My name is Sister Veronica Brutosky. I am a Roman Catholic Sister of St. Joseph. I am seventy-five years old, a retired teacher, and somewhat new to detention ministry. On the Saturday before Christmas, at 9 a.m. on a very foggy morning in Fresno, California, I drove over to the Chancery to meet Father Jim Rude, a Jesuit priest, so as to get a ride with him, 140 miles round trip to Avenal Prison for men.
Avenal had been built for 2,920 inmates. Currently there are 7,582 give or take a few, crammed in there, (my numbers are approximate). There are no cells, no bars, just six separated prison yards with large rooms with bunk beds. California prisons are way overcrowded. Currently at Avenal, when a more dangerous prisoner is incarcerated there, to make room, a less dangerous one is shipped out to a prison in Mississippi, which means his family cannot visit him unless they have money for travel. Avenal is a level two prison, level five being the most dangerous.
I was warned not to wear blue, the prison color, or denim jeans, so as to be distinguished by the guards quickly in case I had pushed the alarm button which I was given to wear in case of trouble.
I wore long black pants, a white long-sleeved t-shirt, a dark green jacket and on top of that, a cinnamon colored coat which my family had given me. Fortunately, I decided to remove the green jacket when we got out of the car upon arrival because I felt more comfortable with just the long coat, which I never took off the whole day.
It was very cold all day, mostly in the 30's and 40's but I have to say the prison rooms themselves were nice and warm. We met Rodney Ornellas at the Cafeteria for the Staff. Rodney is the Catholic Chaplain there for all six yards. He is doing a superb job. At the time the preceding priest chaplain retired, no other priest could be found to fill the job, so Chaplain Ornellas took it on. He is well-known for being able to get priests to come to the prison for confessions and Holy Mass, and he is excellent for recruiting volunteers. It had taken six weeks for my clearance to come through and I had taken a workshop on what to do and what not to do in the prison. I still have an eight-hour class to take.
After I showed my driver's license which was the only thing in my pocket besides two band aids in case I started bleeding through my skin from a scratch or bump, (I am on warfarin which is a blood thinner that holds back blood clotting because I have episodes of atrial fibrillation), some Kleenex, and my brown wooden rosary for spiritual protection.
All the yards and gates are surrounded by heavy chain link fences with razor wire and big signs warning of danger of electrocution. The yards were in groups of two which were about a half mile apart. Someone had donated a van to the Chaplain to use to go back and forth to all the yards. The van was a blessing. We piled into it and off we went. We were going to Yard 5 at noon and then to Yard 6 at 2 p.m.
As a guard let us through another gate to Yard 5, there were many inmates out on the grassy area. We greeted many of them and they greeted us. Mostly we said Merry Christmas. Many were smiling and happy to see us. We entered a door marked Chapel in large letters above it. Men were milling around in the hallway and some were already settled on folding chairs inside the bare room that had a raised stage area at one end and a large wooden cross leaning against the back wall.
Chaplain Ornellas introduced me and I tried to catch the eyes of the inmates there as I smiled and said, "Let's sing some Christmas Carols, OK?" Some of them shouted approval. So all in all, we sang about eight Christmas carols by heart. It must have been the Holy Spirit Who helped us recall the words because at the time, not all of them had hymn books. The men made a noble effort and I praised their singing which grew better as the minutes passed by. After some of the carols, I reminded them to think about the words they were singing. I also asked them if any of them had children. About one third of the inmates held up their hands and I asked them to show by fingers how many children they had.
This they proudly did. Most had two or three. I also answered some questions they had about Holy Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. I explained that since God is Love, He loves them and is, due to His Divine Nature, unable not to love everyone and that God is walking with them through their time in prison.
