These last two months, we have been watching a house being built on steady rock. Everyday, workers are here building a space for the sewing classes. The space will also be used for other activities. This is in God’s plan for never could we have imagined another building on the mission property. It is getting there…
Praise the Lord! All life is a gift! As I enter this day, I am so grateful to God for life, my parents, family Felician family and you. All these are gift that I reverence and for which I thank God as I celebrate my gift of life today. I have so much to thank God for, and the litany of thanks is endless. The Word of God today speaks to me of two things; one is the call of God. For Amos, it was to prophesy. He was called to remind others that they were not living up to God’s covenant. My other thought is about the grace of mercy from the Father. As I grow older, I see or am made aware of what paralyzes me, as well as my frailties and weaknesses. But recognizing that I am embraced by that unconditional divine mercy gives me life and freedom. So today, as I come before my Lord in prayer and Eucharist, I shall also pray for you and thank God for the gift you are to me in my life.🙏🏾❤️✌🏿🎁🥳
Port-au-Prince, June 27, 2022
The news of the murder of Sister Luisa Dell’Orto left no one indifferent given the immensity and intensity of her works in favor of the poorest according to the heart of God. Faced with such a heinous act, we are inhabited by feelings of confusion, revolt, anger… Beyond that, we cannot forget the virtues of faith, charity, hope and abnegation that have inhabited the whole life and apostolate of Sister Luisa. Her testimony of life is stronger than the crime that took her away. Also, the consecrated life nourishes the desire to show its solidarity by expressing its sympathies to the religious and biological families of Sister Luisa.
The CHR office met urgently the evening of the assassination to find out about the circumstances of the crime and to see what responses to it.
After a long discussion, we deemed it important to have a meeting with Bishop Max Leroy MÉSIDOR, as pastor of the Church in the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince where the crime was perpetrated.
Following the meeting with Bishop Max Leroy, we have decided the following:
1. Write a note of public protest to express our outrage and anger and ask the relevant authorities to shed light on this crime.
2. Write a letter to the Superior General of the Little Sisters of the Gospel. We take advantage of his visit to Haiti to hand it over to him.
3. Invite consecrated life to participate in the mass on Thursday, June 30, 2022 at 2:00 a.m., which will take place at the parish of Saint Monfort where it has worked in favor of young people and children in the “Kay Chal vin aprann” house. Travel circumstances make it necessary to celebrate the funeral mass on that day.
4. Organize a concert Mass with the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince with Archbishop Max Leroy MÉSIDOR as Principal Celebrant, on Monday, July 4, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. in the Saint Louis de Gonzague chapel of the FIC in Delmas 31-33. Remember that two celebrations are not too much for a life given entirely to God by serving the most disadvantaged.
PS. : at the introduction of the Mass, there will be a complete presentation of the biography of Sr Luisa.
5. In addition, the office of the CHR will request a meeting with the CEH in order to discern the actions that we can take together as a Church in response to the catastrophic situation that our country is experiencing.
Brothers and sisters, let us remain united in prayer, and dare to make sparks that will become embers of love to illuminate the many wounded and bruised hearts of our country and society.
May Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Patroness of Haiti, intercede for us so that the light of the Heart of her Son, our Redeemer, shines on our paths!
Fr. Gilbert Peltrop, C.Ss.R
Secretary General of the CHR
“Dear compatriots and friends everywhere,
Like every year, our entire nation bows before Our Lady of Perpetual Help to ask her to protect us and guide us in this world where individualism tends to become a norm that threatens the existence of the less powerful. This year, I especially invite you to thank the Patron Saint of Haiti for the many graces she granted us despite our setbacks and especially despite our iniquities.
We live, in fact, in a world where cooperation between humans only exists in the greatest mistrust because the interests of some do not always necessarily coincide with those of others. The protection of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is essential to us in this pseudo-civilized world where man is a wolf to man. Our frail Nation has always needed a lot of abnegation, temperance, and above all an extraordinary resilience to cling to its existence in this ocean infested with ill-intentioned sharks. Isolated as it is, if Haiti has learned to subsist on the edge of the abyss, it must be believed that Our Lady of Perpetual Help has never abandoned us. Let’s therefore be grateful, and keep our fervor and our faith. We are not alone in this fight.
Since its birth, which dates back to the first day of January 1804, our country has never ceased to face obstacles of all kinds; some more obvious than others. In this world that has never hidden its hostility and contempt, we cannot know how many times Our Lady of Perpetual Help has intervened to protect this first black republic in the world. Our deplorable economic situation and our often ill-chosen leaders make this country of twelve million inhabitants a favorite target for all adversities. In our isolation, we have experienced epidemic after epidemic. Some left their mark, but we survived. We must give thanks to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Where would our dear Haiti be without the invariable protection of this powerful patron saint.
When we talk about all the dangers that threaten the world in which we live, and which make it more and more unstable, we must, at one time or another, mention Covid-19, this ruthless pandemic which still makes people talk. from her. There were so many bleak predictions for Haiti, a country completely on its own. At the end of the day, we can say at the point where we are, that our country has done well. How not to thank Our Lady of Perpetual Help ? Her kindness is boundless. Our gratitude too.
We always address ourselves with confidence to Our Lady of Perpetual Help because she is the Patroness of our country, and she has never abandoned us.
Lesly Condé
As we make our way through these new summer days we are very aware of the fruits of the earth the Lord is blessing us with.
On June, 5 the construction people came to measure the space where we would build our new space for sewing classes. The building can also be used for other activities.
The hope and plan is to be finished by the end of July! Everyday more and more progress is made! This will be a great gift for our 10th year anniversary this year!
The second sewing class, led by Sisters Izzy and Julitta, finished their final exam these last two weeks. The sewing classes continue to grow, which means we are running out of space to fit all the people so they can learn. God always has a plan!
On Thursday, June 16, we celebrated the feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus. This year, we went to St. Bernadette Chapel, located at the Pastoral Center for the Diocese of Jacmel (also the location for the bakery). Mass began at 7 a.m.
The church gives us this feast as a reminder that Jesus is always with us, in every circumstance of our lives. Daily, He breaks Himself for us to share and bless the world with His saving presence. Our Eucharistic faith gives us confidence that Christ abides with us through all the sorrows of our lives, sanctifying us and leading us to His unveiled presence in heaven.
Our prayer this day was for healing for Haiti!
“Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.” Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty.” They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.” Luke 9:11-17
Evening arrived and, at 10:00 p.m., all was ready. We began the Vigil after the example of the Apostles and disciples, with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We gathered at the grotto and began our procession. We came together to persevere in prayer, awaiting the Holy Spirit.
Like them, we listened to God’s Word and reflected on the many great deeds in times past that God did for His people and would now do for us as we received the Holy Spirit’s call and power in our lives.
The next morning, we had Mass with Fr. Lautere. And some stayed for the morning Mass, too!
Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti 