Author Archives: Felician Mission: Haiti

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.”

Since February 2013, we have had a food program for our kids who come for English classes. When Lebrun’s family were asked to leave, we had to find a new cook and replace the outdoor kitchen to be used for cooking. As always, God provides. Now we have a small new kitchen and a new cook. Adelia is the mother of one of our students and the grandmother of several other students. This time our kitchen is running differently, with the young people helping with the shopping for food, with cooking and with cleaning up. This is a real community project .

Our boys from our English School had asked us if we could take them to the beach. So today we had a class trip. We piled 10 kids into our Nissan Patrol and headed to the beach with our soccer ball. They had a lot of fun, and they even received a cold bottle of Coke. While they were drinking their soda, a small music band came by to sing some Christmas songs. Of course, we gave them a little something for their entertainment. As you can see from the pictures, our kids had a great time. The other half of our class of boys will get to go on the next class trip.

Today we went for Sunday Eucharist at St. Yves, the parish we helped connect with St. Gabriel’s, Saddle River, NJ. We are happy that this new relationship is growing. We thank Msgr. Frank DelPrete, Pastor, and Sr. Esther Falzone, Pastoral Associate, and their parish community for a donation they asked us to deliver to Father Gaston, Pastor of St. Yves.

As in every house, Saturday is cleaning day. Here in our house, we have a public stairway that no one has responsibility for cleaning. So we have our helpers that we named the “Spider Team,” who clean the cobwebs, as well as the stairs. Even Father Phanel lends a helping hand. 😊 After the job is done, our “Spider Team” gets a snack. Here they are eating our homemade pumpkin muffins. They were delighted that they could have three muffins each.
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We thank you for your prayers and messages today. It seems as though the demonstrations were peaceful. On Monday, November 18, there is going to be a nationwide manifestation in every city in Haiti. Once again, we will need to be vigilant. Please continue to pray for justice and peace for all people.