Events
Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori
Founder of the Redemptorists
Greetings to one and all of you who are a major part of St. Gerard’s Youth Center and Trade School. It is that time again to share with you how things are going with our
By the time you receive this I will have several photos of our new chapel on our web site to share with you. Especially with those who contributed so much to the building and furnishing of this chapel. It was a long road to completion but finally a reality. Thank you so much. The men of the parish have a weekly common rosary every Monday night having moved from the Cathedral across the street to our chapel. Also the Legion of Mary group in the parish now hold their twice monthly meeting/prayers in our chapel. Formally they gathered in a small dark parlor in our house. Our chapel is used also for many smaller weddings, baptisms and other prayer groups and of course by the members of the Youth Center and many times daily by our Redemptorist Community, starting off with daily morning prayer in common. During the day you can always find someone who has dropped off the street for a visit in the chapel. They are usually found knelling at the foot of the tabernacle or at the feet of St. Gerard. During the day the doors are open to all.
We are getting closer to the dream also of starting to raise honey bees to help the youth learn more responsibility and to help support the school. In the last news letter I mentioned that I seemed to be running into brick walls no matter where I turned for information on bees in this region. I will keep you posted about the advancement of this project in the next news letter. Along the equator we have an advantage that our weather allows the bees to work 365 days year.
I still remember well an incident when I visited a family a couple years ago in the evening. I usually don’t visit after sunset which more or less is at 6:15 P.M. year around because we live only 4 degrees south of the equator. Interesting piece of trivia, that if you live right on the equator you have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness 365 days a year. During the season of high water, once the sun goes down the mosquitoes can be so heavy and numerous that if you’re not careful you can actually breathe them in. The houses are so small, many times with small children crying and because most have just one or two light bulbs, the homes are in semi darkness. This does not make for good visiting. This particular time I decided to go visit the owner of the house who was very sick. She has never walked a day in her life since she was born with a muscular type of disease and then developed leprosy and lost her toes and fingers. She is the aunt to five children and they lived with her. As I came up to the house the kids all ran out to greet me and for small talk I asked them what they ate for supper. “Nothing” they said. My socked response was, “WHAT”? They answered, “we never have supper”. I will never forget that evening for as long as I live. In checking around I found that many families have nothing for supper and I have even encountered some families that rarely have something as basic as bread for breakfast. Imagine sending your children off to school without a full tummy. For this reason, ever since St. Gerard’s Youth Center and Trade School opened 14 years ago, every person attending in the morning and in the afternoon receives a small individual French style bread. Last year we started to include a glass of fruit juice for added nourishment for each one.
When making out our budget for this present school year Rebecca my Secretary and Co-coordinator talked me into setting aside some money to experiment with having a warm bowl of soup for each one, once or twice a week instead of the bread. A vegetable and meat soup made by our volunteers here at the school. Sometimes beef and sometime chicken as funds allow. All you mothers and grandmothers reading this know how healthy a warm bowl of vegetable and meat soup is for good health. This goes over really well since many never have soup at home. I have mentioned at times in individual letters that for meals it is not uncommon for the mother to send the oldest child out to buy 11 hot dogs if there are 11 in the family. No buns, ketchup, mustard, chopped onions or relishes. They eat a root here provided they can afford it, that has no nutritional value and is made into a sand like mixture called Farinha. Farinha is eaten daily and used as a filler. Hot dogs in the store come in big plastic bags and the bags are slit open by the grocer and that is how he sells them. One by one. I can assure you there are no “
For me to keep pace with world news since we have no newspaper, I use the internet. Terrible to see how much crude oil is selling on the market and how world wide the cost of food and everything else is costing so much more because of this. The very same thing is happening here. Food prices sky high now and continues to edge up since it costs more to get the food up river and even to travel on the river it is more costly now. I don’t know how much more our poor people can take. I am wondering how this will affect me when I am home in August for some rest and medical check ups and promotional work. I hear it can cost close to $100.00 now if pulling up to a gas station with an empty tank and fill up.
Don’t forget to write or email your prayer intentions so that I can place them in the basket below the feet of St. Gerard in his chapel. Your petitions and intentions can be sent to me directly by Email to: leopatin@netium.com.br Thank you.
Everything else is about the same. Once more I can't thank each and every one of you enough for your continued support and interest in the
Love and prayers to all….
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Vol. II No 4
Easter Season 2008 – Saint Gerard’s Youth Center & Trade School – Coari,
Greetings once more to all. Friends and benefactors of St. Gerard’s
CONGRATULATIONS BROTHER IGSON MONTEIRO DA SILVA, C.Ss.R.
February 2, 2008 was a big day for the Redemptorists of the Vice-Province of Manaus, the city of Coari, Amazônas, Brazil, the family of Brother Igson and all the people of Coari including St. Gerard’s Youth Center and Trade School.
Brother Igson Monteiro da Silva, C.Ss.R. professed perpetual vows in the Cathedral here in Coari with all of his family present, Bishop Joércio Gonçalves Pereira in full attire, Fr. Manuel Leocárpio Soares the Vice-Provincial of Manaus accepting the vows and 12 other Redemptorists and seminaries celebrating together this great day with Brother Igson. The Cathedral was filled with the above and with all of Brother Igson’s many friends.
Brother Igson started out at St. Gerard’s
Our stained glass windows depicting St. Gerard finally arrived from the city of
We opened the school year with 150 students of ours and 200 for the computer classes. Things seem confused at time for the first couple days but this always happens at a new beginning of a school year. Part of the confusion is our electricity faulting so many times. One advantage we have, is that all who participate, want to be here and are not forced to attend.
We continue with classes in wood working, cabinet making, welding, electrical, guitar, English, wood carving, basic auto maintenance and helping those with problems in Math and reading in their regular schools and blouse, towel and cloth painting. The school band is now in its second year and very popular. The band director and volunteer has signed a contract with the mayor this year to perform at city events and this helps the kids with money that they can help their parents with everyday family expenses Sister Alciete continues again this year with her weekly bible study class and a class in personal hygiene and also helps in so many others ways in and around the Youth Center and also being available for personal consuling. I think I have about covered all the school offers. I still have the motto that if you want to build a 747 jumbo aircraft I will find someone to teach you. This has been my motto since we opened in 1994.
As in the past, the youth must be willing to do volunteer work in the community especially at festival times in the parish and must be willing to help with the sick and shut in people the school has in its care. If they are not involved in something like varnishing or a welding job they can be called upon to assist in helping with the many requests that come in daily for help for those confined to their shacks. This can be anything from banking or buying food or medicine and taking it to them and than spending some time visiting.
In February I started work on the school 2009 calendar. 2009 seems so far away but not when you need the calendars in your hands by August. Each year this calendar improves thanks to suggestions from many of you and I believe it brings all of us much closer together in a friendly and spiritual way. Any dates you want included please let me know. Birthdays, wedding anniversaries and etc. Email me at: leopatin@netium.com.br I can make changes immediately on the web site calendar but you will have to wait for 2009 to see the changes appear on that calendar. Don’t forget to visit the schools web site to see what is new. www.redemptoristamazonmission.org
Once more I thank each and every one of you for your continued support and know that without this help we would have closed our doors long ago. I can proudly say we have been able to remain open to aid and education the youth, because of your support. Hopefully that they will enjoy a much better life after they leave the center and take their place in society.
Send or email any intentions you want placed at the feet of St. Gerard in the chapel and they will be placed in the prayer basket at his feet. A candle burns 24/7 below his statue. He is a very powerful intercessor. We started a celebration each month on the 16th. which is the date of the feast of St. Gerard in October? When a priest is available the celebration centers on the mass and when no priest is available it will be a scriptural and prayer service. A different group of students prepares each month the celebration. All your intentions will be presented at this time as an offering.
On our back burners we still have several projects we would like to start with one of these, the dream of raising bees and using the profits from selling honey to support the school The reason this project has not come to the front burner is, I still continue to search for a supplier of the material needed to raise bees. Anyone have any leads? The other projects are rosary making and homemade soap making, both of these projects I think would help support the school.
We continue with the mid morning and mid afternoon snack which includes that each kid receives a small French bread and some fruit juice. The juice I added this year. I complained to Rebecca that I thought the two breaks were starting to cost a bit more than we should be spending. She said Leo, shortly after the school year began this year one of the new kids asked at what time was the morning break with bread and juice. Rebecca asked him why he asked. He replied that his family cannot afford breakfast and he was so hungry he had a headache. I immediately said to Rebecca, forget what I said about mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks being to costly, we must continue this morning and afternoon break with a snack no matter what the cost. Yesterday being Sunday I have more time to spend visiting my sick and poor and in ordinary conversation with the mom and dad and children talking about the above kid not having breakfast, they told me they hardly ever have breakfast. Imagine the pain having to send your children off to school with empty stomachs.
About 5 years ago a few of the students came up with the idea of not having the traditional Christmas dinner with families and students at the center but to give this up and spend that money for food baskets for the poor. My secretary Rebecca and I were so taken with this, that we included all the students and volunteers in receiving a food basket also and a very inexpensive hot dog feast, all they can eat. I found out years ago when the families have money for hot dogs they send the kids to the store to buy hot dogs by the number. If there are seven in the family, they buy seven hot dogs…. No buns relish, onions, catsup or mustard.
So many of you made all this possible more than we anticipated that we were able to adopt the whole area which is extremely poor, their homes are built on trunks of trees and float 6 months out of the year. Hopefully we can repeat this next Christmas in an even bigger way.
Know you all are in my prayers and I try to instill in all the students and the sick and poor that all of you touch, that they also should all say a prayer for each of you daily thanking God for your care and help. This will most likely arrive at your homes the second or third week of Easter. Please keep in touch and l will try and do the same. God bless each and every one of you in a special way for sharing what He has given to you, sharing with His poor.
Love and Easter Season blessings,
Brother Leo Patin, C.Ss.R.
Director of St. Gerard’s Youth Center and Trade School
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Vol. 1 No. 3
Advent / Christmas / New Years
St. Gerard’s
69460-000 – Coari – AM –
Greetings from Coari, Amazonas, Brazil. Yes it is me once more. It has been almost four months since my last news letter to all of you. This year 2007 is almost history but I would like to share with you what has happened since that last news letter and to wish each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
I spent one month in the states taking some time off to rest with family and to have my health checked once more. Having a complete physical, dental, eyes, hearing and diabetes exams. Except for being a year older since the last medical exams, all appears well. I can’t expect miracles for my age of 65?
I stayed an extra month doing promotional work for the
interest in the work of mine and in your continued generous support sharing with God’s poor what He has placed in your hands. I have written so many times that it is you who are the missionary for without your help I would just be spinning my wheels down here. Please remember that. After my visiting time came to an end I made it back to Grand Rapids, MI my home town and spent two days packing and spending some time with my family and flew out for Brazil on the third of October.
My travel back to the Amazon took 18 hours but a plus was that I arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule. I didn’t have to open my bags at customs which is always a time saver and a blessing. The next day I left our headquarters to travel up river to where I live and work This trip can be as long as 30 plus hours during the low water season. It was so good to return home and to the Youth Center again and my work and to see all the sick I have in my care especially those with leprosy. A joy was seeing that all was working 100 percent in the
Immediately I joined in the activity for preparing for the feast of St. Gerard Majella. This year was special in that the four day feast was held in our new chapel connected to the school and which was blessed and dedicated on the opening day of the feast. There was standing room only. Tears of joy welled up in my eyes as the candle lit evening procession marched from in front of the cathedral to the chapel. Brother Eliomar from Manacapuru preached during the four days giving all of us a better insight on the life of St. Gerard Majella the patron of our
Our computer classes continue to operate and we have to turn away many students but their names are put on top the list of the up coming classes. Wood working, furniture and cabinet making, painting, welding, electrical and English classes to name a few also continue to be in much demand.
I still have on the back burners, projects like raising bees and harvesting honey to sell to help support the school but that dream seems so remote. Supplies are the biggest hurtle to over come on this project. I also have plans to have someone teach our youth how to make rosaries and homemade soap and put them on the market to help support our school.
In my mailed letter to each of you I included a photo of a little dolly I came across when visiting a sick person very close to the youth center several days before I wrote this letter. You could see she is holding some empty shampoo bottles in her arms. She was full of smiles. I asked her why she was clutching the empty bottles; she said they are not bottles but her dolls. Boy did that stop me in my tracks. Here this sweet little girl was as happy as if she had the most expensive “Barbie Dolls” in her arms. It made me think how uncluttered the lives of our youth are in Coari.
The next morning I showed the photo to one of the sisters that teaches a bible class to the student here and she said, Wow look at this beautiful little girl with her dolls.” I said what do you mean? She than told me that she came from a very poor family and even though she was the only child, her parents could not afford toys or dolls so she ended up with the same thing. I didn’t realize how common this is. When I think about the commercial part of Christmas putting out their wares shortly after Halloween I am convinced they have not the slightest idea what Christmas really is.
This year we are planning again for Christmas to put together as many food baskets as donations will allow and distribute them not only to the students and volunteers here at the center but to as many poor and sick in our area as possible. Thanks to so many of you this past summer we have saved up a sizeable amount to make sure this project is a reality. The food baskets usually contain a frozen chicken along with a kilo of rice, beans, spaghetti, sugar, cooking oil, salt, dried bread a packet of dried milk and a small tub of margarine. Because of the frozen chicken they can not be distributed until the day before Christmas since most families lack a refrigerator. At least they will have something on the table for Christmas. Bless your generous hearts.
Just a reminder that if you have computer access to the internet we can be found at www.redemptoristamazonmission.org. All in the school would love to have you visit us. Also I can be reached at this internet address: leopatin@netium.com.br
While visiting this summer, many asked me how they could send money to my
Brother Gerard Patin, C.Ss.R.
If you care to send to this address please make sure it is in my name, Brother Leo Patin and specified for the
Wishing all of you the very best in celebrating the birthday of Christ once more in our lives. I pray that all of you also begin the new year with the peace and happiness that came to this earth with the arrival of the Christ Child. Keep us in your prayers and know that you are in my daily prayers and in the prayers of all you touch down here along the
Love and prayers, Brother Leo Patin, C.Ss.R.
Director
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Vol. 1 No. 2
Feast of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, C.Ss.R.
St. Gerard’s
Coari,
Dear Helpers and Friends of St. Gerard’s
Greetings once more from St. Gerard’s
In that first news letter I talked about the start and the progress on the construction of our latest addition, the chapel attached to the school and how it was coming along. If you remember I started the project on January 3rd. and now over six months later we are putting the finishing touches on it. It will not be for another three or four months until we receive the stain glass windows depicting a phase in the life of St. Gerard Majella. The window itself will be in five parts and the wait for this is painful, much like kids waiting for Christmas which seems never to come. Several have offered to buy the tabernacle, the sanctuary lamp, chalice, ciborium, monstrance, vestments and etc. The tabernacle is a gift from the Redemptorist Community in
Our plans for a four foot statue of St. Gerard Majella continues to run into dead ends. Even with St. Gerard on our side, it seems we encounter one problem after another trying to get this statue to Coari. I must share with you some of the complications in making its way down to
When the stain glass windows become a reality no one knows, but with the type of weather we have along the equator the chapel can be used without windows if we put screens on to keep out the mosquitoes and bugs. Nothing on the pews yet or many other little things, but they will eventually come, like vestments, pictures of our founder St. Alphonsus, Our Mother of Perpetual Help and the stations of the cross. These things will all come in due time as fund continue to come in. The dedication is set for the feast of St. Gerard Majella on October 16th. by Bishop Joércio who will bless and dedicate the chapel with the name of St. Gerard Majella and our Redemptorist confreres Brothers Igson and Eliomar have been invited to preach at the tridium at this time. Brother Igson is originally from Coari and a former student of the
One more thing to share is that our school computer lab and the funding grant came to an end after our two year contract expired. This happened in all schools such as ours in
A nice story came out of the Christmas story I told in the last news letter about the family I visited Christmas afternoon with a Christmas basket of food that was delivered to our house at noon on Christmas day for us to give away. It’s the story I wrote about the very poor family that I offered the last box I had in my truck after giving them their box. She said, Brother Leo there is a family down the path as poor if not poorer than we are. Please give that last basket to them. I believe she was truly blessed by God by sharing with that family because a good friend of mine from Wisconsin after reading this story is now sending through me, money that I give to this family weekly so that the kids have bread and milk at least once a day. With her pinching pennies this mother has been able to buy sandals for the three kids and medicines when needed. I divide the money up into four weeks so it is not spent at one time. I still marvel at the generosity of those in the states who make my work down here much so much easier and possible. How many times have I told all of you who support our mission, that without your help I could not even buy a plane ticket to get to
Once more I extend an invitation to each one of you to visit Coari and see what your help is accomplishing. So far this year my school has been blessed with four benefactors visiting here to Coari, two from
This about covers our movements the past three months. I look for the day that the dust will settle once the chapel is finished.
Students, staff and volunteers have been so patience with this project the last seven months. I thank all who have been so generous
in making this dream become a reality.
I will be home in August for some rest and my yearly physical check up along with having my eyes, teeth checked and especially
to make sure my diabetes is under control. In September I plan to travel to visit as many of you as I can. If anyone would like me
to come during this time say a few words at a group of yours please feel free to ask and if I can fit it in my schedule I certainly will.
Know that you all are in my daily prayers and the prayers of all who you touch down here. One last thing, don’t forget to visit
the school web site: www.redemptoristamazonmission.org
One point of interest might be the calendar section and if you have a date of importance you want included I can be reached: leopatin@netium.com.br I believe this calendar is a great way for us to remember each other in prayer and stay in touch.
God bless each and every one of you.
Love and prayers,
Brother Leo Patin, C.Ss.R.
Easter Season 2007
St. Gerard’s
Coari,
Dear Helpers and Friends of St. Gerard’s
With this letter I am initiating a four (4) times a year “News Letter” to try and stay more connected with you on what is going on here at St. Gerard’s Youth Center and Trade School. I think this is needed and important to all of you who make my work down here along the
Information contained in this and future news letters can be found on the school web site at: www.redemptoristamazonmission.org I realize that all do not have access to the internet so I will send out the news letter by snail mail to all four times a year.
Most of your know that St. Gerard’s
I am looking for persons who would be interested in purchasing things like the main cross in this chapel and at least a 4 foot statue of St. Gerard. We would like to hang on the back wall a large picture of our Mother of Perpetual Help and of St. Alphonsus Liguori. In my plans it was decided to have one wall done in stain glass featuring one phase in the life of St. Gerard Majella. Also needed are a tabernacle, altar, altar linens, lector stand, and everything else needed to bring this chapel to reality. Material and labor costs too are a big part in building the chapel. It is under a leak less roof now and having placed this project in the hands of St. Gerard Majella I can afford to wait as long as it takes to bring this to completion. I decided to greatly increase the size of the loft this old chapel had and it will serve as the Redemptorist community chapel without our Redemptorist community having to go downstairs to enter the chapel. It will be entered from our second floor living quarters.
Anyone interesting in donating one of these things alone or together with another person please feel free. Donating towards a dozen bricks or a bag of cement would greatly help also if you’re interesting in something smaller. I also need to purchase wood to build the altar, lector stand, sacristy cabinets and other furniture for this chapel like benches and kneelers. Hopefully my volunteer professors with their students can build these things. Any and all help will be appreciated.
Here is a bit of history about this chapel. From 1949 to1962 this was a chapel for our seminary built by Brother Cornelius Ryan. After the seminary moved from Coari, the chapel went unused for 4 years and than from 1966 until last year it was used as the bishops Curia. Sometimes I feel that reforming and remodeling this is more expensive than building something new but this is what I was given to work with. Back in those days plaster was made with cement and clay from the area so all the walls had to be stripped of the old plaster down to the bricks because it was crumbling. Lots and lots of work but it will be a beautiful Chapel when finished. This chapel was separate from the seminary but in this restoration it is now connected with a passage way completely closed in. That was the first thing I did. The chapel will only be entered ninety nine percent of the time by first entering the
The computer lab/classroom continues to operate and I decided in March to expand class in the evening for ages 19 and above. This will begin in April. This evening class has some signed up who are in their seventies. The day classes are full and many are turned away. Last year 250 youth signed up for the courses and completed them and for this year that number could double because of the evening classes. With signing up for a class they are allowed one hour of free time a week on the internet. The school received a satellite dish and connection to the internet by the people who helped us in setting up this computer lab.
On April 2nd. my dream of an English class became a reality. There is one class in the morning and one in the afternoon three days a week. Fr. Emeka, an English speaking Redemptorist from
In January I updated the school web site and with each update it becomes more organized and more informative. If you want to be included in the 2007 calendar which is on the site please let me know as I have the capabilities to make daily changes in this calendar. I do like to include all those important dates like birthdays, wedding and death anniversaries and the like so we can remember each other in prayer on those special days.
I will be spending an extra month, September, in the states after my vacation and health check ups with medical doctor, dentist and eye doctor. This yearly checking of health is very important at my time in life since I have to keep my Adult 2 diabetes under control if I am to continue working in
I continue to look into ways of exporting some of our finer wood carvings to the states for sale to help support the school but the bureaucracy is so overwelming at the present. I do manage to send some things back with visitors and they are sold through our retreat house in
Please feel free to email or snail mail any intentions you would like placed at the feet of St. Gerard Majella in this new chapel once it is completed. They will than be placed in the offertory basket and offered up at mass in this chapel. All those you touch down here will know of your intentions and needs and will keep them in their prayers. Intentions can be sent to my email address at the following: leopatin@netium.com.br
Before we close I would like to share with you something that really stopped me in my shoes and sent chills up and down my spine last Christmas Day 2006. The day before, my staff and I had distributed about 70 food baskets to all of our volunteers, students and the poor and sick I have in my care. Over half of my students go to
Blessing to all at this most Holy and Joyful season of the Church liturgical calendar. May the spring time help renew your faith in the resurrection.
With Him there is Plentiful Redemption. Happy Easter Season.
Brother Leo Patin, C.Ss.R.
Director