Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti

Today we were invited to St. Therèsè of the Child Jesus Parish that is located in the mountains. They celebrated their parish feast today; we are not sure why, but the celebration was great. Everyone in the village comes to celebrate. Priests gather from other parishes to show fraternal support. We were moved during the Eucharist by the beautiful offertory procession and by the dancing after communion. As you see in one of pictures, there is great need for liturgical vessels, especially ciboriums.

After the Mass, there was food for everyone! People gather wherever it is possible–on the ground, Church steps, everywhere.

Once again we had to travel on rocky roads, and we had to cross over a winding river a number of times. Thank God we had a good driver!

We were passing people who were walking barefoot, carrying their shoes, so when they arrive at the church their shoes will be clean. It was so humbling to see this gesture of respect for the Lord’s house.

When we got back into Jacmel, the people were celebrating the last days of Carnival. We saw many people in masks and costumes.

We continue to work from morning until night in setting up our new convent, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. During the day we have visitors who stop by because they see us through the bars on our balcony. Sister Marilyn is learning from Cassandra, the daughter of our caretaker of the grounds, how to carry things on her head. We gave Fr. Gaston, Pastor of St. Yves Parish, one of the monstrances we brought in the container. We wish you could have seen his joy!

Today we tried to put together our beds so that we could return those we borrowed, but we could not figure it out. So we called our Creole teacher, Jacque,s who came to the rescue. In such a short time, we are learning how to do many things–put together fans, use a drill, put beds together, set up a gas stove using a propane tank, refrigerator, washing machine, closets and lamps. Today we did our first load of laundry in our new washing machine. We can only use it when we have water and, for past few days, we did not have any.

Everyday children come to our door to say hello, but we know it is for some animal crackers. We give them three at a time and say: “In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Of course, we say it in Creole.

The pre-school that is below us celebrated Carnival. This is a serious tradition here in Haiti. The costumes, music and dancing are beautiful, loud and, creative.

Today we have come to Mount Zion, the city of the Living God; we finished setting up our chapel! Everything you see in the chapel was donated by our Felician Sisters, especially from Mt. Arlington, NJ. During our Evening Prayer and Communion Service, we solemnly processed to Blessed Angela’s statue and placed her relic by her feet. The statue of Blessed Mary Angela was donated by the Sisters at St. Stanislaus Convent in Garfield, NJ. The crucifix and Good Shepherd were those we bought from local artists last year in Port au Prince. We are very grateful to all of you, that the spirit and legacy of Blessed Mary Angela is now here in Haiti. We look forward to having you come and pray with us.

On Monday, February 4, once again our Felician friend Yvon, his brother Joseph, and Sanon traveled from Port au Prince to Jacmel early in the morning to help us unload the container. We also asked Lebrun, our caretaker, and Jacque our teacher, and one of his teenage boys to help us. Our container is stored at the Pastoral Center here in Jacmel. A few young men who work at the Center also helped us. We were given the use of another truck which was a gift from God. We began at 8:00 a.m. unloading and transporting the things needed for our new convent. At the house, four young boys appeared and also helped. We never expected that the work would go so fast but, with the hands of many angels, we finished at 1:30 p.m. Now the unpacking begins…

Today in Jacmel visitors from here and elsewhere have gathered for Carnival 2013. This gathering over the years has made the Carnival of this city an unavoidable cultural event. Even the President of Haiti comes to Jacmel on this day.

Preparations for this day begin weeks in advance. We thought they were rebuilding Jacmel so quickly but soon found out it was all for Carnival. Craftsmen, designers of giant masks which describe all the social reality of Haiti and its history, join groups disguised in costumes and perform musically for a spectacular parade. The parade goes through the streets from Barranquilla Avenue, which is right down the street from where we live, and through the historic center of Jacmel, commonly called the bottom of the city.

We couldn’t resist going for a walk to catch a glimpse of this cultural event and to be among the people. Even the elders receive a free t-shirt that says “Carnival 2013.”

Gael is 16 years old and is involved in her school and her Church youth group. She loves to visit religious sisters. Gael has a beautiful singing voice and wants to learn how to play the guitar. We started guitar lessons two days ago, and she really has a gift for music.

On Saturday, February 2, we joined the Universal Church in celebrating Consecrated Life Day. All religious brothers and sisters who serve in the Diocese of Jacmel gathered in the Pastoral Center with Bishop Launay Saturne and many of his priests. The meeting included a conference, sharing with other communities, and dinner. The day concluded with the Celebration of the Eucharist.

Sister Inga met a Sister of St. Vincent de Paul who is from Poland and has been serving in Haiti for 10 years. It is a very small world because Sister Lila’s brother is a priest who has been serving in Sister Inga’s home parish in Sulecin, Poland. When he heard that Sister Inga was missioned in Haiti, the connection began. Sister Lila serves in the same Diocese and works in the mountains about two hours away from Jacmel. She speaks Creole fluently.

Tonight at 6:30 p.m. we received a call that our container arrived in Jacmel. Now we have to wait for an inspector in whose presence the container can be opened. Please pray!

Sisters Dianne, Janet and Elizabeth, two Sisters of Charity and a Maryknoll came to visit us from Duval Roche on Thursday, January 31. It should be a three hour drive, but they got lost and arrived after seven and a half hours. It was a joy to see them and share our stories of mission here in Haiti. We prepared a good dinner with Haitian vegetables and fruits they all enjoyed.

On Monday, January 28, our Felician friend, Yvon Kernizan, picked up Mark Schafale, Chief Administrative Financial Officer of the Felician Sisters of North American, and Mike Edgar, Director of Properties of the Sisters of North America, at the airport in Port au Prince.  He drove them to Jacmel to visit our home. The purpose of the visit was to discuss legal and financial matters of the development the Felician mission here in Jacmel, Haiti.

Mark and Mike were welcomed by Bishop Launay Saturne and other members of the Diocese.  We had prepared a busy schedule for them, but found some time to show them the beauty of the Caribbean Sea. They got a full Haiti experience with a flat tire, an unexpected flood in the kitchen and a day without running water.

We are grateful to Yvon who purchased for us some needed items for our Haitian kitchen. He showed us how to make juice from chadek (grapefruit). Yvon showed us the trees by our house which have the kind of leaves that can be used for a tea that is good to prevent high blood pressure and to alleviate colds. He also prepared a delicious Haitian breakfast for us which we all enjoyed.