The Afro-Caribbean Community of our OLPH Parish
We, members of the Afro-Caribbean group, firmly believe in the Universal Church and trust that the African and Caribbean Churches have something to contribute to enhancing the global Christian notions of celebrating the Eucharist and other blessed sacraments.
Thus, we take great pride in demonstrating to the world and on a regional scale how we have brought joy, dancing, and rejoicing to our celebrations. Our Caribbean and African brothers and sisters are eager to show their way of praising the Lord, of expressing their faith, their gratitude in their specific cultural way, making use of body language and spiritual vibrancy. We promote our unique methods of worshipping God by singing our typical and local hymns, where the melodious soprano voices blend harmoniously with the powerful men’s responses, accompanied by the pounding of drums and other percussion instruments, to call down the blessings and shout out the praises.
In the islands and on the African continent, the Eucharist is not merely a remembrance of the Holy Supper, but a lively and colourful celebration, whereby a whole community is celebrating with faith and joy the Risen Christ in their midst and giving thanks to our almighty God, the Father.
For this, the uplifting music, the dancing, the mimics or gestures and the sound of drums constitute our mode of expression and are in line with Pope Francis’ exhortation to promote diversity in the universal Church when he calls “for unity – not uniformity – in the church, and affirms that “diversity is a blessing as long as all Catholics recognize and follow Church teaching. “
Furthermore, Christian burial rituals on the Caribbean islands and in Africa have also their own unique musical and vocal traditions. Praying and expressing grief as a positive way to ease the pain and start the healing process is encouraged by our send-off symbolic activities and prayers, while acknowledging and accepting the reality of death.
We, who still have nostalgia for our ceremonies of yesteryear, find fulfillment in recreating the mystical and sacramental dimension of our celebrations in the local churches that have welcomed us. However, above all, we aim at keeping alive and perpetuating these ancestral ways of praising God that follow, nonetheless, the Church teaching. It’s our legacy to the next generation.