The parish church fell into major disrepair over the years and Father Ian Taylor, the then Parish Priest, along with a group of concerned parishioners and well wishers set about on a thrust to restore the Church to its original glory. Unfortunately, before the plans could reach fruition, Father Taylor was moved to the Moruga Parish and the momentum slowed considerably. The parish was left without a priest for seven years being spiritually sustained by visiting weekend priests.
Many miracles have been said to have been experienced through the intercession of Our Lady of Montserrat. Some pilgrims and parishioners alike have reported a strong scent of roses while visiting Our Lady’s Chapel. There have also been reports of receiving special gifts from Our Lady. However, the biggest reported miracles experienced in recent history in Tortuga are the Miracles of the Restoration Project.
Installation of the restored stained glass windows
Having requested and underwritten the relevant costs of accompanying the completed windows, the Bartallou brothers visited Trinidad and installed the windows with the help of their trainee one week before the Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat in September 2004.
Fourteen Stations of the Cross adorn the walls of the Church. They are distinctive since they are ‘turn-of-century’ paintings with European characters depicting the Passion and Death of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They are encased within wooden frames which complement the architecture of the church and the description of each station is written in French below each painting. Over time, the paintings remained intact but darkened in colour as the patina of age accumulated on the surface. The frames deteriorated at a pace that was in keeping with the pace of deterioration of the actual church building. A decision was subsequently taken to undertake the restoration of all of these stations.