Tag Archives: Canada

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

Poor Clare Nuns in Canada

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oscx bcThere are six Poor Clare monasteries in Canada; two English-speaking ones in British Columbia and four French-speaking ones in Quebec. That’s a lot of distance between monasteries!

What is the attraction of Saint Clare and Saint Francis for our time? In this age of lukewarmness and lethargy, where evil abounds,  the startling reliance on God’s Providence for everything is something alien to many, especially in the West where we rely on government programs, advanced college degrees and health clubs for our security. Francis and Clare embraced Holy Poverty, a radical dependence on God. Nothing else mattered. God alone is “the true wealth of the human heart” (Vita Consecrata). And that is still attractive today.

Saint Clare wrote that Poor Clares are to “live the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Poor Clares give themselves entirely to Jesus, vowing to live the Gospel without possessions, in chastity and in obedience, within the silence and solitude of their monastery enclosure.

The Poor Clares in Mission, British Columbia are a new IRL Affiliate. They are eight strong including 1 in formation and 1 aspirant. The Poor Clare Order was established in British Columbia in 1911 and the Poor Clares settled in their Mission home in 1962.The high point of their day is the Holy Eucharist, and they give the Lord praise seven times a day through the Liturgy of the Hours, including the midnight Office of Readings. Their “mission in Mission” is to pray for the Franciscan family and all the world.

For more information, contact

Sister Clare Marie, OSC
Vocation Directress
St. Clare’s Monastery
P.O. Box 3370
Mission, BC V2V 4J5
Phone: 604-826-2818

The Poor Clare Order was established in British Columbia in 1911. These Poor Clares settled in Mission in 1962.The high point of their day is the Holy Eucharist, and they give the Lord praise seven times a day through the Liturgy of the Hours, including the midnight Office of Readings. – See more at: //vocationblog.com/2014/03/weaving-a-crown-for-the-lord-the-poor-clares-of-mission-bc/#sthash.3MEhZkAi.dpuf
The Poor Clare Order was established in British Columbia in 1911. These Poor Clares settled in Mission in 1962.The high point of their day is the Holy Eucharist, and they give the Lord praise seven times a day through the Liturgy of the Hours, including the midnight Office of Readings. – See more at: //vocationblog.com/2014/03/weaving-a-crown-for-the-lord-the-poor-clares-of-mission-bc/#sthash.3MEhZkAi.dpuf

 

College Campus News

Canadian Disciples to Radically Change the World!

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cco canadaLast week in Canada, a wonderful conference for young people called Rise Up was held in Ottawa. Sponsored by the Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO), a Canadian university student movement founded 25 years ago as a small Bible study group at the University of Saskatchewan, it attracted 900 men and women during the Christmas/New Year’s break. Incredible!

The line up of speakers was impressive and included Archbishop Gérald Lacroix, ISPX; Archbishop Paul-André Durocher; Fr. Raymond de Souza, well-known Vatican commentator; Audrey Assad, singer; Sr. Helene Burns, fsp; Sr. Cecilia Rose, SV; Sr. Miriam James Heidland, SOLT.

Timely and needed presentations included: Contraception, Same-Sex Attraction, Emotional Virtue, Modern Atheism, Discernment, Discipleship and more. There was also fun! including a banquet and dance to celebrate the New Year.

The purpose of the CCO movement is to motivate and inspire leaders for the renewal of the world! “By focusing on university students, CCO desires to see not only that young people come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, but also for them to radically affect our world.” They are seeking to provide answers to the plagues that beset young people in the modern world: atheism, hedonism, humanism and scientism.

The movement now serves hundreds of students on eleven campuses through a wide array of programs and outreaches. CCO continues to expand with the growing Rise Up Conference, an increasing number of staff, and a growing number of mission opportunities (both domestic and international). Their ministry is mainly one-on-one for this is the personal way to show the love of Christ to the world.

Read the story of Fr. Nick Meisl, ordained in December, who as an Engineering Physics major who had drifted away from the Faith, got involved in a CCO Discovery Study and began re-examine his life including asking the question: Is Jesus who He says He is?

Visit their website or Facebook for more information!

 

 

Women's Communities

Leaving the World for the Sake of the World

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Like unseen leaven in the world, cloistered contemplative Carmelites strive to foster a life of deep prayer and communion with God thus drawing all people closer to God.  As St. John of the Cross said: “The least action done out of pure love is worth more than all of the good works of the Church put together.” Fortunate is the country and diocese that has Carmelites praying for them!

The Founding Carmelites

It was 50 years ago today, May 27, 1963, that the Discalced Carmelites of St. Agatha, Ontario, moved into their new, permanent monastery, the Carmel of St. Joseph, from their smaller quarters in Kitchener, Ontario. Ten years earlier, they had arrived in Canada at the urgent invitation of the bishop to found the first English-speaking Carmel in Canada. As their numbers grew, the monastery was enlarged and as it continued to grow, a new foundation also under the guardianship of St. Joseph was established in British Columbia in 1991.

It seems amazing that there were no English-speaking Carmels in Canada until the 1950’s. The original sisters, three professed sisters and one novice, came from Cleveland Heights, OH, in 1952 from the Carmel of the Holy Family, a community who had recently sent 6 sisters to the Carmel in Kenya. The Carmel in Ohio traces its roots back to the first Carmel established in the United States in Port Tobacco, MD, in 1790.

One of the sisters in St. Agatha wrote that she was attracted to the Carmelite vocation after reading “The Story of a Soul” by St. Therese of Lisieux. She said, “During my 4 years at university, I have seen the tragedy of many who lived a lifestyle in the darkness of sin and refusal to love God, or even accept Him in their lives. I knew that those are the people who are in most need of prayer. I felt the urge to do something for them.” This woman is now following Christ’s example of prayer and sacrifice for the salvation of souls, for the Church and for all God’s people.

May those who “leave the world, leading a life of prayer and solitude, for the sake of the world” continue to intercede for the people of Canada.

News, Women's Communities

100 Years in Canada

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This year, a community of Carmelite Sisters is celebrating 100 years of service to the people of Canada. They are the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus who were founded by Bl. Maria Teresa of St. Joseph (Anna Maria Tauscher) in Germany in 1891.

In an astonishing short period of time, Mother Maria Teresa had founded homes for abandoned and poor children in Germany, Holland, Italy, England, the US (where the first home for the aged was founded) and Canada. She arrived in New York in 1912 and came to Toronto, Canada, at the request of the Archbishop in 1913.

As contemplatives the Carmelites dedicate themselves to prayer of reparation to the Heart of Jesus and intercession for the needs of the world. Through their apostolic endeavors they bring God’s love to others through their care for children, the elderly and the poor and needy.

Mother Maria Teresa said, “How great is the holy love that binds religious together! It is this love that makes life in the Order a paradise despite all the sacrifices, hardship, and privations.” Mother had a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and said if He would come to their homes, she would come too, wherever it may happen to be. This love for her Spouse carried her across the ocean and is a Divine love that never rests but “sends forth new flames that consume itself in works of charity toward others.”

Today, the sisters in Canada serve in the dioceses of Toronto, St. Catharines and Calgary. On May 30, they will be holding a 100th anniversary celebration at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Mississauga, Ontario. May they be blessed with many more years of service to the people of Canada.

 

Women's Communities

St. Angela Merici and Bl. Mary of the Incarnation

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Today, the Church celebrates the Feast Day of St. Angela Merici who died in 1474. The Order that she founded, the Ursulines, sent the first missionaries sisters to the New World in 1639. One of these was Bl. Mary of the Incarnation (1599-1672) who was a wife, mother, widow and religious. When she was a young girl, Jesus appeared to her in a dream and asked, “Do you want to belong to me?” She answered, yes!, and later sacrificed everything dear to her to follow His call to go to Quebec to found the first Ursuline convent outside of Europe.  When she entered the Ursulines, she told her young son, “God wills it, my son. If we love Him, we should will it, too. It is up to Him to command, and up to us to obey.” She is known as the St. Teresa of Avila of Canada.

News

O Canada!

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Seminary enrollment is up 50% at St. Joseph  Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta. Seminary rector Fr. Shayne Craig attributes the sharp increase to a greater emphasis on faith formation and vocations throughout the region.

With 42 seminarians registered in-house this fall and another five on internships, registration is at an all-time high, says Fr. Craig.

Last year, the seminary had 28 in-house seminarians and another six on internships. The maximum residency at the new seminary is 60 seminarians.

Eleven of this year’s seminarians are from the Edmonton Archdiocese; the others come from elsewhere across Western Canada.

For the rest of the story, check out this article from the B.C. Catholic.