Newsletter for Alumni of The Abbey School Mt. St. Benedict , Trinidad and Tobago
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Dear Friends
I am taking this opportunity to again include a few notes, maybe old but from these you might note the life at, Benedictine Monastery in Bartica , Guyana
As I always say, the Circular´s Forum is open to all, so use it.
I know everyone wants to be in the next issue but that is impossible because of the organization that I have set up.
All news that is long enough and interesting is given a consecutive number and that might be two months on the run. As of now the next free number is the No. 238. That would carry some of Andres Larsen´s memoires on his stay.
If I can insert a small story, yes, there is always space.
Since I have no plans to retire, and the situation stays the same, after work I sit down and relax while I try to make the Circular as interesting as possible.
It is good that some of those that have been prolific writers in the 2002 have taken some slack, this way they have let the new kids take some weight as to the stories. Now do not take it wrong, I need at least a once a year intervention of at least 50 words. So be nice and make comments or amplify the stories that are being told.
Help with the name of the oldboys in the photos! Some do not remember how they looked when young.
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From: "Guyana Benedictines"
Date: Sun, 10 Oct 18:16:56 -0300
Dear Lazslo,
Peace!
Thanks for your on-going articles about the Mount.
Two notes:
1. Fr. John Chrysostom Lee Sing (notice, no 'h' in the spelling of Sing; it's Chinese not Indian).
2. Bro. Robert (Wilfred) John left the monastery, got married, fathered a family.
Then his wife died of cancer and he went back to the Seminary and was ordained a Diocesan Priest two years ago.
Isn't that something?
All the best,
Bro. Paschal Jordan
(Joined 17 Aug. 1964; professed 08 Sep. 1966; sent to Guyana to open a new monastery, 16 Dec. 1988 together with Fr. Maurus Superville - who has since left and married an Amerindian lady, and returned to Trinidad.)
(Thank you for the information, please keep us with the news. Ed.)
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Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2004 16:08:49 -0700 (PDT)
To: "Guyana Benedictines"
Dear Friends
I hope Tony Vieira has cruised up to the Monastery this year?
I have taken note on the names.
I would like you to comment on the clergy that was not in the photo.
Also a two liner on the whereabouts of those mentioned in the photo.
I believe that the Anniversary issue should be revised, please do.
I need a similar resume for the Guyana Monastery, where can I get the information??
Please send the latest photo of the congregation for that article!
I need the date of the Anniversary celebration.
God Bless
Ladislao
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De: Tony Vieira [tandjv@networksgy.com]
Fecha: 18/01/ 10:56:19
Cheers Laszlo,
Some months ago when I visited the new Benedictine Monastery on the Essequibo River in Guyana
On my right is father Hildebrand Green the former Abbot of Mount St. Benedict a Guyanese who left Trinidad to establish a Benedictine Monastery here in the Guyana
Notwithstanding that I was happy to meet and speak to the current Abbot of MSB, and incidentally he is younger than I am, I did find his presence at this remote area strange, and neither he or Fr. Hildebrand told me that he was here to get a first hand look at the country he was soon to be made Bishop of.
I was reminded of this incident and the photograph when I read the interview with the new Abbot of the Mount in circ. 115.
Anyway I want to welcome Bishop Alleyne to Guyana
Sadly as is the case with the monastery in Trinidad, which now has only 13 monks, the Monastery in Guyana has been unable to attract any new Monks in the 13 years they have been operating here.
Just as sadly is the fact that the new Abbot in Trinidad in his interview with Catholic News is predicting that the monastery there will in all probability soon fold up due to its inability to attract new members.
The school has gone and now it appears that the monastery itself is in danger of following the school into oblivion.
I am not sure, what, if anything, can be done since clearly we cannot force anyone to take up that hard, thankless, lonely life but it will be tragic if they do not find a way to sustain the Abbey by attracting new vocations.
I gave you the web site www.tonyvguy.com so that someone who was asking for my commentary on Egypt/Venezuela can see it in its entirety.
I think that it might have been be Manuel Prada.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and all the old mount boys a happy new year.
Tony Vieira
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Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 09:33:31 -0300
HI my name is Simone Vieira and I am married to Anthony Vieira's brother Eddie....don't know how I ended up with your email but I did....they are all home numbers ... will find their email addresses and send them on to you saw you were looking for a Clive Vieira ... I think he lives in Canada ...sometimes I get FWs with his name on it will send on to you when they come again.........
Terry John is an uncle and lives next door to me .....
If you can’t get through to them on the phone email me letters to them with your contact address etc and I will have them delivered to their homes............
(Dear Simone, I have lost contact with
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From: Tony Vieira
To: ladislaokertesz@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 06:31:59 -0700
Cheers Ladislao,
I have been given an email which I found quite astonishing, after all of these years, imagine a couple of old mount boys attempting to communicate with each other.
I have virtually lost track with everyone, we came from every part of the compass anyway didn't we? I did go back to the Mount in 2000 august and found that the school no longer existed, and was now a rehabilitation facility for drug users, the pool was empty, the field and tennis courts were unkept, there were huge gates presumably to keep the druggies in, so I did not even get the opportunity to walk around the place.
Just as well perhaps, it was depressing enough to see the place in that condition, my new born baby was very sick at the time and she was in the mount Hope Hospital so I went into to the Abbey to say a prayer, they have kept that well, I ran into this old priest Father Benedict [says that they named the place after him] he told my wife that he used to teach me science, but I did not make the connection until we were driving down the hill, then the old bulb came on "of course" I said to my wife Jewel "Father Voosh".
Over the years I have met Joe Azar, Puds Laquis and Brendon Gurley.
I go to Trinidad quite frequently now two, three times a year I have a business association with Ken Gordon CCN and I have a friend Dr. Omar Khan who is head of the radiology department at Mt. Hope
Does anyone know where Edward Lloyd is? he was the closest thing approaching a friend I had at the place and Enrique Manuel Castells where is he? and what happened to Joel Guy Blandin?
I am very interested in what you are doing and I would be very happy to take part.
Let me know if I can help in any way.
As far as the scout band is concerned I think that I vaguely remember most of the boys especially Stephen Clark, Pablo Figuera, Manuel Prada and Nigel Boos, Boos I remember for his name it is such an unusual one.
Tony Vieira.
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Another resume by Anthony Viera 1 June 2002
Ladislao,
I read your circular, nice piece but no award.
It´s my turn now, one of my not so fond memories of the Mount, was the teasing I got, especially from the Trinidadians about my naiveté about so many matters and I have to tell you, that I had lived such a sheltered life that my ignorance was profound, of course BoBo telling me that I will never amount to much did not help, does anyone remember that I got expelled for telling one of the cooks in the refectory that the boys don't mind the horse meat, but they object to the saddle.
The best book in the library was "The Last Frontier" written by I think Dennis Weatley about the Duc De Richelieu, and "Reach For the Sky" about the British pilot during WW 11 who had no legs, the Germans are still trying to figure that one out, "The Great Escape" was also in there.
All have been made into movies.
The library was a 4ft by 8 ft operation [located where you said it was above the driveway and opposite the entrance to the big dorm] which was filled with Agata Christie, Dennis Weatley, St. Francis of Assisi, nursery rhymes etc, guess any book worth reading would have had the boys heading for the nearest toilet, anyone remember Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple. etc from those books.
Reading a book per month is no big deal, reading that lot at the mount was pure torture.
Of course my favourite mount story were the showers, 16 boys at a time, 2 minutes to get wet [turn off] one minute to soap up [turn on] two minutes to wash off, the five minute pause that refreshed.
Up to this day I don't spend more than 6 minutes in the shower.
Where is Leon Alves, I don't see him listed anywhere, that moron and my brother Joe Vieira pushed the entire Pax honey bee hive installation down the hill into St. Agustin, we did not get our weekly movie for one month.
Hildebrand Green who was the very tall priest and who became Abbot is back in Guyana
Tony
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Here is an old one, the first email from Tony Vieira
From: Tony Vieira
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 07:10:24 -0400
Cheers Ladislao,
I am Tony Vieira, I live in Guyana
I have been in contact with Don Mitchell, it would be great to communicate with Enrique.
The years have been kind to me, I have however not been kind to myself, I am probably the most obnoxious character in the country,
Unfortunately for the government who are the ones which consider me so, I am very resourceful, pretty fearless AND the most important media man in the place, if not the most controversial.
Vieira Communications Ltd. which I founded in 1982 pioneered television in Guyana, we now have a television network an FM station and an Evening News, not to mention my personal political commentaries, one of which I am attaching to give you an idea of what this country has become after years of mismanagement.
Tony.
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Old letters written 20 years ago.
St. Hyaninthes, April 22nd 1983.
Dear Arthur
Thanks for sending me O.A.S.I.S.
It´s really nice to hear about you and many of the old boys and the priest from Mt. St. Benedict we knew so well 30 years ago! (Time can really fly away).
I have been working for the past 18 years with the ministry of agriculture, Quebec
Research is fascinating and one cannot do otherwise than enjoy doing this type of work.
I hope we’ll have a chance to meet soon (if ever I recognize you!.) when ever you get a chance to come back to Montréal at Raymond’s or J.D.´s homes.
Best regards
Allain
P.S. Enclosed is my check for subscription to O.A.S.I.S. and congratulations with the wonderful job you are doing for all of us.
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April 27, 1983.
Dear Bro. Rusald
Thank you for your continued support from the correspondence line.
Your last letter missed this bulletin.
Have enclosed letters for:
Fr. Mendes
Fr. Compton.
Fr. Alimus
Where are they now, do you their addresses.
Send photograph of new Abbot Hildebrand with sting made up.
Must of us did not know of his appointment.
Any great college successes in Sport that I can record?.
Art.
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REMEMBER TO PAY YOUR DUE, 50 WORDS PER YEAR, OR SEND A CHECK preferably from any U.S. Bank, to my address,: sorry but under the new laws of Venezuela, I cannot receive or send foreign currency, if caught I can be placed in jail for 3 years on the first offence, so please sent it direct to the Bank of America account,
Ladislao Kertesz
Apartado 69072
For those that prefer this way to cooperate with the Circular and the expense that this generates. It is 52 issues per year.
God Bless
Ladislao
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Photos in this issue:
2004LK0001GHOIFAAFR, Gabriel Hoefle, Isaias Farcheg, Andres Freytes
1961UN0001ALTMSB, Altar Church
2004TV0001HGRGRPBCA, Fr.Hildebrand Greene and group.
The garden of Eden .doc
ATTACHMENT
As you glance to the west, across the two-mile wide Mazaruni River
Swing your gaze in the opposite direction and you witness the tidal flow of the vast Essequibo River
Turn to the east and you are confronted by a jungle trail, (barely wide enough to accommodate a pick up van) which vanishes into thick verdant tropical forest. You are here, at the Benedictine monastery in Bartica , Guyana , at the kissing of the mighty waters of the Mazaruni, Essequibo and Cuyuni rivers.
In 1988, a small contingent of monks from Mount St Benedict, Trinidad, Br Paschal Jordan and Fr Maurus Superville, bible in hand and mission in mind, set out to find a new home in this infinite wilderness. Their goal was not to feed on locusts and wild honey, but to share their experiences with the indigenous people and let their voices be heard in this virgin territory.
They settled on a promontory about forty miles up the Essequibo, a little more than a mile away from the former gold mining town of Bartica
Fr Superville no longer walks with the monks and has been replaced by Fr Hildebrand who was formerly Abbot at Mount St Benedict and is now parish priest of Bartica and extensive hinterland. The addition of Br Matthias Farrier to the hallowed fold completed the triumvirate.
For the valiant pioneers the days are long, interesting and full of work and prayer. Before the crack of dawn and the second crow of the cock, the monks can be heard in harmonious psalmody, intoning their morning prayer in the prayer room. Meanwhile out in the yard, their faithful employee Suresh, a young strong local, joins in meditative silence while he milks the cow with rhythmic lactose squirts. Then follows daily Mass.
The spiritual exercises are repeated at mid-morning, noon and mid-afternoon, ending with night prayer. But this is only to energise body and soul for the performance of other diurnal corporeal activities. Their motto is written in the book held in the hands of the statue of St Benedict their saintly spiritual progenitor and reads, ‘Work, Pray.’ The monks live out this dictum.
The ‘all-purpose’ handyman Br Matthias, a skilled bookbinder, tends to his craft in his homely workshop located on the ground floor of their two level edifice. But this is only a fraction of his duties; for he also assists Suresh with the care of the livestock, namely cow calves and poultry, not to forget the vegetable garden. Like his two brethren he also displays his talent in the kitchen, being adept at culinary activities.
The paternal Fr Hildebrand ensures the Eucharist is celebrated for the inhabitants of the various communities under his spiritual care. This in addition to conducting classes of moral education in the secondary school, Lectio Divina with prayer groups, domestic activities in the kitchen, bringing the word of God to the prisoners, blessing their cars, vans and whatever needs some sanctified sprinkling, counseling and generally giving much needed guidance to the populace young and old.
The ubiquitous Br Paschal attends to the accounts. His mystical excursions are not limited to the monastery, Bartica or the remote Amerindian villages where some residents trek more than a mile through the forest to intone the Morning Prayer during his visits.
He directs retreats in Trinidad , Barbados and other islands of the Caribbean , where his expertise in liturgical music is in great demand. Modern travel technology cannot keep up with him.
After all this how wonderful it is to just relax in the cool waters of the Mazaruni. In this secluded enclave, the river water laps with low soothing sounds against pebbles placed as a miniature pathway by Br Matthias, who would readily invite you for a refreshing bath. The pebbles may be harsh underfoot but the water is a balm to the entire physical frame.
What a magnificent place to dwell! You imagine a replica of the Transfiguration and you hear a voice whispering, “Let us remain here.”
A fitting career for the young and adventurous, a rewarding retreat for the mature, a gratifying experience for the spiritually inclined, a Garden of Eden willed to us by the Creator.
After reading the above, should you have the inclination to experience this abundant life, or feel you have a vocation to monastic life, you are welcome to contact these progenies of St Benedict. Telephone: 011-592-455-2236 or 011-592-626-1690. Their e-mail address is: benedictines@solutions2000.net .
If you would like to get more information about the Benedictine way of life, you may also contact the monks at Mt St Benedict, Trinidad at 662-5286 or 662-2259. The road to the monastery is paved with work and prayer and leads to a wondrous kingdom.
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