The Benedictine impact on national development following independence

By Abbot John Pereira, OSB

Benedictine spirituality is two-fold. In the first instance, it roots the individual/community in a radical, ongoing turning to God. Secondly, it heightens consciousness of a sense of place. This is precisely due to the vow of stability which each monk pronounces at his profession.

The commitment of the Benedictine monk incarnates the Divine call in a particular place: its people, its culture, its geography, its history. For the Benedictine community of Mount St Benedict Abbey, that place is the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

National development cannot be divorced from spiritual development. On August 31, 1962, the day of our independence as a nation, there was already 50 years of Benedictine presence in the nation inviting persons to seek the Divine.

The steeple on the tower in front of the monastery is seen many miles away in the distance and beckons all “to look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand…” (Col 3:1).

The Benedictine presence on the hills of Tunapuna provides an oasis of PAX where all are welcome to “let peace be your quest and aim” (Rule of St Benedict, prologue).

The open-door hospitality of the monastery welcomes people of all faiths and of no faith regularly to the Abbey to have an encounter, a moment, a time –it is a place where God can be sought and found.

The presence of the Benedictine community has a subtle impact on the spiritual and by extension on the national development of the society. A nation without a soul is lost!

A few years before independence, the ‘Father of the Nation’, Dr Eric Williams, had engaged one of the Benedictine monks, Dom Basil Matthews, at the ‘University of Woodford Square’, to set the philosophical tone of an approach to education for the future. This took the form of a very stimulating series of public debates.

Both resorted to the writings of Aristotle with Dom Basil arguing philosophically for the importance of Church involvement in education.

A few years after attaining our national independence, the monks engaged in an aggressive outreach to youth who were not able to fulfil the normal criteria in the local education system.

This was done through the establishment of the St Bede Vocational School on  January 22, 1967, catering in the first instance for those who were incapable of entering the State-owned vocational and technical schools. The chief aim was to train the boys for immediate employment at the end of their course.

The three most popular courses offered were bookbinding, machine shop craft and woodwork. St Bede was the first private, non-profit-making school to offer technical and vocational subjects in Trinidad and Tobago.

The success of this venture was due largely to the involvement of Br Joseph Perez OSB, who was Principal for 25 years and who had augmented the programme by offering courses for the young people in human relations skills. This ideally fitted out the youth for the world of work and life.

The resourcefulness of the pioneers of the Mount to harness its own independent supply and distribution of water resources from below the earth, had eventually spilled over on the eve of our national independence to advocate for clean running water for the villagers of the neighbouring district, St John.

Water is life. A nation without its own regular supply of clear running water is doomed to despair.

The supply of eggs, chicken and produce from the Abbey’s farm has contributed in myriad ways to the health of the nations’ citizens. More recently, the coming of the PAX YOGURT allows our citizens to eat more healthily with all the attendant benefits.

Our parlour ministry addresses serious emotional and spiritual concerns of citizens, contributing always to their coping abilities in these trying times and gives them hope.

The Church has had to deal with its own adjustments to the new independent status. The Benedictines had a major impact by providing a space and a theological backdrop for the training of local clergy to embrace the new reality.

With the establishment of the Seminary on the grounds of the monastery on January 19, 1943, the Benedictine Order was providing the theological building blocks to impact on the declaration of Independence some 20 years later.

In 1961, a magnificent modern building was designed by Br Gabriel Mokveld OSB, and completed for the formation of young men to serve the Church as priests. In the year of Independence, 1962, a Seminary Chapel was consecrated by Archbishop Finbar Ryan OP with additional facilities being added from time to time.

In 1993, the Seminary could claim that it had given more than 100 priests to the Caribbean Church.

With Independence comes new challenges. The Benedictines offer PAX, stability, and hospitality. Ultimately, “it is all God’s work…” (2 Cor 5:18).