Sylvia Seeberan came to the community of Mon Repos as a young bride in 1945. The extended Seeberan family occupied houses at the southern end of Moody Stuart Street.

The adjoining Torrance Street area was covered in wild ochro and somewhere in between ran the train line which took gravel from San Fernando Hill to the estates for road building.

Three years later, Sylvia witnessed the clearing of land, part of the Ste Madeleine Sugar Estate and the construction of the Roman Catholic church. At the same Ste Madeleine already had a church but these two churches were brought together to form the parish of St Joseph.

Sylvia remembers the opening of the church by Archbishop Count Finbar Ryan and the first priest was an Irishman, Fr Sebastian. He was followed by Fr Jerome, also from Ireland and then Fr Maingot.

The old church. Buntings remained from the opening ceremony.

In the early days, there were two Masses on Sundays, at 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. The priests lived on Harris Promenade and since there was only one car available, Fr Jerome would be dropped off and collected when the car came back from Ste Madeleine.

There were few Catholics, one of them her neighbour, Mr Steadman, who taught at St Gabriel’s Girls’ RC School. She played the piano for the first choir.

A few other parishioners came from the northern side of Mon Repos (near the playground and community centre) where barrack houses were built during the war

The late Harry Seebaran, among one of the earliest converts after the formation of the parish

The Seeberans, who were Presbyterians, did not turn to Catholicism until Fr Maingot became the parish priest. Sylvia’s husband Harry who had first worked at a quarry on San Fernando Hill and then as a Production Officer at Texaco never missed Mass. He died in 1993.

Sylvia said that the Mass was said in Latin and the priest only faced the congregation for the homily and communion. For the rest of the Mass his back was turned.

She said the presence of the church structure gave rise to more housing and helped to bring people to the church as did the school next door.

She said there was excitement when the last Fr Leo van Leeuwen built the new church. The unusual roof attracted lots of attention and packed congregations.

Sylvia was unable to recall, however, any surviving person who was among the first worshippers at the church.