Among the various activities commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Eston Study Centre in Trinidad and Tobago was a special thanksgiving Mass held on Wednesday, November 28, at St Ann’s parish church.

This Mass was particularly special for the female members of Opus Dei since the anniversary marked exactly 25 years since the Blessed Sacrament was first reserved in the oratory at Eston Study Centre, which coincided precisely with the date of the erection of Opus Dei as the Church’s first personal prelature.

Marilyn O'Brien, Evalú Romero and Melanie Pouchet listen intently to His Excellency Most Reverend Thomas Gullickson Apostolic Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago.

Presiding at the Mass was His Excellency, Most Reverend Thomas Gullickson, Apostolic Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago; concelebrating were: the Episcopal Vicar for the northern vicariate Msgr Esau Joseph; Msgr Urban Peschier; Secretary to the Apostolic Nuncio, Fr Simon Bolivar Sanchez; parish priest Fr Joe Harris; and two priests of Opus Dei, Frs Mark Georges and Luis Gutierrez.

Fr Georges, in his homily, pointed out the significance of having our Lord physically present in the centres of Opus Dei. He referred to one of the Founder’s letters which described the transformation that took place when the Blessed Sacrament was finally reserved in the first centre in Rome.

The whole atmosphere of that room became one of great piety and sober reflection and this gave new impetus to the apostolate.

In giving a vote of thanks to all who had made this Holy Mass so special, Marilyn O’Brien, the first female Trinidadian member of Opus Dei admitted that what had transpired over the past 25 years had surpassed anything that she or those at her side could have imagined in those early days.

She reminded us of one of the Founder’s favourite phrases: “Dream and your dreams will fall short.” These words have certainly proven and continue to prove true.

At the National Library

On the evening of Saturday, December 1, there was a conference held at the National Library which highlighted the teachings of St Josemaria Escriva on the role of women in society.

The conference was delivered by Joanne Stephens who highlighted the fact that the saint was a pioneer in his vision for the role and mission of women considering that at the time that he founded the women’s section in 1930 in Spain, women were generally restricted to the private sphere and the law did not allow them to have a role in the economic and professional world.

However, with his docility to grace, overcoming the mentality of his era, he opened centres of Opus Dei run by women at a time when hardly anyone thought that women were able to function in life independently of masculine support.

Some of the many young ladies who attended the Mass.

In his own words he said: “The presence of women in the whole range of social life is a logical and entirely positive phenomenon…. A modern democratic society has to recognise women’s right to take an active part in political life and it has to create conditions favourable for everyone to exercise this right.”

While encouraging women to become involved in all honest human activity without sacrificing their femininity, he acknowledged that the woman’s greatest dignity was the attention she gives to her family.

“In her work in creating a warm and formative atmosphere around her, a woman fulfils the most indispensable part of her mission.” For St Josemaria, it was evident that the work at home was to be praised as an important service which should be acknowledged by society as a true professional job as it justly deserved.

Yet he was clear that the woman was not to be the only one involved in taking care of the home. Collaboration was essential since: “The man as much as the woman is rooted in the family.

If everyone is born in a family, then the first fundamental task has to be within the nuclear family. In like manner work outside has the sense of contributing to the sustenance of the family and building the society whose basic cell is precisely the family.”

Dr Michelle Scobie, who had earlier introduced the evening’s proceedings, then signalled the showing of a video presentation which traced the history of the first women’s centre in Trinidad.

It showed how Eston Study Centre had developed over the past 25 years and had helped (and continues) to form the lives of so many young women of various socio-economic backgrounds.

She then gave an overview of the projections for both Eston Study Centre and the more recently established Shalimar Centre located in St Augustine near UWI.

 To end the evening, guests were invited to partake in refreshments, giving everyone a chance to meet and chat in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.