Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
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Dear Friends,
This Circular has information on some
long-lost oldboys.
If you notice, most of us can help and we
could help Nigel in his effort to update his database.
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Thanks for all this input, Clive.
I really appreciate it.
Keep well.
Happy Easter.
Nigel
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On
2013-04-01, at 12:21 PM, Clive Bettencourt wrote:
Hi Nigel,
Here are a few details for your
Database.
Brian Gonsalves cousin of Terence.
(brian.gonsalves36@yahoo.com)
He lives in Oxfordshire England.
His brother Bernard (Bunny) died at
least 25 years ago but Brian can give you the exact date.
Neil and Alexander Gonsalves are cousins
of mine, they both live in Rhode Island USA.
(ngonsalves@verizon.net)
(alexgonsalves@netscape.net)
Peter Jardim If this is the Peter from
Guyana, he died in Trinidad where he lived about 20 years ago. His wife Corine
still lives in Trinidad. He was a good friend of mine and we hung out a lot
together amd played rugby for BG
etc etc.
One small point my fixed line phone
number is now 0034 968 175953
Un abrazo
Clive.
Clive
Bettencourt Gomes
Apartado
de Correos 13
La
Manga Club 30389
Cartagena
Murcia
España
Móvil
0034654731626
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From
KAZIM ABASALI
Ladislao,
Yes Nigel, I did not know Msgr. Urban
Peschier was an 'Old Boy', although the family name has strong roots in Arima,
my home-town.
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From:
nigelboos@yahoo.ca
Date:
Fri, 5 Apr 2013 09:16:43 -0400
On March 14th, 2013, Monsignor Urban
Peschier died.
Trinidad lost one of its older priests,
a fine man who had served his country well for 60 years in the priesthood.
What we did not recall, however, was
that Msgr. Urban Peschier was also an Old Boy of the Abbey School at Mt. St.
Benedict.
He must have left the school around 1948
- 49, because he was ordained in 1953, one of the first Trinidadian priests to
come from the Seminary of St. John Vianney and the African Martyrs.
It is fitting that we should remember
him at this time, not only as a priest of Trinidad and Tobago, but also as one
of our own Old Boys.
But, not only did we lose one of our Old
Boys.
We also lost, around the same time,
another dear old friend from the Mount, Guyanese-born Fr. Hildebrand Greene.
Please say a prayer for them both when
you receive this message.
Nigel
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Bettencourt-Gomes, Clive
Trevor,
Thank you for your persistent effort to
find Kit's email address, and for sending it to me.
Thank you also, Clive, for helping
Trevor with this effort.
I'm sure that a few of the guys would
like to welcome Kit into the MSB "Club", as Glen McKoy puts it.
Kit, we've been looking for you for a
long time, and at last, we've found you.
Welcome to our ASAA - Abbey School
Alumni Association - where you can reconnect with your MSB schoolmates.
Please drop us a line sometime and give
us an idea of what's going on in your life.
50 words a year should be sufficient.
Nigel Boos
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On
2013-03-27, at 6:08 PM, Trevor Evelyn wrote:
Nigel,
At last I have been able to get the
email of Kit Nascimento. Clive is now back home in Spain and he has the Info.
Email_
kitnas@gol.gy please confirm
Trev
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31
mar 2013
Dear Joseph,
This is a great email.
You've opened up a few new areas of
interest, and some of the guys might be quite interested to see the pictures
you've submitted.
Your revelation about Fr. Vincent
Merrique is news to me.
He was the principal of the Abbey School
long after I'd left in 1960, so I didn't know him, but it seems, from what I've
heard, that he was of the strong opinion that the school was a very exclusivist
one, intended for only white boys.
Sad that he should have such a poor
opinion of the place, as the facts do not bear that out.
Certainly, there were far more white
boys at the Mount than any other group, but I'd venture to suggest that this
was because the fees may have presented difficulty for the "normal"
Trinidad family in the early days.
Even then, however, there were black
boys who attended the Abbey School, and that, in the latter days, up to around
1984/6, there was, in fact, a predominance of sons of African and Indian
origin.
I believe that Fr. Vincent came from the
Mayaro / Guayaguayare area, but I'd not known how he'd died.
Is it not true that he had left the
Monastery and got married?
I'd also heard about the death and
burial of Abbot Fr. Hildebrand, but I'd not seen the photographs until yours
crossed my desk. Thank you.
But possible the most interesting
picture you sent me was the one showing a listing of all the OSB monks who died
and are buried at the Mount.
This is indeed a trove of information,
and I'm going to pass it on to the guys.
Wonderful stuff.
Thanks so much for your kind input. keep
it coming.
Nigel
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On
2013-03-31, at 8:53 PM, joseph habib wrote:
Happy Easter to you, Nigel.
Today I was at the Mount and I was
talking to a Father Christopher and I asked him about Father Vincent of my time
(1973-79).
He told me that Fr. Vincent left the
priesthood and that he was a guy who kept fit by jogging and walking and that
one day he came home and collapsed.
He died that day.
I did not get the year it happened, we
were interrupted by someone.
Fr. Christopher also said that there
were only 11 monks remaining and 5 are over the age of 80.
Also I would like to inform you that Fr.
Hilderbrand died on March 16th.
I'm sending you some photos.
There is poster of an event coming soon
at the mount.
Can you circulate it to the others?
The present Abbot requested that some of
the old mount boys attend. (Not in so many words).
But It would be nice to show how much we
not only appreciate what they have done for us, but how much we care and love
what they stand for.
Enjoy the rest of your Easter.
Joe Habib
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Date:
Sat, 21 Jun 2003 10:10:20 -0700 (PDT)
From:
"ladislao kertesz" <yv1aci@yahoo.com>
Subject:.
P.G. Wilson
To:
"Andre Baptiste" <andre.baptiste@toyota-trinidad.com>
Caracas,
21 of June 2003.
Dear Andre
Can you help me with information on
P.G:Wilson?.
I know that a lot of events have passed
since he died and most people have forgotten.
Is there a place where I can get
information? Let’s say, the TV station where he worked?
The association where he was a starter?
And maybe the Government office where he
worked? Friends?
Any information I would appreciate as
for many of us he was a great guy and we have an information barrier.
Just in case you might write about him
or someone asks, I am enclosing a photo.
God Bless
Ladislao
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Andre
Baptiste <andre.baptiste@toyota-trinidad.com> wrote:
Hi,
Yes you are correct, he was also a well
known starter.
I met him at college in St Mary's
Glad you are seeing the articles, I hope
you are also listening on the radio as well
Best Regards
Thanks
Andre Errol
-----Original
Message------------------------------------------------------------
From: ladislao kertesz [mailto:yv1aci@yahoo.com]
From: ladislao kertesz [mailto:yv1aci@yahoo.com]
Sent:
Tuesday, May 27, 2003 7:49 PM
To:
ISPORTS@ANDREBAPTISTE.COM
Subject:
RE. PG Wilson
Dear Andre Baptiste,
I have seen some of your articles and
wonder if you have met PG WIlson, in his time?
I believe that he died some 10 years
ago?
He had a TV sports programe in the early
television times.
I was told that he even got to be part
of the Goverment of his time.
He was a prisons officer in the 1955 to
1985?
And a 800 meter runner in the 1950s.
Can you place him?
God Bless
Ladislao Kertesz
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MT. ST. BENEDICT MONASTERY
Founded by Abbot Majuel in 1912, Mount
Saint Benedict provided a haven for the Benedictine Monk community who escaped
religious persecution in Brazil. The Monastery, set 800 feet above sea level,
provides expansive views of the Caroni Plains and is still a haven for Monks
and others who seek peace and relaxation. Today, the grounds include religious
buildings, a farm, an apiary, a home for the aged, a drug rehabilitation
center, a vocational school and a guest house. This tour will take you through
the Monastery where Monks still tend to their farming and apiary, still bake
bread and make everything from local teas to jelly. After frequenting the grounds,
relax and enjoy one of their brewed teas in the tranquil grotto-like atmosphere
found in the guesthouse.
The church tower sitting on the Northern
Range Hills above Tunapuna is one of the most striking landmarks east of Port
of Spain.
This Benedictine Monastic community is the
largest and oldest in the Caribbean. It was established in 1912 by monks
fleeing Brazil's attempt to take over their land. Founded on the principles of
self sufficiency and hospitality to strangers, the monastery complex encompasses,
not only religious buildings, but also a farm, an apiary, a home for the aged,
a drug rehabilitation centre, a vocational school and a guest house.
It also owns about 600 acres, much of it
rain forest, which still supplies water and materials for the site
The community grew in size during WWII when wealthy
Caribbean and Latin American families, no longer able to send their children to
Europe for schooling, enrolled them at Mount St Benedict. The prestige of the
school lasted until the 1970s when troubles on the island caused powerful
families to send their children elsewhere. The school never recovered and
closed shortly afterward.
The church building attracts worshippers
from all over the island and is large but simple in construction. One of the
original adobe buildings still stands behind the church, but is deteriorating
quickly.
The monastery is famous for its yogurt and
also makes jams and jellies from its fruits.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ladislao
Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,
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Photos:
Catholic
news article
Catholic
news article
61GF0005SPORTS.
Slow bike race
GCE
Bulletin page 6
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Catholic
News
Fr Hildebrand Greene
was like good wine - Harris
...as he aged he became more noble
Published:
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Bishop of Georgetown, Fr Francis Alleyne, left, speaks to Fr
Hildebrand Greene’s cousin, Kathleen Siepel and former Abbey boy, left, Joseph
Berment-McDowald after the funeral of
the former Abbot at the Abbey, Mount St Benedict, yesterday.
Photo: Abraham Diaz
Fr Hildebrand Greene
was like good wine - Harris
...as he aged he became more noble
Published:
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Celestial hymns like Hosea
wafted across the august Mt St Benedict Church, St John’s Road, St Augustine,
yesterday.
Occasion was the Eucharistic
celebration and burial service for the late abbot Fr Hildebrand Greene. Among those who had gathered to pay their
respects were Abbot John Pereira, Archbishop Fr Joseph Harris and Fr Clyde
Harvey. They were joined by a Guyanese contingent led by Bishop of Georgetown,
Guyana, Francis Alleyne and former Abbey boys including Joseph
Berment-McDowald, Enrique Bonapart, Gary Matthews, Joseph Habib and Yunus Ali.
In eulogising Greene,
Pereira said his mother had Greene “in her late 40s when she had almost closed
up shop. Asked to share his sentiments
on Greene, Harris said he first met Greene as a student. “He taught me the liturgy. He was committed to inter-religious
dialogue. He was like good wine. As he aged, he became more noble.”
Pausing to bless a medal for
mourner John Abraham, Alleyne said, “Greene was larger than life. He was more
than six foot. So we had to have a special coffin built for him. He was a great
consoler. He was given to service to God.”
Having flown in from
Pennsylvania, USA, Greene’s cousin Kathleen Siepel said: “He was beloved by all
the family. His relatives in Ireland and Guyana are mourning him. I was involved with him and the work he did
in Bartica. would go into a room with
convicts and encourage them to meditate.
The tense atmosphere would get relaxed.
He was truly a giant among men. ” While reminiscing with
Berment-McDowald, he remembered being guided spiritually and scholastically by
a “consummate Caribbean citizen.
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Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
Monsignor Peschier dies at 83
Saturday, March 16 2013
Urban Peschier
(Photo courtesy the Catholic News)
Monsignor
Urban Peschier, who served as a priest for close to 59 years, died on Thursday
night at the home of a relative in Arima. He was 83 years old.
Peschier had been ailing for
some time from prostate cancer.
He was one of the first priests
coming out of the seminary St John Vianney and the Uganda Martyrs and was
ordained to the priesthood on November 1, 1953, by Archbishop Finbar Ryan, OP,
at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port-of- Spain.
Peschier served as an
assistant priest before being assigned a parish in 1961 in Erin. Over the 1960s
and 1970s, he served as parish priest of Princes Town, Mt Lambert and San
Rafael. For his 25th anniversary of ordination, he received the honorary title chaplin
to Pope John Paul II on March 20, 1979 and the title monsignor.
Peschier studied canon law
at St Paul’s University, Canada, 1984-1986. He was assigned to the Archdiocesan
Marriage Tribunal on April 3, 1986. Six years later he was appointed judicial
vicar of the archdiocese and served until December 2005.
In its series on priests,
the Catholic News interviewed Peschier in 2009. He described his work in
parishes as providing some of his most rewarding experiences and his most
challenging.
Vicar for the clergy,
Monsignor Clyde Harvey, said Peschier was a “wonderful example of what the
priesthood in its depth is all about. Not about an external show, it is about
inner strength of spirit and grace that overflows in genuine love for
everybody.”
Harvey said even when
Peschier did not agree with something, he preferred to remain silent and speak
quietly to the person. “He did not put you down.”
Peschier was “very soft
spoken” and because of this, Harvey said, many people did not avail themselves
of his gifts and grace. “For those of us who worked with him, he was amazing,”
Harvey said.
The funeral for the late
Urban Peschier will take place at 10 am on Monday at the Santa Rosa RC, Arima.
His Grace Archbishop Joseph Harris will officiate.
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