The emphasis is on the victory of the meek but with the same breath comfort, support, rejoicing that God is present with them. The Magnificat Mary is uniquivocally on the side of the poor in the implied struggle. Similarly the konbit functions in the labor of bringing nourishment out of the soil. So too the lakou in establishing and maintaining the web of familiar and usually comfortable relationships that enable many Haitians to survive. So too the family, an institution that in every aspect of Haitian life, whether among the poorest or among the richest of the elite is a source of assistance, protection, passing along of traditions, education at whatever possible level, and, of course, comfort.
Compassion chooses no side.
Perhaps it is here that a part of the paradox is resolved. The woman who invokes the assistance of Mary to keep a disorderly and unpredictable democracy at bay projects her own sense of sympathetic protection. The woman of Grand Bassin who lifts her hands to shout at Our Lady of Lourdes impels the Mother of Healing All to bring a suffering family out of the destitution imposed by the mighty. Both women are tautly circumscribed in their own moves toward clemency, yet each expects boundless grace from Mary. Given, both Bourdieu and Rey give more latitude to the individual than these words would suggest, and would agree that the statement does not exclude the role, sometimes powerful, of individuals.