Coryal celebrates St Martin de Porres

Parishioners of St Martin de Porres, Coryal celebrated their feast day on Sunday, November 3. The day’s celebration began with Holy Mass which was celebrated by Fr Steve Duncan, the Vicar for the Eastern Vicariate and Tobago and Coryal, Coryal’s priestly presence Fr Maurice White and Deacon Cy Moore of The Parish of the Incarnation, Maloney.

In his homily, Fr Duncan emphasised that St Martin lived a life of love. Through his actions, St Martin was able to reflect Christ to the poor and the sick. Fr Duncan explained that as a barber in St Martin’s time, it also involved the drawing of blood. However, St Martin’s religious brothers “realised that Martin had a special touch and not only was he drawing blood, but people were reporting healing. That man had a special touch so [they] put him in charge of the infirmary.”

St Martin’s love for animals was also explored by Fr Duncan. He shared the famous story about St Martin’s interactions with the rats at the monastery. Upon hearing that the rats were going to be poisoned, St Martin’s heart broke so he decided to speak to the rats. According to Fr Duncan, “Talking with rats and rats obeying you. Strange, special, out of this world. Saint!”

During the announcements, Fr White thanked God, Fr Duncan, Coryal’s former parish priest Fr Stephan Alexander, Rev Moore, parishioners, stall holders, visitors and all who contributed to make this special day possible.

Fr White shared: “The summary of my time here in Coryal has been beautiful.”

After Mass, clergy and members of the congregation which consisted of representatives from Santa Rosa, Malabar, Maloney, La Horquetta, San Rafael, Sangre Grande, Diego Martin and Port of Spain, participated in a procession to the Coryal RC School.

The stalls were blessed and the feast day celebrations continued. The stalls included delicious creole, curry and bar-be-cue lunch, the Divine Mercy stall which reminded participants of God’s presence, mercy and love, and the Bingo which drew participants to try their luck.

During the weeks leading up to the Feast of St Martin de Porres, parishioners participated in activities which reflected the spirituality of St Martin. For example, Fr White and a parishioner visited sick community members. According to Fr White: “The enriching experience that I had was going from house to house visiting 12 sick and elderly who are housebound.”

Also, a small group of parishioners devoted a lot of their time to cleaning, preparing, and decorating both inside and outside of the church. Their love, passion and dedication to God were evident, as both parishioners and visitors were impressed with the church’s beauty and welcoming environment.

One member of the cleaning group explained: “We’re following in St Martin’s footsteps. St Martin reminds us that sweeping or weeding a garden can be a form of prayer, once we offer these little acts to God.”

Parishioners were grateful to Fr White who went above and beyond to ensure that this year’s feast and family day celebrations were extra special. One parishioner commented: “Fr Maurice’s passion and excitement throughout the planning up until the feast day; motivated parishioners, encouraged more visitors and played a very instrumental part in creating an environment which reflected dialogue, inclusivity and participation.”

One of the highlights of the feast day celebrations was that Fr Alexander returned for the day’s activities. Parishioners stated: “We were happy to see Fr Stephan. He made time to visit and celebrate with us.”

Overall, parishioners and visitors thanked God for an enjoyable day, as they celebrated this humble, charitable, and powerful man of God, St Martin de Porres.

— Dr Ottrisha Carter