Dominican Vocation of Trinbago

The pictures of newly ordained deacon Rev. Matthew Martinez OP. The ordination was officiated by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin. The Irish Dominican friars here in Trinidad and Tobago rejoice over this our brother on reching thus far. He was ordained to the diaconate in Saint Saviour's Dominican church, Dominick Street in Dublin. The ordaining prelate was Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin. Our brothers were joined by many friars of the province, families and friends, representatives of the Dominican family in Ireland and local parishioners from the Dominick Street area to witness the joyful liturgy. These are some pictures of the diaconate ordination of  ReCongartulations.

Our generative years are a marathon, not a sprint, and so it's difficult to sustain graciousness, generosity, and patience through the tiredness, trials, and temptations that beset us through the years of our adult lives. All on our own, relying on willpower alone, we too often fatigue, get worn down, and compromise both our maturity and our discipleship. We need help from beyond, from somewhere even beyond the human supports that help bolster us. We need God's help, strength from something beyond what's human. We need prayer. But too often we think of this in pious rather than realistic terms. Rarely do we grasp how much prayer is really a question of life and death for us. We need to pray not because God needs us to pray but because if we don't pray we will never find any steadiness in our lives. Simply put, without prayer we will always be either too full of ourselves or too empty of energy, inflated or depressed. Why? What's the anatomy of this? Prayer, as it is...

Following is the statement issued by Archbishop Patrick Pinder of Nassau, Bahamas, the president of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Brothers and Sisters in Christ: The people of our region, like Catholics around the world, are surprised to learn of the decision of Pope Benedict XVI to renounce the office of Bishop of Rome. Surely a Pope can resign, but it has not happened in centuries. We the Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference greet this news with some degree of sadness. We have fond memories of our group and individual meetings with him during our last "ad limina" visit in 2008. His warm and serene personality, his profound erudition coupled with his gift for clarity and simplicity of expression and his gentle character all endeared him to us. We understand the basis of his decision, namely his declining physical health. Indeed his less than agile gait has been apparent for some time. Th...

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Bro. Matthew Martinez O.P. of the Irish Vicariate of Trinidad and Tobago will be ordained a transitional deacon in the studentate the covent of  Dominican Community St. Saviour's, Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 1 Ireland, on 16th February, 2013. Our prayers are with you Bro. Matthew.

In 1887, J.H Collens described the unrest of the Carnival of 1881 thus: “The two days immediately preceding Ash Wedne...sday are, as in most Roman Catholic countries, devoted to King Carnival. Business is partially, if not altogether, suspended ; masquerading and tomfoolery generally being the order of the day. The better class of Spaniards dress themselves in fantastic costumes and ride or drive about visiting their friends, showering small confitures upon them. The custom is gradually dying out, and of late years it has degenerated into the lowest form of buffoonery ; vulgarity and thinly-disguised obscenity being rather the rule than the exception. The roughs, rowdies, and diametres take advantage of the privilege of masking, and indulge in coarse ribaldry, till the police finally take them temporarily under their wing. These orgies used to begin with ' Canboulay.' Bands of ruffians armed with staves, calling themselves Bakers, Freegrammars, etc., each set having t...

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord which occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus and is also known as Candlemas day, since the blessing and procession of candles is included in today's liturgy. According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the end of the Christmas season. The reformed calendar has designated that the Sunday after Epiphany, the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, is the end. This feast in the Ordinary Form is no longer referred to as the "Purification of Mary" but the "Presentation of the Lord". 

Order of Preachers Vocations: St. Thomas recommends the Dominican life - Part II... : It has been a while since our last installment , in which we started to give the context of St. Thomas’s treatment of the religious life i...