Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti

How different it is now when we take our kids to Mass with us, they can receive Holy Communion with the Church. On Sunday, June 7, the day after their First Holy Communion, we all went to Mass at St. Michael’s where they were Baptized this past Easter Vigil. It was beautiful as they were in their communion clothes once again with the faith community that embraced them.

When we first arrived here in Jacmel and started to have Mass with our kids we were the only two who would receive communion. Today we noticed that during our Saturday vigil Mass for kids we had 14 people receive the Lord Jesus in His Body and Blood. We thank God for widening His Tent of our local Church. 

On Saturday, June 6, we celebrated the first Holy Communion of ten of our kids–8 boys and 2 girls. It was a long-awaited day; they have been preparing for the past two years for their Baptism, Reconciliation and now Eucharist. Over 100 people participated in the celebration, including  family and friends of our communicants. The presence of the Lord was real and present in our midst, especially as these young people received Jesus for the first time.

After Mass, Sr. Victoria and the Madonna University volunteers helped us to distribute popcorn, cupcakes and soda to all! Pictures were taken of the new communicants with their families. It truly was the day the Lord had made; all were rejoicing and glad! 😃

Today, Friday, June 5, ten of our kids and teens made their first confession in our chapel. Their ages range from 10-16 years old. It was a beautiful service, using the theme of the Prodigal Son. Fr. Elicien heard their confessions. Tomorrow they will receive their First Holy Communion.

Fr. Elicien has been a great priest, working with us. But we are sad to say he will be leaving us soon to be the rector of the seminary for his community of St. Vincent de Paul in Port au Prince.

On Thursday, June 4, Haiti celebrated the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. It was also the day our kids, who are preparing for their First Confession and First Holy Communion, had their retreat day. We all went to Mass together at St. Michael’s  at 6:30 a.m. The Word of God reminded us of how much we are loved by God through His Son Jesus Christ, who sacrificed His life by shedding His blood for us. Everytime we gather in His name to bless, break and share this bread and cup, we, too, are filled with Christ and are to take Him inpto the world.  At the end of Mass, all of us prepared for the procession through the streets. 

  
  
  
A great joy for us was to see the monstrance in which Jesus was carried through the streets was the one that we gave the parish three years ago.

  
It was a real pilgrimage with the Body and Blood of Christ. There were four beautiful stations that homes had prepared with altars. 

The streets were beautifully decorated with flowers and the children carried baskets of roses and flower pedals. 

  
  
  
  
  
So many people were in the procession, the old and the young. It was beautiful to see the elderly walk the whole procession, even a man on crutches with one leg. 

We continue to prepare for ten of our young people to receive their first Penance and Communion. Today we had our meeting with the “parents.” In our group of ten, each of our kids has a different situation. One is cared for by a sister, another by a brother, another by a friend; there is a single father and some single mothers. 

We have been preparing our kids spiritually, as well as getting them the needed items for their First Communion Day.

We thank God for Madam Omanie and James who have been assisting us on this holy journey.

On Tuesday, June 2, Sr. Victoria returned to Jacmel with some Madonna University students and friends. There are six all together–two mothers with their daughters, and two pre-nursing students. Sr. Victoria says she loves coming to Haiti; this is her fourth time back. They came with bags of  things for the children, as well as medical supplies, and items needed for the University of Notre Dame Nursing Program.  Her group is participating in the Mother Angela Clinic, helping to make order in our pharmacy and having planned activities with our kids and teens. They have been great to be with!

Only in Haiti can something like this happen. The street light outside of our property has not worked for months. The kids used to use it to study at night when the city provided electricity. We thought the city would repair it. But that is not what happens in Haiti.

The kids came to us one night and asked us if we could buy a new street lamp for study and for security. When we asked about getting it repaired, we learned that we needed to buy the lamp and get it installed ourselves. We asked our electrician to install it. He asked if we wanted to connect this to the city electricity or to our invertor. We were surprised! Why would a city street light be connected to our house. So now we have a new street lamp, connected to the city electricity.

We have a study space for our young people to use in the evening because in their homes they have no electricity to study. We turn our lights off by 10:00 p.m. But now, they can continue to study by the street lamp and some do until the city electricity is turned off, which usually is around 4 a.m.

You may remember one of our blogs last week, when we shared about Jolandez and said he was not feeling well. He had a high fever for over a week, and he was not eating nor drinking. We became more and more concerned about him. Dr. Wanitha, our clinic doctor, sent him for some tests. We helped his mother to get his needed tests and also got him to the health department for his vaccination card that was lost. We found out he had a urinary tract infection, and he is anemic. He got some new medication, but he was still suffering from fatigue and not eating. Today, we asked Fr. Elicien to pray over Jolandez and, by this evening, he was feeling better and began to play with the kids. Truly a little bit of a miracle.

Today, we woke up with plans set for the whole day. There is a saying: “Want to make God laugh? Make plans.” Well, this was our experience today. We had much to do and had many things on which to work; for instance, instead of our Creole class, we needed to work with our teacher on  our First Penance service in Creole. After that, we needed to bake banana bread for a meeting we were having in the afternoon with the Mother Angela Clinic team. Sr. Marilyn needed to drive one of our boys to take an entrance exam for school, and Sr. Inga needed to show one of the girls we are helping earn money for school what to do in  some cleaning.

Then we had a knock at the door. Two of our little guys came because their mother went to the river to wash clothes. We did not want to have them come because we were so busy. But God had other plans for our day! We gave one of the boys some cornflakes, and he went out to play. The youngest boy, Jolandez, who is three years old, seemed sad and was very tired. Right away, he wanted to be picked up, and he fell sound asleep. When he woke up, we noticed he was very warm and his eyes were glassy. We decided to take his temperature. Sure enough, it was high. Thank God, Dr. Wanitha from our clinic team was in the pharmacy. She took a look at him and said he was very sick. Jolandez had an infection in his foot, which he got last week when he accidently stepped on hot charcoals that the family used for cooking. We could not contact  his mother, so we did the best we could with medication, cold compresses, and a safe place for him to sleep.

This was a good lesson for us that anything can happen with a knock at the door. We need to let go of what we think is important and do what is needed. Maybe this is what the ministry of presence is all about.

During these days, we have been very focused on preparing our young people to receive their First Penance and Holy Communion. They have been meeting a few times a week, learning the scriptures and teachings of the Church. They will finish this intense time with a three-day retreat, during which they will receive for the first time the Sacrament of Reconciliation. After that, they will recieve their First Holy Communion. All this will take place next week, June 4-6. We thank Fr. Elicien, Madam Omanie, and James Pierre for their assistance in preparing our young people. James, is hoping to enter the seminary next September. He has been working with our young people for the past two years.

  
Thursday is catechesis day here in the Felician Mission. We now have 14 young children in our program, ranging from 6-10 years old. Today we had the story of Bartimeas, the man born blind. First we read the story from Mark 10: 46-52. Then the children shared what they heard and colored a picture of the story. They even had an experience of what it might be like if they were unable to see. We prayed to be able to see Jesus in everyone and prayed for healing for those who are sick and suffering. At the end of the session, we always give thanks and praise to God in song.