A Tribute to Sister Mel Kenny
I first met Mother Mel at
St. Joseph's Convent, St. Joseph,
Trinidad, in 1948, when I became a boarder there at age 9. I was one of the two
first students who were presented for the Cambridge School Certificate in December,
1953, and were entered at St Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain, because the Secondary
School in St. Joseph was not yet registered. I last saw her in 1954 when I left
the Convent Boarding School. Over the years, I corresponded with her in St. Lucia, until her death in 2007.
At about 6.30 during the 6 a m. Mass and while Holy Communion was given, three men entered the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Dressed in robes and holding cutlasses and flaming torches, they began chopping members of the congregation and setting others on fire. Later they walked up to the altar and set it on fire . At the same time they chopped Irish Nun, Sister Teresa Egan, who was at the time giving Holy Communion. She died later at the Victoria Hospital.
In the end, some 12 other persons were injured,three seriously: Eucharistic Minister Victor Reyes, Mark Beaubrun and Father Charles Gaillard, who suffered burns.
