St Mary’s Parish in Mucurapo, which is part of St. James district in Port of Spain, was probably established around 1890, since the first baptism entered in the parish registers is that of Octavia Emelda Robert, dated January 1898. The priest who performed the baptism was Rev. Fr. Augustus Bouche O.P. a French Dominican who arrived in Trinidad in October 1892. No details concerning the old church have been found. The present church, built “in the Roman basilica style”, says a report in the Catholic News of June 20, 1931, “stands as a monument to the energy and organizing ability of Rev. Fr. Joachim Selbach O.P.” This was the second church (the first was St. Theresa’s in Woodbrook), for which construction this zealous priest was responsible. Fr. Selbach, of the Dutch Dominican province, came to Trinidad in 1924. In 1926-27 he was parish priest of St. Patrick’s in Newtown, and Woodbrook was part of it. He became parish priest of St. Theresa’s from 1927 to 1932.
St. Mary’s is artistic in every detail and in appearance it is similar to St. Theresa’s. The architect who designed both churches was Maurice Acanne. The foundation stone of St. Mary’s was laid by Archbishop John Pius Dowling O.P. on January 25, 1931 and the blessing took place on June 14th of the same year. It is a massive structure with concrete walls 123 feet long and 56 feet wide. In 1931 a fairly large presbytery was built. But the resemblance is not only in the buildings, there is also an affinity between the parishioners of St. Mary’s and those of St. Theresa’s. In both one finds the same good and generous dispositions. Masses, especially on Sundays, are well attended at St. Mary’s and the parishioners are specially devoted to Our Blessed Lady, the Mother of Sorrows. A large pieta close to the entrance of the church attracts many a devotee and framed pictures recall the seven sorrows of Mary according to Christian tradition.
As in other parishes, women have the first place in St. Mary’s when it comes to loyalty, be it for the care of the altar, singing in the choir (Mucurapo girls have beautiful voices but it regrettable that boys do not have their place in the choir) the Legion of Mary and the prayer groups of the Charismatic Movement. Men, though few, are committed to the St. Vincent de Pal Society, the Holy Name Sodality and the Parish Council. Of course, I must mention the faithful sexton, Patrick Patrice, who has to his record 16 years of devoted service. The participation of lay people in the liturgy at St. Mary’s reveals the openness to the reforms prompted by Vatican II, under the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Albert McCarthy O.P. who has 27 years of ministry in Trinidad and Tobago. The involvement of lay people in the running of the parish consist in reading the word of God at liturgical celebrations, making announcements to the community, distributing Holy Communion in the church and to the sick in their homes (as four teams do every Sunday) and taking their share of work in collecting and distributing lunches to the poor on Sunday. For the latter, they cooperate fully with their neighbours of St. Theresa’s.
The Parishioners of St. Mary’s also show their kind hearts in bringing comfort to the poor parishes of Morvant and Mayo, as well as those who are at their very door, the 500 patients at St. James’ Infirmary. “No one has an idea of the terrible heartaches and loneliness of these poor people; some of them die of grief”, said Rev. Fr. McCarthy, chaplain of the Infirmary for the Catholic patients. There is a great sense of devotion among nurses at the Infirmary and though working conditions are deplorable some of them continue to be the joy, comfort and security of patients. Up to 1970 the Catholic patients could not attend Mass at St. Mary’s. At the beginning of 1970 a ramp from the grounds of the Infirmary to the sacristy of the church was built. It was done free of charge by builder Frank Jodhan, using cement donated by Ready Mix Company. The project was conceived by Neville Clarke and carried through by him. He died on April 13, 1970. This is an example of the way individuals can help to relieve suffering. But many of the problems would be solved if a small chapel could built adjacent to the church , to accommodate patients who seek the spiritual comfort they need to help them to bear their loneliness and hardship.
St. Mary’s can boast of a fine Primary School for girls, it built in 1965 by Rev. Fr. Marc Connolly O.P. It is a beautiful building large enough for 1318 pupils between the ages of 5 and 15 years. I was impressed by the efficient managerial skill of Sister Jerome Boland, Principal. Sr. Jerome and Sr. Maria of St. Gabriel’s Primary school (1329 students) at San Fernando are both capable nuns of the St. Joseph of Cluny congregation. Sr. Jerome, through her training at Oxford University in 1969 in the new methods for teaching, combined with that Trinidadian commonsense, has developed a new approach for teaching infants. She calls it the “integrated day” and it consists of a flow of childlike activities geared to train their creative minds through self-expression.
It was a great idea of Fr. McCarthy to take Neil and me for a drive to Fort George to see the boundaries of the parish. “Fort George” wrote Michael Anthony in his Profile of Trinidad, was one of the practical that Governor Hislop (who assumed duties in July 1803) took toward improving the defenses of the island in choosing a point, high up on the hills above Port of Spain, for the erection of a fort. The Governor reckoned the hill, which commanded the entrance and bay of Port of Spain, could secure the island with a garrison of 1000 men, while in itself it was impossible to attack. The fort was erected and christened Fort Vigie, and later became Fort George”. It was a breath-taking view, with Port of Spain and its suburbs lying at the foot of the hill. The Amerindians called their coastal village Cu –Mucurapo. In the native language it means place of the silk-cotton trees. Mucurapo is the site where General Abercromby landed with his troops in1797. The spot could not have been worse chosen, for it was a marshy land and extended some distance to the sea. The troops had to disembark and carry out a laborious march of several hundred feet in mud up to their knees. Fort George is part of the parish of Mucurapo which extends from the Cocorite flyover to Long Circular Road, up to Cawnpore Street. The other two boundaries are, to the west, the sea coast, and to the east, the Fort George hill which has now become a tourist attraction.
It is a truly magnificent view from Fort George; from its heights the Gulf of Paria looks beautiful. Christopher Columbus had named it Golfo de la Ballena (Gulf of the Whale) because a whale spouted before his ship, but the natives before Columbus called it Paria. Paria in mythology is represented by a nymph, the beloved of Minos. The following is what the Encyclopedia Britannica had to say about our gulf. “An inlet of the Atlantic Ocean between Venezuela mainland and the western coast of Trinidad, it is separated from the Atlantic and the large delta of the Orinoco River from the Caribbean Sea by the long mountainous Paria Peninsula of Venezuela. It is about 100 miles east-west and about 40 mile north south. Entrance is made form the Atlantic through a ten mile-wide straight, the Serpent’s Mouth and from the Caribbean through a 10 mile-wide island –strewn strait, the Dragon’s Mouth”. This Gulf, a natural boundary, separates us from our nearest neighbour, Venezuela, and sustains so many of our fishermen.
Source: Parish Beat by Sr. Marie Thérèse