Today (well, technically yesterday since it's past midnight) was the 1 year anniversary of the massive earthquake in Haiti. How has it been a year already? The memories of that day are still etched into my mind like they happened yesterday.
I wasn't there. I didn't experience the fear of the ground shaking constantly for days. I didn't experience being trapped under a building or losing those close to me. I have no idea of the level of pain that they went through. So in a sense, I have no right to say that I suffered that day too. But I did, in my heart. I went through a martyrdom of the heart, as St. Therese loved to say. My heart was breaking because of the burning love God had placed there for the Haitians.
I spent that whole night and the next few days praying. Along with the Rosary, the Divine Mercy chaplet became a huge source of comfort. As I prayed it, I imagined Christ and Mama going down into the dark places in the rubble where people were dying, bringing their Light, and lifting the people up to Heaven. My heart physically hurt. It was a somber few weeks.
So today, I expected to return to that same sense of somber-ness out of respect for those who died and suffered both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And I did feel some of that, but for the most part God gave me joy and beauty today. He's crazy sometimes. It started with waking up to almost 2 feet of snow outside. It was a beautiful, magical winter wonderland. The spakling of the sun off of the whiteness of the snow symbolized purity, innocence, and new beginnings to me. Perfect for Haiti.
Then I talked to Kendra, one of the missionaries living at the orphanage. She told me about her exciting morning, helping to deliver a healthy baby boy named Josef to one of the women in the village. I know her children very well, since they always come around the orphanage to play. The oldest brother has been my best buddy since the start, and with 3 younger sisters he was overjoyed to finally have a brother. My heart was jumping for joy for all of them, and again this sense of new life overcame me. What a gift to the village, on an otherwise sad day.
This joy stayed with me throughout the rest of the day, through conversations with other people dear to me as well. I prayed a Rosary around the time that the earthquake hit, and Mama filled me with peace and hope that she is watching over the Haitians. I pray that she will take in every orphaned child, everyone who is in despair and alone, under her mantle and show them her most tender love.
I think it was very fitting that the anniversary fell on a Wednesday, a day of fasting throughout the world but also the day of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. These include the Resurrection, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Spirit, Assumption, and Coronation of the Blessed Mother in Heaven. The fruits of these mysteries are all full of hope, faith, grace, and peace. The actual earthquake fell on a Tuesday, during the Sorrowful Mysteries full of suffering. But today, today we can rejoice in the hope of Christ that Haiti will be resurrected just as He was and will come into the eternal glory of the Kingdom :)
Mari Manman Nou, priye pou Ayiti.
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