Ordinariate Deanery for Canada - St. Ambrose - The Handing Over of the Bible at Sagrada Familia Parish

The Holy See has approved the establishment of a deanery in Canada that will minister to groups of Anglicans and Anglican clergy in Canada who come into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, the Ordinary, or head, of the Ordinariate, which is based in Houston, TX, and Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, the ecclesiastical delegate for the Ordinariate in Canada, jointly announced the news on Friday.

Msgr. Steenson has appointed Rev. Lee Kenyon, administrator of the first Ordinariate congregation in Canada, St. John the Evangelist in Calgary, AB, as dean of the new Deanery of St. John the Baptist. Fr. Kenyon trained for ministry in the Church of England, and served there as a parish priest from 2005 to 2009, when he came to Calgary. He brought his parish community into the Catholic Church in 2011 and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood by Calgary Bishop Frederick Henry in June.

“The territory of the Ordinariate in North America is enormous, and it will be a great blessing to be able to delegate many of the duties for shepherding these groups to Fr. Kenyon,” said Msgr. Steenson. “He brings to this work a superb foundation within the Anglican tradition, and he brings this patrimony to the Catholic Church with a wise and generous pastoral heart.”

Cardinal Collins said, "I am delighted that the Holy See has approved the establishment of a Canadian deanery of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter. Father Kenyon will provide excellent pastoral leadership for the new deanery and I offer my prayers for all involved in this important initiative.”

Cardinal Collins and Msgr. Steenson had petitioned the Holy See to create a deanery after receiving the unanimous support of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops at its September plenary assembly in Quebec.

“I continue to be full of gratitude for the encouragement and active support of the Canadian bishops for the Ordinariate and Pope Benedict’s vision for these intentional communities of Christian unity,” Msgr. Steenson noted.

The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was established by Pope Benedict XVI on January 1, 2012 for Anglican clergy and groups seeking to become Catholic, while also retaining aspects of their Anglican heritage and liturgy. It is one of three Ordinariates for former Anglicans in the world. To date, it includes 24 priests, 1,500 people and 35 communities across the United States and Canada. Peter Wilkinson, former bishop of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, will become the third Ordinariate priest in Canada, when he is ordained in Victoria, BC on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012.

The other Ordinariates are Our Lady of Walsingham in the United Kingdom and Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia.

Background on Fr. Lee Kenyon:

Fr. Lee Kenyon was born and raised in Manchester, Lancashire, England. He was educated at the University of Lancaster (BA Philosophy) and at the University of Leeds (BA Theology, MA Theology). He studied and trained for the Anglican ministry at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, and was ordained into the Church of England in 2005. He served a curacy St. Cuthbert, Darwen with St. Stephen, Tockholes, in the Diocese of Blackburn before coming to serve as Priest-in- Charge at St. John the Evangelist, Calgary in 2009.

Fr Kenyon was received into full communion with the Catholic Church in December 2011, and was ordained a Catholic priest for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter by the Bishop of Calgary in June 2012. Fr Kenyon and his wife Elizabeth have three children.

Online: www.usordinariate.org and www.calgaryordinariate.com; Media contact: Susan Gibbs, 202-525-9554 and susan@gibbsmediaworks.com or media@usordinariate.org

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O God, who made the Bishop Saint Ambrose a teacher of the Catholic faith and a model of apostolic courage, raise up in your Church men after your own heart to govern her with courage and wisdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Saint Ambrose of Milan

Today's saint, a Doctor of the Church is by tradition the patron of bee keepers; bees (note the hive in the portrait of the elderly saint below); of  candlemakers; chandlers; domestic animals; French Commissariat; learning; Milan, Italy; schoolchildren; students; wax melters; wax refiners.

Around the year 333 Ambrose was born at Trier, the child of a noble Roman family. After his father's death he went to Rome, and was soon appointed consul with residence at Milan. While attempting to settle a dispute between the Arians and Catholics over the choice of a bishop, he himself was chosen, although only a catechumen at the time. Thereupon he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the study of theology, and gave his possessions to the poor. He was an illustrious preacher, and through his sermons brought Augustine to the faith and baptized him.

Candid and fearless no matter how strong the opposition, Ambrose was directed to confront Maximus, the murderer of the Emperor Gratian. When Maximus refused to do penance, Ambrose excommunicated him. Later he denied Emperor Theodosius entrance into church for his massacre of the inhabitants of Thessalonica. It was on this occasion that allusion was made to [King] David as a murderer and adulterer, and Ambrose retorted: "You have followed him in sin, now follow him in repentance." Humbly, Theodosius accepted the penance imposed.

We often meet this saint in the Divine Office as a teacher and as an inspired composer of hyms (fourteen of the hymns attributed to him are definitely authentic, true pearls of religious poetry). His writings are vibrant with ancient Christian liturgical spirit, for his life was wholly rooted in mystery and sacrament. We can profit greatly by reading Ambrose's works. He is [with St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great and St. Jerome] one of the four great Latin Doctors of the Church. [Excerpted from Pius Parsch, The Church's Year of Grace]

Saint Ambroise de Milan, Docteur de l'Eglise (339-397)

Ambroise de Milan est une des plus grandes figures de l'Église ancienne et le meilleur représentant latin, avec Augustin, de la pensée mariale occidentale.

Ambroise naît entre 334 et 339 à Trèves, où son père est préfet. Il étudie et enseigne la rhétorique. Vers 370 il est nommé gouverneur de la Ligurie et de l'Emilie, en siégeant à Milan. Ambroise, homme intègre et consciencieux, après la mort de l'évêque aryen Assenze, et alors qu'il est encore catéchumène, est acclamé évêque par tout le peuple de Milan, aussi bien les orthodoxes que les aryens. Il est baptisé et, huit jours après, consacré évêque, le 7 décembre 374. Guidé par le prêtre savant Simplicianus, il se consacre infatigablement à l'étude des Livres saints, de la Tradition de l'Eglise, des Pères latins et surtout grecs. Prédicateur célèbre, il exerce une influence déterminante dans l'Eglise et dans la politique de son temps.

Ambroise, amoureux du Christ, le Verbe, brûle comme saint Paul d'une jalousie divine pour la virginité consacrée au Seigneur. Il fonde et dirige des monastères de vierges. Il écrit aux vierges quatre oeuvres célèbres dont « De la virginité » - entendue dans le sens le plus ample: de corps, de cœur et d'esprit - et il s'exprime avec une délicatesse exquise. [...]

Il nourrit et manifeste envers Marie une vénération profonde, qui ne naît pas d'un sentimentalisme piétiste, mais de la conscience précise de la place singulière de Marie dans le mystère du salut.

Il accepte, avec une claire formulation christologique, la maternité divine de Marie ; il reprend et développe l'ancienne antithèse Ève-Marie. [...]

Il propose comme modèle la Vierge Marie suivant son portrait le plus vrai et le plus évangélique, formé de pudeur virginale, d'écoute attentive de la Parole de Dieu, d'humilité de cœur, de labeur incessant, de prompte charité envers les pauvres, d'ascèse quotidienne, d'équilibre intérieur, de désir ardent de l'Époux continuellement recherché et fidèlement suivi.

Vatican II a repris un aspect important chez saint Ambroise : la typologie ecclésiale de Marie. En effet saint Ambroise fonde un parallélisme typologique entre Marie et l'Église, entre la maternité de Marie et les sacrements de l'Église, entre Marie et chaque fidèle dans l'Église : ce parallélisme concerne la virginité de la foi et à la fécondité dans l'Esprit.  [L. GAMBERO, Testi mariani del primo millennio, vol 3, Padri e altri autori latini, Città Nuova Editrice, 1990, extraits des pages 160-163 par Françoise Breynaert.]

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CATECHISTS OF THE NCW
INVITE OPENNESS TO GOD'S WORD

This fall, catechists from the Neo-Catechumenal Way (NCW) presented a program of discipleship to interested persons who gathered at Sagrada Familia Parish (in Spanish) and at Assumption of Our Lady Parish (in English).

One of the key moments in the attachment to the Lord and His Church is the ceremony of the Handing Over of the Bible, which I did to some twenty-seven men and women in a ceremony at Sagrada Familia Parsh Hall. The sharing of a supper added an additional festive dimension to our gathering.  Photos: Fr. Jorge Lopez.

Most Reverend Murray Chatlain Named Archbishop of Keewatin-Le Pas - Celebrating with St. Francis Xavier CHS - OM: St. Nicholas

Today, it was announced in Rome that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI had appointed the Most Reverend Murray Chatlain, currently Bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, as Archbishop of Keewatin-Le Pas, naming him as well Apostolic Administrator of Mackenzie-Fort Smith.

Our best wishes and prayers accompany Archbishop-elect Chatlain in his new responsibilities.

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Aujourd’hui, à Rome on a annoncé que Sa Sainteté le Pape Benoît XVI a nommé Son Excellence Monseigneur Murray Chatlain, présentement évêque de Mackenzie-Fort Smith, archevêque de Keewatin-Le Pas, le nommant aussi comme Administrateur apostolique de Mackenzie-Fort Smith.

Félicitations, Excellence!

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ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL

CELEBRATES FEAST DAY IN BOURGET

On Monday, I joined the students, faculty, and staff and of St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School as well as several school board officials (it is part of the Eastern Ontario Catholic District School Board) for a celebration of the school's patronal feast day at a Mass held in Sacre-Coeur Church in nearby Bourget.

After Mass, we all went to the Community Centre for a delicious turkey dinner with trimmings, courtesy of the Knights of Columbus. On my way home, I visited the school building for a brief time in the company of the school chaplain.

Some photos:

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SAINT NICHOLAS OF MYRA

We humbly implore your mercy, Lord: protect us in all dangers through the prayers of the Bishop Saint Nicholas, that the way of salvation may lie open before us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra, is undoubtedly one of the most popular saints honored in the Western world. In North America, his memory has survived in the unique personality of Saint Claus — the jolly, rotund, white-bearded gentleman who captivates children with promises of gifts on Christmas Eve. Considered primarily as the patron saint of children, Nicholas is also invoked by sailors, merchants, bakers, travelers and pawnbrokers, and with Saint Andrew is honoured as the co-patron of Russia.

In spite of his widespread fame, Saint Nicholas, from the historian's point of view, is hardly more than a name. He was born in the last years of the third century in Asia Minor. His uncle, the archbishop of Myra in Lycia, ordained him and appointed him abbot of a nearby monastery. At the death of the archbishop, Nicholas was chosen to fill the vacancy, and he served in this position until his death. About the time of the persecutions of Diocletian, he was imprisoned for preaching Christianity but was released during the reign of Emperor Constantine.

Popular legends have involved Saint Nicholas in a number of charming stories, one of which relates Nicholas' charity toward the poor. A man of Patara had lost his fortune, and finding himself unable to support his three maiden daughters, was planning to turn them into the streets as prostitutes. Nicholas heard of the man's intentions and secretly threw three bags of gold through a window into the home, thus providing dowries for the daughters. The three bags of gold mentioned in this story are said to be the origin of the three gold balls that form the emblem of pawnbrokers.

After Nicholas' death on December 6 in or around 345, his body was buried in the cathedral at Myra. It remained there until 1087, when seamen of Bari, an Italian coastal town, seized the relics of the saint and transferred them to their own city. Veneration for Nicholas had already spread throughout Europe as well as Asia, but this occurrence led to a renewal of devotion in the West. Countless miracles were attributed to the saint's intercession. His relics are still preserved in the church of San Nicola in Bari; an oily substance, known as Manna di S. Nicola, which is highly valued for its medicinal powers, is said to flow from them.

The story of Saint Nicholas came to America in distorted fashion. The Dutch Protestants carried a popularized version of the saint's life to New Amsterdam, portraying Nicholas as nothing more than a Nordic magician and wonder-worker. Our present-day conception of Santa Claus has grown from this version. Catholics should think of Nicholas as a saint, a confessor of the faith and the bishop of Myra — not merely as a jolly man from the North Pole who brings happiness to small children. Many countries and locations honour St. Nicholas as patron: Greece, Russia, Sicily, Lorraine, and many cities in Italy, Germany, Austria, and Belgium. [Excerpted from Lives of the Saints for Every Day of the Year, Volume III © 1959, by The Catholic Press, Inc.]

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SAINT NICOLAS

Archevêque de Myre (+ 324)

Saint Nicolas de Patare, en Lycie, fut le fruit des prières de ses pieux parents. Il eut l'esprit ouvert aux choses divines dès sa plus petite enfance; à peine sut-il manger, qu'il sut jeûner, et l'on rapporte même que, le vendredi et le samedi, il ne prenait qu'une fois le sein de sa nourrice. Il avait un oncle évêque, qui, voyant avec admiration les vertus de Nicolas, l'ordonna prêtre dès qu'il eut l'âge requis et fit de lui cette prédiction: "Il sera la consolation des affligés, le sauveur des âmes en péril, le bon pasteur qui rassemble ses brebis égarées au bercail de Jésus-Christ."

Une de ses premières oeuvres fut de sauver l'honneur de trois filles exposées à la perte de leur vertu; il les dota toutes, l'une après l'autre, et il le fit si discrètement, que c'est à la fin seulement que le père, touché d'admiration, surprit la main du bienfaiteur.

Après un pèlerinage aux Lieux saints, Nicolas se retira à Myre, espérant échapper aux honneurs qu'il voulait éviter avec tant de soin, et à la mort de l'évêque de Myre, qui arriva peu de temps après, il fut élu pour lui succéder. Dès lors il s'appliqua à devenir le modèle de son troupeau. Il ne mangea plus qu'une fois le jour, et jamais de viande; il faisait toujours lire à sa table quelque livre de la Sainte Écriture; ses nuits se passaient en oraison, et la terre dure était sa couche pour le peu de repos qu'il prenait. Levé avant le jour, il réveillait ses clercs pour chanter des hymnes et des psaumes; aussitôt le soleil paru, il allait à l'église et employait le reste du jour à ses diverses fonctions pastorales.

Nicolas, sous la persécution de Dioclétien, fut jeté dans un cachot et mis à la torture; mais on n'osa pas le faire mourir, par peur de la vengeance de son peuple.

Peu de Saints ont opéré de plus nombreux et de plus éclatants miracles. Tantôt il apparaît à Constantin pendant la nuit, pour lui ordonner de mettre en liberté trois innocents qui doivent être exécutés le lendemain; tantôt il se montre, en pleine tempête, à des matelots en danger qui l'ont appelé à leur secours. Il est surtout légendaire entre mille, le miracle de la résurrection de trois enfants tués par un boucher et hachés menu, pour être mêlés à la viande de son commerce. On l'honore comme le patron des écoliers. [Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.]

Advent Sunday 2C - CCO RISE UP!

Second Sunday of Advent (Year “C”)—December 9, 2012

“ALL FLESH SHALL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD”

[Texts: Baruch 5.1-9 [Psalm 126]; Philippians 1.4-6, 8-11; Luke 3.1-6]

Baruch, a professional scribe, served as secretary to Jeremiah the prophet and read his message in the temple (cf. Jeremiah 36.4-10). When King Jehoiakim was angered by Jeremiah's prophecy, he had Baruch and his scrolls seized. Though the king burned the scrolls, Baruch rewrote the oracles.

With Jeremiah, Baruch was carried off to Egypt (43.6), and knowledge of his later fate has become legendary. Tradition holds that he was taken to Babylon after Nebuchadenezzar conquered Egypt.

Baruch's high character and the significant role he played in Jeremiah's life led later generations to enhance his reputation. Thus, a large number of writings were attributed to him. Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians include one of these, the Book of Baruch, among the seven deuterocanonical writings of the Bible; Protestants call these writings the Apocrypha.

Scholars date the contents of Baruch to several eras. Compilers gathered these important writings late in the first century B.C. to rouse in their contemporaries a sense of Israel's historic roots. Though religious life had become quieter and easier, it remained in danger of being absorbed by religious and social currents.

The authors wanted God's people to experience solidarity with their ancestors from exilic times and become aware of sinful tendencies that had led to Israel's downfall in the past, which still were lurking close at hand. For the sacred authors, spiritual reflection leading to contrition laid the groundwork for hope in the future.

Mother Jerusalem had been exhorting her children in exile to fortitude and patience (Baruch 4.5-5.9). Even in exile they remained God's people Israel. Now they were being urged to look beyond present sorrows to see the joy that was coming, to put off the garment of mourning, replacing it with the robe of righteousness (“put on forever the beauty of the glory from God”).

The authors of Baruch simply used the setting of the exile as imagery to bear a message to their contemporaries. The restoration being envisaged was the messianic era in which God's children would be gathered not only from Babylon (“the east”) but from everywhere (“see your children gathered from west and east”). On that day, God would delight in all who were being saved (“God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him”). This fulfilment of Deutero-Isaiah's message echoes through the last verses of the selection from Baruch.

John the Baptist made an appeal similar to Baruch's to his contemporaries. Challenging them to see that God was doing something new—fulfilling what had been promised by Isaiah—John called for “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. While Mark and Matthew were content to speak of John as Isaiah's “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord...’”, Luke extended the quotation (“every mountain and hill shall be made low”) to show that God was making it easy to return to him. In fact, God's present purpose was to offer redemption to everyone (“all flesh shall see the salvation of God”).

As this year's readings from Luke progress, we shall notice the evangelist's stress on the universality of God's saving plan and offer. For example, Luke showed that Jesus' inaugural sermon stirred up opposition when he proclaimed a ministry in the same line as the prophets Elijah and Elisha, who carried God's gracious purpose to foreigners, the widow at Zarephath in Sidon and the Syrian leper Naaman (Luke 4.24-28). Women, soldiers, tax-collectors, lepers and sinners of every stripe would have good news proclaimed to them.

Luke consciously prepared his readers for this universalist perspective by situating the ministry of John the Baptist not only within the perspective of Israel's history (“the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas”), but within the ambit of the history of the Roman Empire (“in the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee ...”).

Paul assured the Philippians that God will bring all of history to its intended positive outcome at the Parousia. “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ”.

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MASS FOR CCO MISSIONARIES

On Monday, I presided at Mass for Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) missionaries on the Feast of one of their patrons, St. Francis Xavier.  Somehow the iPhone photo lost its colour in being transfered to my Outlook account.

Yesterday, I booked my flight for Halifax and this year's eastern version of the annual Christmas-week RISE UP! gathering (this year also in Saskatoon). I have been asked to give a conference on Sunday, December 30 in French.  To get more info re this fantastic youth assemby and to register, go to: http://cco.ca/riseup/

HALIFAX & SASKATOON

28 December, 2012 - January 1, 2013

Saint John of Damascus - Renaming a School in Honour of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

St. Jean de Damas,

Docteur de l'Église (+ 749)

Mémoire de saint Jean Damascène, prêtre et docteur de l’Église, célèbre par sa sainteté et sa doctrine. Pour le culte des saintes images, il combattit avec vigueur par sa parole et ses écrits contre l’empereur Léon l’Isaurien et, devenu moine et prêtre dans la laure de Saint-Sabas près de Jérusalem, il composa des hymnes sacrées et y mourut, vers 749. [Martyrologe romain]

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Jean Mansour est né à Damas en Syrie, dans une famille de fonctionnaires des impôts, arabe et chrétienne. Son grand-père et son père ont servi successivement sous les Perses, les Byzantins et les Arabes. Mansour, à son tour, supervise durant des années la perception des impôts que les chrétiens doivent à l'émir de Damas. Vers 720, le nouveau calife décide d'islamiser son administration et en chasse les chrétiens. Mansour a 45 ans et il est désormais sans travail. Cette liberté lui permet de se rendre en Palestine où il entre au monastère de Mar Saba (saint Sabas) entre Jérusalem et Bethléem. Devenu prêtre, il prend le nom de Jean et partage désormais sa vie entre la prédication à Jérusalem où le patriarche l'a choisi comme conseiller théologique et l'étude dans son monastère. Son principal écrit "La source de la connaissance" résume toute la théologie byzantine. Il est aussi un grand défenseur des Saintes Images lors de la première crise iconoclaste. On lui doit de nombreux tropaires, des hymnes et des poèmes. C'est lui composa le canon que la liturgie chante à Pâques et il rédigea la plupart des hymnes de l'Octoèque (hymnes pour les dimanches selon les huit tons musicaux) en l'honneur de la résurrection du Seigneur. Le Pape Léon XIII l'a proclamé docteur de l'Église en 1890.

A l'audience générale du 6 mai 2009, Benoît XVI a tracé le portrait de saint Jean Damascène (675 - 749), qui occupe une place importante dans la théologie byzantine: "Il fut avant tout témoin de l'effondrement de la culture chrétienne gréco-syrienne, qui dominait la partie orientale de l'empire, devant la nouveauté musulmane qui se répandait avec les conquêtes militaires de l'actuel proche et moyen orient. Né dans une riche famille chrétienne, il devint jeune responsable des finances du califat. Vite insatisfait de la vie de cour, il choisit la voie du monachisme et entra vers 700 au couvent de St. Saba proche de Jérusalem, sans jamais plus s'en éloigner. Il se consacra alors totalement à l'ascèse et à l'étude, sans dédaigner l'activité pastorale dont témoignent ses nombreuses homélies... Léon XIII le proclama Docteur de l'Église en 1890"

Puis le Pape a rappelé que Jean Damascène est surtout resté fameux pour ses trois discours contre les iconoclastes, condamnés après sa mort au concile de Hieria (754). Il y développe les premiers arguments en défense de la vénération des icônes exprimant de mystère de l'Incarnation. "Ainsi fut-il l'un des premiers à distinguer entre cultes public et privé, entre adoration et vénération, la première étant réservée à Dieu seul. La seconde forme peut servir à s'adresser au saint représenté. "Cette distinction fut très importante pour répondre chrétiennement à qui prétendait universelle et définitive l'interdiction mosaïque des images dans le culte. Ayant débattu de la question, les chrétiens de l'époque ont alors trouvé une justification de la vénération des images... Mais le débat était de grande actualité dans le monde musulman, qui fit sienne l'interdiction hébraïque des images".

Témoin du culte des icônes, Jean Damascène en fit une caractéristique de la théologie et de la spiritualité orientale. Jusqu'à nos jours, son enseignement porte la tradition de l'Église universelle, dont la doctrine sacramentale prévoit que des éléments matériels, repris de la nature, peuvent être source de grâces par le biais de l'invocation de l'Esprit, doublée de la confession de la vraie foi". Il admit aussi la vénération des reliques des saints car, participant à la Résurrection, on ne peut les considérer comme de simples morts. "L'optimisme chrétien de saint Jean Damascène -a conclu le Saint-Père- dans la contemplation de la nature, dans la capacité à voir le bon, le beau et le véritable dans la création, n'a rien d'ingénu. Il tient compte de la blessure infligée à la nature humaine par la liberté voulue de Dieu et souvent mal utilisée par l'homme, ce qui entraîne une disharmonie diffuse du monde et tout ce qui en découle. D'où l'exigence du théologien de Damas de clairement percevoir la nature, en tant que reflet de la bonté et de la beauté de Dieu, blessées par la faute de l'homme, mais renforcées et renouvelées par l'incarnation du Fils". (source: VIS 090506)

A propos des icônes: Ce n’est pas la matière que j’adore mais le créateur de la matière qui, à cause de moi, s’est fait matière, a choisi sa demeure dans la matière. Par la matière, il a établi mon salut. En effet, le Verbe s’est fait chair et il a dressé sa tente parmi nous… Cette matière, je l’honore comme prégnante de l’énergie et de la grâce de Dieu. Saint Jean Damascène, Discours sur les images]

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Grant, we pray, O Lord, that we may be helped by the prayers of the Priest Saint John Damascene, so that the true faith, which he excelled in teaching, may always be our light and our strength. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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KATERI TEKAKWITHA:

FROM BLESSED TO SAINT

IN A SCHOOL'S NAME

Last week, I travelled to Orleans to celebrate a Mass at Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic elementary school, observing the change of the name from Blessed to Saint Kateri school. 

The staff, children and parents attending were moved by the statements of a Native elder and a Native artist who had rendered a new depiction of the Lily of the Mohawks. The closing hymn was new song written in honour of the Canadian saint most recently elevated to the altars.

Some photos:

THE "FAILURE" OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER—1506-1552 - Visit to Ottawa's Parish of Saint George

O God, who through the preaching of Saint Francis Xavier won many peoples to yourself, grant that the hearts of the faithful may burn with the same zeal for the faith and that Holy Church may everywhere rejoice in an abundance of offspring. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Today is the memorial of one who is held by many to be the greatest missionary since the Apostle Saint Paul. Because a Jesuit confrere who was to have accompanied the Portuguese mission to India fell ill, St. Ignatius Loyola called on his friend to go on one day's notice; Providence amazes us always!

A fascinating article on Xavier's "failure" is part of a collection on the saints by the late Archbishop Alban Goodier, S.J. Here is an excerpt (to read the whole article go to http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/XAVIER.HTM).

From the day when he decided to throw in his lot with St. Ignatius he [Francis Xavier] was a disappointment to those who had hitherto known him. His family was disappointed with him. It was noble, but now was not rich; it had lost its all because of its staunch support of the French claim against the Spanish for the lordship of Navarre: in the campaign which led up to the fall of Pampeluna, his own brothers had fought on the side of the French victors. Now, since the reverse, it had done what it could to give this youngest son a fresh start in life; since he could not serve under a Spanish conqueror, he should be offered a career of learning, a career in the Church. Yet here he was, at the mere instigation of an eccentric beggar-student, and a Spaniard besides, whose past was more than suspicious, sacrificing all his prospects, and starting on some wild goose chase to convert the Holy Land! It must be confessed that many a more Christian family than even that of Xavier would have been justified in its disappointment on a less apparent ground than this.

Again, the University was disappointed with him. It had given him every advantage; it had appointed him to a professorship; it had marked him out for a career which only needed his own energy to lift him up to the highest rank of the new elite of Europe. Yet all the return he made was, in a moment of enthusiasm, to throw it all up at the suggestion of one who had already come to be looked upon with reserve. Surely there was ground for the resentment of the authorities against the intrusion of Inigo Loyola; and their judgment that Francis Xavier was, after all, fickle and light-headed, a dreamer of dreams and unreliable, was not without a basis of good evidence.

Then to his companions, the first members of the Society of Jesus, his life seemed so arranged, his character so singular, as constantly to lead to disappointment. In the enthusiasm of his conversion, he wished to go to the Carthusians, and it needed all the influence of Ignatius to prevent him. On their first tramp to Rome, he had carried his penance to an excess which any man of judgment might easily have avoided, and only a miracle prevented him from becoming a burden to them all. Arrived in Italy, he was sent to Bologna. There he made his mark; he was a born preacher and apostle; evidently he was the man to reform that and other cities; and he was called away from the midst of it all to sit at a desk, seemingly useless and unknown as a mere private secretary.

Nevertheless, here again he succeeded. His brethren saw the wisdom of having such a man at the elbow of their Father General. One so gifted, so far-seeing, so sympathetic, so devoted, would be of untold service in framing the new Constitutions and in directing the fast-growing Order; yet, on a sudden, they found that, at a single day's notice, he had gone away to Portugal, thence to be lost to civilization altogether.

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EPISCOPAL VISITATION AT ST. GEORGE'S PARISH

INCLUDING A STOP AT ST. GEORGE'S SCHOOL

With my Episcopal Vicar, Father Geoffrey Kerslake, I conducted a Pastoral Visitation at St. George's Parish where Father Leonard St. John serves as pastor, assisted by Deacon Derek Smith and Parish Manager Georges Bouliane (former principal of St. George's School), assisted by many volunteers who serve on the various committees and are engaged in several ministries.

Our visit to the parish began with a visit to St. George's school on Thursday (with two assemblies), continued with the Saturday afternoon anticipated Eucharist, a meeting with members of the parish finance and pastoral councils, and concluded with the two Sunday morning Masses and a tour of the parish's construction site where the basement hall and meeting rooms is being completely redone and an addition is rising between the hall and the rectory. 

Some photos...

...OF THE SCHOOL VISIT

...OF THE PARISH PHASE

 

Awaiting Christ's Coming in Glory - Confirmations: Saint Francois d'Assise & Saint Bonaventure



COLLECT FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT:

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming, so that, gathered at his right hand, they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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LES CONFIRMATIONS D'AUTOMNE SE TERMINENT

Samedi passé à l’Église St. François d’Assise, j’ai présidé la messe anticipée de la solennité du Christ-Roi. Pendant cette Eucharistie, j’ai confirmé une trentaine de jeunes membres des paroisses St. Bonaventure et St. François d’Assise. C’était ma dernière célébration de ce sacrement de l’initiation avant l’arrivée de l’Avent. On recommencera les Confirmations à la mi-janvier.

Voici quelques photos:

St. Edmund Campion & Martyr Companions - The Pope's Prayer Intentions for December of 2012 - Le Chemin de Joseph (Orleans)

St Edmund Campion and Companions, Martyrs

A window of three martyred Jesuit priests of the English Reformation: St Edmund Campion, whose feast is today (1 December), St Nicholas Owen and St Ralph Sherwin. This window is in the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception in Farm Street, London. Photo by Lawrence, OP.

From www.catholicireland.net :

Edmund Campion was the first Jesuit priest to be executed in England under the Statutes of the Elizabethan Act of Supremacy. He spent two years in Ireland as a civil servant before going to the continent to become a Jesuit priest. After service in Prague and Vienna, he returned to a mission in England for two years before he was discovered, tried and executed. Patrick Duffy tells his story.


Should he become an Anglican clergyman? Edmund was the son of a Catholic bookseller, whose family converted to Anglicanism. Edmund was awarded a scholarship to Saint John’s College, Oxford, under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth I's court favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. He grew up in Queen Mary's reign when Catholicism was in the ascendancy, but after Elizabeth became queen (1558), he took the Oath of Supremacy recognising her as head of the Church of England on the occasion of his degree in 1564. At Oxford he was much sought-after as a speaker, and was talked of as a possible Archbishop of Canterbury. Queen Elizabeth offered him a deaconate in the Church of England, but, increasingly troubled by the Supremacy issue, he felt unable to go forward to ordination.

In Ireland 1569-71 While he was struggling with his conscience, he went to Ireland to take part in the proposed establishment of the University of Dublin. Here he enjoyed the protection of Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney and the friendship of Sir Patrick Barnewell at Turvey. While in Ireland he occupied himself with writing a history of Ireland (first published in Holinshead's Chronicles).

Douai, Rome, Prague and Vienna 1571-80 In 1571 he left Ireland secretly and went to Douai where he was reconciled to the Catholic Church and received the Eucharist that he had denied himself for the previous 12 years. He entered the English College founded by William Allen, another Oxford religious refugee. After obtaining his degree in divinity, he walked as a pilgrim to Rome and joined the Jesuits. Ordained in 1578, he spent some time working in Prague and Vienna.

England 1580-81 He returned to London as part of a Jesuit mission, crossing the Channel disguised as a jewel merchant, and worked with Jesuit brother, Nicholas Owen. He led a hunted life, preaching and ministering to Catholics in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, and Lancashire. At this time also he wrote his Decem Rationes ("Ten Reasons") against the Anglican Church, 400 copies of which found their way to the benches of St Mary's, Oxford, at the Commencement, on June 27, 1581.

Martyrdom Captured by a spy, Campion was taken to London and committed to the Tower. Charged with conspiring to raise a sedition in the realm and dethrone the Queen he was found guilty. Campion replied: "If our religion do make traitors we are worthy to be condemned; but otherwise we are and have been true subjects as ever the queen had. In condemning us, you condemn your own ancestors, you condemn all the ancient Bishops and Kings, you condemn all that was once the glory of England...." After spending his last days in prayer, Edmund was led with two companions to Tyburn and hanged, drawn and quartered on December 1, 1581.

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THE POPE'S PRAYER INTENTIONS

DECEMBER 2012

General • Migrants. That migrants throughout the world may be welcomed with generosity and authentic love, especially by Christian communities.

Missionary • Christ, light for all humanity. That Christ may reveal himself to all humanity with the light that shines forth from Bethlehem and is reflected in the face of his Church.

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LE CHEMIN DE JOSEPH…

C'est un groupe de priere issu du Renouveau charismatique il y a une trentaine d’années a la paroisse St. Joseph d’Orléans.

Samedi passe, Mgr Berniquez et moi ont rendu visite avec les membres pour mieux connaître leur spiritualite et pour les encourager dans leur cheminement.

Voici quelques photos.