Letter from a New Orleans Redemptorist
Hello:
The following is most of the text of a letter from one of the Redemptorist priests who had been stationed in New Orleans. The letter was sent as an email to all the employees of Liguori Publications. I have removed a few sentences that I felt were too personal to display to the world. If you wish to contribute a donation to help those affected by this disaster, the Network for Good is a site listing many reputable organizations that can put your generosity to good use.
Peace,
P. Del Ricci
**************************************************************************************
Dear Family and Friends,
When I arrived in New Orleans to begin my stint as pastor (August 1, 2005) I knew that I was in hurricane country, but I had no idea that I was just in time for the grandmammy of them all. I was a bit nonchalant at first about this 1st hurricane of my career, but as the talk on the TV started to intensify, and even the natives were sounding somewhat alarmed, I began to get the point. By Sunday morning I decided that I would join the recommended evacuation. I thought we would complete our Sunday Mass schedule which concluded with the 11:30 AM Mass. But after only 5 folks showed up for the 10:00 AM chapel Mass the 11:30 Mass seemed unnecessary.
A few of the natives were talking about riding this one out, but many were revealing their evacuation plans, including all the members of my Redemptorist community. My bag was packed, and I went through a mental list of what I needed to take. An elderly woman parishioner at the 8:30 Mass told me she was staying. I tried to dissuade her and told her she could drive out with me. She should let me know. She decided to take up my offer. And so at 12:01 PM on Sunday, August 28 we hit the road. I had plenty of food and water to sustain us.
We were going to Baton Rouge where we have a Redemptorist Parish (St Gerard) and a spacious rectory. The trip would be about 90 miles. It took 11 hours! What a terrible drive! I never got out of the car or stopped except for the several hundred stops due to traffic standstill. We made it just after 11:00 PM.
With the communications systems pretty decimated by the hurricane we heard very little on Monday. On Tuesday morning I got a call from my secretary and her husband. They had stayed in town for the hurricane in a hotel, but they had returned to their home - just a couple blocks from the church. Sammy went to look at the church and rectory. The good news was that there was no standing water - yet. (I'm sure everything is flooded now). The bad news was that a big stained glass window in the Church had blown out as well as some star-shaped windows from the bell tower. Part of the 8 foot high brick wall (about 14 inches thick) had blown down. Two windows in the rectory had also blown out. The worst news at that time was that looters were running loose in the neighborhood. With the wall down we were vulnerable.
Since Tuesday morning the news just keeps getting worse. I'm sure you've seen the TV pictures. They haven't been talking much about the death toll, but I think it will be very high. Someone who came from New Orleans today spoke of seeing a number of bodies floating. When I first came to Baton Rouge I thought we'd be here for 4 or 5 days - a week max. Now it looks like a month minimum and probably longer. It will take a month just to get the water out and probably longer to get power, drinkable water, and sewage back. It's massive. What we will find when we return will not be a pretty picture.
There's 4 members of our 6 member New Orleans community here plus the 4 man Baton Rouge community plus a lay man and lay woman ( my travel companion.) She's really agitated, worrying about her house. Can't blame her for that.
Yesterday, one of my community members, Deacon Dennis Ryan, and I spent several hours raking up fallen branches and leaves on the rectory parking lot and grounds. It was good to have something to do. Baton Rouge had substantial winds on Monday. Today I was put in contact with a hospital and may end up doing some chaplaincy work over the next several weeks. There are a lot of New Orleans folks in Baton Rouge - some of them in the hospitals. I'll also be doing some Mass helpout work this weekend. I have no clerical clothes with me, so I may have to get some.
I know that Hurricane Katrina is a life-changing experience for me - one that I will only slowly begin to understand. Some are speaking of it as the end of New Orleans as we have known it. That's hard to say at this point. My life is upended at this time, but I am alive and grateful for that. I feel very much for the poor of New Orleans - many of whom had no viable option to leave. They are paying a terrible price.
We still don't know about a community of Redemptorists who live very close to the water in Biloxi, MS. Nobody has heard anything from them or about them except for one member who went to Houston. Their house would have been right in the path.
I'm very much in admiration of the leaders of the cities and state and their emergency personnel, and even the radio and TV news folks. They are working very hard and are deeply touched by what they are doing. The odds they face are almost unimaginable. I know they go long hours without sleep.
With the abundance of new folks in Baton Rouge it's hard to get out on the phone. We often get the message that the system will not allow a call to go through.
For your information I am at:
St Gerard Parish
3808 St. Gerard Ave
Baton Rouge, LA 70805-2834
Thanks for all your concerned calls and e-mails.
Peace
Greg
The following is most of the text of a letter from one of the Redemptorist priests who had been stationed in New Orleans. The letter was sent as an email to all the employees of Liguori Publications. I have removed a few sentences that I felt were too personal to display to the world. If you wish to contribute a donation to help those affected by this disaster, the Network for Good is a site listing many reputable organizations that can put your generosity to good use.
Peace,
P. Del Ricci
**************************************************************************************
Dear Family and Friends,
When I arrived in New Orleans to begin my stint as pastor (August 1, 2005) I knew that I was in hurricane country, but I had no idea that I was just in time for the grandmammy of them all. I was a bit nonchalant at first about this 1st hurricane of my career, but as the talk on the TV started to intensify, and even the natives were sounding somewhat alarmed, I began to get the point. By Sunday morning I decided that I would join the recommended evacuation. I thought we would complete our Sunday Mass schedule which concluded with the 11:30 AM Mass. But after only 5 folks showed up for the 10:00 AM chapel Mass the 11:30 Mass seemed unnecessary.
A few of the natives were talking about riding this one out, but many were revealing their evacuation plans, including all the members of my Redemptorist community. My bag was packed, and I went through a mental list of what I needed to take. An elderly woman parishioner at the 8:30 Mass told me she was staying. I tried to dissuade her and told her she could drive out with me. She should let me know. She decided to take up my offer. And so at 12:01 PM on Sunday, August 28 we hit the road. I had plenty of food and water to sustain us.
We were going to Baton Rouge where we have a Redemptorist Parish (St Gerard) and a spacious rectory. The trip would be about 90 miles. It took 11 hours! What a terrible drive! I never got out of the car or stopped except for the several hundred stops due to traffic standstill. We made it just after 11:00 PM.
With the communications systems pretty decimated by the hurricane we heard very little on Monday. On Tuesday morning I got a call from my secretary and her husband. They had stayed in town for the hurricane in a hotel, but they had returned to their home - just a couple blocks from the church. Sammy went to look at the church and rectory. The good news was that there was no standing water - yet. (I'm sure everything is flooded now). The bad news was that a big stained glass window in the Church had blown out as well as some star-shaped windows from the bell tower. Part of the 8 foot high brick wall (about 14 inches thick) had blown down. Two windows in the rectory had also blown out. The worst news at that time was that looters were running loose in the neighborhood. With the wall down we were vulnerable.
Since Tuesday morning the news just keeps getting worse. I'm sure you've seen the TV pictures. They haven't been talking much about the death toll, but I think it will be very high. Someone who came from New Orleans today spoke of seeing a number of bodies floating. When I first came to Baton Rouge I thought we'd be here for 4 or 5 days - a week max. Now it looks like a month minimum and probably longer. It will take a month just to get the water out and probably longer to get power, drinkable water, and sewage back. It's massive. What we will find when we return will not be a pretty picture.
There's 4 members of our 6 member New Orleans community here plus the 4 man Baton Rouge community plus a lay man and lay woman ( my travel companion.) She's really agitated, worrying about her house. Can't blame her for that.
Yesterday, one of my community members, Deacon Dennis Ryan, and I spent several hours raking up fallen branches and leaves on the rectory parking lot and grounds. It was good to have something to do. Baton Rouge had substantial winds on Monday. Today I was put in contact with a hospital and may end up doing some chaplaincy work over the next several weeks. There are a lot of New Orleans folks in Baton Rouge - some of them in the hospitals. I'll also be doing some Mass helpout work this weekend. I have no clerical clothes with me, so I may have to get some.
I know that Hurricane Katrina is a life-changing experience for me - one that I will only slowly begin to understand. Some are speaking of it as the end of New Orleans as we have known it. That's hard to say at this point. My life is upended at this time, but I am alive and grateful for that. I feel very much for the poor of New Orleans - many of whom had no viable option to leave. They are paying a terrible price.
We still don't know about a community of Redemptorists who live very close to the water in Biloxi, MS. Nobody has heard anything from them or about them except for one member who went to Houston. Their house would have been right in the path.
I'm very much in admiration of the leaders of the cities and state and their emergency personnel, and even the radio and TV news folks. They are working very hard and are deeply touched by what they are doing. The odds they face are almost unimaginable. I know they go long hours without sleep.
With the abundance of new folks in Baton Rouge it's hard to get out on the phone. We often get the message that the system will not allow a call to go through.
For your information I am at:
St Gerard Parish
3808 St. Gerard Ave
Baton Rouge, LA 70805-2834
Thanks for all your concerned calls and e-mails.
Peace
Greg
posted by Philip Del Ricci | 8:32 AM
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