Loving Africa

  May 23rd was Pentecost that year. Canon Sigros had his usual fun of printing the list of who was doing what, as well as a sort of "program" for the Mass. Je suis l'organiste! :) There were 12 catechumens to be baptized that day, so on Saturday afternoon, Canon Sigros performed the ceremony of exorcisms that is traditionally done before baptisms. All 12 of them were children or teenagers, but as they had all achieved the age of reason, these would be considered "adult baptisms". The whole thing took more than an hour. There were many, many prayers, questions posed to each catechumen, placing exorcised salt on the tongue of each one, the Our Father recited three times (first for the boys, then the girls), Canon blowing in the face of each one (symbolizing the Holy Spirit), leading them into the church, more questions, the Apostles Creed, another Our Father, anointing each one...  As a general rule, I don't take pictures during liturgical functions. However, ...

The Sunday after Ascension, we got news that Canon Fragelli was in a medically-induced coma and that there were plans to fly him to Florence. It must have been around this time that I realized I was very unlikely to see him again before I left, as I had five weeks left at the mission.  Anyway, on that Sunday morning, May 16th, I was minding my own business, walking up to the kitchen, when I saw Gerard, Gabriel and Dieu-Vivant with a couple of plastic basins. My first reaction was that they had gone fishing (they had done that not long before). Then I saw the lizard.  They called it "iguane", but it was far larger than what we would consider an iguana. Gerard held it out to me and I felt the scales, but what they really wanted was a picture of me holding it by the tail. Lunch, anyone? While I was working in the kitchen, Dieu-Vivant came in with a basin holding the liver and 18 eggs from the lizard (I have a picture but I'll spare you). The shells were very soft and gave in...

The day after Ascension, we had Mass in the afternoon. It was a votive "Mass for the Sick", for Canon Fragelli, whom we had heard that they wanted to take to a hospital in Florence. "I hope he's back before I leave!" states my journal.  Later, closer to the evening, Canon Sigros asked me if I had a key to the dispensary. I didn't. He asked if I had something for "disinfecting", as one of the littler altar boys (three of them were hanging around Canon that afternoon) had a large, superficial cut on his arm. I jumped at the opportunity and told Canon I could do something. He replied with, "I want this boy disinfected".  The wound was large, taking up most of the boy's forearm, and while it wasn't deep, it was four days old and I guessed it hadn't been cleaned. My supplies were less than I would have hoped, but they were sufficient. I was able to clean the wound with soap and water, rinse it, and put antibiotic ointment on it. I ...

Canon Henrique Fragelli, who rebuilt and revitalized the Mission Ste. Thérèse de l'Enfant Jésus since 2012, died this morning in Brazil. His health had been fragile ever since contracting covid in May 2021, requiring a prolonged hospitalization and a double lung transplant. He had recently established a new mission in Rio de Janeiro at the invitation of the archbishop; today, as was noted by the Prior General of the Institute to be the first day of the month of St. Joseph, patron of a happy death, the Lord called him back to Himself.  I can only imagine the mourning at his beloved mission. For my part, I have a few personal memories: -- Canon working with me to arrange my mission trip; offering me his arm when I nearly collapsed upon my arrival and later calling my mom to let her know I had arrived; teasing me: about my ridiculous facial expression when he was taking a picture, about making hamburgers because I'm American; urging courage and patience with learning French; simpl...

  As I have been reading through my journal again, I have rediscovered that many of my best and favorite stories and pictures are from May and June. The feast of the Ascension is one (not a lot of story, but quite a few pictures).  The evening before the feast, Canon Sigros wrote the feast day schedule on the board. It was kind of a combination of a Sunday (10 a.m. Mass, then lunch on the terrace) and Thursday (Adoration), while being very much a day of its own. Additionally, he printed the day's menu and the "functions liturgiques": a list of everyone involved in the liturgy, and what each one's role was. To my great amusement, my very Scotch-Irish name made it in: I think Canon was taking cue from how they do things at the Institute seminary, and wanted to have some fun. He did plan a very festive lunch for after Mass. Alas, he had bought a bottle of Malibu rum and wanted us to make a cake from it, but we didn't have any eggs at that point. So we had ice cream. ...