta, our newest sister to minister in Jacmel. Sister Julitta had visited the Felician Haiti Mission five years ago and knew that God wanted her to come back someday. Last year, she was assigned to the Felician Haiti Mission. Then COVID 19 locked down the world. After that, Sister Julitta herself contracted the virus. We all believed that nothing is impossible for God. We needed to trust in God’s plan. And now, after numerous obstacles, the time has arrived!!!! Our ministry of presence has grown.

On Thursday, March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, Sr Julitta met Bishop Marie Erick Glandas Toussaint.

In the evening, during our Evening Prayer, Sister Julitta accepted her new missionary assignment of ministry of presence and her new local home of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

On Tuesday, March 23, Sisters Inga and Marilyn, with Dr. Jean Paul Bonnet, traveled to Haiti. It was a joy to be home.

Dr. Jean Paul is with us for a few days to meet with Bishop Erick, Fr. Bertrand, and the engineer for the construction of the new bakery. The meetings were all good and continue to move us forward with the building of the Felician Mission bakery.

Mother Mary Angela told her daughters to serve where they are needed. This seems to be the motto of the Mother Angela Clinic, which travels to places where no healthcare facilities are available for miles. On Thursday, January 14, Sister Marilyn went with the clinic to Lavyal. It is a beautiful place up in the mountains. The air is very clear and at least 10 degrees cooler than in Jacmel. At this site, we use the National school building. In each area where we serve the illnesses are different, but all are very serious. So many thoughts go through our minds as we visit each place. In Lavyal, vegetables grow in abundance, and women practice the art of basket weaving to use to sort beans and corn or to place products to sell. Before the clinic starts, Sister Marilyn loves to talk to the people nearby.

On Wednesday, January 6, Faith Formation resumed in the Felician Mission. We now have two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The Church calendar celebrated the feast of Epiphany this past Sunday and, on Monday, we blessed the House. But today, the 6th, is known as the Feast of the Three Kings. The children gathered in groups in our Chapel to see the Wise Men and were asked what gift they could bring to Jesus. We spoke about giving ourselves to God and to one another in faith and how we can be peacemakers in our troubled, sick world.

On Monday, January 4, sewing classes resumed with Sr. Izzy. Today the students learned how to cut patterns and measure material. As you can see, everyone is enjoying the classes!

On January 2, we were blest to have the Mercidarian Sisters from Wout Lavale for an afternoon of prayer, food and sharing. January 1 and 2 are special holidays here in Haiti. The sisters are originally from the Dominican Republic. Their mission is a medical clinic, which they have run in the Diocese for 18 years. During the time we were quarantined this past March, April and May, the sisters were asked to return to their motherhouse in Santo Domingo. During their absence, the Mother Angela Clinic went to assist the sick people they normally served. Sister Madeline, who is Haitian, had helped us to make contacts in the Dominican Republic in order to purchase medications.

Since none of them drive, we needed to pick them up at their Mission, which is a half hour from Jacmel.

The program for the day continued with some stories, songs and dancing!

Like Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Angels, the Shepherds, and the Three Kings, we saw God’s faithfulness because of you. Because of your generosity and always remembering the Felician Haiti Mission, we and our kids have seen God’s blessings in 2020. We continue to dream, not only for ourselves, but for our Haitian brothers and sisters!

As morning dawn entered the world, especially here in the Felician Haiti Mission, the joy of Christmas was already filling the air. We began with prayer and praise :

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, as we are bathed in the new radiance of your incarnate Word,
the light of faith, which illumines our minds,
may also shine through in our deeds.

After prayer and breakfast, it was down to work, putting over 200 packages under and around the Christmas tree.

It was like the Scriptures were being fulfilled in our hearing: “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us. So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.” (Luke 2:15-16) This certainly was true here in the Felician Haiti Mission.

The day’s program was led by youth and young adults who directed the program from beginning to end. As always, we began with prayer. Our prayer on this day is always the story of the birth of Jesus!

On Christmas Eve, preparations focus on our traditional Wigilia celebration. As with everything, we had to start the preparations ahead of time, so only the last-minute dishes of fish, pierogi, and borsch soup were being baked and cooked. The decorations for the feast were done, and all was ready for sharing the Christmas wafer of pardon and peace. It was a joy to have Eric and his beautiful family with us for this sacred time of sharing and gratitude for the blessings and challenges of the past year.