Dominican Vocation of Trinbago

Dominicans at work in the humbly beings of the Church here in Trinidad and Tobago.

Helena Allum was part of a group which went on pilgrimage to Peru in May. She shares on their experiences. Devotion to St Martin de Porres and curiosity about the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu were the main reasons for my joining the pilgrimage to Peru last month. Gonzales Parish, East Port of Spain, celebrated last year the 50 th  anniversary of the canonisation of St Martin, their patron saint and the first black saint of the Americas. This pilgrimage was meant to be part of that celebration. And so there was special significance to the Masses we celebrated at St Martin’s Chapel in Lima, which was built on the site of the infirmary where St Martin cared for the sick. His tomb is also in this chapel, along with urns containing some of his relics. He is aptly described by Lancelot Pinard in his calypso:  Dear St Martin, Blessed Martin / Help of all the sick and needy/Son of Peru, heaven chose you/An example of the new world/Race and station, pigmentation/They mean noth...

Members of the congregation reach out to greet Fr Benedict Peters at the end of last Tuesday’s Mass of Thanksgiving for his 25 th  anniversary of priestly ordination at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Curepe. At right is Fr Ian Taylor who, with Fr Peters and Fr Michael Moses (deceased), was ordained June 19, 1988. Assisting Fr Peters is his friend Fr Michael Upson, who was also the homilist. Photo: Raymond Syms Fr Peters eager for ‘wheelchair ministry’ Though thanking God for the challenge of his disability, Fr Benedict Peters has admitted to wanting to be healed and to walk again. In the meantime, he’s more than willing to celebrate the Eucharist from his wheelchair. Fr Peters, who has been unable to walk for the past five years following surgery, thanked God last Tuesday for being able to celebrate Mass and for giving him “life, the strength and the courage to be here”. The occasion was his silver anniversary of priestly ordination. At a Mass of Thanksgiving at Our Lady of Fat...

Bishop Gabriel Malzaire speaks at Fr Elton Letang’s June 6 ordination  Mass. Photo: Fr Peter Hill CSsR A new priest will soon be at work in the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, in Barataria to  be specific.  Ordained by Bishop Gabriel Malzaire on June 6 at the Church of Our Lady of  Fatima in Newtown, Dominica, Fr Elton Letang CSsR will begin his priestly  ministry at St Theresa’s in Malick, Barataria – where he served as Deacon for the last  year. Archbishop Emeritus Kelvin Felix and some 30 priests from across the region and the United States attended the ordination, including Fr Alistair Elias CSsR, who was ordained a priest just three days earlier in Grenada and who was there to support  his classmate. The church was filled to capacity and the congregation included 37-year-old Fr  Letang’s mother and other family members and friends – plus nine parishioners from  Malick, Barataria. Both the outgoing and incoming Barataria parish prie...

Bishop Burchell McPherson Don’t change just because   you’re now a Bishop.  That was the advice from Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Nicola Girasoli to newly ordained Bishop Burchell McPherson on June 8 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Before a packed congregation at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, the Nuncio said: “To become a Bishop is not an honour; it is a call to service. Too many bishops start to change after ordination. Remain who you are. Listen to the poor; listen to the priests; look after the people and priests.” In an address with several indirect references to popular tunes of Jamaican music legend Bob Marley, like “One Love” and “Redemption Song”, the Nuncio reiterated: “Continue  to listen.” Bishop McPherson later replied: “I promise I will not change, Your Excellency.”

The Province of St Joseph NY Receives 18 into their Novitiate At a time when the Church and indeed the Order is  experiencing drought in vocations, at a time when  some provinces in the Order do not have a total  number of 18 brothers in formation, the Province  of St Joseph, New York is receiving 18 men into  their novitiate for the 2013/2014 novitiate year. They will start their novitiate year on July 25.  Two of them are candidates for co-operator  brother while the rest are clerical brothers.  They will receive the Dominican habit on August 8,  2013, the feast day of our Father St Dominic. We  thank God for this oasis of vocations. According to the Director of Vocations, fr Benedict  Croell, all thanks goes to God, the Blessed Virgin,  St Joseph, Patron of the Province and St Dominic  for sending them vocations to preach the Gospel for  the salvation of souls. Apart from the ...

Dominican friars in Puerto Rico annual retreat with Bishop Raul Vera Lopez OP Dominican Friars in Puerto Rico Fr om Monday 27 to Friday, May 31, 2013, the Dominican friars of the Vicariate General of Holy Cross in Puerto Rico had its annual retreat accompanied by the Bishop of Saltillo, Mexico, Bishop Raul Vera Lopez. In an atmosphere of peace and rest, in the middle of the Puerto Rican in the Caguas municipality, the 13 friars currently living and working in this Caribbean island were able to share prayer, study and fellowship. Before the restructuring process that is living the entire order, especially the General vicariates, the Dominican Bishop invited the friars to reflect on the signs of the times demands that reality puts the Dominican evangelization: the choice of Christ by the excluded and marginalized by the impoverished by the reality of the borders. Contemplating the New Testament text of the Beatitudes of Jesus with the women, and his speeches about ...

Dominican Friars in the Caribbean-Frailes Dominicos en el Caribe. There's still hope that a Caribbean Dominican Mission can be done together!!!

ON the 30 June to 4th July 2011 the Formators of the Caribbean held a conference in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. This involved Dominican Formators of CIDAL form the Caribbean Zone.

On the Saturday June 1, 2013 Bro. Emmanuel Toledo Ramirez OP of Bayamon, Puerto Rico received minor orders of Acolyte and Lector . Congratulation.

In the Trinidad and Tobago branch of the Irish Province, there has always been extensive collaboration between the various members of the Dominican Family, especially between the friars and contemplative nuns of Rosary Monastery. Renessa Tang Packis presented as Sr Mary Magdalen by Rosary Monastery Prioress Sr Ann (Bradshaw), as Fr Stanislaw Gurgul OPand Fr Thomas Lawson OP look on. Dominican Nuns of Rosary Monastery with Dominican friars of the Irish Province. Photo by Dominican aspirant Sean Crepin. There is a history of mutual support that stems from since 1874 when the first nuns, as refugees from Venezuela, were welcomed to Trinidad by the diocesan authorities and the Dominican Fathers. The Dominican friars did all they could to make their adjustment smooth. Here is an example of the support received in the words of a past Prioresss of Rosary Monastery, " The only consolation we knew in those dark days came to us through the Dominican Fathers. They protected us, and ...

Catholic communities in three AEC territories will this week celebrate two priestly ordinations and one episcopal ordination. Bishop-elect Burchell McPherson Rev Alistair Elias Rev Elton Letang In Grenada tomorrow (Monday), Rev Alistair Joseph Elias, 32, will become a Redemptorist priest. His ordination will take place at St Peter’s Church, Gouyave. “I believe that a vocation to the priesthood and religious life is as valuable as any other vocation; it is not always easy, but we have to face the challenges day by day, and trust in God to empower and strengthen us to live our vocation,” Rev Elias told Grenada’s monthly newsletter, Catholic Focus . On Thursday, June 6, it will be the turn of Dominica as Rev Elton Letang will be also ordained to that congregation. Rev Letang – ordained a deacon last October 24 by Archbishop Joseph Harris at St Theresa’s Church, Barataria – will become a priest at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Newtown, Dominica. Finally, on Saturday, June 8, th...

The late Archbishop Anthony Pantin has been declared a National Icon.  The announcement was made last Monday night at an awards ceremony at Hilton  Trinidad, hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development.  Archbishop Pantin was one of 60 Icons honoured on the night, which was the  Government’s last major activity in celebration of the 50 th  anniversary of Independence. The public had been invited to nominate persons who contributed to the development  of T&T since Independence and nominations were received in such spheres as Arts/Culture, Business/Entrepreneurship, Public Service/Community Service, Media, Sport, Religion, Politics/Philosophy, and Academia.  Archbishop Pantin – who served as the first local Archbishop of Port of Spain  from 1968 until his death in 2000 – has been named a National Icon in the category  of Religion. In an address at the awards ceremony, Minister Bhoe Tewarie stated: “The Icons we celebr...