ST. BENEDICT’S COLLEGE MARKS ITS 160TH ANNIVERSARY

The iconic Clock Tower Building

The college in the modern day

A heroic tale of Catholic Missionary love and labour unfolds itself in the past 160 years of St. Benedict’s College. If one counts the preceding 26 years of its existence in the little English School at Wolfendhal Street under its colonial title of ‘The Roman Catholic Seminary’, St. Benedict’s is the first Catholic English School on the island. 

The School at Wolfendhal was managed by Oratorian Fathers until it moved to Kotahena in 1865 and became St. Benedict’s College under the Sylvestro-Benedictine monks. The De La Salle Brothers came to St. Benedict’s by one of those providential designs. Bishop Sillani, Apostolic Vicar of Colombo, happened to meet with three De La Salle Brothers from Mangalore, who were visiting Galle and Colombo on their way to Europe. Bishop Sillani seized the opportunity to prevail upon the three brothers to stay and take charge of the School, to which they agreed without reference to their superiors in Europe. The School under the three ‘Holy Rebels’

Brothers Hidulphus (Director), Daniel and Leo were given the monastery to reside in and conduct classes. 

The College officially came under the De La Salle Brothers in 1868. Bro. Modeste Marie, a German, was the first Director. He conducted the first Prize Giving, inaugurated a Debating Club and introduced Art and modern languages as subjects. Things moved very fast, and in 1890, Commerce Education was pioneered on the island under the American Director Bro. Osmund Gregory. With the number of students increasing, new buildings were erected at the present site, an unused graveyard. One of the first buildings, the iconic Clock Tower Building, was recently fully renovated and refurbished and named after its architect and builder, Bro. Cassian of Jesus. 

Arts and Science prospered in the early years of the 20th Century. The students’ work reached such a high standard that St. Benedict’s came to be known as the ‘Home for Science and Mathematics’. The Roll of Honour included ‘First in the British Empire’ achievements of Gregory Weeramantry, U.D.R.Caspersz and the prodigious Peter A. Pillai. At the 1920 Prize Giving, the Colonial Secretary in his speech said, “Mr. Pillai will need a bullock cart to carry away all his prizes”. Peter Pillai later entered the priesthood and went on to head St. Joseph’s College and founded the first Catholic University, The Aquinas. His elder brother, Bro. Luke was the first native Director of St. Benedict’s and is widely regarded as its greatest Director. He adorned his Alma Mater with an awesome three-storey block to set up the island’s best Science Laboratories and spacious facilities for the boarders. He also converted the Bloumendhal marsh into a beautiful playground. The youngest of the Pillais, Emilianus became the first native Bishop of Jaffna. 

Bro. Oliver (1951- 55) gave the College another building with an auditorium in the third floor. When St. Benedict’s became the Island’s Schools Cricket Champions in 1957, the Director Bro. Alban rewarded the team’s efforts with a new pavilion and turf pitches. Steering St. Benedict’s through its most critical period of its existence was the Frenchman, Bro. Athanasius. He was at the helm during the school’s takeover in 1961. He rallied around his loyal alumni & teachers, anxious parents and students and decided to run St. Benedict’s as a private non-fee levying school. To youthful Bro. Flavian fell the duty of guiding the College in its Centenary Year 1965. With his liberal outlook, he increased the participation of Teachers and Students in the administration of the School. The much-revered Bro. Alexander served the College as a Teacher in the 1950s and 1960s and later as the Director in the late 1980s. He moulded the lives of 2 generations of Benedictines, instilling strong Moral and Christian Values in his students. He was a true disciple of St.John Baptist De La Salle. 

There were also hundreds of exemplary lay teachers who moulded generations of Benedictines. Standing tall among them were, R.H.Phillips, the doyen of Ceylon’s Science Teachers, Bonny Fonseka, Head of Commerce and Choir Director, Prefects of Games A.Gnanapragasam and Bede Puvimanasinghe, Art Teacher K.S. Perera, Father of Gymnastics George Atkinson, Albert Fernando, Ram Sundaralingam and Brian Assey, who made Benedictine Teams unbeatable in Football, Basketball and Hockey. Remembered with gratitude are also Wilfred Perera, Teacher of Sinhala and Arts subjects, trilingual Physics and Mathematics Teacher Alfred Fernandopulle, Scouts Master C. Pathmanathan, Major D.V. Chapman, Commander of the Cadet Corps and J.F. Jegarajasingham, Photographer and Editor of the College Magazine. 

Products of St. Benedict’s stood out in the fields of Science, Medicine, Law, Engineering, Academia, Business, Journalism, Arts, Religion, Advertising, etc. To name some, Sir Marcus Fernando, Statesman and the first Ceylonese to obtain a Doctorate in Medicine ( M D), and Sir Thomas de Sampayo, the first Acting Chief Justice. The two of them were founders of the Old Boys Union in 1904.

Prof. P.B. Fernando, first Professor of Medicine; Prof. A.W. Mailvaganam, first Professor of Physics; Prof. Terrence Chapman, first Professor of Bacteriology,

Dr. A.W.R. Joachim, first Director of Agriculture, Dr. C.V.S. Corea, Father of Homeopathy, Engineer & Innovator A.N.S. Kulasinghe, Father of Advertising Reggie Candappa, First Minister of Sports V.A. Sugathadasa, Legendary Actor and Journalist E.C.B. Wijesinghe, Immortal Lasantha Wickrematunge. Arts were enriched by singer Sunil Shantha and actors Vijaya Kumaratunga and Ravindra Randeniya. Service Commanders Air Marshal Dick C. Perera, IGP Herbert Weerasinghe, Army Commanders General Cecil Waidyaratne and present Lt. General Lasantha Rodrigo. In Business, Sir Chittampalam A Gardiner, Hubert A. De Silva, Herbert Cooray, and K.C. Sathianathan built empires.

The dawn of the 160th Anniversary saw St. Benedict’s College embracing 21st Century Learning and introducing STEM Education to provide opportunities to its Students to acquire pivotal skills required for a technology driven world. The Anniversary Celebrations with the Theme ‘160 and Beyond’ commenced on January 3 with an emotional Spiritual Service attended by all Students and Parents. A series of events have been lined up for the rest of the year under the dynamic leadership of Old Benedictine Gratien Fernando.