It was a very different sort of visit from the usual — in many respects.  Undertaken much earlier than the typical fall “visitation” for the parish feast(s) at Nativity and/or St. Moses, it was timed before the opening of schools in Haiti, so that the largest number of people who so wished could participate.  The workshop was planned for three days — but hurricane Ernesto and American Airlines had other ideas.  After much scrambling to rearrange hotel, conference center, air reservations and ground transportation for the participants, I arrived in Haiti a day late, forcing the compression of the workshop into two gruelling days — happily, in very pleasant surroundings at the Hotel Cyvadier, near St. Augustine’s on the south coast.

Preparation of materials for the workshop occupied most of the preceding week — copies of portions of the relevant books so each could have his own copy, a detailed “course outline” (haven’t done that in decades, if ever!), a final exam (to be completed after the end of the workshop).  In the initial planning we had anticipated perhaps a dozen — in the event, we were twenty, including Fr. Jean, Fr. Grégoire, Fr. Deacon Amboise, nearly all the ordained readers, and many others who wish to be trained as readers.

We undertook a systematic and comprehensive review of the liturgical cycles of the Church, followed by an overview of the general structure of Church services.  All these matters have, of course, been previously discussed in the 2-3 hour seminars which have been features of virtually every visit — but never with everyone in attendance, or in a concentrated “class” setting.  Following sessions examined each of the services of the cycle in detail, addressing the use of the annual liturgical calendar and The Order of Divine Services to determine the appropriate hymnody for Sunday, feastday and weekday services.  Fortunately, most educated Haitians can decipher at least rudimentary English texts — and liturgical terms look much the same in English as in French (equally unknown!).  In any event, English is certainly more accessible to a Haitian than Russian or Greek to an American — and it was years after our conversion before there was either a liturgical calendar or Order of Divine Services in English.

The three sessions each day were broken by excellent meals provided by the hotel staff, and refreshments at midpoint breaks, so it wasn’t just unremitting work.  Regrettably, due to the super-compression required, no one got any closer to the sea than to look out at it from the terrace outside the conference room.  Sure looked inviting!

I expected to leave Cyvadier for the first time ever without an ocean swim, as I had planned to return to Port-au-Prince for weekend services at Nativity.  By Friday evening, however, it seemed unreasonable to get up at 5:00 the next morning to catch the first plane (the only one available) back to Port-au-Prince, so after some consultation we decided I should remain to serve vigil and liturgy at St. Augustine’s (which otherwise would have had only readers’ services).  Happily, I had brought enough prosphora with me to serve both churches — but had to purchase wine from the hotel.  So I got in a bit swimming after all.

The return flight to PaP Sunday afternoon left only Monday to settle all business matters, with time for an extended meeting with the clergy midday, before catching the flight home on Tuesday.

The early return (I had originally planned to stay until Thursday, as usual) was occasioned by the necessity to be with Matushka Anastasia for her first round of chemotherapy, the final stage of treatment (we pray!) for the breast cancer which was discovered just before I was to return from the previous visit to Haiti.  We beg your prayers for her, that the combined treatment (surgery, radiation and chemo) may be successful (the doctors say the risk of recurrence remains at 20% even after all that) and not take an undue toll of its own on her health.

If energy and the financial health of the Mission permit, this will have been the first in a series of such workshops (2-3/year) dedicated not only to liturgics, but also to the Church’s beliefs, history, and moral and spiritual teaching (all of which inevitably were touched upon in this session — questions keep coming!)

[Regrettably, the ecclesiastical turmoil of 2007, ensuing difficulties for the Mission, and lack of funds, have all so far conspired to preclude the fulfillment of this good intention.]