Author Archives: Felician Mission: Haiti

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you; because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world. Early in the morning, at 6:30 a.m., the people of Jacmel gather to begin our pilgrimage with the Lord and His holy Cross. It is a spiritual experience to watch and pray.

The journey is like being in Jerusalem, with people even selling things from the market. Others were watching the crowd from rooftops and listening to the singing and prayers as we gave witness to our Christian Faith.

As we participate in these days and know the situation of today, we ask God for mercy and peace. May we see an end to all violence that prevails in this country. As we walked the way, these words came to mind:

“Finally, taking up your cross and being willing to give up your life means living in a faith that believes that nothing is impossible for God. As James Martin puts it, this means accepting that God is greater than the human imagination. Indeed, whenever we succumb to the notion that God cannot offer us a way out of our pain into some kind of newness, it’s precisely because we have reduced God down to the size of our own limited imagination. It’s possible to accept our cross, to live in trust, and to not grow bitter inside pain only if we believe in possibilities beyond what we can imagine; namely, if we believe in the resurrection.”

Excerpt From

The Passion and the Cross

Ronald Rolheiser

Every year on the morning of Holy Thursday, the Diocese of Jacmel has their Chrism Mass. Our new Bishop gathered with all the priests of our diocese. This year, they wanted to gather the priests in our mission complex and to also have their reception after the Mass. Thank God, we were not the ones responsible for the food! This had already been arranged. However, this meant we needed to be here to receive the priests and to help with some of the preparations for the reception. So we had to offer up the fact that we could not participate in the Mass.

It was a blessed sight to see all our priests with their Bishop, getting ready to renew their priestly promises.

The oils were also ready to be brought to the Church for consecration by the Bishop: Oil of The Sick, Oil of Catechumens, and Oil of Chrism.

After the Mass, Bishop Marie Errick and all the priests, deacons, seminarians, and religious returned to our place for the reception.

A Sister of St. Vincent de Paul, who was among the group, wwas from Krakow, Poland. This was a delight for Sr. Inga.

We think our new Bishop likes our place!

On Wednesday, April 17, our teens gathered for retreat led by Father Duckensen, a newly ordained Vincentian priest. Our theme was from Pope Francis’ new document for the youth, “Christ is Alive!”

As morning broke, we had torrential rains, which delayed when we were to begin. Thanks be to God, slowly but surely, they arrived one by one; and 22 young people shared in the day.

The day began with Praise and Worship, followed by a conference with Fr. Duckensen sharing highlights from the document, especially God’s love for young people. There was a short break with special pastries that our girls had made the day before.

The youth were then given different parts of Chapter 4 from the document that speaks about three truths of God’s Love; Jesus dying on the Cross for us; and Living with the Holy Spirit in our lives. All had time for personal reflection and then large group sharing with Father, as well as time for questions.

The teens had an open question and answer time with Father Duckensen. They shared their reflections on the document.

After a chicken dinner and fellowship, the teens prepared for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Confessions.

The day ended with Mass.

This is our family here in the Felician Haiti Mission. Today, as we enter Holy Week, they helped prepare for the procession and welcomed God’s people to our home.

From left to right: Jean Philip, Ludwica, Sr. Inga, Sr. Marilyn, Annette, Gesmar, and Malthilda.

Look, we pray, O Lord, on this your family,
for whom our Lord Jesus Christ
did not hesitate to be delivered into the hands of the wicked
and submit to the agony of the Cross. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

Preparing the palms for Palm Sunday…

On this day, the Church recalls the entrance of Christ the Lord into Jerusalem to accomplish his Paschal Mystery. There is a special Procession or the Solemn Entrance before the Mass. The Solemn Entrance began on our mission property with our new Bishop presiding. The people started to gather at 6:30 a.m., ready with their palm branches.

Bishop Marie Erick Glandas prepares for the celebration.

Hosanna to the Son of David; Mt 21:9
blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord,
the King of Israel.
Hosanna in the highest.

Dear brothers and sisters,
since the beginning of Lent until now
we have prepared our hearts by penance 
and charitable works.
Today we gather 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.
Therefore, with all faith and devotion,
let us commemorate
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.

Dear brothers and sisters,
like the crowds who acclaimed Jesus in Jerusalem,
let us go forth in peace.

As the Lord entered the holy city, the children of the Hebrews proclaimed the resurrection of life. Waving their branches of palm, they cried:  Hosanna in the highest.

When the people heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they went out to meet him. Waving their branches of palm, they cried:  Hosanna in the highest.

On Friday, April 12, 65 of our kids and teens went to the Cathedral Parish to experience the Stations of the Cross with the Universal Church. Each group had a teen mentor who accompanied them. Before they left, we gave them an introduction of the Way of the Cross; and they sang their theme song for Lent: “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.”

They all wore their yellow Corpus Christi shirts, and they made their pilgrimage to the Church.

When they arrived at the Church, all sat together, giving witness to the faith community.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you; because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

On Thursday, April 11, schools were finishing their exams, and our kids were nearing Easter vacation. In the container, we found had some arts and crafts materials and instructions for building a bird house. So, what better way to enter this special time of year then learning to build and design one’s own bird house. As you can see, everyone took special care on how they wanted it to look. 🥰

Richardson, a resident of Jacmel and student from Madonna University, Livonia, MI, who is completing his service hours for graduation, gave a workshop this week to our teens. (Richardson is the one standing on the left with the green tee shirt). Thank God for solar power for electricity!

A few years ago, Sister Julitta from our Krakow Prince in Poland came to the Felician Haiti Mission for two weeks. She bought along with her a gift from her pre-school–a colorful parachute that is used to play different games. Each time we use it, we think of our dear Sister Julitta, who desires to return and be a part of the Haiti Mission.

Here we are learning our colors and learning how to work together…

Each day our children come at 3 p.m. to work on their home work. Now they are preparing for their exams before the end of the quarter and before report cards. So many of them are so poor in their studies. Our teens help them with their homework. And so do we.

If they did not come to the Mission, they would not have a table or chair to do their work nor a sharpened pencil to complete their homework.

We are grateful that many of you are sponsoring these children to go to school or have sent school supplies that assist us to assist them.

All our children say, “Mesi anpil, thank you very much for your love and care for my education!”