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Season's Greetings From RMC!

10/30/2021

Another Christmas and the end of another year are here and we’ve made it!

The hour is quickly approaching to draw the curtains on 2021. Truly an unpredictable year, of many moments of joy and sorrow, successes and shortcomings, but we are grateful for all the experiences we have had and the persons we’ve met along the way, for they have made us stronger and more refined individuals.

It has been an eventful year for us at RMC. We had the opportunity to work on fascinating translation and interpreting projects that spanned different languages and fields. Despite reduced movement into and out of T&T during the last 20 months, our cross-cultural work continued online and even in person, and we hosted many successful group and private language classes. It brings us great joy to have been able to continue to positively impact our clients and their businesses, locally, regionally and internationally.

We would like to thank all our service providers, partners, clients, friends and our families for their continued support and well wishes. We truly appreciate your efforts as they have helped us to achieve our goals.

So let’s bid adieu to 2021 and usher in 2022 together, a year of hope and even more positivity.

The RMC Team would like to wish you a Happy and Holy Christmas and a New Year that is successful in every way!

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Divali Special: Moose Bhagat Mandir

10/28/2021

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Photo uploaded by Patricia Bissessar

For this episode of our ‘Know Your Country Tour’ and while we’re still in the festive Divali mood, with today being the last day, we take a trip to Tableland near Princes Town to the Moose Bhagat Mandir.

This Hindu temple is considered to be the second oldest in the Western Hemisphere, built in 1904. It was envisioned by a Hindu priest or Pundit named Moose Bhagat, a then ex-indentured labourer and landowner four years prior to its construction and erected under the oversight of another ex-indentured labourer, Durga Dass.

Can you imagine the possible struggles of creating such an edifice in those times? Imagine the resilience it took for them to hold steadfast to their heritage and beliefs and the ability to make this foreign land their home by marking this soil with their East Indian memories and culture. Despite the hardships, it became a reality.

Prior to this time, there weren’t temples or mosques to accommodate their worship but slowly mud-hut places of worship were moulded from the ground up and covered with thatched roofs, as they were encouraged to settle in the colony. Pundit Moose Bhagat, while at a stream near his home, came upon and removed selected stones and in a vision given to him by Lord Shiva, was inspired to construct a sanctum to house the sacred stones or Lingas. Four years later, the first building was dedicated to Lord Shiva and the second, to Shree Ram.

Since their erection, descendants of the Bhagat family have ministered in and cared for the mandir. Thus, it has remained within the family’s bloodline till this very day.

We hope you enjoyed this simple, yet informative segment. Is this the first time you’re hearing about this place or have you visited there before? Let us know in the comments below.

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The Holy Mount of St. Benedict

10/28/2021

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In honour of the upcoming All Saints Day feast, we bring to you an insight into the birth of Trinidad’s iconic Mount St. Benedict.

Perched atop the hills of St. John’s road stands in full splendour and tranquil silence, buffered by unending steep mountains roundabout and a bird’s-eye view of all of Trinidad’s low-lying lands and distant sea, is none other than Mount St. Benedict’s Abbey and Our Lady of Exile mission.

Its inception was in 1911 with the visit of Dom Mayeul de Caigny, Abbot of San Sebastian and first Conventional Prior of Mount St. Benedict, to discuss with the then archbishop, His Grace John Pius Dowling, the foundations of a Benedictine abbey in Trinidad. This came about not only because of missionary zeal but also due to unrest in Brazil where they were first located.

After a site had been selected by 1912, the monks came across to Trinidad to begin their mission. Dom Mayeul de Caigny became a resident priest and was stationed at the old capital, St. Joseph’s Parish. After Holy Mass on the Feast of St. Anthony, a hermit, an elderly man of Spanish descent by the name of Mr. Andrew Conrad Gomez, approached the abbot in the church’s sacristy. He was the owner of the estate where the intended site of the abbey would be located. Father was indeed overjoyed by this visit and Gomez agreed to carry him there.

Half an hour’s drive from the Parish to the village of St. John brought their buggy to the end of the road where they were greeted by the high hills and so the ascent began. After a steep climb, they came upon a small mud and thatched roof ajoupa which would later be used as the first abbey. Much later, once transactions were made, the monks moved into the quarters, aided by villagers, and using minimalist furniture, village produce and live poultry, living true to their vocation.

It would mean that the later addition of rooms and rebuilding of the edifice and chapel and most importantly, the roadway to the abbey, were all done mainly by the work of human hands and not much advanced technology, if any at all. The first mass was celebrated on 10th August, 1913. The title of ‘Mount St. Benedict’ was suggested by Archbishop Dowling and the Abbot Dom Mayeul dedicated it to Our Lady of Exile in remembrance of them fleeing Brazil, likened to the Holy Family fleeing Herod’s terror.

Now hundreds of people of different religions and nationalities flock to the Mount to sightsee, bask in the serenity and/or for devotions. Truly a beauty sometimes overlooked.

We hope you enjoyed this article. Have you been to the Mount? What do you enjoy doing there most? Let us know in the comments below.

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Season's Greetings From RMC!

Divali Special: Moose Bhagat Mandir

The Holy Mount of St. Benedict

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