There was no better place to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Dominican Order than the spacious Dominican monastery of the Holy Rosary in St Ann’s, Port of Spain. The day was August 8, feast of the founder of this ancient Order, Saint Dominic.

At 10.00 a.m. Holy Mass was concelebrated in the chapel by Rev Fr Ferdinand Warner, Regional Prior, Rev Fr Patrick Brennan, Prior of the Holy Cross Priory, Arima and Rev Fr Thomas Lawson, Prior of the Immaculate Conception Priory, Diego Martin.

The Dominican nuns’ choir and the exterior chapel were filled to capacity with Dominican Sisters of St Catherine of Siena and Sinsinawa as well as members of the Dominican Laity and friends. Our country has the privilege of having the four branches of the Dominican family, namely the Friars, the Nuns, the Sisters and the Dominican lay men and women.

The singing at the Mass was most joyful; it was accompanied by talented guitarist, Sr Kathleen Joseph, and violinist and drummer, Sr Aluna Abbot. The artistic programmes were the work of a team of the Dominican Laity. The exquisite floral arrangements that adorned the whole chapel were done by skilled ladies of the parish of St Ann, Betty Lue Yen, Joan Grosberg and Roma Ammon.

In his homily, Fr Warner commented on the text of the first reading, Isaiah 52:7-10 which says in part “how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news.” He then referred these words to Dominic who was a man of the gospel in his own time and who made much use of his feet.

Fr Dominic walked all over Western Europe; when he had gathered his first brethren he sent them two by two to various countries just as Jesus had sent his apostle with the command to “teach all nations.” Dominic used to say, “Seed which is hoarded becomes rotten, when scattered, it germinates.”

Celebrants and altar servers at the August 8 Mass at Rosary Monastery

Sr Ann Bradshaw leads the singing at the Mass

Members of the Dominican Laity and friends at the St Dominic feast day celebration

Statue of St Dominic at Rosary Monastery

St Dominic

Dominic’s simple lifestyle and his kind disposition attracted people; relentlessly he taught them about Jesus Christ. His austere life demanded of him many sacrifices which he gladly made for the salvation of souls. Fr Warner ended by saying that Dominic left to his followers a spirit of zeal, of fervour and also of itinerancy, therefore, we too must be prepared to move and go where the spirit calls us and to preach Jesus Christ.

A happy get-together

After the spiritual sharing came the partaking of a meal in the monastery open cloister. Everything had been well prepared. Staff members of the Boomerang caterers served all the participants a very tasty meal. The serene atmosphere and good weather added their notes of pleasantness.

The lunch was followed by cultural entertainment provided by the various groups of Dominicans. Whether from Port of Spain and its environs, or from Point Fortin, Cedros, Arima or Sangre Grande they all performed items in the form of songs, games, music, poems and skits. All were enjoyable and they thrilled the audience.

Fr Patrick Brennan, renowned singer, brought a climax to the evening when he rendered two songs, the sweet Danny Boy and the immortal HolyCity. His singing of the latter was powerful and was even more so when the audience joined him in the chorus, the roof of the shed where we were assembled could have risen!

That brought to a close a most joyful Dominican day.

The itinerant preacher to Trinidad and Tobago

Fr Warner spoke of itinerancy. In 1513, two itinerant Dominican preachers from Santo Domingo reached our shores. Fr Francisco de Cordova and Fr Juan Garces had hardly spent a year in Trinidad when they were put to death by Indians as a result of a treachery of the Spaniards.

In 1864, other Dominican preachers came from France to Trinidad where they did a remarkable work of evangelisation. These were the days of itinerancy on foot or on mule back like the good Père Hyacinthe Bariou who was responsible for the whole north coast of Trinidad as well as the island of Tobago.

In 1895, the French Dominicans were succeeded by Dominicans from Ireland who have given and continue to give their very best for the growth of the Catholic Church in this country.

Influx of Dominican Sisters

In 1868, Dominican sisters of St Catherine of Siena came from France to take over the running of the Cocorite Leprosarium. In due time they trained local women in the religious life who are, up to the present, devoting themselves in various ministries.

In 1874, Dominican Nuns were expelled from their Caracas monastery in Venezuela and sought refuge in Trinidad. The hospitality given to them was so good that Dominican Nuns are still with us today. In 1929, they were permanently housed in the monastery at St Ann’s. On the cloister walls one can read a number of sayings in Spanish language, a vivid remembrance of the olden days.

Glenda Rodriguez, born in Trinidad, was educated in the United States of America and then joined the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa (Michigan), called back to her native country to look after her elderly sick father, she meantime engaged in the Trinidad work of evangelisation.

She succeeded so well that the superiors of her congregation took an interest in Trinidad and in 2002 opened a House of Discernment for vocations to the Dominican way of life. The seed was planted and it begins to bear fruits.

The Dominican Laity

About 120 men and women from various parts of Trinidad felt attracted by the Dominican spirituality. They now form what is called the Dominican Laity. Besides sharing in the spiritual benefits of the Dominican Family they also take part, in one way or another, in the work of evangelisation in the archdiocese.

The decline

All the above were the days when many vocations to the priesthood and the religious life came from Europe mostly. Today, in Trinidad and Tobago their ranks are seriously depleted. For instance, the Dominican Fathers who, in the 1950s/60s numbered over 60, covering most of the parishes of the archdiocese, are now only 12 in number – five locals and seven Irish.

The Dominican Sisters, who in the same period numbered over 50, are now 32, all locals, except one who came from France. The Dominican Nuns who w ere between 20 and 30 in the olden days are now seven in number. The oldest, Sr Jacinta, reached her 91st birthday on the feast of St Dominic.

What do these figures mean? That vocations to the priesthood and the religious life have to come from this very country of Trinidad and Tobago. Most of the time a vocation is born and nurtured in the bosom of the family.

It is, therefore, families within our society who have to produce vocations through prayer, encouragement, support and good example. That God chooses one to become a priest or a religious sister in a family is not only a great honour, it is also a source of many blessings.

Who was Dominic the preacher?

Dominic de Guzman was a Spaniard born around 1173. He became a priest and in 1203 he was asked by his bishop to accompany him on a mission to Denmark. On their way, they passed through France where they discovered that the heresy of the Cathars had spread in the south of that country.

On their way back Dominic chose to remain there and to engage in preaching Jesus Christ to the Cathars. Veritas (truth) became his guiding force. Many trials and hardships with much pain gained him conversions, among them were ladies who had renounced the erroneous doctrine of the Cathars. In 1206, Dominic founded a monastery for them at Prouilhe in southern France, which is still in existence today. The year 2006 – 2007, therefore, marks the 800th anniversary of the first Dominican foundation.

In 1215, Dominic founded a convent for men, the Dominicans as they became know. In 1217, Pope Honorius III confirmed Dominic’s Order of Preachers. Its scope as one of the Dominicans put it, is “to have the world as their convent and the oceans as their enclosure.”

Dominic died in Bologna, Italy, in 1221 and was declared a saint by Pope Gregory IX in 1234.

It was a great French Dominican, Yves Congar, who wrote the following about the charism of Saint Dominic:

“The wonder of the evangelical perception of Saint Dominic is that he has specialised as little as possible; it is taken from the very heart of the Gospel and of the apostolic institution. The essential activity is to spread the saving truth in multiple ways – the manner being unimportant.”

This approach has certainly ensured the perpetual youth of the Dominican Order.