Letter from Peru #11

Dear Friends....Queridos Amigos,

We were blessed with the visit of Bishop Dan in September. Having spent 2 full days blowing up balloons, cleaning the Church & the house, and decorating banners the Big Day arrived. We invited parishioners to congregate at the entrance to Frias in the early morning to give a warm welcome. +Dan decided to arrive earlier than expected so the only people missing from the Welcome Party were we the clergy... still in the house ...typical!!

Up the hill ... and into the Church ... Being greeted by the children

During +Dan's visit we (he) celebrated Confirmations of many young people in different parts of the parish and generally gave a good "spiritual boost" to the people of Frias. +Dan is a good and holy man and a real shepherd to the people.... and even thinner than me!

Confirming young people of the parish in Geraldo - "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit"

The month of October passed in a blur of fiestas.... the "blur" coming more from Processions than beer! First we celebrated the fiesta of El Senor Cautivo de Ayabaca. El Cautivo (The Captive) is Jesus bound and being sentenced to his death. There's great devotion in these parts, as Ayabaca (home of the original statue) is within the diocese. Thousands of pilgrims make their way from all parts of Peru (and even further afield), some walking for 3 or 4 months, carrying a cross and singing and praying their way to Ayabaca high up in the sierra mountains.

Devotees of El Cautivo processing in Frias

Our fiesta in Frias is a more modest affair - nine evenings of prayer (novena) followed by 2 days of intense fiesta....fireworks, brass band, food & drink, a market miraculously appearing outside our front door, processions and Mass. The very night we finish processing El Cautivo, as we stagger back into the Church, we begin the 9 day novena of prayer to Senor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles)..... providing approximately 5 minutes "recovery time" between the 2 fiestas!

Senor de los Milagros depicts Christ on the Cross with Mary & John at the foot of the Cross. The original image is in Lima, and has a rich history of devotion and associated miracles throughout Peru. Our 2 processions - one to the top and one to the bottom of the town on 2 successive nights - each last about 3 hours. A friend living in the city of Piura, on the coast, told me that their procession started at 8 am and ended at 10 pm ....... the poor Archbishop leading the procession!!

"Equal opportunities" in Frias - the womenfolk carrying Senor de los Milagros on the second night

Hand in hand with the fiestas is the ever present noise. I've mentioned noise often enough so suffice it to say that after a year I STILL find it almost unbearable at times. "You'll get used to it... acostumbrarse Padresito" - well folks I'm still waiting for the miraculous moment! We are also well into the Bingo Season. Every group / organisation / institution has it's Bingo day - the prizes are usually a sack of rice / a sack of spaghetti / 30 soles (£5)..... occasionally a turkey. But for Senor de los Milagros there was a colour TV on offer (remember we now have LA LUZ... electricity). Quite an upgrade from a sack of rice or a turkey! One lady sitting to my left on the Church steps was seriously in pursuit of that TV...

2 pens in hand and 10 bingo cards..... a serious player [p.s. she didn't win!]

Whenever we celebrate the sacraments (baptisms, weddings etc.) it's usually always BIG TIME - large crowds. In recent weeks we've been celebrating group weddings - Matrimonios Masivos . All the paperwork is prepared in advance, the civil registrar turns up from the town hall and the religious and civil weddings are then celebrated together. That's the theory. Last Friday in San Jorge we waited and waited but no sign of the arrival of the registrar from Frias (1 1/2 hrs drive away) - eventually we had to begin the Mass as the people had been patiently waiting in the extreme heat for 2 hours. Seven couples to marry, 7 children to baptise and 6 adults to be confirmed. The Mass ended and STILL no sign of our "civic friends". Keep the people occupied was our strategy.... how about a(nother) Procession?!

"Stalling tactics" in San Jorge........ where's that registar????

Finally at 1.30 pm (4 hrs late) the car arrived and we could celebrate the matrimonios - by which point, having been in my vestments in incredible heat for 5 hrs, I felt just about ready to dissolve in a puddle of perspiration and exasperation. After a tense few moments of apologies and threatening posturing by the crowd (those nice young couples), in typical Peruvian fashion the LONG WAIT was forgotten and smiles all round.

The civil registrar - "sorry folks ...slightly held up"

Most Peruvians - at least in the campo - do not marry but instead simply co-habitate. The reality is, as so often here, that it's cheaper . Marrying en masse was offered to the couples for a mere 5 soles (90 pence) as opposed to the usual 40 soles (£7). Many of our newly weds have already been together for a number of years and have children. It's been very inspiring to see them deciding to take this step to receive God's blessing on their lives and their families.

Not quite the Moonies - but plenty of couples in the Church in Frias receiving the sacrament of marriage

As always a couple of little "foodie" stories! Last week I visited 4 of our communites with Sr Palepa. Four days and nights moving from village to village. The people as always were incredibly welcoming and really happy to celebrate the Mass and meet together. We're always well fed (despite my loss of 10 kilos in a year) but Day 3 became something of a culinary endurance test! Got up - breakfast: large omelette with yucca, rice and coffee; celebrated Mass at 10 am; at 11.30 Lunch # 1: large plate of chicken, rice and yucca; headed off to begin treck to next village - en route our guide led us to his house where his wife was busily preparing Lunch # 2: chicken & noodle soup followed by (YES you GUESSED RIGHT...) large helping of chicken, rice and yucca; 1.00 pm left to continue journey to the village but diverted to another house to bless another man's animals (and family)... as I entered the house, holy water in hand, 2 ladies were busily plucking a fresh chicken... "Padresito, a little lunch..." - Sr Palepa and I as politely as possible declined "chicken, rice & yucca" # 3; at approx. 4 pm we arrived in the next village and GUESS WHAT, at 6 pm sat down to a light supper of ... chicken, rice and yucca. We estimated we'd each eaten, that day, about 2 chickens with all "the trimmings" (rice & yucca). Thank God we have to walk from meal to meal. It's all a sign of the great generosity and hospitality of the people. There's a real "spirit of sharing" in the Peruvian culture which runs deep and wide.

Lunch # 2 in the house of Miguel and Valerina

Coffee is grown in many parts of the parish - delicious for breakfast freshly roasted / brewed with a couple of tortillas and a slice of fresh cheese. I was slightly suprised, though, on visiting the VERY SMALL children in the Colegio Inicial (Nursery) in the village of La Loma Andina to find that they each bring a large bottle of strong black fresh coffee to have with their mid-morning snack. Must make for interesting group dynamics during playtime!!

Nothing like 1/2 litre of fresh coffee to get you through the morning

And finally.........

................... smiles from the Meseta Andina

My next letter will be for Christmas. Until then, keep well and keep in touch. Be assured of my prayers and please continue to pray for me and the people of Frias and Peru. Dios les Bendiga.

Con mucho afecto,

Kevin


PERU POSTAL ADDRESS: Casa de la Fraternidad, Calle Cuzco 381, Chulucanas, Piura, PERU
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