Perú
Sullana / Tambogrande
Monastery of theIncarnation
Founded by BelmontAbbey, England.
Extracts from a letterby Abbot Paul Stonham
Fr Simon was able to return to Peruin October, visiting on his way the Abbey of Guatapé in Colombia, whereour novices spend part of their novitiate. Fr David has been at the monastery since July. Fr Uriel of Guatapé was therereplacing Fr Simon from March to October and eventually returned toGuatapé in December. I was able to go out to Peru briefly in October forthe profession of Br Jorge Chávez and Br Alex Echeandia. Our six aspirants stayed the course andwere accepted by the abbot and council to begin their year as postulantsbeginning in January. Br Mariocame over to the Belmont two weeks ago and is now preparing to take part in thecourse for formators organised in Rome by Fr Brendan.
In August 1981 threeBelmont monks, Frs Luke, David and myself, arrived in the Parish of SanAndrés, Tambogrande, in the Archdiocese of Piura, to found the Monasteryof the Incarnation. To begin withwe looked after this enormous rural parish of over 100,000 people. In 1984 Fr Mark arrived and bought somefarmland in neighbouring San Lorenzo and set about building a small monastery.I moved to the monastery in August 1986 and there inaugurated the monasticlife. Eventually we gave up theParish of Tambogrande and Fr Luke returned to England at the beginning of 1990.
From the start life wasvery difficult in the monastery with no electricity, no clean running water ordrains and barely enough rainwater for our lemon and other fruit trees. Initially vocations came slowly, but bythe time I left Peru on being elected Abbot of Belmont in December 2000, therewere a good number of native vocations. The Parish of San Lorenzo has been run from the monastery since 1994 andFr Joseph is now the Parish Priest. He lives in the parish house which we built in Cruceta, the mainvillage. At present the communityconsists of 17 members, three of whom are English, one Colombian and the restPeruvian. Most of these are youngPeruvians at various stages of their monastic formation. Fr Simon is the superior, while FrDavid and Fr Uriel help with formation.
For sometime it has beenobvious that our days in San Lorenzo were numbered. It is impossible to make a living there, and monks,according to the Rule of St Benedict, must live from their own work. There just isn't enough water, eitherfor domestic or agricultural use. It is too far removed from centres of study and it is imperative thatall our young monks study theology and other more practical things. Hence the decision to move from SanLorenzo and the Archdiocese of Piura, on the border with Ecuador, to the areaof Pachacamac in the Diocese of Lurin, on the southern outskirts of Lima. We have already found a suitableplot of land and are waiting for the paperwork to be completed so that we canpurchase this, sell the monastery and land in San Lorenzo and commence buildingvery simple monastic buildings at the new site.
The community is made upentirely of young monks in formation. This means that we have to think seriously now of their philosophicaland theological formation, as well as their formation in other fields. We areat present 100 miles from the nearest city (Piura) whereas Lima has severalgood universities and seminaries. Living near Lima, the brothers will be able to study withoutinterrupting their monastic life. The brethren work very hard at present, but need an outlet for theirproduction of rosaries, icons, honey and jams. Lima is the only large market in Peru. Although we have a small retreat house,we are too far from any large centre of population to attract reteatants. Again the only real market for thiswork is in and around Lima. Theclimate in the north is very hot and quite unbearable for many people. Temperatures are over 100 degrees allthe year round, which makes lectio divina, prayer and manual work verydifficult at times. Then there isthe problem of an adequate supply of water. We only receive water three days a month in our narrow, dirtcanal. While we were just two orthree in the monastery, we could make do, but now that there are usuallysixteen people in residence plus a guest or two, the situation has becomeimpossible. So studies, the abilityto earn their living, a more reasonable climate and lack of water are the basicreasons for the move.
With the help of BishopJosé Ramón Gurruchaga of Lurin, we have found a suitable sitesome 50 minutes south of Lima in the Lurin valley, near the ancient town ofPachacamac. It looks a bit likeMount Sinai, a stark rocky mountain surrounding a small wood and fruit treeplantation. There is good water at10 metres, which means that we would have our own supply of drinking water, andelectricity and telephone are close by. A great advantage is that it is but 10 minutes from the parish churchand curial offices, which means that we would never be asked to take on theadded burden of a parish. ThePeruvian brethren want a simple monastic life. We are talking about 7½ acres of good farm landand 20 acres of barren mountainside. We are at present in negotiations for the purchase of the land.
Once we have bought theland, then 1 would sell what we have in the north and use that money to buildvery simple monastic dwellings on the new site. We do not, as yet, have the plans for the new monastery, butare hoping that the whole monastic complex will cost as little as possible. We will have to build for about 20monks with some guest accommodation, workshops, a library and a chapel. With the help of God and ourbenefactors we hope to begin this work in the Autumn of 2003.
I hope this gives you anidea of why we are moving from our present site. 1 have not mentioned our workamong the poor, all we have done and continue to do to strengthen the faith andfamily life through catechetical programmes and retreats, for schools andeducation from primary to university level, for health and nutrition. It is all very important to us, butjust part of the days' work and has been for the past 22 years. Our commitment has always been to livewith the poor and serve them and that will continue in Pachacamac.