Saint Lucia
 |
June 2004 |
|
|---|
|
History of St. Isidore Parish The community of Belle Vue has always been rooted in the Catholic faith. Before the early 1970s, parishioners would worship at the Desruisseaux R.C. Church at 6:00 am or 9:30 am on Sundays. From the beginning of 1970, there was a new development and parishioners from Belle-Vue were given the opportunity to attend Mass every Fourth Sunday of the month at the Belle-Vue Combined School located on the site of the present church.
Parish Feast was coming up and it was our desire to have the entire parish community involved in this special and grand occasion. To make this a reality, home visitation was organized to invite parishioners to the activities planned during the week leading up to the feast of St. Isidore the Patron saint of farmers, and also brining them the Good News Which is the Word of the Lord.
Some of the activities we had to prepare our parishioners for were: a grand prayer meeting on Monday 9 May. The turn out was more than was expected. It was amazing to see the children, youth and the adults come together to give praise and honor to our Lord apart from the regular Sunday Mass. On Tuesday, as we are a farming community, parishioners needed the night to relax after a hard day's work in the field for the next session on Wednesday night. But our dancers and the choir had no rest at all the time been taken to work on bettering our offering of our talents to our God. Wednesday 11 May was yet another night of praise and glory to our Lord with another great turnout from the parishioners. Thursday night was another special night. This was the night of our regular Thursday Mass, but what made so special, was that instead of Mass being said in the church it was done outdoors in another small community called Fond Collie and parishioners did turn out and was treated to some refreshment by members of the community. Saturday was the grand night everyone was waiting for, because it was Cultural Night. People were quite disappointed because the rain said no tamboo that night but we did improvise to keep the people together and have a good time. So we got a radio and played some music and made the people happy and that they were. This also was the actual day of the Feast of Saint Isidore and the farmers did turn out to have fun. The big day was on Sunday May 16, big day for all. The day to rejoice and give thanks and praise as a whole parish come to celebrate this wonderful feast. It seemed that the rain would have had the better of us but, it wasn't to happen. For though the church wasn't packed as was supposed to many did brave the weather to join the celebration including the celebrant PABA Msgr. Patrick Anthony who came from all the way Castries to make this a memorable celebration which it was. One thing that should be noted for the next feast that he said is that invitation should be extended to all farmers cooperatives on the island and all associations because this is the feast of farmers. Also there were the blessings of tools which brought some laughter from the congregation. The day ended after a wonderful show of love and togetherness and sharing showed by all who brought food and snacks to share. It was a joyous day and next year should be even better and grander. Castries Wins Inter-Deanery Quiz By Jason Biscette for the Youth Office On the feast of Christ the King in November of 2002, the Archdiocese of Castries officially launched a three-year programme of preparation, leading up to the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the diocese in 2006. The Archdiocesan Youth Office has been mindful of the need for it to play its part in raising the consciousness of the youth, the future of the local Church, to the significance of the upcoming celebration. The 8 th Annual Inter-Deanery Bible/Religious Knowledge Quiz was seen as an excellent opportunity to promote such a consciousness of the foundations and history of the Church in general and the Church in St. Lucia in particular. The Inter-Deanery quiz was initially viewed as one of the means of bringing the youth from the six deaneries together for fellowship, while helping them to develop a deeper appreciation of the Catholic faith. It was first held in Bexon (Western Deanery) in 1997, with Castries Deanery emerging as the first winners. This year's quiz was scheduled for Sunday May 16, 2004 from three p.m. According to the Youth Office Info for April 21, 2004 the focus this year was “… to help us appreciate the preparation for and significance of the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Archdiocese.” Young parishioners from around the island braved the rains on Sunday May 16 and gathered at St. Ann's Church, Mon-Repos to support the participants from their respective deaneries. In spite of the inclement weather, there was still a commendable turn out. The groups from Soufriere and Fond-St. Jacques must be recognized for their efforts in arriving way before the scheduled start. Four of the six deaneries were represented, namely Castries, South Western, Southern and Eastern. The afternoon's programme got underway with the Master of Ceremonies, Terry Faisal of St. Ann's Parish leading the youthful voices in joyful songs of praise and worship. With the proceedings having been commended to God in the opening prayer, the host Parish Priest Fr. Linus Sarte M.F, bade everyone welcome. He gave a short history of the Church in Mon-Repos, one which was not built in the traditional basilica style. The youth-friendly Parish Priest must be commended for accepting to host the activity without hesitation. The Archdiocesan Youth Coordinator, Sister Velorna Gervais S.S.M in her opening remarks, noted that many Catholic youth are still ignorant of scripture and the teachings of their Church. Yet some of these same young people will be willing to make the effort to internalize scripture verses and teachings if they move to one of the smaller churches. She encouraged all the youth to display a greater desire for learning their faith. After the eight participants were introduced (two from each deanery present), the actual competition began. The quiz was divided into three rounds with each team required to answer seven questions per round. The questions were all based on the theme “The Spread of the Church from Jerusalem to Rome, to the Wider World and to Castries St. Lucia.” There were questions on the spread of the Church through the Apostles, through St. Paul, through persecution, through the Holy Fathers of Western Europe and the Missionary Saints, to the New World and in St. Lucia. From the close competition among the teams, it was clear that time and energy had indeed been spent in perusing the Study Guide on this year's theme, provided by the Youth Office. In between rounds, questions were also posed to the youth in the audience, some of who also displayed a familiarity with the contents of the Study Guide. Small tokens were awarded to those in the audience who answered correctly. After three rounds, Castries Deanery emerged victorious having been represented by Merphilus James and Prince St. Romain, both of the Sacred Heart Parish, Marchand. Marcellus Cazaubon and Vin cent Jn. Phillip followed closely in second place. The Southern and Eastern Deaneries finished in third and fourth place respectively. This is the fifth year that Castries has earned the first place trophy, having been winners in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002. The only other deanery to have won is the South Western Deanery, champions in 1998, 1999 and 2003. This year's judges were Fr. Linus Sarte M.F, Sister Christine Henry S.S.M and diocesan seminarian Jason Biscette. Sister Rose Leon S.J.C and Terry Faisal were the Masters of Ceremonies, Juanita Henry, Akua Charlemagne and Ermine Herman the scorers and Marcathian Alexander the ever faithful timer. With this latest, national youth activity successfully completed, the onus is now on the young Catholics to keep abreast with the continued growth and development of their Church in St. Lucia and in the world. A Priest Forever Ordination of George Athanasius Williams
On Monday 31 st May 2004, Whit Monday and the feast of the Visitation, St. Lucian-born George Athanasius Willams was ordained a priest by Bishop Donald Reece, bishop of St. John's-Basseterre. The ordination took place at the Holy Family Cathedral, St. John's, Antigua. In a moving ceremony flavoured with a variety of Caribbean musical rhythms, Bishops Donald Reece, Gabriel Malzaire (Roseau/Dominica) along with thirty-two (32) priests from all over the Caribbean, welcomed George Williams into their fellowship as a “priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek!” For the occasion, clergy and religious came from St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Lucia, St. Vin cent, Dominica, Martinique, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, and from the diocese of St. John's-Basseterre. Among them were five(5) deacons. Also in attendance was the newly elected Prime Minister of Antigua, Mr. Baldwin Spencer, several relatives and friends from oversees, including scores of St. Lucians from Anse-la-Raye, Castries, Soufriere, Bexon, Dennery, Desruisseaux, Micoud, Babonneau and Roseau/Jacmel. In his homily based on the theme “God of the second chance,” Bishop Reece recalled how both St. Peter and St. Augustine, giants of the Catholic Church, had received a second chance through God's mercy and compassion. This was a clear allusion to George Williams' journey to the priesthood which began when he became a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Castries along with seminarian Gabriel Malzaire (now bishop of Roseau), followed by an interval contemplating married life and a career in politics, then a brief sojourn as a candidate for the priesthood in the diocese of St. Thomas (USVI), and eventual incardination into the diocese of St. John's Basseterre.
For a while, the newly ordained was “lost for words” when the time came to say thanks at the end of the truly beautiful Caribbean liturgy. He was evidently overwhelmed by the awesomeness of the moment and the mercy and compassion of God, as he said later. By the time he recovered his composure and launched into a litany of thanks for those who had ‘stayed the course' with him on the journey, it was indeed a touching testimony to the power of faith and perseverance. Fr. George Williams said his First Mass on the afternoon of June 1 st 2004, at the Holy Family Cathedral, St. John's, Antigua. Bishop Gabriel Malzaire was the homilist (More photos from the ordination, next issue). Installation of ‘Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion’ by Patrick A. Chester
C.T.I. Directresses Meet in St. Vincent Eight Catechetical Directresses of the Province of Castries, met recently at the Pastoral Centre, Kingstown, St. Vincent for the annual two-day Planning Meeting of the Catechist Training Institute. At the Opening Ceremony, Father Jim Ignatius Candon, O.P. brought greetings to the Directresses on behalf of the local Ordinary, Bishop Robert Rivas.
Archbishop | Caritas Antilles | Calendar | Catholic Chronicle Copyright ©2004 Archdiocese of Castries |
|---|
