We (Sisters Charlotte and Diane) arrived in Chiclayo on Sunday, January 11 and on to Puerto Eten. It is a privilege to be here, to experience life in Peru and to catch up with the Sisters. We are receiving warm and attentive hospitality and enjoying our visit.
One of the highlights of our week was our pilgrimage to Monsefu where we stopped at the cemetery where Sisters Aquin and Dorothy are buried, a tour through the town with stops at the former convent, school, church, medical centre (now a convent for sisters of another order!), and the town plaza.
A couple of days later we briefly visited Dr. Jacinto Custodio in a clinic sponsored by our Congregation in the parish church space in Cuidad Reque. Jacinto faithfully provides care to many of the poor every week. (Jacinto is rightly named a “Mercy boy” since he was educated by our first sisters who came to Monsefu in 1960. He has not ever forgotten his early years in school! Nor the Sisters of Mercy!). In honour of his class’s celebration of 50 years of graduation Jacinto presented the Congregation with a marble plaque.
Saludos desde Perú
Nosotras (Hermanas Charlotte y Diane) llegamos a Chiclayo el domingo 11 de enero y a Puerto Eten. Es un privilegio estar aquí, experimentar la vida en Perú y ponernos al día con las Hermanas. Estamos recibiendo una hospitalidad cálida y atenta y disfrutando de nuestra visita.
Uno de los momentos culminantes de nuestra semana fue nuestra peregrinación a Monsefú, donde nos detuvimos en el cementerio donde están enterradas las Hermanas Aquin y Dorothy, un recorrido por la ciudad con paradas en el antiguo convento, la escuela, la iglesia, el centro médico (¡ahora un convento para hermanas de otra orden!), y la plaza de la ciudad.
Un par de días más tarde visitamos brevemente al Dr. Jacinto Custodio en una clínica patrocinada por nuestra Congregación en el espacio de la iglesia parroquial de Cuidad Reque. Jacinto atiende fielmente a muchos pobres cada semana. (Jacinto es llamado con razón “chico de la Misericordia”, ya que fue educado por nuestras primeras hermanas que llegaron a Monsefú en 1960. Nunca ha olvidado sus primeros años en la escuela. Ni a las Hermanas de la Misericordia). En honor a la celebración de los 50 años de graduación de su clase, Jacinto obsequió a la Congregación con una placa de mármol.
Leadership Team and the members of St. Clare’s Advisory Council made plans to celebrate Mercy Day at the hospital.
The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy had received word from Mary (Tarrant) Hodge early in August that the people of St. Lawrence, little St. Lawrence, Lawn and surrounding areas wanted to have a celebration to recognize the ministry of the Sisters of Mercy in those areas and to officially thank them. Three Sisters, Sister M. Rose Murphy, M. Xavier Tarahan, and M. Stanislaus Taylor, had arrived in St. Lawrence in 1871 and the last Sister to minister there was Sr. Lucia Walsh who left in 2009. Would the Sisters who had ministered, or who had come from there be able to attend the festivities planned on the weekend of October 20th and 21st, 2012, asked Mary? She insisted that the Congregational Leader HAD to be there! The Planning Committee would not entertain her absence but were willing to change the date of the event to suit her agenda. Elizabeth Davis was free to go on the 20th and 21st.
Saturday, October 20th was the most beautiful day, weather-wise, that we had had all year! Sisters from St. John’s left very early in the morning when traffic was light and the moose had not yet ventured out from their night’s haunts. The sun shone its mightiest, the sky was cloudless, the environment was ecologically correct and when we drove off the Trans-Canada and travelled down the Peninsula highway the splendor of the gold, yellows, browns and sometimes reds of the autumn leaves was absolutely breathtaking. Those of us with digital cameras were kept busy trying to capture the beauty before us. This was particularly difficult especially if our driver had no intention of letting us out of the car to shoot the scenery!