November 21, 2009

ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FLORIDA CATHOLIC MIAMI BUREAU EDITOR

Posted: 10.02.09

WILTON MANORS | It felt more like a party than a funeral – or perhaps it was an Irish wake with a Creole flavor.

Parishioners of Divine Mercy Haitian Mission in Fort Lauderdale turned their moving day into a lively two-mile procession of faith through the streets of Wilton Manor Sept. 30.

With music booming from loudspeakers, they carried their namesake image, statues and tabernacle to their new home at St. Clement Parish, where an equally lively crowd, cheering and waving flags and banners, welcomed them.

Father Robés Charles, pastor of Divine Mercy – and, as of Oct. 1, pastor of St. Clement – explained it this way to his new, combined congregation during the Mass that followed the procession: “After death, for the Christian, comes new life.”

“When we first got the news it was kind of sad,” said Wiseline Vildor, a member of Divine Mercy for the past six years. “But we’ve got to let God do what’s right. Obviously, it’s for a reason. We believe in him.”

In fact, many of Divine Mercy’s parishioners wore T-shirts with the image of Divine Mercy, their church and St. Clement. Written on the front, in Creole, were the words: “We walk with Jesus.”

Tears did stream from many people’s faces, especially as the painting of Divine Mercy and the tabernacle were carried out of the mission church that had been their home since the early 1990s.

“When we moved here, that was the greatest blessing,” recalled Father Reginald Jean-Mary, pastor of Notre Dame d’Haiti Mission in Miami, who was a member of Divine Mercy before becoming a priest. “That’s where I nourished my faith. I developed lots of leadership skills.”

Victoire Lordeus witnessed the birth of the community: seven people meeting in her mother’s living room in 1981. She also remembers one day seeing a yellow school bus driving through the streets, honking and calling the people to a “Haitian church.”

It turned out to be St. Clement, where priests from the archdiocese, among them Father Thomas Wenski, now bishop of the Orlando diocese, were celebrating Mass in Creole.

Lordeus said hers was the first wedding in Creole to be performed at St. Clement and her daughter’s the first baptism.

“Now we go back again to St. Clement,” she said in halting English. “I’m very, very miss this place because Divine Mercy did a lot for me.”

She added that the difference between St. Clement and Divine Mercy is “This one is only for us (Haitians). But St. Clement is not only for us.”

“It is very difficult. It is very emotional,” said Father Jean-Mary. “You begin to feel the void because there’s a lot of history, a lot of blessings that you’re leaving behind. But at the same time, we are the Church. I believe in divine providence.”

He noted the “symmetry” of the Haitian community returning to St. Clement. “They gave birth to the Haitian community. Now we are going back. I pray that the Lord will let the spirit of unity flow so that we can discover the richness of each other and celebrate God’s grace.”

Outside St. Clement, waiting for the procession to arrive, stood Chuck Smith, a lector at the 8 a.m. Mass even though he is a parishioner of St. Maurice in Dania Beach.

“This is a time in a lifetime,” he said. “You never saw something like this happen. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“We’re waiting for them with great joy and lots of love,” said Nola Valbuena, a 10-year parishioner of St. Clement, as she stood outside holding a flag from her native land, Venezuela. “Welcome!” she shouted.

Archbishop John C. Favalora, who took part in the procession, also said a few words at the start of the Mass at St. Clement. He reminded the congregation that the Eucharist is what unites all Catholics, regardless of color, culture or language.

“On this blessed night, I pray that nothing – nothing – and no one will divide this beautiful family,” he said, “the new family of St. Clement.”

 

Archdiocese of Miami Front Page

Advertisement

Advertisement