CaribbeanTrinidad & Tobago

Did you know Mount St. Benedict Abbey is in Trinidad

By March 19, 2020 No Comments

Yesterday I told you about Maracas Waterfall and how that was not the last stop of the day. That is because we drove down the hills to St Augustine and then back up but on a road to the east in order to check out the Mount St. Benedict Abbey.

The main chapel

Mount Saint Benedict Abbey was established in 1912 on 240 acres of land purchased by Dom Mayeul De Caigny, a Brazilian Benedictine monk, from Trinidadian Andrew Gomez. It sits approximately 4300 feet above sea level.

On 6 October 1912, three monks arrived in Trinidad to establish the abbey after fleeing Brazil due to threat of religious persucution. The monks were welcomed by the nearby Parish of Arouca and were housed there until receiving more monks to begin construction of their property. They began by converting a small hut existing on the property into two rooms, an oratory, and a dormitory. They also laid down thousands of feet of pipe in order to bring water from the Crown Lands ravine to the monastery. The religious brothers were able to create the choir stall, flooring, and roofs for many of the new buildings and celebrated the first Mass on August 10, 1913 in the new 68 x 21 foot chapel.

Check out the Holy Water

Today the abbey consists of a tower, church, a monastery, a seminary, a drug rehabilitation center, a yogurt factory, and Pax Guest House. It consists of 10 monks. The guest house rents out rooms to people and is know for a wonderful afternoon tea in its World War II era Tea House, but sadly we arrived to late in the day to participate. 🙁

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