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Santa Cruz, 12th December 2007
It is the middle of Advent and Christmas is approaching. Today the whole South America is celebrating the feats of our main Patroness - Our Lady of Guadalupe. In Bolivia many people worship the Mother of God in a special way. They often call her intercession when they are in need. Now, when in Bolivia there are so many tensions and situations full of conflicts, everybody prays for unity and peace in a particular way. And we really need peace in our country because the situation is still very tense. There are many reasons for this but the main cause is that on 24th November the project of a new constitution was accepted, however... only by supporters of the socialist president Evo Morales. It ended up with riots and protests, there were many injured and dead people. Many departments led by their prefects called for an official boycott of this illegally approved constitution. More and more often you can hear about the Oriente autonomy. Santa Cruz would like to announce its independence and autonomy till the end of this year which can be seen by the government as an attempt to put pressure or split in Bolivia. Until now all manifestations and protests here in the tropical part of Bolivia have been very peaceful. The “camba” people, i.e. the people in our region are in principle peaceful, in comparison to people from the mountains. But now when the tension is rising, even a small issue can cause riots and bloodshed. For the last two weeks there have been more policemen in the town. More and more soldiers are concentrated around Santa Cruz. A hunger strike is taking place at the main square –- a group of people strikes against the current politics. And all this is happening so shortly before Christmas. Let’s pray for a peaceful solution to the problems in Bolivia.
Despite all these tensions the life goes on. Everything functions efficiently and in shops, markets and street the tradesmen go through their best days. You can buy everything - Christmas decorations, artificial “snow”, different kinds of cribs, figures etc. Almost all goods are “made in China” so the quality is disputable. At every corner you can buy “Panneton” - a cake with raisins and dried fruit. It is of different size and comes from different bakeries. When Christmas is coming it is the most popular present.
The Advent atmosphere here cannot be compared with this period known from Europe, especially from Poland. In some churches you can find Advent wreaths with candles, figures of the baby Jesus heading towards the Mother of God but it depends on the priest. There are no Advent Masses (Roraty). No child would go to the church in the morning. Apart from that, they have summer holidays. In villages many children help their parents in the field or look after their younger brothers or sisters at home. Children from richer families leave the town together with their parents. At the end of the Advent time in some parishes, villages or districts there are Masses called “Posadas”. Then the baby Jesus as if wanders from house to house and from district to district. This custom is practised only in the Christmas time.
During these days we particularly remember about poor people and children. The donations that I sometimes receive from you I allot for this aim as well. I usually hand it over to the Sisters in our Vicariate. They go to the most distant villages and know who needs it the most. They know the families and the children. I think that thanks to your help, sometimes symbolic help, many families somewhere in the Bolivian bush get a little bit of Christmas joy and many children smile because they get something sweet. Believe me, this is something special for them. God bless everyone who sharess with us and help us without unnecessary words.
The last few days I spent again in our Vicariate. The car was as usually loaded with letters and goods for almost each part of the Vicariate. My aim was to reach Concepcion till Friday in the evening because I wanted to take part in a patron indulgence in our cathedral in Concepcion. To my great surprise I found out that everything was covered with darkness. And at this time a solemn Christmas Eve Mass was always taking place. Everything became clear when I got out of the car. At the bishoperic porch I ran into a person dressed all in white. Luckily, the “ghost” spoke with the voice of the local parson, Fr. Jorge, who ran out of the church in his alb to switch on a reserve motor to induce electricity. After a while it flashed again and I found out that the cathedral is full of people together with our Bishop Anthony. The celebrations could be continued. And the solemn Mass and the procession next day were held without further problems. On Sunday a foundation stone and the foundations for the new Little Servant Sisters’ Convent in Villa Paraiso were consecrated. The Sisters have lived in a substitute convent in very modest conditions for almost four years, since they were brought to this town. The work they do for this town is immense. That is why the decision to look for means in order to buy them a more practical house has been made. Searching for funds still lasts but we hope that with God’s help we will manage to carry out this project. After a Mass in a small church we went to the building site to consecrate the place in which the future Sisters’ Convent will be built. Let’s hope that the Sister will be able to live in better conditions soon. I really wish them everything best.
There was one more reason to stay in the Vicariate for one more day. Namely... the birthday of the general Curate of our Vicariate - Fr. Bernard. Unfortunately my plans were foiled due to pouring rain. Not far from Ascencion where Fr. Bernard works and lives, the water washed away a part of the road. The rift was so wide that a bus full of people fell into it at night. Luckily nobody was seriously injured. Till the last moment we were not sure if the road to Guarayos would be driveable. On Monday in the morning in El Fortin, where Bishop Anthony, Brother Mark and I stayed overnight, we found out that we could continue our journey. So almost all Polish-speaking members of our Vicariate set off to celebrate the 64th birthday of our senior with dignity. The ceremonial dinner was prepared by Sisters from Tirol. In the evening Bishop Anthony celebrated a Holy Mass for Fr. Bernard. It was also a kind of saying “Thank you” for his contribution and hard work for Bolivia, especially for our Vicariate Nuflo de Chávez.
After a tiring journey I am back in Santa Cruz doing my everyday duties.
That is all from Bolivia which is still in an Advent mood.
Kindest regards,
Tarsicio, ofm
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