Laventille Devotions 2006 had just ended when we received a beautiful letter of congratulations from none other than the former chairman and still most ardent supporter, Errol Cooper.

Though his health did not permit him to attend (for possibly the first time in the last fifty years or so), Brother Errol was kept well informed of all that was happening. He heard about the new faces, the communities, the processions and everything else than contributed to a new experience of the devotions this year. 

To all the participating members of Catholic Charismatic Renewal under the leadership of Sr Debbie De Rosia we say heartfelt thanks.  To the many people who got involved in the processions and various other ways we say thanks. To Mr Theodore for his special assistance in obtaining police support we owe a special debt of gratitude.

To all who came out for our crusade at St Barbs in October we say a special word of thanks for your witness, your faith and your commitment to our efforts. And of course to all our choirs, celebrants, confessors and Archbishop Gilbert we say thanks.

But what would our devotions be without the hard-working youth of the Shrine and our team of adults who look after the grounds, the refreshments and so many little things that need to be put in place.  To our devotions’ committee chairman Mr Edwards and his letter- writing crew we must say thanks.

Our devotions of August this year introduced a very important project called “Prodigal Sons”. Devotees were asked to pray at least one decade of the rosary for the young men in the gangs of our Laventille/Morvant area.

To the six hundred and more persons who signed up how can we say thanks for a service of love than can never be repaid. Yet we need to ask you to keep up your commitment since the battle is far from won for these young men.

 Just days after the launching of this project, a cease-fire was procured through the help of several persons including Fr Gordon at Gonzales. To date this cease-fire is still holding despite several acts of violence, which have threatened its success.

Since peace is not just the absence of war and many of these young men still have not embraced any meaningful occupation with their time, we need more than ever to pray for a complete change of lifestyle for all of these sons of the soil.  We trust that you would feel encouraged by the results of your efforts thus far and press on until the victory is indeed won.

I want now in a very special way to thank my brother priests from the Fraternity of Priests who gave their support to the new initiatives of the devotions this year. To those who walked in procession, preached and celebrated Mass and in particular to Frs Ian Taylor and Muliau Stowers who brought out many of the parishioners with banners from Sangre Grande and the Preysal prayer group to all but one of the processions and devotions.  One could not imagine the processions without your presence and vocal support.

Our committee would like to publicly thank Archbishop Gilbert for the confidence he placed in us in blessing our plans for devotions 2006. We trust that he was not disappointed in the results and so we anticipate continuing down this road of greater ownership through participation by a wider cross-section of Catholics in our archdiocese.

Our special hope for 2007 is to find a way of having our friends from the two parishes in Tobago here for one of our devotions. Groups interested in getting involved in next year’s devotions can contact either Mr Edwards at 627-6370 or Fr Dwight at 627-5141, expressing your specific or general interest.

We would be happy to hear from you as well as anyone having any ideas as to how we could further improve our devotions.  Letters may be addressed to Fr Dwight Merrick c/o RC Cathedral, 31 Independence Square, POS.