{"id":263034,"date":"2021-02-09T16:11:10","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T20:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=263034"},"modified":"2021-02-10T13:18:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T17:18:36","slug":"loubiere-holy-spirit-chapel-finally-reopened-with-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/loubiere-holy-spirit-chapel-finally-reopened-with-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Loubiere Holy Spirit Chapel finally reopened (with photos)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bishop begins ceremony to rededicate the Holy Spirit Chapel in Loubiere<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After three years of being closed due to damage sustained during the passage of Hurricane Maria, the\u00a0 Loubiere Holy Spirit Chapel has officially been reopened to the community and public.<\/p>\n

Parishioners from the Fatima parish had a chance to see the newly restored and renovated church interior and once again worship at a rededication Mass held on February 7, 2021.<\/p>\n

The event was conducted by Bishop of Roseau, His Lordship Gabriel Malzaire, who stated that despite the skepticism by many, such an occasion has been highly anticipated by the members.<\/p>\n

“Today is a long-awaited moment for this community and I’m sure everybody is overjoyed to see what is happening. We know the journey that we have taken from Maria to now, three years of waiting and even deciding whether coming back to this location was viable,” he said. “We had doubts. We thought that because of the proximity of this community to Fatima everybody could go to Fatima and maybe we could forget about the church. These were some of the thoughts, especially seeing that we have the river so close by we didn’t know what would happen, but we are here right now and everybody is happy.”<\/p>\n

His Lordship expressed his gratitude to those who contributed to making the reopening of the church a reality and sid that the joy felt by many at such an occasion, should truly be embraced.<\/p>\n

Many parishioners who participated in the restoration of the Chapel, were awarded for their invaluable contributions, among them, Parliamentary Representative for the area, Chekira Lockhart-Hypolite.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Dominica News Online, she stated, “It’s a great occasion, it’s a joyous occasion. This is the church where I made the first communion, this is the church where I made the confirmation, this is the church where my daughter was baptized. As many would know, I am from the Loubiere community so I know how the Loubiere people love their church it has not been the same since Maria and though the Newtown church has welcomed us with open arms, something was missing and I’m very happy that we could see the rededication of this Holy Spirit Chapel.”<\/p>\n

According to Lockhart-Hypolite, one of the main challenges which have prevented persons from attending regular mass over the years especially for the elderly has been transportation for parishioners from neighboring communities. She said she is confident that with the reopening of the community chapel, such issues will be elevated, and people will have greater access to prayer and worship.<\/p>\n

“I believe in every community you must have some form of prayer and worship somewhere to go to praise the Lord, so this is just a great day for Loubiere and the constituency as a whole. The people here are close-knit. They are family…so I consider this a joyous occasion, words cannot express how I feel this evening and be part and parcel of this. It is a great feeling,” she stated.<\/p>\n

She urged fellow church members to not let their guard down and continue following the protocols established by the Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n

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