I need Haitian chocolate, coffee, and a lot of prayer

 Hoo-boy. We have our work cut out for us.

I’m sitting here with my cocoa, considering the effect that this election may have on Haiti and on Haitians  both there and living in the United States. My Haitian godfamily lives in Ohio now. This isn’t a good time to be Haitian in Ohio. And nothing is improving in Haiti right now – as a matter of fact, I gather it is getting worse. I will not quote those who malign Haitians, but I will say I didn’t expect to hear a friend need to joke that people shouldn’t worry about their pets, as they are vegetarian.

a tap-tap declaring truth: life is not easy

So what do I do until I know what to do? Drink Haitian hot chocolate. Singing Rooster Haitian hot chocolate, to be specific. And I am here to commend it to you both because it is fabulous and because you can support small farmers in Haiti while doing so.  

This. Haitian hot chocolate is a good support to one's prayer. Just saying.

Actually, I met the people who were starting this project back in 2012 at a church patronal festival in Jeannette, Haiti – way out in a rural area of the southern peninsula. 

the entrance to the church in Jeannette in 2012

Back then, as I understood it, it was limited to coffee. Now there is also chocolate (I want the lemon ginger dark chocolate bar… if my family reads this, feel free to give it to me for Christmas! :-D), metal art, paintings – and, of course, the hot chocolate. Dark hot chocolate. Microwave milk, then mix for a while because this is the real thing with bits of chocolate that need to melt. This time I added cinnamon because I was remembering Sr. Marie Margaret making us hot chocolate in Haiti in which cinnamon sticks were involved.

Here is the information you need:  https://singingrooster.org/ They have both retail and wholesale options, including information about using this for fundraising.

https://singingrooster.org/about-rooster/

But NOOOO… Classic Hot Chocolate is out of stock! https://singingrooster.org/shop/haitian-hot-chocolate-2/ I am so sad. And grateful to have bought a couple of bags last time I had the opportunity.

They still have bulk/wholesale spicy hot chocolate – that is, hot chocolate with cinnamon and hot pepper.  Hmmm… Haitian Hot Chocolate - Spicy! I haven’t tried that yet. Maybe I will… except I can’t afford 15 bags. Fundraiser? Hmmm… They do sell it at my childhood church, so I know that's a thing.

There is also the chocolate, of course. Show your friends some of what Haitians really eat. They want some, too.

https://singingrooster.org/buy/haitian-chocolate/

If you want to support Haiti in this way, there are also Christmas ornaments, metal, paintings, and plenty of coffee.

https://singingrooster.org/shop/99-2-1-11-2-3/

I had better drink the rest of my hot chocolate before it gets cold. It won't change the state of the world, but it will fortify me for the next steps. 

🥪 👜 Ma’amalade sandwich Your Majesty?

"The Arch Is Dead, Long Live The Arch!" - a tribute to Archbishop Tutu by someone who knew him well

The Arch Is Dead, Long Live The Arch! 

By Stewart Ting Chong, Canton, MA, USA 

12/31/2021

I write this after having returned from St John’s Episcopal Church in Hingham, Massachusetts, where the church bell tolled at noon, as it did at other Episcopal Churches across the State. The mournful single note of the bell, rung in short intervals, heralded the reminder that Archbishop Desmond Tutu had died on the 26th December 2021 and that his funeral was to be conducted at 10am in South Africa the following day.

I sat alone quietly weeping in the church where I was married by Desmond Tutu, the priest who became a bishop, a Nobel Peace Laureate and then Archbishop of Southern Africa. The awards and accolades bestowed on him meant little to me for he was just “The Arch”, someone who I had known for 34 years as a mentor, friend, confidant and boss, having worked on his staff for seven years during the era of apartheid in South Africa.

While the media is filled with tributes honoring a great peace maker, and rightly so, my own thoughts have been focused on how my life had changed as a result of his influence. There was, for me, no one braver, more outspoken in the defense of the oppressed, the persecuted and the discriminated and no one more prayerfully contemplative than the Arch. It is in this light that I pen my own thoughts in my personal tribute to honor him. 

I could so easily repeat words already spoken more eloquently by others, but what I know of him is that words were meaningless unless there was an action that supported their intent.  

“I’m not a holy person and have no skills to offer”, you might say. And I can hear the Arch’s response: “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world”. We can absolutely do good in the world but why not start in your own part of the world first? Pick up that piece of trash that someone else has tossed aside and do good by saving the environment and the conservation of wildlife. Reach out to someone in need for “We are each made for goodness, love and compassion. Our lives are transformed as much as the world is when we live with these truths.” Get involved in your communities and correct the injustices that you’ve ignored by thinking, “someone else is better equipped than I am to deal with that.” Volunteer your time to help organizations in their mission and become the person that we know we want to be.

The greatest challenge for me, as it may be for you, is to see the goodness in others with whom we disagree.

The Arch emphatically believed that we are all children of God, that goodness is in everyone even though that goodness might be hidden by “evil”. His challenge to us is to try to see beyond that and to acknowledge the intrinsic value and goodness in everyone. 

So, I write this more as my own pledge, to read and be reminded daily, that if the Arch meant so much to me, then I should honor him through my interactions with others, as hard as that might be.

“Goodness is stronger than evil.

Love is stronger than hate.

Light is stronger than darkness.

Life is stronger than death.

Victory is ours through Him who loved us.”

The Archbishop’s death is not the end of the battle he waged for goodness. It is the beginning for each one of us who holds his name in high esteem. Discrimination, injustice, persecution and oppression will not end unless we pick up his mantle of righteousness and call to account those who continue to tarnish the ideals that he had so faithfully strived to achieve. Let us find our voice and speak out against oppression. Let us speak out against the injustices inflicted on communities around the world. Let us hold accountable those who plunder the coffers intended to help the weak, hungry and destitute. And let us put the words we speak into action with righteous indignation and leave this world a better and kinder place for the generations that follow. Let us pledge to continue his work.

The Arch is Dead, Long Live the Arch.

I Bind Unto Myself Today - St. Patrick's Breastplate

This seems particularly appropriate in such a time.

"I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity...I bind this day to me for ever, by power of faith, Christ's Incarnation... I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead..." 

What strength could be greater?

And part I have loved since childhood:

Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort
and restore me.

Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of
all that love me,
Christ in mouth of
friend and stranger.

At Trinity Episcopal, Fort Wayne, we used to sing this middle section before the gospel reading every week. This recording has a different tune for the middle section than the Episcopal hymnal has, but the words are still there and powerfully comforting.

May it be prayer and blessing to you, too, and may Christ, the One who is our Rock and our Salvation, the One who will never abandon us, be truly present in your life, now more than ever.



text via YouTube:

I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three. I bind this day to me for ever, by power of faith, Christ's Incarnation; his baptism in Jordan river; his death on cross for my salvation; his bursting from the spicèd tomb; his riding up the heavenly way; his coming at the day of doom: I bind unto myself today. I bind unto myself the power of the great love of cherubim; the sweet "Well done" in judgment hour; the service of the seraphim; confessors' faith, apostles' word, the patriarchs' prayers, the prophets' scrolls; all good deeds done unto the Lord, and purity of virgin souls. I bind unto myself today the virtues of the starlit heaven the glorious sun's life-giving ray, the whiteness of the moon at even, the flashing of the lightning free, the whirling wind's tempestuous shocks, the stable earth, the deep salt sea, around the old eternal rocks. I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead, his eye to watch, his might to stay, his ear to hearken, to my need; the wisdom of my God to teach, his hand to guide, his shield to ward; the word of God to give me speech, his heavenly host to be my guard. Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three. Of whom all nature hath creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word: praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.

O DAY OF PEACE

Can it really have been eighteen years since 9/11?

I still remember waiting, sitting on the floor in front of the television with the other sisters, saying, "Show the flight number. Show the flight number. Show the flight number." The entire Haitian house - that is, our SSM Sisters in that convent - were on a 6AM American Airlines flight out of Boston that morning. And then there were our Sisters who work for Trinity Wall Street, right there at St. Paul's Chapel at Ground Zero.

All OK. None unaffected.

So many others didn't find such good news at the end of the day.

I still think of Deora Bodley, who was on the plane that went down in PA. She was in my mother's class in grade school - third or fourth grade, I'm not sure which. I prayed for her family tonight and remembered the story I heard about her mother in vigil waiting to hear...

And so tonight when we had Evensong alongside St. John's Duxbury, I looked at the face of a sister who had been there in NYC and thought how many more there must be out there tonight.

Eighteen years? Tonight there are many for whom it must seem yesterday. And we all go on. And we all hope. We live, we find joy, we remember... whatever it is.

I offer this hymn as a prayer for us all as we seek to heal our broken world, giving thanks for Carl Daw's gift in hymn writing that permits us to express that prayer more deeply.

Rachel Held Evans Funeral

Here's the original link to the service livestream: https://rachelheldevans.com/funeral
 (I've also included the YouTube version made of it below.)

The link also includes the bulletin pdf with the participants, hymns, etc.  Liturgical participants included Nadia Bolz-Weber preaching, Sarah Bessey and Austin Channing Brown reading, Audrey Assad singing, and Winnie Varghese celebrating (I recognized her soothing voice from General Convention before I knew she was there). There were others, but those are the ones with whom I was familiar and whose presence was somehow comforting - how much more to her family and friends. I had also become familiar with Jeff Chu through that time of prayer while Rachel was sick, and his leading of the Prayers of the People was moving.

But hearing from her little sister Amanda Held Opelt both made me laugh and moved me to tears. Plenty to think about, too. One thing she said that I don't think will necessarily get quoted seems important to me: "What was most special about her was her love. She's one of the least branded people I know. We all know, she was horrible at Instagram. She was the worst. And I think while other writers were working on their image and working on their brand, Rachel was working on her relationships. She was listening, she was leaning into people's pain, she was hearing their stories, she was being changed by their stories."  She wrote a song about her sister after she'd read Rachel's Searching for Sunday - that she never sang to her - I think it's called "Bloodlines and Intercessions." Hope someone publishes the words. Maybe she'll record it... Meanwhile, you should watch the service and listen - it's somewhere around the half hour mark. Wish I could be such a good sister to mine...

From her service (1979 Book of Common Prayer via the online bulletin):

O God of grace and glory, we remember Rachel before you and thank you for giving her to us to know and to love as a companion in our pilgrimage on earth. In your compassion, console those who mourn. Give us faith to see that death has been swallowed up in the victory of Christ so that we may live in confidence and hope until, by your call, we are gathered into the company of all your saints; by the power of your Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.



COMMENDATION

Leader: You only are immortal, the creator and maker of humankind; and we are mortal, formed of the earth, and to earth shall we return. For so did you ordain when you created me, saying, "You are dust, and to dust you shall return." All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

People: Give rest, O Christ, to your servant with your saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.

Leader: Merciful Savior, we commend Rachel to you. Receive her as a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Accept her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of your saints.


And here's something from the BCP (p.507) that wasn't in the bulletin but that is really important. And it lines up well with what Nadia Bolz-Weber's sermon, which you simply must hear for yourself. It starts right about minute 50 on the video.

The liturgy for the dead is an Easter liturgy. It finds all meaning in the resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we too, shall be  raised.

The liturgy, therefore, is characterized by joy, in the certainty that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present,  nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else  in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ  Jesus our Lord."

This joy, however, does not make human grief unchristian. The very love  we have for each other in Christ brings deep sorrow when we are parted  by death. Jesus himself wept at the grave of his friend. So, while we  rejoice that one we love has entered into the nearer presence of our Lord, we sorrow in sympathy with those who mourn.

So hold them all in your prayers, especially Dan, her husband, and her little ones.  And hold yourself gently if you, too, are grieving right now, as so many are. 

Peace be with you all.

Salaam (Od yavo shalom aleinu)

I went to the Shabbat service I wrote about in the previous post, and I'm so glad I did. It was good to stand in solidarity even just in a small way. We need to stick together, speak up against evil, and work towards healing and unity.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I never thought I'd need to preach about antisemitism. Oh, how naive... but I am not alone in my overoptimism. "Never again," we all say, but incidents are on the rise.

Last night was also the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. It wasn't mentioned in the service, but it came up in conversation earlier.  There has been quite a bit on Twitter lately, so I was aware of it in a way I might not have otherwise been.

 Holocaust survivor recalls ‘Night of Broken Glass’ horrors

Interview with Miriam Ron, Witness to the Events of Kristallnacht

As a matter of fact, someone posted a story along with some old photographs from that hideous event, photos found after the death of a grandfather who had fought in WWII (The thread starts here: https://twitter.com/ElishevaAvital/status/1060914913328148480). Difficult to see, but more than worth the read. It's pretty amazing to scroll down and find the Holocaust Museum saying - nearly live - yes, we are very interested in these.  I hesitate to call such a find a treasure, as it's of something so awful, but... lest we forget... and we are... or even deny its happening (how? but a few still do), such images need to be kept and displayed. 

I found a good article here that includes history and pictures.

And in my beloved France, antisemitism continues as well:

Ugh.

HOWEVER, we can and will work together to move our world into a better place. We are, actually.  And one of the hope-filled offerings in that service Friday was the opportunity to sing this song: Salaam (Od yavo shalom aleinu), which means "Peace will come to us."

Peace. We need it in so many ways, between so many different groups of people. And it needs to begin with us, to paraphrase the old song.

Rabbi Cohen sent the lyrics & translation along with a link to a site with four versions (music videos), including the original, from which comes the short description above. The words are easy to pick up, especially since the beginning of the song is slow, and then it gets faster and faster. Singing it can be good prayer, and indeed, having practiced it, I sang it all the way to the service and partway home.  I commend it to you.

 OD YAVO SHALOM ALEINU/ PEACE WILL COME TO US
Od yavo' shalom aleinu / Peace will come upon us
Od yavo' shalom aleinu / Peace will come upon us
Od yavo' shalom aleinu / Peace will come upon us
Ve al kulam (x2) /and on everyone.

Salaam (Salaam)
Aleinu ve al kol ha olam,
Salaam, Salaam (x2)

Here's the original, with cool background music.

And here's one by an a capella group, The Maccabeats. Bonus points for the group name and for the a capella version. (I loved singing in my a capella group in college.)

And the last I'm posting because I love this soloist, Adam Stotland, who is just going to town with it. Also it's with a back-up Gospel choir from Montreal - what a combination of cultures all in one, there! Which is what we need.

So sing. Sing it again. Sing it with energy and hope. Sing this prayer for peace over and over, making it your own and joining it to mine and that of so many others. By the grace and mercy of God, may peace be upon us all and upon our world. 

Salaam - Shalom - Peace - Lapè - La Paix - La Paz

Yom HaShoah event open to the public

Congregation Shirat Hayam to Host Holocaust Survivor

In observance of Holocaust Memorial Day

Tuesday, April 10, at 7 p.m.

open to the entire public

CSH is honored to present Susan Kadar, a survivor of the Hungarian Nazi regime and the German occupation of Hungary. Ms. Kadar will share her experiences of those terrible years.  Only Susan and her mother survived the war. Eventually, they made their way to the United States where she went on to have a very productive and important career with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.  

Congregation Shirat Hayam is located at 185 Plain St. (Rte. 139), Marshfield MA in the Sanctuary Church, 185 Plain Street (Rte. 139), Marshfield MA 02050 (about 0.9 miles west of Marshfield Center). For more information about CSH please go to www.shirathayam.net or call 781-582-2700.

  

Donations for the Boston Holocaust Memorial and the CSH Holocaust Education Fund will be gratefully accepted at the door.

(Via the Duxbury Interfaith Council)

a 60th to celebrate

Yesterday was the sixtieth anniversary of my parents' meeting. My father loves to tell the story (and he has just corrected me on a few details, having found this post before I could tell him). I can hear the lead up (a story for another day) and then the moment itself, as she comes to the door of the Cornell chaplain's house in a red slicker and matching hat to deliver a homemade ironing board for doing sacristy altar linens (big enough to do a corporal, my mother assures me). As though struck by lightning, he crosses two rooms to meet her and can't feel his feet as he walks. This, he already knows, is the girl he's going to marry.

I don't think Mom remembers it well - though she did correct my details about her outfit.

Mom and Dad in 1959, probably the front door of the Kappa house

The best he could do was a coffee date two days later.

He came back during finals week in June and sat with her as she hemmed a dress for her home ec final.  I've worn it - she saved it all those years.

His first REAL date with her, he says, was dinner and a movie later that week. On that date, he told her that God had ordained that they be married and that there wasn't anything she could do about it. Her jaw hit the ground...

She thought it was a line, though.

This summer, they will have been married for 58 years.  I'd call that a pretty good line, wouldn't you?

a love story

Addendum: Dad points out that she is a more beautiful woman now than she was then.

considering the lilies

The reading for Evening Prayer tonight is one of my favorites, one I've gone back to over the years.

Someday I'll have to tell the story of its impact on me during my junior year abroad; it's too long for today. Suffice to say that I had been coming upon that passage with its "do not be anxious" (RSV translation) to the point that I was asking God, "Are you trying to tell me something?" Apparently so, and when I suddenly needed it, it was there. And right. So when I came upon it while praying Morning Prayer today, I just kept on reading into the Evening Prayer passage in advance.

It's our sabbath day - which is to say, our day of rest, our day "off," so to speak, so I will go out soon to consider the lilies and the birds of the air. Quite literally. Walking outside can be really good prayer time for me, and just being among green living things renews my spirit. I am profoundly grateful to be able to do so and to have a lovely afternoon in which to do it. I'll come back to this passage tonight, giving thanks and asking to hear it even more deeply. 

May the Lord help me - and all of us - to grow in trust and thanksgiving for that promise of steadfast presence, no matter what.

Matthew 6:25-34

 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

 ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

(Thanks to http://bible.oremus.org/ for the text!)

prayer for sheltering

Over the past weeks with their hurricanes - and now an earthquake - I have been praying with a line from a hymn: Oh, spread thy sheltering wings around...

My first day of my novitiate field education placement at Common Art, St. John's, Bowdoin Street, on September 12, 2001. Liz, the priest in charge, is an artist. Two blocks from the State House, the anxiety was almost palpable. Following our service, Liz had us all draw prayer mandalas as we held this disaster in our hearts. I can still envision mine. So much to pray for. So many lives impacted. And I learned there that art, no matter the purely artistic quality thereof, can express prayers of the heart when words will not suffice. It complements the prayer of silence.

And so I made another. Great art it is not. But it is prayer. It is prayer I can come back to.

Oh, spread thy sheltering wings around...

Around those in immediate danger.
Around those preparing to face it.
Around those numb with shock.
Around those wild with grief and loss.
Around those frantic to find missing loved ones.
Around those who have found them injured or dead.
Around those standing in the wreckage looking for hope.
Around those working to heal, to repair, to comfort.
Around those seeking a way forward for themselves or for their communities.

Lord, shelter them in the midst of the storm.
Let them know your presence, so very near even now.

Oh, spread thy sheltering wings around...

Haitian classical music event

October is Haitian Creole Month.

I had no idea.

I discovered this when I was looking at some of the articles on Romel Joseph (see previous post) and searching for him under Haitian classical music.* Apparently there are celebrations not just of the language, but also of the culture of which it is a part.

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 17, there is a free performance at the main public library in Cambridge, MA. There are works by some names I recognize. I do wish I could be there! You can see the post on the library Facebook page, dated 10/14/15. On another site I found the following brief description:

Discover Haitian Classical Music
Discover historic and contemporary Haitian classical composers like Jaegerhuber, Racine, Perrault, Dauphin, and our host, Gifrants! Free!

I also note that there is a celebration in the same location on Halloween from 10-4. Nothing to do with Halloween itself, but for those not preparing for trick-or-treating, it looks like a marvelous opportunity.

Now, if you are further away from me in the Chicago area, never fear, there is a concert of Haitian classical music coming up there on November 8.

Haitian classical music concert in Chicago 11/8/15

Here is the Facebook event page description:

This event is free! Free-will donations benefit the Haitian American Museum and Crossing Borders Music. 

The Haitian American Museum of Chicago and Crossing Borders Music present great, seldom-heard Haitian composers spanning from the early 20th century to today. The performance will feature works that celebrate Haitians' resilience and culture, such as early 20th century German Haitian composer Werner Jaegerhuber's Quartet in C Minor. Jaegerhuber wrote the work late in his life following an aneurysm that partially paralyzed him. In its dramatic conclusion, he quotes a traditional Haitian Vodou melody, "Soley oh", which speaks of darkness and despair as well as the light of the sun. Also featured will be Robert Durand's String Quartet, on which the composer worked every day for nearly 30 years. Julio Racine's Quartet #2 and Gifrants' Konfyolo showcase "rara", a style of Haitian music featuring bamboo horns playing lively, interlocking rhythms. Gifrants' works Unbreakable Faith and Fantezi Kreyol show the composer's commitment to celebrating the music of Haitian peasants and, in Unbreakable Faith, the remarkable resilience of the Haitian people. This performance will be the Midwestern premiere of Unbreakable Faith and Fantezi Kreyol.

- - - - - - - 

*More on Romel Joseph:

Another link I discovered:
Romel Joseph and what good is classical music, anyway

A picture from an Orchestre Philharmonique Sainte Trinite concert in Port-au-Prince in 2011, celebrating the 40th anniversary of its founding and the 50th of Les Petits Chanteurs (who are also out and about touring right now)

Romel Joseph - a slide from notable moments and people series on the history of the music school given during the concert
Yes, yes, I did in fact take a picture of a slide...

While Sr. Claire Marie was telling me about attending his various graduations, I found out that he got his undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati, where my mother did her grad work and where my nephew is currently studying. More ties. 

I'll leave you with a dose of cuteness - Romel's daughter Victoria, now an excellent violinist, playing in a recital at the age of six.

Romel Joseph

Sr. Claire Marie's cousin, violinist Romel Joseph, died in Haiti this past week.

Romel Joseph, left, a Juilliard-trained violinist, lost his wife, their unborn child, and his music school in the Haiti earthquake of 2010. Two years later, he practiced for a concert, with his children, Bradley, center, on the piano, and Victoria, right, on violin. The family has raised money to help build a school of music in Port-au-Prince for children.

MARICE COHN BAND Miami Herald file

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article38114070.html#storylink=cpy

Violinist Romel Joseph, survivor of Haiti earthquake, dies at 56 

obituary (minus headline and photo) in the music section of Le Nouvelliste, the major newspaper in Port-au-Prince

As Sr. Claire Marie told me, his funeral was held today at the Cathedrale Sainte Trinite, Port-au-Prince, the cathedral of the Eglise Episcopale d'Haiti. On the Facebook page of the New Victorian School, the bilingual academic and music elementary school which he founded and directed, his daughter Victoria, also a violinist, confirmed this, saying,

"As you know already, Bradley and I are incredibly saddened to officially announce the loss of our beloved father, educator, violinist and Founder of The New Victorian School, Romel Joseph. As he is remembered, it is our hope that the focus not be on his passing but to the endless service he has given to his community and many around the world.

With the love and admiration for children and music education, our father embarked the ambitious journey of making his dream a reality. Without a doubt, the spirit of survival and resiliency that he demonstrated in the 2010 earthquake will continue to live in us and all the children in The New Victorian School. As a result, our 200 current students have embraced his vision at the school by marking its 25th anniversary beginning January 1, 2016. More than his professional and musical accomplishments, he is measured as a devoted husband, father, friend and teacher. "

I wish I had heard him play myself. I am glad to have been able to meet him, however briefly, back when I was living in Haiti. He came to Holy Trinity Philharmonic Orchestra concerts, so there was opportunity for me to be introduced.

This is a recently posted video of one of his concerts in Holy Trinity Music School's Salle Sainte Cecile, which is - was - attached to Holy Trinity (Episcopal) Cathedral in Port-au-Prince.  Holy Trinity Music School was founded by our own Sr. Anne Marie, and Romel studied there, so there is yet another connection with us.



Romel Joseph's beautiful music and all his other achievements are all the more impressive when one learns he had a lifelong visual impairment. Clearly, it didn't stop him from using his gifts. As a child, he attended St. Vincent's School for Handicapped Children in Port-au-Prince, founded by Sr. Joan; Sr. Claire Marie, too, is a graduate and taught there for a while before becoming a sister.
Ecole St Vincent - Facebook page
Centre St Vincent Pour Enfants Handicapes - Facebook page

As is mentioned above, he survived the 2010 earthquake in which he lost his wife and unborn child and spent 18 hours buried in rubble, keeping himself together by mentally playing concertos.

As a world-class violinist, he received media attention when, finally rescued, he was flown to a Miami hospital. As a result, Stevie Wonder sent him two of his keyboards as encouragement and so that he might practice and strengthen his fingers as he recovered.

Can you imagine breaking your fingers if you were a professional violinist? Obviously he also played keyboard - Sr. Claire Marie tells me, "he could play any instrument" - a wide variety, in any case.

And he did play again, despite cautions from doctors who thought this might not be possible. Furthermore, as he also vowed, his school was rebuilt and continues its work.
http://www.npr.org/2010/01/23/122900781/wife-school-lost-in-quake-violinist-vows-to-rebuild

Romel Joseph, founder of The New Victorian School in Haiti, and his daughter Victoria perform at the Aventura Cultural Center in Miami on Jan. 8. It was Joseph's first performance since last year's earthquake.
Neil Oxenburg/Courtesy of Victoria Joseph via NPR
Quake Crushes Haitian Violinist's Hand, But Not His Spirit (NPR 2011)

Romel Joseph, a blind violinist who survived the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti after spending 18 hours pinned under concrete, played the violin at the rehabilitation center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in March 2010, just a few months after treatment. Alexia Fodere For The Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article38114070.html

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article38114070.html#storylink=cpy

And here he is in 2014 with his daughter Victoria, playing a mini concert at the Miami hospital where he was treated following the earthquake.

Please keep his family, loved ones, and students in your prayers. 

If you wish to do something to honor his memory, you could post a memorial here: https://www.facebook.com/RomelJosephMemoriesTribute

You could also, I am sure, donate to his school (links above),
to the Holy Trinity Music School where he first studied the violin
http://www.saintetrinitemusique.com/
Ecole de Musique Sainte Trinite Facebook page  
http://singwithhaiti.org/
or to Instrumental Change, a non-profit organization begun by a friend of mine that brings musical instruments to and otherwise supports a number of music programs in Haiti (including Holy Trinity Music School).
http://www.instrumentalchange.org/
Instrumental Change Facebook page

Presiding Bishop-Elect's sermon to Episcopal Youth Event 2014

Yesterday we elected a new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. And I am THRILLED with our choice.

I'll post more later, but I wanted to share with you the sermon I heard from him last summer when I was chaperoning the Diocese of Massachusetts' delegation to the Episcopal Youth Event.

"If you love Jesus, it will change your life."

I love a bishop who gets to the point!

So listen. And rejoice with me and the church. Pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance for Bishop Curry as he prepares for this new position (which he will begin on All Saints Day, November 1). And pray for the work of the General Convention as they continue to meet during this next week.

ordination

Sr. Emily Louise, Sr. Brigid, and I had the joy of attending Saturday's diocesan ordination.

We left in unexpected rain, but still arrived in good time. To our delight, the rain had stopped, so we had a leisurely walk through the Boston Public Garden on the way to Emmanuel. I peered over at the swan, but she was still sitting on her nest. No sign of cygnets.

Dr. Seuss flowers in the Public Garden.
Anyone know what they are?

small green Dr. Seuss flowers also in the Public Garden, equally unknown to me

Apparently we'd been preceded by a great number of people, as the busker at the pond bridge greeted us with "It's going to be a great ordination!" Well, three sisters in habit might well be assumed to be following the crowd of clergy, I guess. I was amused.

getting ready for the service

After we'd arrived and were finding a seat, someone found us a took us up to a pew in the choir behind the pulpit, so we were right there to see everything. Nice surprise!

I left my purse with the Sisters and went back to join the clergy in process (red stole over habit) and had a nice chat with a priest from CT. Another moment of amusement ensued when she told me she'd seen us crossing the garden from her bus and also figured we were going. Considering most people don't even know there are sisters in the Episcopal Church, I find that even more surprising. Well, she was a priest... but then there are clergy who don't know. I won't comment further...

bulletin cover for the ordination

As usual in June, it was mostly candidates for the diaconate - all transitional deacons this time - along with one priest being received from the RC Church. And what a large group this year! I wish I had pictures of the group, but I turned my phone off instead of simply silencing the ringer. But wait! There is Twitter! and a priest friend who live tweets ordinations. And many other things. So we score anyway.

Veni Sancte Spiritus.... singing that, one feels it happening. The Holy Spirit definitely showed up. Joy, they say, is an infallible sign of the presence of God. But it was almost palpable when we were doing the laying on of hands - all priests were invited to join, so of course I did - at the reception of Fr. Brian as a priest in the Episcopal Church.

And Bishop Gayle definitely preached it! Go BE the Gospel, she said.

The place was packed, so I didn't really get to talk to any of the new clergy afterwards, but beforehand I'd seen the one I know from St. Luke's-San Lucas, Chelsea, where I used to serve. And I ran into quite a few parishioners, too. That, too, was a joy - especially when someone asked if I'd known S, who'd moved away to Nigeria. Yes, I had. And then there she was. I think I nearly shrieked, I was so delighted. Hugs all around. She's flying back tomorrow, but I made her promise to come to the convent next time she came over. Another parishioner assured me they'd already had that discussion. Nice.

By the time we left, it was sunny.

Sr KF texted to remind me to take pictures... oops.  Here's one for her!

We found a bench in the Public Garden where I could attempt to send a few of the pictures I'd taken. Then we just took a few more.

And then a couple of ladies stopped and offered to take one of the three of us. So we took them up on that.

It was a good day.

On the way home, I thought about my own ordination to the diaconate five years ago this weekend, also with Bishop Gayle, and the joy of that day.  So thankful.

5 years ago yesterday

Our Evening Prayer hymn really caught me, especially given my reflections on the day and on my own ordination, so I share it with you to close.

O Thou who camest from above

the fire celestial to impart,

kindle a flame of sacred love

upon the altar of my heart.

Jesus, confirm my heart's desire

to work, and speak, and think for thee;

still let me guard the holy fire

and still stir up the gift in me.