New chaplain for St. Edmund's in Ontario

Gary Freeman of St. Edmund's Sodality reports that Father Jason Catania, former pastor of Mount Calvary Church in Baltimore, Maryland, will now be the full-time priest for St. Edmund's and arrived this past week.

He will be residing in the Rectory of St. Mary, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, Kitchener, Ontario.

Fr. Catania's first Mass with St. Edmund's will be this Sunday, at St. Mary's - Advent II, at 5:00 p.m.  I know it is short notice, but please make an effort to attend, if possible.  Our plan, initially, is to have a 5:00 p.m. Mass every Sunday at St. Mary's.

The sodality expresses its thanks to Father George Nowak CR, the Pastor of St. Mary's for offering accommodation for Father Catania and the use of his church, as well as to His Excellency, Douglas Crosby, Bishop of Hamilton, and to his Chancellor, Monsignor Murray Kroetsch for their assistance in getting them to this stage.

And, of course, a special thanks to Father Bill Foote, Pastor of St. Patrick's in Cambridge, who has served as the Chaplain for almost 3 years, and has said an Ordinariate Use Mass for the sodality's members every Sunday since January 1, 2012, the date their tiny community was received into the Catholic Church!

The Sodality of St. Edmund's meets at St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows, 56 Duke Street West, Kitchener, Ontario.

Latest version of St. Edmund's Update released

The August issue of the always excellent Update from the Sodality of St. Edmund has been released and you may download it here; it includes an article on the Ordinariate's Divine Worship book by Msgr. Stephen Lopes, including this section on baptism:

Divine Worship: The Order of Holy BaptismIn order to provide for the range of pastoral situations in the pastoral life of the Ordinariates, Divine Worship provides rites for the Baptism of adults and older children, for the Baptism of infants, for conditional, private, and emergency Baptism, and for the public reception of one who has been privately baptized. Perhaps particularly appropriate for Ordinariate communities, there is also a rite for the entrance into full communion with the Catholic Church.
The baptismal rite begins with an invitation to prayer and an invocation that the fruits of Baptism be poured out on the one to be baptized. The preparatory rites include the consignatio (tracing the Sign of the Cross on the forehead), an optional imposition of blessed salt, and a prayer of thanksgiving said by the celebrant and people together. Following the Liturgy of the Word, the rite continues with the Promises which, in the case of infant Baptism, includes the anointing with the Oil of Catechumens and the profession of faith formulated as questions addressed to parents and godparents. Adult Baptism maintains an explicit renunciation of sin on the part of the catechumen who, in keeping with Anglican custom, then professes the faith by reciting the Apostles' Creed. In both instances, the profession of faith is followed by supplications and the blessing of water.
One feature of Divine Worship: Order of Holy Baptism which warrants further comment are what is known as "The Duties" which, in the order of infant Baptism, follow the Lord's Prayer, and immediately precede the final blessing. The Duties are exhortations to the parents and godparents concerning their sacred duty to provide for the religious formation of the child. Their specificity is striking, reminding the parents and godparents of their obligation to teach the child the Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary and to instruct the child in the Catechism so that the child may be presented to the bishop for Confirmation and admitted to Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ. In addition to being a rather felicitous articulation of the role of parents and godparents in sacramental initiation, the Duties were judged to be integral to the Anglican tradition and therefore included in the current liturgical provision for the Ordinariates.
Monsignor Steven Lopes, Official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - June 12, 2014

Anglican minister becomes Catholic priest

Father Shier joins Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter set up by Pope Benedict
By Agnieszka Krawczynski

25 March 2014

The fruits of Pope Benedict's efforts to welcome Anglicans to the Catholic faith were manifest at Holy Rosary Cathedral as Deacon Michael Shier was ordained a priest for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

"It's amazing that the ordinariate has actually happened," Father Shier said after his ordination March 15.

The Rev. Shier, a pastor for the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, and 11 members of his former parish converted to Catholicism in June 2012.

"It started when Anglicanorum Coetibus was given by Pope Benedict," explained Barbara Shier, his wife.

The apostolic constitution, written in 2009, describes the possibility of creating ordinariates, which function like dioceses, for Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church while keeping some liturgical and spiritual traditions.

"He invited us to make the transition and to bring the best of Anglicanism with us," Father Shier explained. "We sent our prayer books and missals to Rome and received back a liturgy that surpasses all our hopes and dreams."

The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, created in January 2012, spans all of North America. Its ordinary, or head, is Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, who arrived from Texas and concelebrated along with about 20 other priests of the ordinariate or the Vancouver diocese.

"It is our brothers and sisters in the whole Catholic Church who have strengthened us and given us a joy in our lives. We are so pleased and so happy to be with you in full communion," he said.

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, celebrated the ordination Mass. "(The priesthood) is both a gift and a mystery," he pointed out in his homily...

Father Bruce McAllister, archdiocesan chancellor, prepared the congregation of converts to join the Catholic Church through a series of retreats while Msgr. Steenson trained their pastor.

Father Shier "is a very scholarly person," said Father McAllister, also a former Anglican.

"He is a man of deep prayer. You'll often see him at prayer in church prior to the liturgy. And I know that he prays for many people, including those who are his former parishioners who have not come into full communion" with the Catholic Church.

Father McAllister guessed 20-25 priests in Canada are former Anglican clergymen, including those incardinated in the ordinariate and those incardinated in dioceses...

Father Shier and his congregation will use the chapel at St. Patrick's Parish in Maple Ridge.

Read the rest at The B.C. Catholic

Hat tip to Mary Ann Mueller

Another Mass for the Ordinarite's Feast of Title -- in Canada

Warm congratulations to Father Reid on his upcoming move to Vancouver Island

The announcement of Fr. Carl Reid's upcoming move to Vancouver Island to assist in the Ordinariate there is a great boost to our western brothers and sisters in the Catholic Personal Ordinariate in Canada. While the people of Ottawa will miss his firm and steady leadership both in the parish and in the wider community, at the same time they are thankful that Fr. Carl has worked so well with his colleagues Fathers Hayman and Cooper to insure a seamless transition.

A faithful pastor to the Ottawa Ordinariate community, Fr. Carl has seen the Parish of the Annunciation through many tests which have brought them safely into full communion with the Holy See over the past few of years....

I had the chance to meet and spend time with Fr. Reid when he came to Newark, NJ for the Anglican Use Conference, and found him a solid and godly clergyman, and via Deborah Gyapong's blogging have been able to follow his pastoral care of the Ordinariate community in Ottawa over the years. I wish him and his family well, although I know that in Ottawa there will be many tears at his departure. SEC.

Read the full story of the former Anglican Catholic Church of Canada bishop's move to the West Coast at Peregrinations.

News from the Sodality of St. Edmund, King & Martyr

The Update, from St. Edmund's in Cambridge, Ontario, is always a good read, and I commend this monthly newsletter to all of you who stop by here. In this month's issue, there's a reflection by Msgr. Andrew Burnham on the birth of the Ordinariates, and he concludes on this hopeful note:

We are few, like Gideon's men (Judges 6), but the bravery of 80 priests, most of whom have lost stipend and some future pension benefits, and the 30 or 40 groups of laity, who have lost their habitual time and place of worship and nowadays go to church at a less convenient time and to a less convenient place, is, we believe, the beginning of something new and magnificent. It is not just Choral Evensong and all that, though the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham provides that for us, it is a step towards the healing of one of the most damaging wounds of history, the dividing of Christ's Body the Church, here in England.

The update is available from St. Edmund's web site.

Ex-Anglican ministers ordained as Catholic priests, married with children

Richard Watts

June 21, 2013

They are Roman Catholic priests but each has a wife and children. They don’t report to Bishop of Victoria Richard Gagnon, although Bishop Gagnon was the person who ordained them. They don’t even report to any other Roman Catholic offices in Canada.

Instead, they report to a special office in Houston, Texas, called the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. And from there, the hierarchy leads directly to Rome.

“We are not part of the Diocese of Victoria,” said Catholic the Rev. Michael Birch, 70, of Victoria, who is married with two grown children.

Birch was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest on June 14 at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, along with the Rev. Don Malins, 74, of Victoria, married with one grown son, and the Rev. Peter Switzer, 70, of Port Alberni, married with three children and two grandchildren.

All three began their careers in the clergy as Anglican priests, which was when they started their families. After retirement, they left the Anglican Church to join breakaway Anglican organizations, like the Anglican Catholic Church or the Anglican Network.

They have now been ordained as Roman Catholic priests, by special dispensation from the Vatican. “This all comes from the Holy Father,” Fr. Switzer said from Port Alberni. “If someone has a problem with it, go talk to the Pope. “This was his idea, not mine.”

Two years ago, Pope Benedict XVI issued the Apostolic Constitution Anglican [sic] Coetibus, allowing Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church.

Benedict also ordained [sic] the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in Houston and gave it responsibility for all of North America. Canada is now a deanery in that jurisdiction, headquartered in Calgary...

Read the full story at http://www.timescolonist.com/ex-anglican-ministers-ordained-as-catholic-priests-married-with-children-1.330981">the Times Colonist

From Left, Msgr. Peter Wilkinson, Bishop Richard Gagnon of Victoria,  Fr. Peter Switzer,  

Fr. Don Malins, Fr. Michael Birch, and Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson. From the blog of St. John's Church

Calgary, Alberta.

Hat tips to Mary Ann Mueller and Charles Gilman for leads on this story.

Msgr. Steenson visits St. Edmund's in Hamilton

(L to R) Fr. Foote, Msgr. Steenson, Mr. Freeman, Bishop Crosby, Msgr. Kroetsch (chancellor).

MONSIGNOR JEFFREY STEENSON, ORDINARY of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, visited the parishioners of The Sodality of St. Edmund, King and Martyr earlier this week. During the celebration, the small Anglican Use community was welcomed into the Deanery of St. John the Baptist, which brings together the various Anglican Use parishes and communities in Canada. As part of his visitation, Monsignor Steenson joined Mr. Gary Freeman from St. Edmunds, for a courtesy visit to the Diocesan Chancery. Father Bill Foote, who has been providing Sunday Mass for the community at St. Patrick’s Parish in Cambridge on Sunday mornings, was also present. The community moves forward slowly but surely!

From the "Heart to Heart" page of the Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario.
Hat tip to Gary Freeman

The Ordination of Jonathan Gibson

The Canadian Deanery of St. John the Baptist, having added 3 deacons to its clergy last weekend (see the story at Deborah Gyapong's Foolishness to the World blog),  will add another member of the faithful to the clergy, for the ministry of the Sacraments, the preaching of the pure Word of the Lord 

and the greater glory of God.

ORDINATION TO THE DIACONATE
Saturday 18th May
at 10.30 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist
by Bishop Frederick Henry

ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD
Saturday 25th May
at 10.30 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist
by Bishop Frederick Henry
in the presence of Msgr. Jeffery Steenson, Ordinary
Hat tip to Michael Trolly

Msgr. Steenson in Canada May 29th

Blessing of St. Columba Church, Victoria, British Columbia

Blessing the Christus Rex

It was a lovely and quite mild evening in Victoria B.C. on April 11 2013 when the congregation and friends of the Ordiariate gathered in little St. Columba’s for the blessing of the Church by The Most Rev. Richard Gagnon, Roman Catholic Bishop of Victoria. There were about forty present for the Service, which included the blessing of the Church, Solemn Evensong, Sermon and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Church is a former Anglican church (also St. Columba’s) which opened about 100 years ago, and was closed by the Anglican Diocese about four or five years ago. The present congregation rents the Church from the Anglican Diocese. Our small choir of four people did a marvelous job of provid- ing the music (plainchant psalms and responses), and leading in the hymns (The Church’s One Foundation, We love the place, O God, and the evening Office hymn before the Magnificat.) Bishop Richard did the blessing of the Church, Altar, shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, and the very fine new Christus Rex which hangs over the entrance to the Sanctuary. Monsignor Peter Wilkinson sang the Office, the Bishop then preached and officiated at Benediction.

Following the Service, refreshments were served (in the Church, as we have no hall) and a very pleasant time of visiting with friends and visitors ensued. People were struck by the beauty of the worship and of the Church. A former parishioner of Anglican times attended the Service, a retired gentleman who began attending St. Columba’s as a child, and he said that he had never seen the inside of the Church look as nice as it does now. Now, that’s a compliment!

In his sermon, the Bishop reflected on the words of the prophet Haggai read as the first lesson. He spoke of the ruin of Israel, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in Haggai’s time, and his prophecy from God that “the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.” He left it to our own reflection to see what of this applied to ourselves, but he said he sympathized very much with our own losses and struggles which had brought us to this point of beginning again in faith in our entrance into the Ordinariate. He spoke also of the life and work of St. Columba, and the monastery which he established on Iona, a heap of rocks of the west coast of Scotland, St. Columba prophesied of the destruction of his monastery, but said that before the end Iona’s glory would be as it was at the first.

Monsignor Peter sings the Office

The Bishop has been very supportive of us in our journey into the Catholic Church, as has Fr John Laszczyk, Rector of the Cathedral and Vicar General, and we were exceedingly happy to be able to have both of them with us for this very joyful occasion.

And now to work; for if this house is to surpass it’s former glory, we must all put our hand to the task, that God may be praised out here in Strawberry Vale.

Visit the Fellowship's web site for more news and photos.

News from Annunciation Ottawa

The Rev. Carl Reid of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Ottawa writes in the this month's Annunciator:

Please pray for me, a sinner. My ordination dates are now firmly set: Saturday, January 12, Saint Patrick’s Basilica at 10 AM, ordination to the diaconate; and, Saturday, January 26, Notre Dame Cathedral at 10 AM, ordination to the priesthood. Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ will preside at both services, and also preach the homily at Saint Patrick’s, while our Ordinary, Msgr Jeffrey Steenson will preach at Notre Dame.

It seems that a number of local Catholics intend to be present for my first Mass, which will be Sunday, January 27 (Septuagesima, being the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time). As our little church on the edge of Westboro has such limited seating capacity, Fr Francis Donnelly has suggested and graciously offered, through Fr. Galen Bank, that we use Blessed Sacrament at 194 Fourth Avenue in the Glebe. To avoid conflict with their usual Sunday morning Mass schedule, we shall, for that one last Sunday, keep the 12:30 PM time that we have become accustomed to since last April.

Please note from the calendar on the last page that, once I am ordained, we shall begin to offer Mass every day of the week. As you will see, the times vary through the week, as we attempt to accommodate differing schedules for as wide a variety of people as is possible. The apparently peculiar time of 12:15 PM on Mondays and Thursdays looks toward the hope that perhaps people from Tunney’s Pasture may find our proximity agreeable. Attendance at noon–hour Masses at other Catholic parishes, especially Saint Patrick’s in downtown Ottawa, is quite healthy. If you know people who work at Tunney’s, please let them know.

My ordination will also mark the “winding down” of at least part of our relationship with the various Catholic priests who have so generously devoted their time in ensuring that we have had Mass every Sunday since our reception into the Catholic Church. I say “winding down part of our relationship” as we are looking forward to future opportunities where we might do things jointly, or, if I am required to be away on a given Sunday, one of them might be able to fill in.

In terms of doing things jointly, an obvious one, about which several people in our parish have been asking, going back even to before our reception into the Catholic Church, is perhaps a once-per-month Sunday Evensong and Benediction. Pursuant to that, Fr Scott McCaig donated to us, on November 16 an ostensorium (monstrance) for Benediction. We shall work towards beginning this wonderful devotional service hopefully in February, inviting as many of the Companions, or any other Catholic friends as may be able to attend, to join us.

January also marks the beginning of formation studies for Doug Hayman and Kipling Cooper, along with several other Canadians, and a goodly number of Americans, pursuant to their ordinations, DV, in Eastertide. Let us pray for them, as they “dive in” to the joys of Canon Law...

Carl

Congratulations to Deacon Reid and all of our brethren in Ottawa. I have warm memories of his visit to the Anglican Use Society's Conference in Newark, NJ in his role as suffragan of the ACCC and am grateful that his obvious pastoral skills and calling have been validated by the Church ad majorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem.

Canadian Deeanery of the Personal Ordinariate of The Chair of St. Peter now official

from the web site of the The Church of the Good Shepherd in Oshawa, Ontario:

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 groups of Anglicans and Anglican clergy 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.

Read more, including Fr. Kenyon's background at the web site.

The Pallium

Fr. Robert Mercer, CR, writes in St. Edmund's latest Update:

Anglicans tend to know little about Anglicanism. How many are aware that the Archbishop of Canterbury's coat of arms displays the pallium? How many know what a pallium is? It is a Y shaped vestment, woven from lamb's wool, marked with crosses, worn by the archbishops of ancient, important or primatial dioceses. It hangs down back and front from the shoulders like a yoke over the chasuble. It is conferred on archbishops by the Pope and indicates the strong bond between himself and them. But the Archbishop of Canterbury is not in communion with the Bishop of Rome. Quite so. The arms of Canterbury therefore lie!

But as I say, the majority of Anglicans are ignorant of this lie. I myself am not offended. The lie is a reminder of what once was. The first Archbishop of Canterbury was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great in 597 (when he brought with him the consecration prayer which we of the Ordinariate use at the eucharist). The lie I see as an expression of hope, or if not of hope, as an expression of what ought to be. The Archbishop of Canterbury ought to be in communion with the Bishop of Rome. The church should be one: bishops should express such unity by being in communion with all other bishops. They are, after all, supposed to be the ministers of unity. And a universal church needs a universal primate, president, presiding servant. Who can this possibly be if not the Bishop of Rome? The Eastern Orthodox recognize this and one Russian has added, "What use is primacy without jurisdiction?" What does the Archbishop of Canterbury do to foster unity? He advocates policies which drive the two churches further and further apart, the ordination of women, gay marriages, and he is evasive about the human right to life.

Then again, how many Anglicans know that off and on for some four hundred years there have been some modest attempts at Anglican Roman Catholic rapprochement? Admittedly such attempts have been more off than on. But Canon Bernard Pawley of St Paul's cathedral in London and his wife Margaret have published a history of these attempts, Canterbury and Rome Through Four Centuries...

Read the full article in this month's Update.

HT to Gary Freeman.

Victoria, British Columbia Ordinariate group finds new home

Deborah Gyapong reports that the Ordinariate group in Victoria, British Columbia has found a new home, leasing the former Anglican Church of Canada church of St. . She also reports that Peter Wilkinson, former Archbishop of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, will be priested on December 8th.

“There were about 35 present at the first Mass, and the celebrant was Fr John Laszczyk, rector of St. Andrew’s Cathedral,” he wrote. ”About 30 went out for dinner after the Mass. It was a wonderful occasion, and the music of the Mass and the hymns were enthusiastically sung a capella for we are as yet without organ.”

Read the whole post with photos at Foolishness to the World.
Visit the web site of The Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman to keep up with this ordinariate group's progress.

Msgr. Steenson meets 3 Toronto-area Anglican Use Sodalities to Establish Ordinariate in Canada

On the Peregrinations blog there is a very full account of Msgr. Steenson's meeting with Toronto area Catholics. Several questions were raised and answered by the Ordinary, and it is well-worth the time of Ordinariate-interested readers to take a look.

An excellent meeting with Msgr Steenson was held this past Saturday in Toronto. He spent the morning answering many questions for people from the three local sodalities seeking membership in the soon-to-be established Canadian Deanery of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (OCSP)...

1. Membership

Individuals in each small sodality (associations of Oridinariate-bound Catholics in the Archdiocese of Toronto and the Diocese of Hamilton) will be received into the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter once each person has completed and sent a form to Msgr Steenson stating their desire for membership and the facts relating to former Anglican status or family relationship to an Anglican Catholic i.e. anyone raised as an Anglican or married to or the child of such former-Anglican Catholics.

All Latin Rite and all other Catholics are welcome to worship with Ordinariate Catholics and are indeed invited to. However, those not from an Anglican background or related to a former Anglican may not officially be listed as member for purposes of holding an official position in an Ordinariate...

. Authority ?

Is there still a place for the voice of the laity in the Ordinariate?

There is to be a kind of synodical structure to the Ordinariates as provided for in Anglicanorum Coetibus (AC) and its attendant norms. Msgr Steenson indicated that lay participation is one of the distinctive patrimonial features of the Ordinariates. The Governing Council is now in formation.

There will be deanery and parish level structures to which lay people will contribute and participate in...

4. Liturgy...

In answer to questions about the forms of liturgy for the Mass, Msgr. Steenson clarified a number of issues relating to rites, practice and faculties for priests to celebrate the Anglican Use Mass in Canada.

First of all, there is a new form of the Anglican Use Mass which has been adapted for use in Canada and is now approved by Rome. The Book of Divine Worship (BDW) Mass is no longer authorized as printed due to changes in the Novus Ordo (3rd edition) and other practical issues.

All sodalities and parishes are to use the Canadian form of the Mass modified under the direction of Msgr Steenson and edited by the soon-to-be-ordained former Bishop Wilkinson. This is now the only authorized form for Anglican Use Mass in Canada...

Read the full report at Peregrinations.

Anglican Use Mass at Kitchener, Ontario on October 21st

The Sodality of St. Edmund the Martyr of Cambridge, Ontario has published their latest Update. Included in the update is the following news:

Sunday, October 21 at 5:00 p.m.
Father George Nowak, CR, Pastor of St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows, in Kitchener, has kindly invited us to celebrate our Anglican Use Mass in his church at 56 Duke Street. (You may recall that Father Nowak invited us to Vespers and Benediction, about 18 months ago, with a Reception following, to discuss Anglicanorum coetibus with Catholics from various Parishes in the area.)
Father William Foote, our Chaplain, (and Pastor of St. Patrick's in Cambridge) will be the celebrant.
Mr. Robert Tasse, the Music Director at St. Mary's will be the organist. The Cantor will be Mr. Andrew Malton, a parishioner of St. Louis' in Kitchener.
We will be advertising the Mass in the local papers. This Mass will give us an opportunity of 'exposing' other Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, and others in the area, to the beauty of our Mass.
Please mark your calendars. We hope you are able attend. Please pass on the word!
A Reception in the Parish Hall will follow the Mass, with time for Questions and Answers about our Community and the Anglican Use Mass.

Church of St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows, Kitchener, Ont.

Englishman makes Catholic history in Canada

Fr. Lee Kenyon (left) and Fr. John Wright (right) concelebrate at the Mass of their ordination with Bishop Frederick Henry.
On Saturday 30th June an Englishman became one of the first former Anglicans in Canada to be ordained for service in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter. He was ordained by the Bishop of Calgary, the Most Revd Frederick Henry, at the request of the Ordinary, Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson.

Fr Lee Kenyon, who trained for the Anglican ministry at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, and served as a curate in the Anglican diocese of Blackburn, is part of the first ordination class for the Ordinariate in the US and Canada. He was ordained following a four month formation programme run from St Mary's Seminary in Houston, Texas.

Fr Kenyon was born and raised in Manchester, Lancashire. He is married to Elizabeth, and they have three children.

Fr Kenyon’s parish, St John the Evangelist, was the second oldest Anglican parish in Calgary, founded in 1905 as a parish of the Church of England in Canada (from 1955 the Anglican Church of Canada), until being received, en masse, into the Catholic Church in December 2011. The parish community remains at its historic property through a lease/purchase agreement with the Anglican Diocese of Calgary.

For more information visit: www.calgaryordinariate.com

Hat tip to Br. Charles Gilman, OSB.

Update from St. Edmund's, Cambridge, Ontario

The latest Update of St Edmund's Sodality in Cambridge, Ontario writes:

Our community in Vancouver (St. Peter and St. Paul) is being received into the Catholic Church on June 30 by the Archbishop of Vancouver. Congratulations!

STEALS ON THE EAR THE DISTANT TRIUMPH SONG

For our first retreat we were welcomed by our mentor priest, Fr Bruce McAllister, at Westminster Abbey (near Vancouver). Our group is a baker's dozen plus one, stretching all the way from Phoebe, 4 years old, to two or three in their seventies. The monastery has ensuite apartments and we were the guests of Archbishop Michael. Abigail and Phoebe watched with amazement as a pullout sofa bed was revealed. They screeched with delight as it marched across the room and gave it the ultimate accolade: "COOL".
Our mentor priest gave us a heart-felt welcome. There would be several sessions. We would be experiencing the monastic life of the Abbey, and later we would be visiting the Poor Clares. In another talk he explained that in the Ordinariate our baptismal rite would be conformed to Catholic practice with the anointing with the oil of catechumens and the anointing with sacred chrism added to the text. (Anglicans sometimes anoint at Baptism, though it is not actually in the prayer book.) Then in another session we learnt that at our reception at Holy Rosary Cathedral on the 30th of June we would be presented by our Catholic sponsors, we would be wearing the customary red robes, we would sing Gregorian chant and there would be communion in both kinds...

Our second weekend at Westminster Abbey began late on Friday with everyone making their confession. It was very heartening. We all slept peacefully till 6 AM when we were 'donged' back into life by the 10 Abbey Bells (purchased many years ago from the Whitechapel foundry in the East end of London).
The morning was taken up with the Papal Primacy. Archbishop Michael addressed us and fielded questions. Although there is not much about the papacy in the Catechism, the role of the Papacy is enormous...

We followed this session with a visit to the Poor Clares just down the hill from the monastery. Fr McAllister's wife Linda joined us. We attended their office and had a good discussion. The following day was Sunday and the Abbey kept the feast of Corpus Christi. After the mass there was Exposition till Benediction at 5 PM. We left grateful for two happy weekends, and thankful to the Archbishop, to Fr McAllister, to the Fr Abbot and to Fr Mark, the guestmaster and to the cook!.

By Michael Shier

ORDINATIONS NEXT WEEK (IN CANADA!)

Lee Kenyon and John Wright will be ordained Deacon
on Thursday 28th June at 10.00 a.m.
at St John the Evangelist, Calgary

They will be ordained Priest
on Saturday 30th June at 11.00 a.m.
at St Mary’s Cathedral, Calgary

The Bishop of Calgary, The Most Revd Frederick Henry
will ordain Lee and John
for service in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter

Fr Kenyon’s First Mass will be on Dominion Day
Sunday 1st July at 10.00 a.m.

Your presence and prayers are requested at all these Masses.

http://www.calgaryordinariate.com/

Hat tip to Br. Charles Gillman, OSB.