M.O.P. Monasteries in Jamaica

The Missionaries of the Poor occupy a number of well-used facilities in Kingston, Jamaica. This was not always so. In November 1981, Archbishop Samuel E. Carter gave the brothers permission to use a house on 25 Munroe Road in Kingston. However, the brothers’ first house was in a woman’s home! Mrs. Muriel Crichton gave the brothers the use of one of the rooms of her home until, in November of 1981, they moved to the house at 25 Munroe Road where they lived for nine years.

The Brothers lived in dependence to God’s Providence through the kindness and generosity of friends. At the beginning they faced struggles with financial support because they had no money. Fr. Ho Lung got a little salary, but it was nothing compared to what was needed for their lives. One of their first benefactors was Ferdie Mahfood, who started Food for the Poor. Food for the Poor was started under the inspiration of Fr. Ho Lung because Fr. Ho Lung took Ferdie Mahfood to Eventide Home to introduce him to the poverty there. Ferdie Mahfood was so moved by the experience, that he decided to start Food for the Poor. They also began getting left-over food from a Chinese restaurant called Mee-Mee’s up the road from where they lived–that’s how simply they lived. The Lord continued, however, to raise up benefactors, as June Chin started coming, then Phyllis Chen and others.

In 1991, as the number of the Brothers of the Poor and their apostolic continued to increase, they thought of finding a more suitable house or headquarters, which would be close to the homes they had opened in downtown Kingston. A house was obtained at 3 North Street, downtown Kingston, to serve as their headquarters and chapel. It was named Corpus Christ Monastery. Since then, many new members have been added to the Brothers of the Poor from India, Central America, the USA, the Caribbean, the Philippines, Haiti and Uganda and Corpus Christi Monastery has served as the formation house for more than 70 novices.

In April 1999, the Missionaries of the Poor opened Prince of Peace Monastery, a juniorate home for the formation of the Brothers who joined the Institute. It has since become the seniorate house for over 30 perpetually professed Brothers.