Circular No 1068

 

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.

Caracas, 1 October 2022. No. 1068

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Dear Friends,

The founders Br Paschal, Fr Michel and Fr Ildefons

Published by CN Administration, at July 28, 2017

by Dr Everard Johnston

The Antilles School of Liturgy began in August 1977 as a training programme sponsored jointly by the Abbey of Mount St Benedict and what was then the Regional Seminary of St John Vianney and the Uganda Martyrs.

Appropriately, therefore, the founders were associated with those two institutions:

Dom Ildefons Schroots, and Br Paschal Jordan, both monks of the Abbey, and Fr Michel de Verteuil CSSp, then Rector of the Regional Seminary.

Inspired by the declaration of the Constitution on the Liturgy of Vatican II, viz that “Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy”, a major focus of the school was, and remains, promoting the development of liturgical forms and expressions that best express the character and nature of people of the Caribbean.

Below are brief portraits of the founders.

Dom Ildefons Schroots, OSB

Dom Ildefons Schroots, better known simply as Fr Ildefons, originally from the Netherlands, was a senior monk at the Abbey in the 1950s, a time when the Abbey was in the forefront of liturgical renewal in the Archdiocese of Port of Spain. In the Abbey Church, for example, since 1960, Mass was celebrated with the presiding priest facing the congregation, several years before the practice was instituted in parishes in the Archdiocese.

In addition, Benedictine monks have traditionally had a special care for the worthy celebration of the Church’s liturgy, so it should come as no surprise that it was Fr Ildefons who had the idea of a School of Liturgy that would aim at leading all members of the Church of the region, clergy, religious and laity, to deeper appreciation and love for the liturgy and for its faithful and meaningful celebration.

In his later years, Fr Ildefons became very involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement and, knowing his passion for the Bible and his concern for sharing the Word – his watch phrase was a quotation from the great Biblical scholar, St Jerome: “ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ” – it is not again surprising that it was he who had the initial inspiration which led to the establishment of the Caroni Bible Institute. He died in September 1999.

Fr Michel de Verteuil, CSSp

Fr Michel de Verteuil was Rector of the then Regional Seminary of St John Vianney and the Uganda Martyrs.  He had succeeded Fr Ildefons as Rector in 1970, the year in which the seminary had become a formally regional (Caribbean) institution, under the auspices not only, as from the time of its foundation in1943, of the Archbishop of Port of Spain, but of all the (arch)bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC).

Fr Michel’s leadership of this regional institution accounts in part for the regional, Antillean thrust, especially during the early years of the school. Hence the original name, Antilles School of Liturgy. In addition, Fr Michel had been involved, in the years immediately prior to 1977, in a training programme called the Antilles Pastoral Institute which had brought together clergy, religious and laity from the various dioceses of the AEC. He experienced the great advantages and richness of bringing together persons from all over the Caribbean to reflect on the role of the Church in the region and on how to live out our vocation to be Church in the region.

As time passed, other (arch)dioceses in the region that had been sending participants to the school took the decision to establish their own liturgy schools, so that more of their own people could participate than the few who could travel to Trinidad. Although the word ‘Antilles’ has been removed from the official title of liturgy school, however, it remains open to welcoming participants from other dioceses. Fr Michel died in January 2014.

Br Paschal Jordan, OSB

Br Paschal was born in Guyana and lived there until coming to T&T to enter the Abbey of Mt St Benedict in 1964. His musical talent was nurtured from his early years by his mother who was a music teacher of piano and music theory.  With this background, Br Paschal was sent, after his final profession as a monk, to study liturgy and liturgical music at the Institut Catholique in Paris.

On his return to the Abbey after graduating from his programme, Br Paschal was charged with the monumental task of composing music for celebrating the monastic liturgy using texts that had recently been translated from Latin – a task which still occupies him. The then Archbishop of Port of Spain, Anthony Pantin, invited him to join the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission, entrusting him with setting up a Music Sub-Committee, with the specific task of encouraging composition of local liturgical music.

As a member of one of the founding institutions of liturgy school, then, Br Paschal was destined to become the mainstay of the Liturgical Music Department of the school, preparing and animating the celebration of worship services at the school as well as conducting workshops on music composition to assist persons interested in composing new hymns and/or settings for the Eucharistic Liturgy.

Over the years Br Paschal has become well known for his liturgical compositions. More than this, Br Paschal has been able to share his gifts ecumenically and has worked regionally with the Caribbean Conference of Churches and internationally with the World Council of Churches.  His role at liturgy school continues undiminished.

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GEORGE MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net>

Hola Ladislao

This note is confusing.

Father Michel de Verteuil and Reverend Michael de Verteuil are 2 different persons.  Our Old Boy Reverend Michael de Verteuil is still alive, probably in his mid-seventies now.

Your note intimates that they are one and the same.

Un fuerte abrazo,

Jorge

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Ladislao Kertesz <kertesz11@gmail.com>

Thanks Gorge

I shall make the necessary corrections once I get a confirmation letter from either Fr. De Verteuil.

I found it strange that there are two guys with the same name and appear in the listing.

This happens when there is little information from the person involved.

I hope the true and alive Fr. de Verteuil sends me a Fe de Vida

Thanks

Ladislao

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idmitch@anguillanet.com 

Hi, Ladislao,

I think you need to do a little research with Nigel before we publish this. 

The Fr Michael De Verteuil who died at age 84 in 2014 is not the same Fr Michael De Verteuil who was involved with the Living Waters Community and who was my contemporary at MSB in the 1950s and 1960s. 

I don’t know who the first one was, but so far as I am aware he was not an alumnus of MSB, nor was he in any way connected with the Abbey School.

Best,

Don

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Nigel Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>

I hope you’re keeping well.

Fr. Michel de Verteuil C.S.Sp., who died in 2014, as the designation shows, was a member of the Congregation Spiritus Sancti (a.k.a. the Congregation of the Holy Sprit, a.k.a The Holy Ghost Fathers a.k.a. the Spiritans) who built and operate both St. Mary’s and Fatima Colleges in P-o-S.

He was a most friendly and accommodating man and a great friend to all who knew him.

May his soul rest In peace.

Msgr. “M.J.” De Verteuil on the other hand, is a priest of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, and a former student of the Abbey School, MSB.

He is very active with the Living waters Community in P-o-S., and is dearly beloved by the members of the LWC and by Trinidadians and Tobagonians generally. 

This might help to clarify the names and personalities of these two great men.

Nigel

P.S. From the article and photo, our Fr. Michael de Verteuil is between the founders and is a founder of the seminary.

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From: idmitch@anguillanet.com>

Sent: Sunday, 4 September

Hi, Robert,

You sound like you are doing all the right things. 

Yes, I had a pacemaker installed in Barbados the weekend of Diana’s funeral in 1997.  My pulse then was 35.  I died more than a dozen times on the operating table.  The surgeon found I had a kink in my superior vena cava that he was trying to push the electric lead through, which held up the procedure considerably.  He had to suddenly stop working on my left side and find the vein on the right side of my chest to be able to get in to the heart.  So, I now have the implant on the right side.  He told me at the time that normally with lawyers, surgeons find no heart at all, but in my case he did find one, even if it was on the wrong side. 

I am not worried, though the last doctor I saw a few months ago told me that my blood pressure is a concern.  In fact, she told me I should not have been able to drive to her surgery:  I should have been delivered in an ambulance!  This is the record for the past few months:

2 September       192/68 – pulse 38

8 August              180/63 – pulse 37

9 July                    180/59 – pulse 36

30 May                 157/63 – pulse 43

10 May                 171/57 – pulse 40

8 April                   189/66 – pulse 46

So, you can see, I am pretty constant, even if on the wrong side of the scale  

I am thinking of seeing a doctor about increasing the strength of the blood pressure medication the last one prescribed.  I don’t really have a permanent doctor.  I pick one at random as necessary, eg, for a broken arm.  My mother always warned me to stay away from them.  Every time you see a doctor, you leave with some illness or the other.  Anytime you make the mistake of going to a hospital, you leave in a coffin.  Normally, I apply aloes to all ailments.  It invariably works.  [It may help to understand when I tell you I am a (self)diagnosed obsessive/compulsive, way up on the Asperger’s Spectrum.  Autism rules OK.]

Best,

Don

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From: Robert Huggins rhohug@hotmail.com

Sent: Sunday, 4 September 2022

Hi Don,

Thanks for the update. First of all I never knew that you had a pace maker. But glad to know that it is still ticking and you are still able to exercise, especially the right arm nightly. Me, I’m doing well, I still train daily or at least three to 4 times a week doing my karate. The days I’m not training I’m usually in the garden or doing something else. As winter sets in I will go back to training 6 days a week, gotta keep moving 

Don, you are not that much older than me, is there nothing that can be done to help? I understand the operation is risky but is there no way a new pacemaker could be attached before the old one is removed?

Glad to hear Maggie is doing well. Cheryl is also keeping well. We too are winding down but with 7 grand children don’t want to wind down to fast. Keep telling them we are going to live to be 100+, but the parents aren’t too happy about that, their problem Payback time for when they were growing up.

Las will probably have a good laugh and begin counting those who are still around and those who are sitting in the proverbial departure lounge, wandering when we will meet again.

You take care my friend, we should try to skype soon before you decide to head to the great law library in the sky.

Regards,

Robert

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From: idmitch@anguillanet.com

Sent: September 4, 2022

Hi, Robert,

All is as well as can be expected.   I am eating healthily, exercising regularly, and limiting myself to two vodkas per night. 

The problem is the pacemaker.  It’s complicated.  Basically, I lost contact with my heart surgeon, and don’t have a new one.  I’ve not had the machine checked since about five years ago when he made me come down to Barbados for a check up, and when I got there his surgery was shut for because of Dengue or something, and the technician was not expecting me.  I had to overnight to get tested.  I learned that my machine was obsolete and they would have to take it out and replace it when it became exhausted.  Since I have total heart block, I knew that once they touched the wiring, everything would stop working, and the likelihood was I would die on the operating table. I decided I was not going back and I would not replace it once the battery wound down.

My pulse went down from about 70 to about 60 to about 50 to about 40 and is now stuck at 38 for the past few months.  It is beating out of habit, and not because of the machine.  So, it is just a matter of waiting.  Hopefully, I shall meet my target and die healthy.  Then, I am off to the great law library in the sky.  Lots of research to do.  

Maggie is exercising more regularly, and is keeping fitter than she was a few years ago.  She also eats well and limits her drinking.  We are both coming to the inevitable end of the road.  No regrets.  All good things come to an end.  Otherwise, we are happy as bugs in a rug, and trying to stay in touch with family and friends.

What about you?  How’s your prognosis?  

Best,

Don

PS: Copying this to Ladislao for his amusement.

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From: Robert Huggins <rhohug@hotmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, 4 September 2022

Hi Don, 

Glad to hear all is well and you were not drenched. How are you otherwise?

Robert

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From: idmitch@anguillanet.com

Sent: September 4, 2022

Hi, Robert.

He passed night before last.  We got about 3 inches from him here in North Hill village, so he was not particularly generous.  Passed over 100 miles to the north.  I need three more just like that to be really happy.

Best,

Don

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From: Robert Huggins <rhohug@hotmail.com>

Sent: Sunday, 4 September 2022

Hi Don,

Long time no talk. Just looking on the NOAA website and see that Tropical Storm Earl might be heading your way or has Anguilla been hit already?

Regards to Maggie,

Robert

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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:

12UN0102UNKNOWN, with some names HELP

80UN0001BPAFMIFIL, Founders, Br. Paschal, Fr. Michael, Fr. Ildefons

10UN0001FMI, Fr. Michael de Verteuil.

15LK0123LKEGRP, Ladislao Kertesz, Anthony O´brien, George Iwaskiewicz.