Fr Sylvester was born on 8 October 1912, the eldest son of Mr Santhan Monteiro and Mrs. Asunta Alvares. He received his primary education at the Parish school, Bondel, and his secondary and college education at SAC. On 11 July 1934 he joined the Jesuit novitiate at Christ Hall, Calicut, where he also completed his Juniorate. Then followed 3 years of Philosophy at Shembaganur and his year of Regency at SAC, Mangalore. In 1946 January he proceeded to Kurseong for Theology where he was ordained priest on 21 November 1948. Completing his formation with Tertianship at Sitagarha he was assigned to St Joseph’s College where he made his Final Profession on 15 August 1951. At Bangalore he was House Minister, Vice-Principal and in charge of social service. After that he came to St Joseph’s Seminary, Mangalore, in 1957 as Professor of Philosophy and Minister of Juniors, a ministry he liked, but he had to give it up in April 1959 when he was made Rector and Principal of St Aloysius College. From 1961 to1966 he guided as Provincial of the Karnataka Province, taking part in GC 31 that elected in 1965 Pedro Arrupe as General and integrated the insights of Vatican II into our Jesuit Way of Life.
On laying down his office as Provincial, he returned to the Seminary in 1966 where for 24 years he spent himself in the formation of hundreds of Priests and a few Bishops, as Professor of Philosophy, Spiritual Animator and counsellor, Section Minister and several other ministries, especially for priests and religious, and in the writing of spiritual books in Konkani and English for Religious and the Laity. He had to his credit nearly 30 books, mainly on hagiography and spirituality. When the Seminary was handed over to the Diocesan Clergy, he opted for St Aloysius College, where except for the two years of chaplaincy to the SRA Sisters at Vamanjoor, he spent his last four years in spiritual and writing ministry. After some weeks of illness and much suffering he left for his heavenly abode on 18 November 2000.
Fr Sylvester was a unique person: a human, holy and authentic Jesuit priest. To be human means to be capable of interpersonal relationships with all kinds of people: one who is interested in persons rather than in laws and rules. For him, as for Jesus, the highest value was the human person, whether man or woman, student or seminarian, priest or religious, but above all the poor and the needy. As a true pedagogue he knew everyone of his students, being concerned with not only their academic formation, but also with their economic situation, besides their spiritual well-being. His most important lesson was given by his example of dedication, prayer, love and service.
Fr Sylvester was a holy and zealous priest, a devoted minister of the Church, a man of God for others. As an apostle concerned with the evangelizing mission of the Church, he guided the seminarians into the path of faith and total surrender to the Lord through a life of prayer, liturgical and personal, acquaintance with the Word of God, and commitment to service especially of the poor, the sick and the abandoned. As Director of the PMU (Pontifical Missionary Union) he instilled true missionary spirit into the young would be priests. The Eucharist was the centre of his life, and the source of his light and strength, and he taught the same to the seminarians.
Fr Sylvester was an authentic Jesuit, a true servant of Christ’s mission. From his first commitment as a young Jesuit to Christ the King and to His Kingdom, he made of his long life a generous service of God’s Kingdom in the Church and within the Society of Jesus which he loved as his spiritual mother. During his brief period as Rector, he provided the students of SAC with a useful amenity, a mini auditorium for smaller functions, with the possibility of holding mammoth open-air functions thanks to the stage on the eastern side that was opening itself to the vast hockey ground.
As Provincial during and after Vatican II and GC 31, he took seriously his responsibility for the renewal of the members of the Province according to the directives of the Council. Having realized the commitment of the Society to the service of faith through promotion of justice, he became an agent of social justice in his teaching, but above all in his love and service of the poor and the downtrodden. He gave a new push to the ministry of the Spiritual Exercises in the Bangalore area by establishing Dhyanashrama against many odds. Although because of internal opposition and a consequent stay from above, this project could not materialize during his tenure, it was carried forward and completed by his successor within two years. He sent two Jesuits to Belgium to specialize in Catechetics so that that ministry may be taken up by the Province. He started the Gudalur Coffee estate to put the province finances on a more sound footing. He went all out in supporting Fr Walter Albuquerque in his music ministry in the service of vernacularization of liturgy. He sent Jesuits as Missionaries to far flung areas like Gulbarga, Shahabad etc. He took keen interest in the social work of the late Fr Valerian D’Souza, urging the seminarians to get involved in the service of the poor.
He spent the last years of his earthly pilgrimage in SAC sharing and animating the community life, showing keen interest in the educational apostolate of his Jesuit brethren, and above all encouraging both them and the students with his long hours of prayer, the offering of his sufferings, and the continuing apostolate of the pen with his new books in Konkani. Beyond his public persona of a no-nonsense priest, Fr Sylvester was an earthy compassionate man. Most of his private time was devoted to study and writing on spiritual matters. He had a sense of humour which is reflected in the following entry in his diary when he was chaplain at Vamanjoor: `today three flies came to see me’. Once when he was going out for week-end ministry, he left a message with the parlour-boy: `If anyone comes asking for my Unknown Enemies (His book aparichita vairigalu), remember, they are in my room, under my cot, wrapped in a blanket.’
But he turned his loneliness to pen books in Konkani, English and even Kannada. His Konkani books include: £ÀPÁèA ¦PÁèA, ¸Á¸Áé wvÉÆè, vÁAaA ¥sóɸÁÛA, D«ÄÑA ¥sóɸÁÛA, ¥À«vïæ ¸À¨sÉZÉ ¸ÀÄ«ð¯É «Ãgï, ¥À«vïæ ¸À¨sÉZÉ G¥ÁæAvÉè «Ãgï, ¥À«vïæ ¸À¨sÉZÉ D«ð¯É «Ãgï, «Äøï, ªÀ¼Àಕ್ £Ávï¯Éè zÀĸÁä£ï, zsÁå£ï ¥ÁæxÀð£ï, ±ÉvÁA ¨sÀmÁA, ¸À¼ÁªÀ¼ï, zɪÁaA ¨sÀÄVðA, D«Ä ªÉÆqÉÆÑ GAqÉÆ, eÉfévï ¸ÁAvï. He wrote also in English: God’s Plan for you, The Polite Way, New Meditations (two volumes), and The Polite Preacher, and in Kannada, namma aparichita vairigalu and sadācāra.
Fr Monteiro was a man who would not hesitate to be the one by whom the new are tried, nor be the last to cast the old aside. He was the first Karnataka Jesuit to switch over to the khavi cassock. As section minister in the Seminary, he organized regular yoga classes for the young Philosophers under him. To test the vocation of a possible candidate to priesthood, the questions he would ask him were not whether he attended daily Mass or said the Rosary, but whether he knew to swim, and whether he could climb a coconut tree.
Hundreds of seminarians who passed through the portals of St Joseph’s Seminary and many more students whose secular studies were impacted by him will be living witnesses to his good work and exemplary guidance. More than that is the spiritual books that he penned and has left behind.
“To engage in conversation with Fr Sylvester meant to be challenged to look at things differently and to reflect what could be done to make things better,” wrote Fr Ralph, his Rector. “He was one deeply interested in everything in the world, the Society of Jesus and the Church, not for the sake of gossip, but for understanding how the Lord is accomplishing his plan of salvation and how he could get more involved in it.”
His life was not without pain and suffering. Right through his life he was tortured by asthma and the tensions of office hardly helped. Added to this he had as his constant companion chronic constipation and a painful hernia, for both of which no medication was of lasting help. But his deep spirituality and his living in God’s presence offered him all the strength and support he needed to carry this Cross and become like his Saviour and Crucified King.
Several of his former students in the Seminary sent their impressions and memories of their Guru to the memorial issue of 2000 of Unitas, the Seminary Annual. Here are culled a few of them: “He was a gentleman of few words, but the few times he spoke, he did it from his heart. His life spoke more than what he said and did. The footprints he has left on the sands of time will remain firm and strong, and will be a beacon of light to many young and old in search of the Truth par excellence, the Master Jesus Christ whom he served, loved, witnessed, proclaimed and has now joined.” (Fr Baptist Menezes)
“I have known him as a person who is compassionate and lovable, a person deeply interested in the well-being of others. He had a heart of Christ which shared the joys and sorrows of fellow human-beings. Till the last he proclaimed the Good News of Christ through his personal life of witness, retreats, counselling, and availability for the sacrament of reconciliation. Indeed he was great! (Bp Bernard Moras)
“…He was a man of deep faith which manifested itself in a convinced spiritual life. A large-hearted man, he was indeed full of understanding and extremely sensitive to the needs of the poor. His capacity to listen was marvelous. Simplicity and dignity went together in him – a wonderful combination indeed! …Above all, I admired him as a spiritual guide.” (Bp Gerald Lobo)
“…I was deeply impressed by his way of life, as a man of God and prayer. He spoke with conviction. Fully human, gentle and kind, ready to listen to all those who came to him for guidance... He has slogged even to the end of his life, with his spiritual writings and Lives of Saints in Konkani and English for Clergy, Religious and Laity.”(Fr Fred Pereira)
“…After my Episcopal Ordination, I visited him and asked for his blessing and prayers. He blessed me and gave me a piece of advice: `Put your trust in your Master; be faithful to Him. Love His Church and love the poor. Think and act positively.’ Those words still ring in my mind. They reflect his own philosophy of life and plan of action….” (Bp Sebastian Vadakel)
“…in one word (Fr Monteiro) was a man for all seasons in whom theory and practice blended in the right proportion… He was a man of practical wisdom. He would begin every class with a dose of practical Philosophy. He had a wonderful collection of the same. He would write them on the board; make us write them in our note books. He would insist that we would memorize them and use them to form the right attitudes and proper orientation. I still treasure these precious pearls of wisdom, such as: Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Only the best is good enough for you. Money is a good servant, but a bad master. It is not how many words you use, but how well you use them that matters. Give the Church the best you have, and the best will come back to you. If you are too old to learn, you are too old to live. These maxims continue to inspire me, challenge me and guide me….
Fr Monteiro had the ability to see treasure in trash…to see opportunities where others see only problems. Once at a family gathering two seminarians sang a song containing invectives and unhealthy expressions against the superiors. The following morning Fr Monteiro called them and congratulated them for their talent to compose songs. To develop the power of expression, he started the Wall Magazine. He introduced Yoga classes for improving their health. He encouraged them to learn the art of cooking so that as priests they could manage to live in the absence of the cook…. (Fr Lawrence D’Souza)
Fr Ronnie Prabhu as Provincial recalled some of the things he had learnt from Fr Monteiro in his life. “A good Jesuit all the while keeps thinking and dreaming of what more he can do for Christ.” “Stand on your own feet. Don’t be swayed by the values of the crowd. Form your own convictions and live by them.” When once Fr Ronnie expressed his distress that a Jesuit companion was leaving, Fr Monteiro replied: `it is more important to save a soul than to save a vocation.’
“I loved and admired him (Fr Monteiro) not for his profound knowledge or for the high posts he held, but for the genuineness, piety, love and concern – those qualities which make a person holy. Fr Sylvester, truly I say, you’ve touched me and I have grown; your touch remains in me, helping me to follow Jesus more dearly like you.” (Bp Robert Miranda)
Faith his sustenance and strengthRenewed every day by the EucharistSociety of Jesus very much he lovedYoung and old with them he movedLavishing concern and care on one and allVerily a guide and friend to us allEager to spread the Kingdom valuesSeminary he found a ground fertileTeacher of scores of students from far and wideEmulating the Patron he chose and cherishedRare gifts of mind and heart he possessed.Memory of persons and places in plentyOrganized his life for years eight and eightyNever flagging in zeal to disseminate goodTender and kind to one and all in needEternal values with all he ever sharedIn and out of season he worked and toiledRegardless of caste, creed and religionOrdered his life of prayer, penance and discipline.We Rector, staff, students past and presentExample you set to us, promise we, not to forget.Safe and sound in the hands of the FatherAnd in the company of saints you made knownLabour of love for you without countUnder the tide, writer, beyond the mountTrying many a time to reach out to one and allEnnobling the hearts and lives of many around.Yearning are we to be there where you areOpening the doors of salvation to many and moreUtilizing our talents as you did in your life.(Fr Victor Machado)
- by Fr Richard Sequeira, SJ
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