Liturgy and Beauty around St Clare's, Aitape

In this BLOG I want to show you something of the beautiful liturgies that we had at the Gathering in April when we had everyone here. The Sisters, Novices and Postulants have a lot of talent in the group. I am sure that they are all accomplished singers and a number can play an instrument.

Closing Mass for the Gathering

The music and singing has been one of the high lights of my time here, especially with so many Sisters, Novices and Postulants present. They put their whole heart and soul into the singing.

This is the Liturgy Group for the Closing Mass. They are in red lap-laps as some of them were in the Procession of the Book. Many of them are talented in playing musical instruments.

They danced their way to the altar to present the book of the Gospel accompanied by music.

Ellie presents the Book of the Gospel to Br Jonathon after the group had danced it in procession from the front doors of the chapel.

Some of the beauty here around the convent – St Clare’s Campus

Most mornings there is a lovely sunrise just to the right of the convent. It is lovely to wake up to beautiful skies each morning. Because we are in the chapel at 5.15am each day it is usually just before mass at 6.15am that the sun is is rising.

This is a close up of a couple of the water lilies. The light was just right for this shot!!

The property here is quite extensive around 2.5hectares so there is lots of space for plants and growing vegetables. This is just one little view of the rich foliage. 

Orchids are growing all over the property. There are probably 30 or 40 plants like this one.

This beach scene is to the right of the convent as one looks at the ocean. Most days it is lovely and clear. There are always children in the water playing, while their mothers are fishing.

MFIC Communities in PNG

In this BLOG I want to introduce you to the Sisters who were at the “Gathering in Aitape” The Sisters meet as a total group once a year to have some formation and to have a Business Meeting where they discuss matters and make decisions that relate to all the Sisters. I am a bit behind the events that happened as last week I began preparing material on St Clare of Assisi to teach the Novices and Postulants while Sr Pauline Jamison is at the meeting in Rome.
 

The Professed Sisters who were at the Gathering.

Novitiate Community: Roslyn (Rosie) and Pauline. Novices: Anna, Lorna and Sabastina

Postulant Community: Theresia Postulants: Joyce, Raylne and Vincentiana (Vince)

St Clare’s Community: Jane, Rosemary,Lorna, Gracelyn, Leonie and Clara

Bosset Community: Jacinta, Clementina (Tina) and Elizabeth (Elle)

Madang (House of Prayer) Community: Schol and Maria

Leadership Team: Rosella, Theresia, Lorna and Jane with Br Jonathon OFM Cap.

When I return to Wewak towards the end of May I will take a photo of the Wewak Community since the two students, Mildred and Dulcie were not able to attend the Gathering.

Pilgrimage to Tumleo Island

Thursday we set off on a Pilgrimage to Tumleo Island. The Parish of Aitape is going to install a 3 meter statue of Sr Michael on the Tumleo hill that you can see in this photo. St Michael is the Patron Saint of Papua New Guinea. The Instillation will take place on  24^th May. Preparations are well under way with fundraising for the celebration. The Sisters agreed at our Gathering to help accommodate some of the women who will be coming from distances. Tumleo Island can be seen in the distance in this early morning photo at 6.00am

To get us to where we were to board the boats we were driven to the beach near one of the local stores. Using two of the convent vehicles it took a few trips to get the 25 of us to the boarding site. We were on the way at 8.30am

Here we are gathered with our lunch and morning tea. The Novices baked two large containers of fresh bread rolls. The esky contained cold drinks and water.

Finally at just after 9.00am we are in the boats and on our way. There was great excitement as the three boats set off. The people from Tumleo came to get us.

Our boat broke down so after getting it going again we really sped up to catch up with the others. Thank goodness the water was not choppy.
 

The hill in front of the boat is Tumleo Hill. At the very top the people have made a clearing so that the Statue will be able to be seen from the Aitape beach front.

 We had a special time for prayer and Adoration before those who were able to climb, climbed to the top of the Hill. This area has just been created where the Blessed Sacrament is kept. The blue cover was put on for us to give a bit of shade. During the week we had reflected on the fact that Elizabeth Hayes had asked Mother Mary of the Angels for an Association to St Michael to be set up and approved by Pope Leo III for the promotion of vocations to the priestly and religious life.

The altar with the Blessed Sacrament.

We had to cross the Island to get to the base of the Hill which has just begun to be cleared. We had a wide sandy path to follow and then the climb was steep with not much of a foothold or anything to hold onto. Wearing thongs was not the right foot wear for this type of terrain!! We all wore a red flower in our hair or hats. Some of the people climbed with us to show the way.

Br Jonathan and I are standing at the top clearing. The stick that Jonathan is holding marks the spot where the statue will be mounted.

This is the view from the top of the hill back to Aitape. On our return to the beach we had a swim to cool off and headed back to Aitape at 2.00pm. It was a great day for all - Sisters and the people of Tumleo.

SPORTS DAY AT AITAPE

 SPORTS DAY AT AITAPE

The Tennis/netball/volley Ball court had not been used since the beginning of Lent. So on Sunday after our Day of Reflection which concluded at 3.00pm it was arranged that we should play sport as a form of recreation. However since the court had not been used for a long time it had to mowed and the edges cut with cane knives before we could begin to play.

There is no catcher for the mower, so there was also raking to be done. After this two teams were formed and the game commenced. Most of te participants were                   novices and postulants with a couple of  professed Sisters. I was wise enough to suggest that I do the scoring for the game.                                                                    

Everyone really enjoyed the 3 games of volley ball, there was  lots of laughing and some very skillful moves. It was very hot so having spent about 40 mins in the sun getting the court ready for the game we decided to finish so that we could have showers and be presentable for Evening Prayer in the Chapel. The Sisters have very strong voices and the Prayer and Mass are a delight to attend. 

Aitape Convent Property

Aitape Convent Property - Novitiate

This is the sign that marks the entrance to the Novitiate buildings. At the moment there are 3 Novices and two Formators, The Novice Mistress is Pauline Jamison assisted by Sr Roselyn Tumana

This is a photo of the Novitiate Community.In the back row are Sebastina and Sr Roselyn 

Front Row: Lorna, Sr Pauline and Anna

The front building is an older building
and the one to the right is the newer building

These are pineapples growing in the ground behind the Novitiate. There would be over 60 planted at different times so that they will not all ripen at the same time. 

I will continue with the St Clare buildings where the Professed Sisters live. Other buildings on the property is Villa Spada where the Postulants live and Bethel which is the Candidates House. There are presently no Candidates.

Aitape Gathering of Sisters

Reflecting on our Life Together

This series of photos are of all the Sisters gathered for the evening meal on Friday evening as we commenced our Meeting together. Beside me at this table is Fr Jonathan Williams OFM Cap. He is giving the formal sessions on our Rule and Constitutions, The Admonitions of StFrancis and Letters of St Clare. Next to Fr. is Rosalia, Rosella and Anna a Novice.

  L to R.       Lorna, Gracelyn, Lorna, Rita, Maria and Vincentiana

     LtoR.            Schol, Jacinta, Sharon, Pauline, Elle and Jane

  L to R   Terry, Sebastina, Rosie, Joyce, Rayle ,Tina and Clara

                                                   Convent Chapel

                              Time for Reflection

Birthday and Markets

Sr Jacinta celebrated her Birthday on Thursday. These are Sisters from the Novitiate visiting and bringing flowers and gifts. Jacinta is from the community in Bosset.

Heading off to the Aitape Markets. Our driver beside the vehicle is Maria. Gracelyn, Sharon and Jacinta are in the back with Maria's niece. I travelled in the front. There is trip each day to buy fresh vegetables.

Arriving at the markets with our shopping bags. Very colourful with the umbrellas. We bought 3 bunches of bananas, some for eating and some for cooking.

Here Gracelyn is choosing cobs of corn. We also bought lots of greens as tonight there will be 26 of us for the evening meal. 

On our arrive back at the convent. All the food was placed in this shelter beside the convent. From here what is need for the meal is brought into the house by those who are rostered to cook each evening.

4 Wheel Drive Trip to Aitape

We set off for Aitape on Wednesday 8th April at 9.15am for a "Gathering" of the Sisters. Here we are in the back yard at Wewak Convent. The vehicle is already half full with our luggage and food for 30 people for a week!!!! We have an esky full of frozen chicken and sausages, 40 loaves of bread and lots of dried groceries that cannot be bought in Aitape. 

In the picture is Fr Jonathan OFM cap. Sharon, Maria, Tina, Rosella and myself. Behind is the driver Robert and his co-driver. I traveled in front with Fr Jonathan, whom you see has long legs. It a a bit cramped, but probably better than sitting sideways in the back. The 40 loaves of bread in 2 boxes was resting on their knees!!

We had to stop a number of times along the way as the cargo inside shifted with all the river crossings and pot-holed roads. It was also a good chance to stretch our cramped legs.

This was our morning tea/lunch stop around 11.00am. It was on the top of a hill as you can see overlooking the ocean. The road to Aitape is along the coast line most of the way. 

We had to driver along this river bed and around the corner to find a place to cross to the other side. For some entertainment we counted the river/stream crossings. There we 34 not counting the bridges and numerous large areas that were covered in water. It rain for 3 solid hours earlier that morning.

After 6 hours on the road we arrived at Aitape Convent. As a visitor I was once again welcomed with flowers. Besides the professed Sisters the 3 novices and 3 postulants were also among the welcoming party. Afternoon tea was waiting and was very welcome at 3.30pm. A long time since our morning tea break. The Sisters had baked fresh buns and scones which we had with homemade ginger beer which was served with ice. It was very much appreciated.

My bedroom is facing this view from the second floor of the convent. I took this shot from the outside veranda just along from my room. 

I am very much enjoying the singing of the Sisters at Community Prayer and at Mass. It is also good to see so many happy younger Sisters. I will try making a video and see if I can upload it to this BLOG.