Fèt Notre Dame Lachandlè

To give you an idea of what a big deal the Fèt for Notre Dame Lachandlè is here in Gros Morne, there were 3 Masses on the day of the Feast. There were only two for Christmas! 

The first Mass was at 5:00 AM and it is for the pilgrims.  It is soooo early so they can get an early start on their return to home. 

The second one was at 9:00 AM and it is for the “dignitaries.” All the local politicians, including our representatives in Port-au-Prince, attend this liturgy, whether they are Catholic or not.  

Finally, the 6:00 PM liturgy is for everybody else….. I guess.

Sr. Pat, a visiting Haitian woman and I attended the 9:00 AM liturgy, despite our lack of “dignitary” status.  We arrived at 8:45 AM in order to get a seat and we succeeded in that, fortunately, because by around 9:00, there wasn’t one to be had.  So, we could entertain ourselves by watching people trying to wiggle into non-existent places on the benches. We had plenty of time to entertain ourselves in that fashion because Mass did not start until nearly 9:40 AM!!!!!  By that time, people were spilling out all the doors which is where Jen and Aileen, the other two volunteers, found themselves when they finally showed up.  

  

It was also interesting so see the all the different kinds of people in attendance.  Everybody was decked out in their very best attire (except for the visiting Italian volunteers, for some reason).  However, the quality of the “very best” varied greatly.  Many people were clearly in their one and only dress outfit.  Others, I’m guessing visitors, perhaps even from the States, looked like they stepped out of a fashion magazine.  The five of us were somewhere in between, as far as fashion is concerned.

The Mass itself was quite beautiful and I have to admit that the 3 hours went by pretty quickly-except for the homily which started out in French but ended up in Creole.  Anyway, the choir and the musicians were excellent and we even had a little program with the lyrics to all the hymns.  In case you’re wondering, there were 19 hymns which goes a long way towards explaining the 3 hours.  The entrance procession alone probably took 15 minutes owing to the number of priests processing in.  Fortunately, that hymn, to the Blessed Mother, was quite beautiful.  The presentation of the gifts was another 15 minutes or so owing to the fact that that procession included people carrying, trees, rice, beans, joumou (a kind of squash) and other vegetables, etc., on their heads. And, there was a little explanation that went along with each one.

Then, at the end, there were several long winded speeches, including a Blan from the “Lyons Club International” wearing his gold colored Lyons Club vest.

All in all, we were in there over 4 hours.

Despite our lack of “dignitary” status, we were able to get into the Kay Mère which is the convent across the street from the church. There, we could enjoy the eating part of the Fèt, including ample beer (Prestige, of course) for those who were so inclined.

All the visitors have gone home now so Gros Morne has gone back to being its usual sleepy self, thank God. Now, it’s just a matter of cleaning up all the detritus of the past 10 days.

I'll be busy today as we have a group of America pediatricians coming to town for a few days.  The group is led by a Mercy sister who also happens to be an MD.  She's been bringing her residents (from Johns Hopkins) to Haiti for years.