History and Our Abbey
The Benedictine Abbey Our Lady of the Assumption
flourished from the ancient tree of the Benedictine Order (with holy figures as St. Gregory the Great, St. Bernard, St. Gertrud, St. Hildegard...), that originally spread all over Italy, Ireland, Scotland, France, England, Germany and Spain:
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to offer for centuries to the political communities of people, original model of christian, social, cultural, agricultural, artistic ways of thinking and living;
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to open the doors of the Monasteries;
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to give hospitality to pilgrims;
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to promote the development of studies in and around the rich and great number of scriptoriums;
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to nurture prayer and peace in the midst of violence.
Each Benedictine community responds to the special human and christian needs of the place.
St. Scholastica sister of St. Benedict was the first Mother of nuns in a community of women, founded by the Holy Father St. Benedict, near Montecassino (Italy), as the oldest congregation of nuns in the Latin Church, whose purpose was to give to the people living around a sign of a possible community of love.
These great traditions still endure throughout the world, and respond to the needs of a particular place.
Mother Marianna Pinto (today the Abbess) was to be the instrument in bringing the Benedictine presence to St. Lucia. Upon entering the convent at 15, she received rigorous formation and education under the guidance of her Abbess Hildegard Petrucci in Rome and the moral and spiritual support of her brother Mons. Pio Vito Pinto.
1975 Mother Marianna Pinto leaves from Rome.... |
In 1975, she reached Mayfield, which was the first home for the Benedictine nuns in St. Lucia. Few years later (1980’s) the Benedictine nuns went to Marchand establishing there their new home.
Marchand - St. Lucia - 1980's |
On Jan 15th 1983 the Benedictine nuns went to the Mount of Prayer in Coubaril.
15 Jan 1983 - Mount of Prayer - Coubaril - St. Lucia |
The elevation of the Monastery to an Abbey and the appointment of Mother Marianna Pinto as First Abbess came, with a Decree of the Holy See, on August 2nd, 2007.
In a brief ceremony during the Holy Mass at the Monastery on Sunday August 12th 2007, Archbishop Kelvin Felix, assisted by Mons. Pio Vito Pinto and Mons. Patrick Anthony, presided over the ‘rite of assumption of office’ by the new Abbess.
After the homily, the Archbishop read the decree from Rome to the monastic community and the congregation.
The formal blessing of the new Abbess, which is one of the major ‘sacramentals’ of the Church, took place later on 21st november 2007, at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Castries.
The Island of St. Lucia is blessed to host the only women’s Abbey in the English-speaking Caribbean (men’s Abbey is found in Trinidad). Today it includes solemnly professed and first profession nuns, novices and postulants from Rome, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Martinique and Zambia. The Mount of Prayer forms an integral and vital part of St. Lucia’s reality. This community has responded to the call of God and the Church.
This contemplative Benedictine community of women lives the mystery of Christ within the Catholic Church, following the Rule of St. Benedict, according to the Statutes approved by the Holy See. |