 |
| Bro Louis Gonzaga and the Papal Nuncio |
He returned to Montfort School and resumed direcctorship of the school. In March 1950, he was given greater responsibility as Director-Principal of the Brothers of Singapore and served in that role for 3 years. In March 1933, he was transferred to start out St Gabriel's School. After 5 years at St Gabriel's, he again returned to Montfort School and served as its Director from 1958 until 1962.
He was subsequently transferred to Malaysia to be Director of the newly fromed Scholasticate for young Brothers who were pursuing their teaching studies. He stayed in Malaysia until March 1981 when he returned to Singapore and resided at Boys' Town as his retirement.
During his term his office he wrote an account of the Brothers' of St Gabriels which remains unpublished at Boys' Town.
In an interview with Bro Emmnauel, he shared,
"Bro. Louis came from Spain. He was there at the time when there was a huge persecution. Quite a number of Brothers were killed. About 40 of them were killed for their faith. Bro. Louis didn't run away from Spain but about that time, the Congregation began to spread their wings outside Europe. We are a European-founded organization.
So, Bro. Louis was sent to Thailand as a missionary as a very young brother. And in Thailand, he was a teacher. He mastered the Thai language and he was doing very well. It was in 1936 or 1937 when they decided to bring in the Brothers of St Gabriel at the invitation of the Archishop of Singapore, Monsignieur Devals that he found his way here.
He was young, he was happy, he was highly respected in Thailand. So many Thai people came to visit him. He came as kind of like a founder of Montfort School which was founded before we took over (and later St Gabriel's School in 1953).
 |
| Bro Louis Gonzaga at Scouts Camp |
We were a bit scared at the beginning, the bishop was also beginning to be worried, that when the Brothers come, there will be a competiton between the De La Salle Brothers and the IJ sisters who had been here a long time before us. But we never came with a spirit of competition. We came here to develop education in Singapore with that spirit of bringing God, Christ and the values of St Louis De Montfort which differs from all the other congregations, each with their own charism.
The Spanish Brothers who came from Thailand were Bro Louis Gonzaga, Bro. Thomas and a French Canadia, John de Breboueuf.
Bro. Louis Gonzaga, having worked in this country for fifty over years, contributed so much. He was one of the 1st Gabrielite missionaries in Singapore and he served in Montfort School and St Gabriel's. He died a very miserable death. He went into a kind of hospice where you paid through your nose. He fell and the doctor who visited him that night said he was a complainer and that there was nothing wrong. The next day when I went to see him, I was Brother Provincial at that time, we discovered that there were 7 or 8 ribs broken. One of them had gone right through the lungs and within 3 or 4 days, he died in the General Hospital. So, we lost many of our brothers through medical negligence in those days."
Bro. Louis Gonzaga was in charge of the Juniorate when I was there. He was like a father to us all and cared so much for us. I remember that as a young teacher trainee, I had to go to the Teachers' Training College or TTC at Paterson Road. We had night classes and I remember that no matter how late we returned, Bro. Louis would be at the front door waiting for us to return home safely. That's why I say that he was like a father to us all. - Mr. B Lee, 9/4/2013
ReplyDelete