SITUATED on a hill overlooking Scarborough, St Joseph RC Church, Tobago, has a storied past.
Originally constructed in 1892 on a site opposite where it now stands on Bacolet Street, the church was destroyed when Hurricane Flora devastated the island on September 30, 1963.
“It was left a headless skeleton, devastated, roof gone, body shaking in shambles,” a lay minister said in an overview of the church’s history during its consecration on Monday.
Late archbishop Count Finbar Ryan blessed the stone for the current church that same year.
[caption id="attachment_1007641" align="alignnone" width="1024"] St Joseph RC parish priest Father Tang Kai sanctifies the walls of the church.- David Reid[/caption]
The lay minister said the consecration of the church was scheduled to take place on two previous occasions – April 30, 2021 and May 1, 2022 – but the covid19 pandemic prevented it.
“We therefore give God thanks that the consecration is being realised today (March 20) – the solemnity of St Joseph, spouse of the blessed Virgin Mary,” she told the congregation.
Indeed, the two-hour mass was a solemn yet joyful celebration, presided over by Archbishop Jason Gordon and concelebrants Frs Kwesi Alleyne, Alan Hall and parish priest Leslie Tang Kai.
It featured the symbolic blessing of the water and sprinkling of the church, the anointing of the altar and walls and the incensing and dressing of the altar.
Gordon prefaced his homily by saying the church has been a source of love and life for its family in Tobago over the past six decades. He added many people had been baptised, confirmed and married at the church.
“As much as it has been a source of grace, we have had to wait 60 years for this day,” he said, alluding to the consecration.
Gordon recalled jokingly the last time he visited Tobago to bless the church.
“I came in good faith, got on the plane, landed and when I got off, Father (Tang Kai) asked me, ‘What are you doing here? The prime minister close the country – go back home.' So, obedient as I was, I went back home.”
Recalling the biblical story of Joseph and Mary, who gave birth to Jesus Christ, Gordon spoke at length about the significance of how Joseph figures in today’s society, particularly in the lives of young men.
[caption id="attachment_1007638" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Archbishop Charles Jason anoints the walls of St Joseph RC Church, Scarborough, Tobago. - David Reid[/caption]
He said the plantation system in the Caribbean did its people a grave injustice by systematically disintegrating the family to the point where mothers, over the generations, were forced to shoulder the burden of parenting.
Gordon said, “Every Caribbean family knows that they have a mummy. But because of our salvation history and because of the plantation system, because very early in the plantation system, the husbands and wives were separated deliberately, because wherever there were families, there was revolution. And it was easy to control the plantation once you separated the family.”
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