Local Dominicans prepare for visit of the Master of the Order of Preachers

Fr Gérard Francisco Timoner III OP was elected Master of the Order of Preachers (OP) at Biên Hòa, Vietnam, on July 13, 2019. He is the first Filipino to be elected to the highest office in the Order, also known as the Dominicans.

Fr Timoner is the 88th Successor of St Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers. Born in Daet, Camarines Norte, Philippines, on January 26, 1968, he was 51 years old when he was elected Master.

On October 6, 2019— just a few months before the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill— the Master made a memorable visit to St Dominic’s room in Fanjeaux, France.

From that sacred place he made the following remarks: “I would like to think that this is part of my ‘novitiate’ as Master of the Order, and I am really learning a lot from the Brothers and from the Sisters.”

“Even in our time we are going to different places, but we are walking the same path. Now, this is paradoxical—going different directions and yet taking the same path. And what is that path? It is the path of preaching the Gospel. It is the path of preaching the Gospel together as brothers and sisters. We are not alone…”

“We have to ask ourselves: what are the pillars in our time that block the preacher from the people? What are the things that hinder us from reaching out to all the brothers and sisters?”

The visit of the Master of the Order to any Province, Monastery or Mission where there are Brothers, Sisters and Dominican Laity is a kairos moment—a time of grace—for the Order.

Trinidad and Tobago has been blessed with visits of several Masters of the Order in the past. It is with joy that the Dominican Family in Trinidad and Tobago welcomes Fr Gérard Francisco Timoner III OP, along with his assistants, to the English-speaking Caribbean, where communities of Brothers from the Provinces of Ireland and England are present.

There are also Sisters of St Catherine of Siena, the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters, and Sisters of Notre Dame de La Delivrande (St Lucia). We miss our nuns at Rosary Monastery, St Ann’s.

Fr Gérard, dear Master of the Order, has made the entire Dominican Family in Trinidad happy with his visit. The visit is filled with expectations, and Dominicans look forward to it as one of the ‘joy-points’ in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

The Master will arrive on April 27 and conduct his visitation by meeting individually with the Brothers the following day. The highlight of his visit will be a concelebrated Mass at Rosary Monastery at 10.30 a.m. on the Feast of St Catherine of Siena, April 29, followed by lunch.

That same evening, he will meet with the Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon. His visit ends with his departure on April 30. Following his visitation, the Master leaves a Charge encouraging the brethren to continue preaching the Gospel together as brothers and sisters.

Dominican history in T&T

The Church in Trinidad & Tobago has been blessed with the presence of Dominicans since 1513, when two Spanish Dominicans first came to our shores and subsequently became the first Christian martyrs in Trinidad. Three and a half centuries later, six friars from the French Province of Lyons came to Trinidad at the request of Archbishop Joachim Gonin OP, himself a French Dominican. In 1895, Dominicans from the Province of Ireland came to Trinidad and are still here today.

As Dominicans, we continue to pray for our Master and brother, as he leads the Order in the footsteps of St Dominic in these challenging times. May our Blessed Mother Mary, St Dominic, St Mary Magdalene and St Catherine of Siena smile upon the Order today. —Brother Robert, St Finbar’s Dominican Community