Mt St Benedict

Lead Editor-Newsgathering

ryan.bachoo@cnc3.co.tt

On a warm Sunday afternoon, the carpark of Mount St Benedict is packed. Not everyone is there to pray, and not everyone there is Catholic.

Several picnic blankets lay across the esplanade, with families enjoying a snack while children play. It’s a safe space for an afternoon out with the family. They come from different walks of life in T&T and different religions.

We meet a family that has come from Sangre Grande. They decided to take an afternoon drive. Some women wear their hijab, and other men wear their thobe.

For over a century, Mount St Benedict has been the central point for the amalgamation of different cultures and religions from T&T.

Today, ‘The Mount’, as it is commonly called, marks 112 years since it was established. There is a sense of similarity between those who seek quiet, personal refuge on the Mount and its historical beginnings.

In 1912, Abbot Mayeul de Caigny of the Abbey of San Sebastian in Brazil wrote Archbishop of Port-of-Spain, John Pius Dowling, seeking to escape religious persecution and refuge in T&T.

Archbishop Dowling would welcome the monks of San Sebastian, and upon a lot of land where Mount St Benedict now stands, they would build what is now the oldest Benedictine monastery in the Caribbean.

Mount St Benedict, also known as the Abbey of Our Lady of Exile, was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary when she was seeking refuge in Egypt. It became an abbey in 1947, being occupied by monks.

Mount St Benedict—Built for everyone

Though a monastery for monks under the ambit of the Roman Catholic Church, one of the unique things about Mount St Benedict is that it welcomes people of all religions into its church and onto its compound.

This isn’t a modern-day occurrence. In fact, Abbot John Pereira, who has headed the monastery since November 2003, said it has been like that since its inception. In the early days of Mount St Benedict, Hindus who came on indentured ships from India and Muslims who came from Africa visited the Mount regularly.

Pereira said because they didn’t have money to leave as an offering, the Hindus and Muslims would leave jewellery as an offering instead. That jewellery was eventually melted by the monks and made into a pilgrim chalice.

“So when we raise this chalice during Mass, it’s not just for Catholics but for Hindus, Muslims, and Baptists who all contributed jewellery that was melted into one,” Pereira told the Sunday Guardian last week when he sat down with us for an interview ahead of the 112th anniversary.

As it was over a century ago, so it is today, the abbot said. He further explained, “When this monastery was being set up, apart from the hustle and bustle of the Eastern Main Road, some of these people saw in this place an answer to that void that was established where they were forcibly taken away from their continent and subcontinent.

“And so, from the very first day the monks arrived here, people just came here, partly out of curiosity but partly out of a yearning to re-establish that connection because a lot of the structures were no longer there.”

Now, in the 21st century, that yearning still holds true. Pereira added, “Some people do not see this monastery as a Catholic Church; they see it as a place where God can be sought and found, as a place where they can go and unburden their troubles and depressions, and they do so sometimes in the church without speaking to the monks, or sitting on the esplanade reflecting on life, or sometimes they share their thoughts with one of the brothers.”

The impact of ‘The Mount’

and tasting pax

Though the monks of Mount St Benedict live privately away from the eye of the public, their impact throughout the decades has been defining for T&T and the wider region. Brother Gabriel Mokveld, who is credited with the architectural designs and execution of the monastery building, would go on to leave his fingerprint elsewhere.

He designed and built the Seminary of St John Vianney and the Ugandan Martyrs, the Forgarty in San Fernando, the Abbey School, Saint Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando, Fullerton RC in Cedros, and several churches in St Vincent.

On a societal level, the abbot admits Mount St Benedict is often regarded as being located in a hotspot community. It’s a long and winding drive up St John’s Road to reach The Mount.

However, he said Mount St Benedict offers a life away from criminality.

He said, “We are offering here as an alternative. Our life of pax is counter-cultural, and people living in the world—those with businesses, those who have jobs and are trying to support a family and have to make ends meet—become frustrated at times. They often see the monastery as a way to taste some of that pax.” Pax is the Latin word for peace.

A modern Mount to meet the future

The historical Mount St Benedict has been advancing technologically to meet the needs of the 21st century. The Mount Television Network is in its developmental stages, and the abbot hopes one day it can be fully operational. Masses and prayers are often streamed live on The Mount’s Facebook page to meet a digital audience.

He admits the COVID-19 pandemic forced the monks to communicate differently. “We felt that although we loved living here on our own and cut off, we felt that there was a need to connect with people who have a passion for God and who have been coming here regularly,” Pereira said.

But when it comes to the future, the conversation surrounding vocations cannot be avoided. At present, there are eight monks in the monastery, many of them elderly.

When asked whether he fears for the future of the monastery given the drop in vocations for monastic life, Pereira said, “God allowed his only son to die, and if he allows a monastery to die, it should be no big deal because over the history of monastic life, there have been great monasteries like Cluny and so on, which are now ruins.

“If you visit France, you see some beautiful ruins. But they did what they had to do for a particular time that they had to do it. The actual purpose of the monk is to seek God above everything else, and once we are here, we try to live that way of life.”

Pereira said one of the challenges of the monastery was the lack of knowledge. He insists that while a lot of young men come to the monastery, they don’t make that “quantum leap” that maybe they can be part of it.

In considering the future, the monks, however, are focused on the present, gaining optimism and confidence in the 112-year history of the monastery.

The post Mt St Benedict first appeared on CNC3.