Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys - Bon anniversaire, Mgr Plourde !

MEMORIAL OF SAINT MARGUERITE BOURGEOYS, RELIGIOUS

Almighty God, who called Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys to leave her homeland so as to educate young people in the Christian life, direct, we pray, our words and our deeds that along the varied paths which lead to you, we too, by her example and prayer, may proclaim the loving presence of our Saviour. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Marguerite Bourgeoys was born in Troyes, France in 1620 and died in Montreal in 1700. As one of the older girls of a Christian, middle-class family, Marguerite had to assume the responsibility for the household when her mother died. At the age of twenty, she had a conversion experience during a religious procession that profoundly influenced her future mission and focused her values. She felt singled out by the Blessed Virgin. In response, she joined a local group of women who gathered to do charitable work as an extension of a cloister in Troyes.

Marguerite served as leader of this extern group and, as her service, taught the children in the poor section of town. In 1653 Paul de Maisonneuve, founder of Montreal, passed through Troyes and invited Marguerite to join him in Ville Marie as a lay teacher to instruct the children of the colonists and the Native Americans. In June 1653, she sailed from Nantes on a three-month voyage to the New World. Marguerite's humanitarian and Christian work in Canada was principally as educator and founder.

The wilderness was so hard on the colonists that she had to wait for five years before children survived until school age. In the interim, she instructed the Indian children. In 1658 she opened her first school in a stone stable given her by the town leaders. Marguerite had a broad concept of education. She saw the school as a vehicle of religious and social development. Unique to her time, she provided education for all, giving special attention to girls, the poor and the natives. Education in Marguerite's schools consisted in the basics of literacy, religious instruction, home economics, and the arts.

Beyond the classroom, she worked with families, assisted in faith formation in the parish, and addressed the social service needs of the colonists. Noteworthy among her contributions to the colony is the special vocational schools she established to provide the domestic skills a young woman would need to run a home in the wilderness.

 
She became the official guardian to the "filles du roi", young orphan girls sent by the monarch to establish new families. She lodged them in her own home, served as a matchmaker, and prepared them for their new life as pioneers.
 
Her signature appears as a witness on many of the early marriage contracts in Montreal. As a result of these activities she was affectionately referred to as "the Mother of the Colony".
 
Marguerite made three trips back to France to recruit other women to join her in her work of education and to obtain civil approbation from the king.
 
Marguerite's apostolic spirituality was a special gift to the Church. She was a woman of action inserted into her time as is attested to by the mark she left on the history of Montreal and education in Canada. She was a woman of faith, deeply committed to the service of the Gospels.
 
She was personally motivated by the missionary journeying of Mary in service to her cousin, Elizabeth, and desired to form a group of uncloistered women who would imitate Mary in this mystery of the Visitation.
 
Marguerite had an exceptional and practical love of God and neighbor. She had a great desire to serve the Church in its most local form, the parish. She exhorted her extern congregation of educators to be "daughters of the parish" - to worship with the people and use the local church as a source of spiritual nourishment.
 
Her Congregation received Church approbation in 1698 and at that time pronounced vows as uncloistered religious. Today the Congregation de Notre Dame numbers 2600 sisters in North America, Japan, Latin America, and the Cameroons in service to the people of God in the spirit of the Visitation.

On November 12, 1950 Pope Pius XII beatified Marguerite Bourgeoys. Canonizing her October 31, 1982, Pope John Paul II gave the Canadian Church its first woman saint.

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MGR PLOURDE A 97 ANS!

Today, Archbishop Joseph-Aurele Plourde, Emeritus of Ottawa, reaches a new milestone as the oldest bishop in Canada, beginning his 98th year.  Congratulations!

Meilleurs voeux, Excellence!

Portrait de Mgr Plourde par Cyril Leeper, 1986

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time B - Mike Budge at 50

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year “B”) - January 15, 2012

VOCATIONS: GIVEN FOR GOD'S PEOPLE

[1 Samuel 3.3b-10, 19, [Psalm 40]; 1 Corinthians 6.13c-15a, 17-20; John 1.35-42]

The Call of Samuel

The Canadian and United States Conferences of Catholic Bishops simultaneously published a pastoral plan to follow up the Third Continental Congress on Vocations to Ordained Ministry and Consecrated Life in North America, held in Montreal ten years ago in April 2002.

The Congress's theme—“Vocación, Don de Dieu, Given for God's People”—expressed in three official languages the Church's conviction that all service to God's people is a response to divine initiative.

God continually calls youth, as we see in the reading from the Book of Samuel.  Today's crucial challenge today remains to find guides able to help those called to respond—as Eli instructed Samuel—with a joyful self-offering, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”.  Samuel's childhood call developed as he grew; the Lord stayed by him and ensured that his prophetic ministry was effective ([God] ‘let none of his words fall to the ground’). 

The programmatic booklet was entitled Creating a Vocation Culture in North America.  The first part, in three chapters, reflected on the experience of the Congress, which many agreed was an extraordinarily positive one (the opening chapter cites as its leitmotif the experience of Jesus' encounter with his two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, “Were not our hearts burning within us?”)

Then, consideration was given to the complex realities of the North American Church today (“the field is the world”), citing the other event that took place ten years ago, the World Youth Day in Toronto as a special “vocational moment” lived out in North America, and noting the shifts in generations and the unique characteristics of each (Millenials and Gen-Xers).

The third chapter explores the biblical and theological foundations for vocation ministry (“Jesus interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the Scriptures”), some of which are present in this and next Sunday's readings.

The second half charted a path for the future in vocation ministry in Canada and the United States.  The authors were convinced that the Church has the best chance to discover, affirm and nurture calls to ordained ministry and religious life when it professes that all disciples are called by God to live their vocation—including marriage and the single life—in service to the world.

Two appendices close out the work, the letter of Blessed Pope John Paul II to Congress delegates and a statement crafted by young adult delegates during a special session they held one evening.

The youth delegates expressed their desire for a covenant relationship with the Church, and pledged to offer back to the Church all that they would ask for and receive.  They specifically called on those in consecrated life and ordained ministry “to offer us authentic joyful witness to your way of life, that we may experience the passion of your service... and share your deep excitement and deep love of Christ and the Church”.

They also invited religious and priests, in ongoing dialogue, to inspire them and help them recognize the gifts they bring to church life.  They said they need, “continued nurturing of our personal vocations as baptized Christians, inclusive of all vocations to the married, single or religious life”.  They expressed a desire for spiritual directors who would share their skills with them, along with meaningful catechesis, ongoing formation and education.

They stressed the importance of “authentic and true witnesses to our faith who are not afraid to be vulnerable in sharing their story, including their strengths and weaknesses”.  Finally, they urged the Church to focus on youth and young adults: “We thirst for support in living our Catholic faith and desire to share that faith with a world that hungers for God”.

As in the Old Testament lectionary reading, the call motif is evident in the Gospel, in which Andrew and another, unnamed disciple come to know Jesus as God's Messiah.  They recall even the time of day—the tenth hour—or four o'clock in the afternoon.

Discovery of Christ, however, cannot be kept to oneself; it must be shared.  So Andrew brought the good news to his brother Simon, leading him to Jesus.  Simon's encounter was so profound it required a change of identity; henceforth he would be Cephas, which means “Peter” (“Rock”), the one to whose care the Lord would entrust his sheep (cf. John 21.15-17).

As the Church in Canada recalls the two major events of 2002—the Vocation Congress and World Youth Day—it is important to reflect on how the hopes of expressed following the Congress have helped develop a “culture of vocation” for all God’s people.

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PILGRIMAGE ORGANZIER FETED

For years, Mike Budge has organized the annual early-August five-diocese (Alexandria-Cornwall, Gatineau, Mont-Laurier, Ottawa and Pembroke) pilgrimage to Sainte Anne de Beaupre (with stops at the Shrine of Our Lady at Cap de la Madeleine and sometimes at St. Joseph's Oratory).  He reminded me that my next date to serve as host-bishop is coming up in August 2014.

On the weekend he turned fifty, which led family, co-workers, friends and pilgrims to celebrate his special day.  I dropped in to the celebration; some photos:

Les Soeurs franciscaines missionaires de Marie ont 135 ans! - Resumption of Ordinary Time

Sceau de la Congregation, rue Presland

 

Le vendredi passé, l’abbé Daniel Berniquez et moi, nous sommes allés visiter les Sœurs franciscaines missionnaires de Marie à l’ occasion du 135^e anniversaire de leur fondation aux Indes.  Il y a quelques années elles on vendu leur maison, rue Presland, et le jour du grand départ arrive sous peu : cinq religieuses déménageront à la Maison-mère à Montréal et celles qui restent, iront dans une maison, promenade Riverside, prise en location.

La supérieure Sœur Carmelle nous a accueillies avec chaleur au nom de la communauté. Les fmm ont reçu le groupe Queenship of Mary avec aspiration à la vie consacrée, pour une année de formation initiale.  En reconnaissance, ces dernières ont chanté en français quelques chants de Noel.

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La congrégation des franciscaines missionnaires de Marie a été fondée à Ootacamund par la Bienheureuse Helene Marie Philippine de Chappotin de Neuville, en religion Sœur Marie de la Passion—née le 21 mai 1839 à Nantes, décédée à Sanremo (Italie) le 15 novembre 1904—qui avait reçu le 6 janvier 1877 l'autorisation du Bx. Pie IX de fonder un nouvel institut spécifiquement destiné aux Missions.

Historique

Mère Marie de la Passion fonde une maison autonome à Ootacamund aux Indes, après sécession avec sa communauté d'origine, et le Bx. Pie IX approuve cette nouvelle congrégation en 1877, avec un noviciat à Saint-Brieuc. Elle est destituée de son poste de supérieure en 1883 à cause d'oppositions externes, mais elle est réhabilitée l'année suivante après enquête du Saint-Siège. En 1885, les constitutions sont approuvées avec affiliation au Tiers-Ordre régulier de Saint-François. L'institut est approuvé définitivement en 1896.

En 1904, année de sa mort, l'institut comptait 2 069 religieuses dans quatre-vingt-six maisons, fondées dans vingt-quatre pays. En 2002, les franciscaines missionnaires de Marie étaient 7,700 dans soixante-dix-sept pays des cinq continents ; elles sont environ 7,000 actuellement dans plus de 800 communautés.

 

Apostolat

Les franciscaines missionnaires de Marie sont vouées à la mission universelle, prêtes à aller partout et à tous, pour annoncer l’Evangile du Salut à ceux à qui le Christ n'a pas été révélé, à ceux parmi lesquels l'Église est moins présente, avec une préférence pour les pauvres. Elles organisent des séjours en coopération pour les jeunes de 25 à 35 ans.

La supérieure générale est une Australienne, élue en 2008 pour six ans, Sœur Suzanne Phillips, fmm.

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ORDINARY TIME RESUMES TODAY

Ordinary Time is the liturgical period outside of the distinctive liturgical seasons, and runs 33 or 34 weeks. In Latin, Ordinary Time is called Tempus Per Annum ("time throughout the year"). Ordinary Time falls between Christmas and Lent, and between Easter and Advent, exclusive.

Introduction

The Latin Tempus Per Annum ("time throughout the year") is rendered into English as "Ordinary Time." Many sources, online and in print, suggest that Ordinary Time gets its name from the word ordinal, meaning "numbered," since the Sundays of Ordinary Time, as in other seasons, are expressed numerically.

However, others suggest the etymology of "Ordinary Time" is related to our word "ordinary" (which itself has a connotation of time and order, derived from the Latin word ordo). Ordinary Time occurs outside of other liturgical time periods, periods in which specific aspects of the mystery of Christ are celebrated. According to The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, the days of Ordinary Time, especially the Sundays, "are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects."

Ordinary Time, depending on the year, runs either 33 or 34 weeks. When it runs 33 weeks, one of the numbered weeks must be omitted. The number that gets omitted is the one that would normally be scheduled to be observed after Pentecost Sunday. For example, in 2010, there were 9 weeks of winter Ordinary Time, so logically, the 10th Week of Ordinary Time should be scheduled after Pentecost. However, because there were only 33 weeks of Ordinary Time in 2010, the 10th week was skipped, and actual numbered week observed was the 11th week of Ordinary Time.

Basically, Ordinary Time encompasses that part of the Christian year that does not fall within the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter. The Catholic Church celebrates two periods of the year as Ordinary Time. The first period begins after the Feast Baptism of the Lord (the Sunday after The Epiphany) has ended. Some interpret this to mean that Ordinary Time begins on Sunday night, while others, including The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, specifically mention the first period of Ordinary Time beginning on the Monday [or in this year 2012, the Tuesday] after the Baptism of the Lord.

Either way, the point is the same. The next Sunday is still reckoned "The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time," because it is the Sunday of the second week in Ordinary Time. The reckoning can be confusing, and has many asking "what happened to the first Sunday in Ordinary Time?"

This first period of Ordinary Time runs until the Tuesday evening before Ash Wednesday. The Second period of Ordinary Time runs from the Monday after Pentecost until Evening Prayer is said the night before Advent begins. This includes Christ the King Sunday, the final Sunday of Ordinary Time. In some denominations, the Sundays of the second period of Ordinary Time are numbered "Sundays after Pentecost."

Ordinary time does not need to be "ordinary," and is not meant to mean that somehow we get a break from the Liturgical Year. The opposite is true: Ordinary Time celebrates "the mystery of Christ in all its aspects."

Many important liturgical celebrations fall during Ordinary Time, including, Trinity, Corpus Christi, All Saints, the Assumption of Mary, and Christ the King. In addition, the Church continues to celebrate Saints days and other events such as The Octave of Christian Unity.

The major feasts, when occurring on a Sunday, trump the regular Ordinary Time Sunday lessons and liturgy. In the Catholic Church in Canada, Corpus Christi is transferred to a Sunday, so often there are fewer than the 33 or 34 Sundays labelled "Sundays of Ordinary Time," although these Sundays still fall within Ordinary Time.

We also may remember and celebrate the parts of Jesus' life that were ordinary, much like our own lives. The color of green is appropriate because it is the most ordinary color in our natural environment.

History

The use of the term "Ordinary Time" was used before the Second Vatican Council, but it was not until after the council that the term was officially used to designate the period between Epiphany and Lent, and the period between Pentecost and Advent.

Rather than being called the "Season of Ordinary Time," the times were called "Season After Epiphany" and "Season After Pentecost" After the new Catholic Calendar took effect in 1969, these older designations were no longer used. However, some (including some Anglicans) still use the older designations. Interestingly, the Church in the Patristic period never seemed to effectively and concisely classify or label Ordinary Time, even though the time certainly existed (www.churchyear.net).

The Baptism of the Lord - Celebrating Christmas with Eastern Rite Christians

The Baptism of the Lord (Year “B”) - January 9, 2012

JESUS' BAPTISM FORESHADOWS HIS CROSS

[Isaiah 55.1-11; [Isaiah 12]; 1 John 5.1-9; Mark 1.7-11]

The opening of Mark's gospel (1.1‑13) has been described as a dramatic prologue introducing the actors and setting of a briskly-told play that is comparable to a Greek tragedy.  At the core of this prologue is the narrative of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.

The evangelist Mark's rough-hewn Greek style can appear naive. His frequent use of the Greek adverb “immediately” and a constant stream of the conjunctive “and” (both of which—unfortunately in my view—get removed in translations that smooth over and flatten out the “infelicities” of the original) suggests a narrator who is breathless to share his “good news” narrative with eager listeners (“and just as [=and immediately] he was coming up out of the water”...).

Again, despite the apparently simple pattern of his gospel's structure, Mark has arranged three revelatory scenes (one at the beginning, a second at mid-point, and the third at the end) to communicate Jesus' true identity.

Firstly, at Jesus' baptism (1.9-11), the heavens were opened and only Jesus saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on Him.  This awareness of the gift of God's Spirit will lead Jesus to exercise the Spirit's power throughout the gospel.

By Mark's allowing his audience to see the true import of the baptismal event, of course, he gives them, in advance, the correct interpretation of Jesus' words and deeds.

It would seem that we are likewise to understand that Jesus alone (but with the hearers and readers of the gospel listening in) heard the words pronounced by the heavenly Father at the baptism, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  The words are a citation of Isaiah 42.1, which are followed, in Isaiah's text, with the words “I have put my Spirit on him” that tie in with the baptism.

Secondly, at the transfiguration (9.2-8), similar words came from heaven, this time addressed by God to the three chosen disciples: “This is My Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”  A few verses earlier, Jesus had begun to instruct his disciples about his coming passion, death and resurrection (8.31-38).

The proclamation of Jesus as God's Son intends to counteract the possibility of Peter, John and James (or the gospel hearers) taking offense at Jesus' future suffering or his challenge to take up their cross and follow him.

Lastly, a third articulation of Jesus' identity takes place immediately after He cried aloud and died on the cross (15.33).  In this instance, the confession of Jesus' identity comes not from God but from the Roman soldier who had seen Jesus expiring with such force that his last breath—the outpouring of the Holy Spirit--had torn the veil of the temple in two: “Now when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God's Son’”.

In contrast with the earlier confessions of Jesus' divine Sonship, which were given to a restricted number of listeners (to Jesus alone at the baptism, to Peter, James and John on the mountain of transfiguration), the pagan soldier's declaration was a public statement.

What Mark wants to suggest by the revelation of Jesus' true status to ever-widening circles, I believe, is that it is only with the crucifixion that one can truly understand His divine Sonship.  Without reference to the cross, there is a danger that Jesus' divinity will be misconstrued as a personal prerogative and not as an emblem of His call to be God's suffering servant, who brings righteousness to Israel and the Gentiles.

As the gospel story unfolds in the weeks to come in the Sunday gospels (and in the next few days and weeks until Lent begins), we will note that Jesus regularly silences the demons who reveal his identity as God's Son.  For the unclean spirits, in league with Satan, unveil Jesus' divinity to thwart his ministry and deflect Him from his mission.

Mark's “messianic secret”, as the silencing of those who would reveal his identity has been called, suggests it is dangerous to speak of God's Son without reference to Jesus' fulfilling that role by dying on the cross “as a ransom for many” (10.45).  As we shall see in coming weeks, this truth has implications for all the baptized who would be Jesus' disciples.

Pope Benedict XVI baptizes one of 16 infants in the Sistine Chapel
to mark the Baptism of the Lord, January 2012

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

Almighty ever-living God, who, when Christ had been baptized in the River Jordan and as the Holy Spirit descended upon him, solemnly declared him your beloved Son, grant that your children by adoption, reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, may always be well pleasing to you. 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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UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS
AT HOLY SPIRIT SEMINARY

On Friday evening, January 6, I joined the staff, seminarians and friends of Holy Spirit Seminary in Ottawa for their Christmas Eve gathering and festive supper (a meatless but otherwise ample meal as may be seen in the following pictures):

Their Christmas greeting is: "Christ is born" to which the reply is "Glorify Him!"

"The great star, the true supernova that leads us on, is Christ himself" - Blogpost #1000 and a New Look!

SOLEMNITY – THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

O God, who on this day revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations by the guidance of a star, grant in your mercy that we, who know you already by faith, may be brought to behold the beauty of your sublime glory. 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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Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Magi (1470-75), Florence: Uffizi

CHRIST THE TRUE SUPERNOVA

The wise men followed the star. Through the language of creation, they discovered the God of history. To be sure – the language of creation alone is not enough. Only God’s word, which we encounter in sacred Scripture, was able to mark out their path definitively. Creation and Scripture, reason and faith, must come together, so as to lead us forward to the living God.

There has been much discussion over what kind of star it was that the wise men were following. Some suggest a planetary constellation, or a supernova, that is to say one of those stars that is initially quite weak, in which an inner explosion releases a brilliant light for a certain time, or a comet, etc. This debate we may leave to the experts.

The great star, the true supernova that leads us on, is Christ himself. He is as it were the explosion of God’s love, which causes the great white light of his heart to shine upon the world. And we may add: the wise men from the East, who feature in today’s Gospel, like all the saints, have themselves gradually become constellations of God that mark out the path. In all these people, being touched by God’s word has, as it were, released an explosion of light, through which God’s radiance shines upon our world and shows us the path. The saints are stars of God, by whom we let ourselves be led to him for whom our whole being longs.

--Pope Benedict XVI, Solemnity of the Epiphany 2012

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T.S. ELIOT'S POEM

"JOURNEY OF THE MAGI"

I never tire of this poem by Eliot and love re-reading it every year at the Epiphany. An autobiographical reflection on his conversion to faith in Christ, it speaks for every disciple's transformation through the encounter with the Christ Child.

A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.

And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,

Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times when we regretted

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

And the silken girls bringing sherbet.

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling

And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,

And the cities dirty and the towns unfriendly

And the villages dirty and charging high prices:

A hard time we had of it.

At the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,

Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;

With a running stream and a water mill beating the darkness,

And three trees on the low sky,

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,

Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,

And feet kicking the empty wineskins.

But there was no information, and so we continued

And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon

Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,

And I would do it again, but set down

This set down

This: were we led all that way for

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different; this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

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Blog-post #1000

and a New Look

Blogger has a counter that tells how many posts have been published and this morning's presentation is listed as the thousandth since April 2009.  To mark the occasion, a new look has been chosen from among the many options the blogsite offers, my consultant Ted Hurley and I have come up with a slightly new look, hoping it is legible and interesting.

For your information, Ted also tracks the number of persons who have recently logged on and where they come from on a recent analytical listing:

179 Hits 35.80% Canada

145 Hits 29.00% United States

57 Hits 11.40% Italy

15 Hits 3.00% France

14 Hits 2.80% India

9 Hits 1.80% United Kingdom

9 Hits 1.80% Israel

7 Hits 1.40% Germany

7 Hits 1.40% Netherlands

6 Hits 1.20% Philippines

5 Hits 1.00% Australia

4 Hits 0.80% Pakistan

3 Hits 0.60% Japan

3 Hits 0.60% Mexico

3 Hits 0.60% Bulgaria

2 Hits 0.40% Venezuela

2 Hits 0.40% United Arab Emirates

2 Hits 0.40% Panama

2 Hits 0.40% Switzerland

2 Hits 0.40% Spain

In a recent month the statistics were:

 Page Loads          Unique Visits    First Time Visits       Returning Visits
Total     22,593                   16,100                12,709                          3,391
Average  706                         503                    397                              106

Saint Brother Andre / St. Andre Bessette - Epiphany Proclamation of Easter & Moveable Feasts

ST. ANDRÉ BESSETTE, RELIGIOUS

Lord our God, friend of the humble, who blessed your servant Saint André Bessette with a great devotion to Saint Joseph and a remarkable concern for the afflicted and the needy, grant that, through his intercession, we may follow his example of prayer and charity and so enter with him to behold the splendour of your glory. 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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VISITE DU RELIQUAIRE DU SAINT FRÈRE ANDRÉ

DANS L'ARCHIDIOCESE D'OTTAWA

Vendredi le 13 janvier 2012 - Communauté chrétienne Saint-Frère-André 344 ave Cyr, Ottawa – église Marie-Médiatrice

• 3h30 - 4h30 Célébration d’accueil
• 4h30 - 5h30 Eucharistie
• 6h00 - 9h00 adoration

Samedi le 14 janvier 2012

·      9h00 - 12h00 Paroisse Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes

·      12h00 - 6h00 Paroisse Saint-Sébastien et Saint-Louis-Marie-de-Montfort

·      6h00 - 21h00 Communauté congolaise (à l’église Marie-Médiatrice)

Dimanche le 15 janvier 2012  (Communauté chrétienne Saint-Frère-André : église Marie-Médiatrice)

·        8h30 - 10h00 adoration Communauté chrétienne Saint-Frère-André

·        10h00 Célébration eucharistique en présence du reliquaire

·        11h00 Sacrement des malades et clôture

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Qui ne connaît le Frère André Bessette, thaumaturge du Mont-Royal et grand ami de saint Joseph à qui il attribuait les innombrables guérisons obtenues par son entremise? Il a été canonisé le 17 octobre 2010.

Né le 9 août 1845, le petit Alfred était le sixième de dix enfants. A l'âge de 9 ans, il perdit son père, puis trois ans plus tard, sa mère. Alfred devint donc orphelin à l'âge de 12 ans; bien que d'une santé débile, pendant treize ans, le petit devra, pour subvenir à ses besoins, errer ça et là à la recherche du travail.

Puis, en 1870, Alfred Bessette entre au noviciat des religieux de Sainte-Croix et reçoit le nom de Frère André. C'était l'année même où Pie IX constituait saint Joseph patron de l'Église universelle. Au sortir du noviciat, le frère André reçoit la charge de portier au collège Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur, poste qu'il gardera pendant 40 ans. Il cumulait plusieurs emplois, tels: brosser les planchers, laver les vitres, entrer le bois de chauffage, couper les cheveux des élèves du collège, sonner le réveil matinal des religieux, faire les commissions, sans compter bien d'autres petits travaux d'entretien et de bricolage.

Dans ses multiples occupations, il ne perd pas de vue le surnaturel. Chacune de ses heures est peuplée de prières. Il médite surtout les souffrances du Sauveur et converse avec saint Joseph, son saint de prédilection.

Plus tard, face à l'affluence des foules, le Frère André accueillera les gens dans sont petit bureau, de six à huit heures par jour, beau temps, mauvais temps, et cela durant plus de vingt-cinq ans. Les guérisons miraculeuses allèrent en se multipliant. Les gens venaient de tous les coins du Canada, des États-Unis et même d'Europe, pour demander leur guérison.

Et le Frère André d'observer souvent. "C'est étonnant, on me demande souvent des guérisons, mais bien rarement l'humilité et l'esprit de foi. C'est pourtant si important. Si l'âme est malade, il faut commencer par soigner l'âme. Avez-vous la foi? Croyez-vous que le bon Dieu peut faire quelque chose pour vous? Allez vous confesser au prêtre, allez communier, vous reviendrez me voir ensuite."

Les centaines et centaines de béquilles, de cannes, de corsets et d'ex-votos, laissés par les infirmes guéris par l'intercession du bon Frère André, attestèrent longtemps les guérisons physiques obtenues à l'oratoire Saint-Joseph. Mais combien plus d'âmes furent guéries et converties rien qu'à voir et entendre l'humble portier du Mont-Royal?

Puis le 6 janvier 1937, fête de l'Épiphanie, le petit Frère André, usé par les années et un dévouement à toute épreuve, s'éteignait peu après minuit, âgé de 91 ans. Saint Joseph venait chercher son cher dévot, celui qui avait tant travaillé à répandre son culte. Un de ses amis a laissé du St. Frère André le témoignage suivant: "Il a passé sa vie à parler des autres au bon Dieu et du bon Dieu aux autres."

Puisse l'intercession du St. Frère André obtenir du bon saint Joseph, le secours nécessaire à la sainte Église afin qu'elle traverse les écueils sans nombre, suscités par la tempête qui la secoue présentement dans sa navigation vers le port céleste. -- Revue Magnificat, Janvier 1987, p. 12 (mis a jour janvier 2012).

* * * * * *

PROCLAMATION OF EASTER

& OTHER MOVEABLE FEASTS

On the Solemnity of the Epiphany, following the Gospel and Homily, a Deacon of Cantor may sing the dates of the major feasts of the year beginning with the Resurrection of the Lord and its preparatory period of Lent. 

The following is one format that may be employed (sung formats are readily available on line); it contains the dates for this Year 2012 (the dates are as the feasts are observed in Canada; the dates in countries or regions that observe the Ascension and/or Corpus Christi on the earlier tradition of a Thursday should be advanced by three days). 

The parts in italics at the beginning and end are expansions of the core proclamation:

“The glory of the Lord has shone upon us and shall ever manifest itself among us until the day of his return. Through the rhythms and changes of time, let us call to mind and live the mysteries of salvation.

Know, dear brethren (brothers and sisters), that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so by leave of God’s mercy we announce to you also the joy of his Resurrection, who is our Saviour.

On the 22nd day of February will fall ASH WEDNESDAY, and the beginning of the most sacred Lenten season.

On the 8th day of April you will celebrate with joy EASTER SUNDAY, the Paschal feast of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the 20th day of May, the ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

On the 27th day of May, the feast of PENTECOST.

On the 10th day of June, the feast of the MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST.

On the 2nd day of December, the FIRST SUNDAY OF THE ADVENT OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, to whom is honour and glory for ever and ever.

Every SUNDAY, when we recall this paschal mystery (the Lord’s death and resurrection), holy CHURCH makes present this great and saving event in which Christ has forever conquered sin and death.

Likewise in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, of the apostles and saints, and in commemoration of the faithful departed, the pilgrim Church on earth proclaims the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

To Christ who was, who is, and who is to come, the Lord of time and history, be endless praise for ever and ever. Amen.”