Preparing Couples in Sicuani

Sister Eileen said “Today is the last day.” Well, it wasn’t, and in light of time and Eileen’s ten-week program of catechesis for couples planning to get married, she decided it couldn’t be. And the reasons were many.

For background the people believe that marrying in an odd year, 2025 for example, is bad luck. Secondly, here in the Diocese of Sicuani, the requirement for the reception of the sacrament of matrimony is that the couple must have received the three Sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. Most of the people who live in the outlying villages of the Andes mountains have Mass once a year on their patronal feast, so many are only baptized then, if that.

Couples began to come to Sister Eileen asking her to help them receive the required Sacraments. Most were Baptized Catholics and desired to be married in December of this year. RCIA (Rite of Initiation for Catholics) has a ten-week program for preparation of adults which Eileen uses. Hence, she began her classes which had been advertised on the radio, Sunday afternoons for ten weeks with 12 adults registered. BUT, then the flood began. Knocks on the door, “Please, please can I do the program?” AND “I work out of town and can only come every two weeks.” A woman too poor to travel five hours to the jungle to get her baptismal certificate resigns to just having her babies baptized. Eileen went on Google and found the mission where she was baptized. The mission is in the Cusco State Department but belongs to a Dominican Vicariate in Puerto Maldonado State Department. It took five days of internet searching to finally locate a Spanish Dominican missionary in Madre de Dios Diocese who sent the Baptismal certificate by WhatsApp! Now she can receive First Communion and Confirmation and is delighted!

However, everyone who came late or missed a class has to make up that class. Eileen schedules them in on Saturdays, before the regular class or even during the week at night or in the afternoon. Confirmation is due to take place on November 23 with 25 adults. Sister Eileen had two other groups such as these during the past year which means that more than 60 adults participated in the program. Sister Norma also will have a number of young people and adults receiving the sacraments as she had been preparing them every Sunday morning in one of the San Felipe Parish`s mission churches.

A simple call to the rectory such as in the US, doesn’t happen here quite often. Patricio, now in his 60s, was baptized by a priest who came to his village on horseback on the patronal feast of St. James on July 25. There was no record of his Baptism. His parents were dead, but an uncle remembered the moment. The pastor downtown said to have the uncle swear on the Bible that he’s the witness. Calculating the date from the mans birth certificate, Eileen looked up the name of the priest who was the pastor in Marangani at the time but now deceased (he would have been responsible for visiting the village for the Mass). Then the couple couldn’t find anyone married in the church to be their witness at the wedding (another requirement) so they asked Eileen to be the maid of honor and sign the papers. In this role, she also had the responsibility to dance at the wedding with the groom. The traditional dance is “The Blue Danube” waltz but because of a blackout, the recording couldn’t be played. The band who’d accompanied the wedding party offered to play the marinera, but Eileen needed a white handkerchief to wave for this dance. None being available, they gave her a piece of toilet paper to use instead!

One last note, most couples wait until their children are grown to marry because when they do, the whole community to which they belong is expected to be invited to the celebration. Young couples cant afford this so they wait until their children are raised and out on their own to marry and have the celebration! Remember, the Vatican II documents emphasize respect for culture!