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The Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady of the Assumption
The Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady of the Assumption located in Coubaril, Saint Lucia, flourished from the ancient tree of the Benedictine Order in Europe, that spread its branches to various parts of the world including the Caribbean.
Dom Patrick Webster, O.S.B. a Saint Lucian monk of the Benedictine Monastery of Notre Dame du Mont-des-Oliviers, Martinique, was appointed Bishop of St. George’s, Grenada, on March 4, 1970. He sought and received the approval of the Congregation for the Promotion of Faith (Propaganda Fide) in the Vatican, to establish a monastic tradition of women in the English-speaking Caribbean. In 1973, he instituted the Monastery of Our Lady of the Assumption in the Ecclesiastical Parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Roxborough, Grenada.
On November 18, 1974, Bishop Webster was appointed Archbishop of Castries and moved to Saint Lucia. The monastery also relocated to Saint Lucia. Through Archbishop Webster, the first Benedictine Community was established in Castries.
In response to the Archbishop’s request to the Vatican for support, Mother Marianna Pinto, O.S.B. from Italy, arrived in Saint Lucia on December 2, 1975, and Archbishop Webster formally commenced the process of establishing a Monastic Foundation in the country. Mother Marianna Pinto was appointed Prioress of the Monastery of our Lady of the Assumption by the Holy See.
At the conception of the Community, the nuns settled at Mayfield in 1975. In 1980, the Community relocated to the old Bishop’s House at Marchand, and on 15th January 1983, the nuns moved to the Mount of Prayer in Coubaril. The construction of Our Lady of the Assumption Monastery and Church began two years later.
The Church was consecrated on August 15, 1987 - the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
As the Community increased in numbers, the Monastery was elevated to the status of Abbey on August 2, 2007. Mother Marianna Pinto, Italian, became the First Abbess of the Community on November 21, 2007, and Sr. Rosaria Joseph, St. Lucian, was appointed its Prioress.
In January 2017, Mother Abbess Marianna Pinto stepped down and with Community consensus, the Staff of authority and leadership was passed to Sister Rosaria Joseph O.S.B. Mother Rosaria Joseph is the first Saint Lucian Abbess of the Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady of the Assumption, Mount of Prayer.
The Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady of the Assumption follows the traditions of Western Monasticism which has the origins in the Rule of St. Benedict (480-547). The Monastic Spirituality centers around prayer, work and community life. The Motto is “Ora et Labora”, meaning, “Pray and Work.”