Christmas Day Celebration in the Felician Haiti Mission
The day finally arrived, the Nativity of our Lord, the birthday of Jesus. Our kids have been preparing all month for this special occasion of our salvation. First, it was preparing the food and decorations, then practice for the plays and the choir.
The choir and Christmas pageant was ready and, as the children gathered, the excitement filled the air.
The story of Birth of Jesus was told, and the children listened intently.
The kids prepared the story of the Good Samaritan and a modern-day version of welcoming the stranger and caring for one another.
After, there was some singing and dancing…
Then it was time for Christmas dinner, Christmas cookies, and soda.
All were so anxious for the moment when St. Nick would arrive with his gifts for all.
We are so grateful to the many people who helped us make this day a glorious celebration…our benefactors, Sisters, and friends. Thank you, Sr. Victoria, for sharing this Christmas with us here in Haiti. Thanks to Eric and his girls, Abby and Kaitlyn, for being with us to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas. And thanks to our teens, our youth group here in the Felician Mission, who gave of themselves the whole day in service.
After the kids left, the teens had their Christmas dinner and helped to clean up a bit. We ended this glorious day with the Celebration of the Eucharist with Fr. Dickenson our newly-ordained priest.
Celebrating Wigilia in Haiti
For days in advance, we prepared the traditional foods and anxiously awaited the moment when the first star, that appears in the eastern sky on Christmas Eve. For that was when the feast to commemorate the birth of the Christ Child began. Our little community gathered around the table.
There is always a thin layer of hay under the white tablecloth in memory of the Godchild in the manger. Before sitting down at the table, everyone broke the traditional wafer, or Oplatek and exchanged good wishes for health, wealth and happiness in the New Year. The Oplatek is a thin, unleavened wafer similar to the altar bread in the Roman Catholic Church. It is stamped with the figures of the Godchild, the blessed Mary, and the holy angels. The wafer is known as the bread of love…
The dinner itself differs from other evening meals in that the number of courses is fixed at seven, nine or eleven. A lighted candle in the windows symbolizes the hope that the Godchild, in the form of a stranger, may come to share the Wigilia and an extra place is set at the table for the unexpected guest. This belief stems from the ancient Polish adage, “A guest in the home is God in the home.”
The Wigilia is a meatless meal, no doubt the result of a long-time Church mandate that a strict fast and abstinence be observed on this day before Christmas. Although the Church laws have been revised and permit meat to be eaten on this day, the traditional meal remains meatless. Our traditional Wigilia menu included mushroom soup, boiled fried fish, pierogi, barszcz with little dumplings, dried fruit compote, poppyseed cake and pirnik , platek, and fruit salad.
After the meal gifts were shared with our guests.
From the crib to the cross…God with us!
As we ponder this holy scene of the crib and the cross, we place you before the saving grace and forgiveness of God with us in His presence.
Christmas and the cross together make grace complete and available to those who will embrace the Lord and His radical message of love and forgiveness. When really and truly embraced, it is totally life-changing and leaves no one the same as it found them. We see that here day after day. Grace forgives, sets you free, destroys addictions, removes performance as a means of approval and acceptance, and allows each and every disciple to be truly themselves. It also offers to every believer the opportunity to become involved in changing the world through personal relationship as we “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10) which was Jesus’ reason for being born and why He had to be “full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).
May you see God’s presence from the crib to the cross in your life and find new meaning that nothing is impossible with God, who is with us! Thank you for your support and prayers and know that you are remembered here daily in our prayers.
Merry Christmas to all, and have a holy, happy, and healthy 2019!
Santa and his two elves arrived in Jacmel
We welcome Eric and his two daughters, Abby and Kaitlyn, who are here to help us with our Christmas celebration tomorrow!
Preparing the way for the Lord…
On Friday, December 21, that is exactly what our teens did–prepared the way for the Lord! There is so much garbage around our streets, and we wanted to make a difference with the way the area looked for the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. We wanted to make a straight way for the Lord’s coming by the Cathedral Church, which is around the corner from us, so we cleaned up the garbage as best we could. Then signs were made to be placed in areas where people seem to throw their garbage. We even got our neighbors to help.
“Do not throw garbage; God is watching you.”
Afterwards, the teens decorated the tree in the Center…ready the Way for the Lord!
