Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St.
Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 1 April 2022. No. 1052
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Dear Friends,
This is not an April´s fool issue, it is a real journalistic issue.
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Fr John Pereira
Sat Dec 20 2014
By: Nasser Khan
In this festive and holy
Christmas season, the Sunday Guardian sought out the quiet-spoken and
reflective Fr John Pereira, abbot of Mount St Benedict Monastery in St
Augustine, for the last in this 'Getting Personal' series for 2014.
Abbot
Pereira's path is an interesting one which he shares with us as he gives his
Christmas reflections from the Mount:
He
entered the monastery at Mount St Benedict in September 1985.
He
made his first profession on December 12, 1987, his solemn profession on
November 25, 1990, and was ordained a priest June 27, 1993.
Ten
years after his priestly ordination, on November 15, 2003, Fr Pereira was
elected by his peers as abbot of the monastery of Our Lady of Exile. Some
readers may reflect on their Abbey boarding school days at the Mount which once
boasted of being one of the finer schools in T&T.
Q:
Tell us about your early years and your family.
A:
I was born on July 12, 1955.
I
grew up in St Ann's, Port-of-Spain, within a stone's throw of the Rosary
Monastery, a group of contemplative Dominican nuns.
My
parents had six children and I am the fourth.
My
eldest brother, Msgr Christian Pereira, is a Roman Catholic priest, currently
the regional episcopal vicar for the Southern Vicariate.
There
are three girls and three boys.
My
father was one of the founders of the Catholic Evidence Guild, an organisation
which promoted the teachings of the Catholic faith through literature and
public debate.
My
mother was also quite active in the church.
I
was an altar server at the Rosary Monastery from the age of eight, until I was
18.
Q:
What schools did you attend, starting with the primary level?
A:
I attended St Bernadette's Prep School in St Ann's, for my primary education.
This
school was founded and managed by Holy Faith Sisters.
My
secondary schooling was at St Mary's College, Port-of-Spain, run by the
Spiritan (Holy Ghost) Fathers.
Q:
Tell us about your 'journey' to embrace your vocation/join the priesthood.
When
did you have your calling?
A:
On leaving CIC (College of the Immaculate Conception), I worked in the
accounting field, first at Trinidad Match Factory and then for several years at
Carib Brewery.
During
this time, I did several computer and accounting courses to enhance my working
skills.
After
many years of soul searching, I left Carib Brewery in August 1985, and joined
the monastery of Mount St Benedict in September 1985, at the age of 30.
In
addition to my monastic formation at the monastery, I attended the Seminary of
St John Vianney and the Martyrs of Uganda, where I studied philosophy and
theology.
I
was awarded a BA degree in Theology from UWI.
I
did courses in monastic studies and patristic theology at St John's University
in Minnesota, USA, and I participated in programmes on monastic formation and
leadership in Rome.
Q:
At this Christmas time what message would you like to give to T&T?
A:
I offer a message of hope. If God has become human, then we humans have been
touched in a special way by the Divine.
This
has implications for the manner in which we relate with each other.
The
possibilities for good are legion.
We
cannot be defined solely by the manner in which we relate with each other
today.
Because
we each have a spark of the divine in us, then good is our destiny and good is
our course.
The
present appearance of evil in our land with the rampant escalation of senseless
crime cannot be our destiny.
There
is a good that is waiting to be tapped.
This
is the good which follows as a consequence of the incarnation.
Good
will only triumph over evil, however, if we would wake up to the reality of the
fact that God has indeed taken flesh and has come among us.
Q:
What advice would you give to a young person who is contemplating a vocation
such as yours?
A:
I would ask the young person to consider whether he/she is willing to forgo
self and live for the other.
Life
as a monk is one of service to God and to the other.
One
has to abandon a life centred on self and live a life centred on God and the
other.
If
he/she is not willing to do so, then I would discourage him/her from embarking
on this way of life.
A
monastic way of life is one of dedication and service, and one cannot live such
a life unless one is truly seeking God.
Q:
What are some of the challenges you face in your "job"?
A:
A major challenge is that of juggling limited personnel resources in meeting
the pastoral demands laid upon us.
Mount
St Benedict is a centre of pilgrimage for people of all religions.
To
be faithful to this centre we need to be faithful witnesses of dedicated
commitment to Jesus.
Another
major challenge is that of preserving the monastic element of our witness.
Before
being a centre of pilgrimage, Mount St Benedict is essentially a monastic
community.
The
monastic values of prayer, silence and contemplation can be eroded if we are
not faithful to our daily round of prayer and reflection.
In
other words, the balance associated with a life pleasing to God must be
maintained if we are to preserve our identity as a monastery on the mountain
top.
Q:
Who were the people who have influenced you the most?
A:
My parents and my siblings...my family.
It
was in my family that I learnt the values which prepared me for life's journey.
Q:
Most people will not know what life as a priest is like, what would you say to
them? What is your typical day like?
A:
The life of the priest is one which reflects the life of Jesus.
It
is one of total service to God and the other.
It
can be described as a life of selfless giving.
A
typical day in the life of a priest consists of prayer, work and reflection.
My
day is punctuated with intervals of prayer (both private and communal).
Our
community meets five times a day to pray.
In
addition to this, I have quiet times when I commune with God in private.
Without
these times of prayer, then our life of service becomes hollow and we can no
longer offer to others what is uplifting and prayerful.
At
the Mount, a portion of my day is also spent meeting with pilgrims who are in
need of some sort of spiritual guidance and counsel.
As
abbot of the monastery, I make time to meet with the monks, both at a personal
and communal level.
Reaching
out to people in need of God's mercy as in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is
also a primary function.
Each
day, I put aside time to read the scriptures and other sacred writings so as to
find resonance with God and also to be able to offer some spiritual food to
those in need.
To
study the works of the spiritual writers help to ground my own spirituality and
to be of greater service to others.
My
work also includes some administrative tasks that necessarily go along with any
leadership role.
Q:
Can you give me an example of one such administrative task?
A:
Sure. One which many people may be able to identify with has to do with our
popular Pax Yogurt.
It
is sold in most of the recognised supermarkets in T&T.
It
is also in great demand in our own shop at the Mount: The Pax Abbey Shop.
This
latter is another one of my administrative tasks as the monastery owns the shop
and is ultimately responsible for what is sold there.
With
regard to Pax Yogurt, it is the brainchild of our most senior priest at the
abbey, Fr Cuthbert van der Sande, who grew up on a farm in the Netherlands and
at the abbey was always experimenting with improving the diet of the monks
using milk products.
He
is now 90 years of age and still reports for duty at the yogurt factory each
day.
He
started making goat cheese for the monks.
Eventually,
he introduced the production of yogurt as a small cottage industry, primarily
for the monks.
We
started sharing it with our employees and with some of the embassies in
Port-of-Spain.
Little
by little, the word was spreading that the monks were making yogurt.
The
demand increased daily and so on March 14, 2003, the Pax Yogurt Company Ltd was
established at the Mount.
The
manager, Mr Maxime De Comarmond, is a former student of the abbey school.
In
addition to the yogurt, the company also produces a yogurt spread and a yogurt
drink, both of which are now very popular.
Q:
What goals and aspirations do you still have?
A:
I aspire to continue witnessing to the monastic charism and to allow the
contemplative face of the Caribbean church to shine out in the midst of our
Caribbean people.
It
means as well recognising the thousands of anonymous monks who make up the
membership of an invisible monastery.
Q:
What do you consider your most significant accomplishment?
A:
My most significant accomplishment is remaining faithful to the monastic
journey in spite of my own failings.
Q:
If you had an opportunity to meet anyone in the world today, who would it be
and why?
A:
Pope Francis. I am inspired by the manner in which he lives out the joy of the
gospel.
Q:
What advice would you give to the leaders of our country, separate and apart
from our earlier question about advice to the nation?
A:
I would advise the leaders of our country to rise above party politics in the
national interest and always to seek the way of collaboration.
Q:
Describe yourself in two words, one beginning with J, the other with P, your
initials.
A:
I describe myself as jagged and patchy, yet seeking joy and peace.
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Mount St Benedict marks 100
years
By Vernon Khelawan
Sat Sep 29 2012
For many, many decades the
peace and tranquillity of Mount St Benedict have provided great solace to
thousands of pilgrims who have journeyed to the Mount seeking counsel from
members of the religious community, as well as to offer prayers.
Next
Saturday, October 6, the Mount marks its centenary with a High Mass at which
Archbishop Joseph Harris would preside and deliver the homily and the monks are
asking that Roman Catholics and people of other religious persuasions, join
them as they mark 100 years of mission in Trinidad and Tobago.
The
monastery, often referred to simply as "The Mount," existed as a
Simple Priory for three years after it was established (1912 to 1915).
That
changed in March 1915 when it was granted the status of a Conventual Priory,
dedicated to Our Lady of Exile.
It
was founded by some Benedictine monks who came from Bahia in Brazil led by
Belgium-born Monk Dom Mayeul de Caigny, who was at the time the Abbot of San
Sebastian in Bahia, and who eventually became the first Conventual Prior of
Mount St Benedict.
But
the next change of status did not happen until 1947 when Mount St Benedict was
raised to the status of an Abbey and Dutch-born Dom Adelbert van Duin was
elected its first Abbot, who led the community for 25 years.
Since
that time Mount St Benedict has seen four more Abbots, with the current Abbot
being John Pereira, now in his second six-year term.
The
people, who lived in the small village of St John at the foot of the mount have
seen the monastery grow from a small tapia hut, higher up the hill than its
present location, to a modern Abbey, which has served the spiritual needs of
hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who make the journey up the hill to the
sacred ground.
In
its early years Mount St Benedict was the economic driver of the village
population, since many were employed in various ways on the hill.
The
men worked mainly in assisting in building the first road to the Mount as well
as on the first buildings on the present site together with maintenance and
other environmental chores, while the women did the domestic chores like
cooking, washing and ironing for the Monks.
In
a book titled The Abbey-Mount St Benedict, published in 2005, author Mark
Tierney OSB (Order of St Benedict) wrote, "Today, Mount St Benedict is
well known and loved by thousands of Trinidadians.
It
has over the years, become a significant tourist attraction, though its main
appeal has been to those -whether Christian or non-Christian-who are seeking
spiritual guidance, or who wish simply to spend some time in prayer."
The
foreword of the book records Abbot John Pereira as describing the Monastery.
He
wrote, "The Monastery at Mount St Benedict...has become part of the
spiritual landscape of the Caribbean.
It
is the centre of spirituality and peace for people of all faiths and for those
who profess no faith at all.
It
is recognised as a sacred place on many counts.
It
has an inherent sacrality, based on the natural beauty of its geography.
"Secondly,"
he continued, "it has become sacred on account of the experiences of
healing and wholeness that many people encounter here.
"Finally,
the continual round of prayer and worship which takes place on 'The Mount'
renders it a sacred place, a place set aside-a place of peace," stated
Abbot Pereira.
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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz, kertesz11@yahoo.com, if you would like to subscribe for
a whole year and be in the circular’s mailing list or if you would like to
mention any old boy that you would like to include, write to me.
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Photo:
20LK9999FBLMEWFE, Luciano Mellone and wife
22LK3406FBEDIPOOL, The refurbished pool
2022
11LK3564FBFPEGRP, UNKNOWN, Bro. Rupert and
Fr. Abbot Pereira
60LK0145EDIMSB, Front of monastery, photo
developed at the dark room down by the sportsfield.