Photos of the Ordination Day of Bishop Damphousse in Alexandria

After an easy hour's drive from Ottawa, I arrived on a bright sunny Sunday afternoon in Alexandria, the place of Most Reverend Marcel Damphousse's ordination as eighth bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall.  Some twenty or so bishops were present, twice that number of priests and deacons, many religious and a cathedral full of the lay faithful.

Official photographers took pictures during the cermony and receptions afterwards in Alexandria and Cornwall; here is a selection of photos taken before and after the ordination and installation liturgy.

Sunday 22B: Opening Ears to Hear and Loosing Tongues to Speak - Mother Teresa Anniversary & Feast

Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Yr "B")—September 9, 2012

JESUS HEALS, “EPHPHATA, BE OPENED!”

[Isaiah 35.4-7 [Psalm 146]; James 2.1-5; Mark 7.31-37]

The Exodus of God's people from bondage in Egypt became a model for thinking about salvation. The Second Isaiah (chapters 40-55) foretold the return of Jewish exiles from Babylon as a `new exodus'.

This insight, in turn, inspired Isaiah's successors, writing in the fourth century B.C. (chapters 24-27 and 34-35), to apply the exodus motif to all God's saving deeds, now and in the future.

God's liberating activity touches the whole eco-system as fresh vegetation replaces arid and depleted land ("the burning sand shall become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water"). God's saving power also embraces afflicted humans, healing every ill that comes upon people.

When God acts in favour of His beloved, the first evil driven out is fear (“Say to those of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear. Here is your God.... He will come and save you’”).

Next the prophet addressed specific afflictions God would heal: “then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy”. A new, coming era is envisioned; Jesus called it the reign of God, and He put it into effect during His ministry.

This text from Isaiah figured in Christ's reply to John the Baptist when he wondered about the things he heard Jesus doing and asked Jesus, “Are You the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?” (cf. Matthew 11.2-6; Luke 7.18-23).

Isaiah's prediction may underlie Mark's understanding of Jesus' cure of “a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech”. One of the words used to describe the deaf-mute's problem means “could hardly speak” (Greek mogilalos) and is very rare. It appears only here in Mark in the New Testament and only in Isaiah 35.6 in the Greek version of the Old Testament.

In this way and by means of his generalizing remark in the closing verse (“he has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak”), Mark signalled to his readers the early church's conviction that Jesus had inaugurated the end-time renewal of God's people foretold in Isaiah.

In healing the man, Jesus stuck his fingers into his ears, mimicking and thereby helping to open the ears to hear. The act of spitting, which symbolizes getting rid of something in the mouth that prevents speaking, helped to loosen the bound tongue. So did saliva from Jesus' healthy tongue.

The Aramaic word Jesus spoke (“Ephphata, be opened!”), his look heavenwards and groan, all communicate the difficulty of the healing and the supernatural power Jesus needed to bring the cure about. A similar mix of a touching gesture and words may be seen in the difficult miracle of restoring Jairus' daughter to life (cf. Mark 5.40-42).

This healing of a person struggling to hear and speak plainly is paralleled with the healing in stages of the blind man of Bethsaida (Mark 8.22-26). Not only do these two miracles testify to Jesus' compassion, they also suggest what Jesus wished to do so that the Twelve and each disciple might see, speak and hear spiritually (“Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear?” [Mark 8.18]).

Through the whole of Mark's story Jesus brought His followers to see, hear and speak about God's plan. He invited them to enter God's world-view by accepting the cross in their lives as He did. Possibly the reason for the secrecy about Jesus' wonder-working power (“he took him aside in private, away from the crowd.... Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one...”) is to forestall people proclaiming His Messiahship without telling about His suffering and death on the cross.

In every generation, as the psalmist says, “the Lord ... lifts up those who are bowed down”. This includes not only Isaiah's visionary proclamation of the new exodus and Jesus' healing ministry, but also James' defence of the poor against those who would be partial to the rich (“has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?”).

* * * * * *

BLESSED MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA

 

Fifteen years ago n this day, Mother Teresa died.  Today, in various locales where permission has been granted by the Holy See, local churches and congregations may celebrate the feast day of Mother Teresa, a universal symbol of God's merciful and preferential love for the poor and forgotten.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, the youngest of three children. She attended a youth group called Sodality, run by a Jesuit priest at her parish, and her involvement opened her to the call of service as a missionary nun.

She joined the Sisters of Loretto at age 17 and was sent to Calcutta where she taught at a high school. She contracted Tuberculosis and was sent to rest in Darjeeling. It was on the train to Darjeeling that she received her calling - what she called "an order" from God to leave the convent and work and live among the poor. At this point she did not know that she was to found an order of nuns, or even exactly where she was to serve. "I knew where I belonged, but I did not know how to get there," she said once, recalling the moment on the train.

Confirmation of the calling came when the Vatican granted her permission to leave the Sisters of Loretto and fulfill her calling under the Archbshop of Calcutta. She started working in the slums, teaching poor children, and treating the sick in their homes. She was joined a year later by some of her former students and together they took in men, women, and children who were dying in the gutters along the streets and cared for them.

In 1950 the Missionaries of Charity were born as a congregation of the Diocese of Calcutta and in 1952 the government granted them a house from which to continue their service among Calcutta's forgotten.

The congregation very quickly grew from a single house for the dying and unwanted to nearly 500 around the world. Mother Teresa set up homes for AIDS sufferers, for prostitutes, for battered women, and orphanages for poor children.

She often said that the poorest of the poor were those who had no one to care for them and no one who knew them. And she often remarked with sadness and desolation of milliions of souls in the developed world whose spiritual poverty and loneliness was such an immense cause of suffering.

She was a fierce defender of the unborn saying: "If you hear of some woman who does not want to keep her child and wants to have an abortion, try to persuade her to bring him to me. I will love that child, seeing in him the sign of God's love."

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997 and was beatified only six years later, on October 19, 2003.

Mother Teresa once said, "A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace." She also said, "give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness."

* * *

O God, who called blessed Teresa, Virgin, to respond to the love of your Son thirsting on the cross with outstanding charity to the poorest of the poor, grant us, we beseech you, by her intercession, to minister to Christ in his suffering brothers. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

159th Anniversary of the Dedication of Ottawa's Cathedral - Recalling Blessed Dina Belanger

Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica was consecrated on this day in 1853--159 years ago.  Liturgically, this is a Solemnity in the cathedral and a Feast in all other churches and chapels of the Archdiocese of Ottawa.  Today's Masses at 12:15 and 5:15 PM will be bilingual.

O God, who year by year renew for us the day when this your holy temple was consecrated, hear the prayers of your people and grant that in this place for you there may always be pure worship and for us, fullness of redemption. 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.

The importance of the cathedral church in the liturgical life of the diocese flows from the role of the Bishop as the high priest of the Lord’s flock.

Every parish community is related to the Bishop, and therefore the anniversary of the cathedral church’s dedication as a place of worship is celebrated throughout the diocese.

The anniversary of the dedication of a cathedral church is to be observed on the date of the church's consecration, with the rank of a solemnity in the cathedral itself and of a feast in the other churches of the diocese; white vestments are worn.

Here are some historic notes gathered from various sources including the cathedral website where one can make a "virtual tour" or request a guided tour (www.notredameottawa.com):

The cathedral's site at Sussex and St. Patrick was originally home to a small wooden church dedicated to St. James (Saint Jacques) built in 1832. This structure was demolished in 1841 to make way for a larger church, designed by local builder Antoine Robillard and Father Cannon who requested a Neo-classical design.

However, in 1844, after the lower section was completed, the Oblate Fathers took over the parish and Father Telmon was sent from France to finish the construction.

Father Telmon decided to redesign it to be a more standard Neo-Gothic structure, a style which was growing in popularity. This left the lower features, such as the main entrance, Neo-Classical, while the rest is Neo-Gothic, for example, the large windows over the doorway features Gothic pointed arches and tracery.

The main structure was finished in 1846, but it was not until 1866 that the spires were installed. The steeples are topped with standard French-Canadian tin and bells.

The cathedral's exterior is fairly reserved, but the interior is as far more ornate, designed by Georges Buillon; it is brightly painted and decorated with carved features, exquisite stained glass windows and hundreds of statues of various religious figures. Louis-Philippe Hébert completed thirty large wooden sculptures in the choir.

In 1847 the church became a cathedral when Most Reverend Joseph-Eugène-Bruno Guigues, O.M.I. was appointed the first Bishop of Bytown; he is honoured with a lifesize statue to the right of the Cathedral (corner of Sussex and Guigues; his successor, Archbishop Thomas Duhamel's statue is on the corner of Sussex and Guigues). The cathedral was given the honorific title of basilica in 1879.

The Cathedral Basilica of Notre Dame is the oldest church in Ottawa and the seat of the city's Catholic archbishop. Its twin spires and gilded Madonna are easily identifiable from nearby Parliament Hill and the surrounding area.

The church was recently renovated and restored in the late 1990s. Services are held in both French and English. Composer Amédée Tremblay notably served as the church's organist from 1894-1920.

With the growth of the diocese under the second Bishop of Ottawa, Most Reverend Thomas Duhamel, and with the impetus of a visionary artist, Canon Georges Bouillon, the cathedral was finally completed in 1885.

Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception on September 4, 1853, the Cathedral underwent a major restoration in the 1990's (resulting in the closure of the cathedral for close to two years), to prepare for the celebration of the diocese's sesquicentennial in 1997. This $10M updating was generously provided for by a subscription campaign.

It was the first phase of a multi-year project; most recently (2009-2010) a new steel roof was installed and, to take advantage of the scaffolding erected for this project, the exterior windows were painted and the cross on the south side of the roof was gilded.

* * * * * *

BLESSED DINA BELANGER

Though the optional memorial of Dina Belanger may not be celebrated in the Archdiocese of Ottawa, today, here are a few details of this Canadian Blessed.

Blessed Dina Bélanger (1897-1926), Soeur Marie-Sainte-Cécile de Rome: Dina was the daughter of Olivier-Octave BÉLANGER and Séraphia MATTE who were married at Neuville, Portneuf, Québec on June 23, 1896. This young girl was educated at Saint-Roch, then at the College of Bellevue directed by the Ladies of the Congregation.

From 1916 to 1918, Dina studied piano at the Conservatory of Music in New York. She, then, entered the convent of Jésus-Marie in 1921. She professed her vows two years later, using the religious name of Sister Marie de Sainte-Cécile of Rome; she prounced her perpetual vows in 1928. Less than a year later, afflicted with a pulmonary disease, she went into the convent infirmary and died there on September 4, 1929.

Despite her brief existance, Dina was renowed as a great mystic. Sixty years after her death, on May 13, 1989, the Holy See recognized the heroism of her virtues and gave her the title of VENERABLE. In the simplicity of her exterior existence as child, young girl and religious, she led an interior life of a seraphin, of an angel. She was raised to terrific heights in the areas of enlightment and divine love.

In 1951, the remains of Dina Bélanger were placed in a lead sarcophagus and transfered to the religious community cemetery at Sillery. There are many people who go to kneel in prayer at her tomb. Her beatification cause has been completed and she was declared BLESSED on March 20, 1993. Her canonization process has already been placed in the hands of the Holy See.

Saint Gregory the Great - The Dominicans Celebrate 100 Years of Their Canadian Province

St. Gregory the Great

St. Gregory was born at Rome in 540. He was successively senator and prefect of Rome before the age of 30. After five years he resigned and became a monk, transforming his own house into a Benedictine monastery, and founding six others. At the age of 50 he was elected pope, serving from 590 to 604. In 14 years he accomplished much for the Mystical Body of Christ.

After seeing English children being sold as slaves in Rome, he sent 40 monks, including St. Augustine of Canterbury, from his own monastery to make "the Angles angels." England owes her conversion to him. At a period when the invasion of the barbarian Lombards created a new situation in Europe, he played a great part in winning them for Christ. When Rome itself was under attack, he personally went to interview the Lombard King.

At the same time he watched equally over the holiness of the clergy and the maintenance of Church discipline, the temporal interests of his people of Rome and the spiritual interests of all Christendom. He removed unworthy priests from office, forbade taking money for many services, and emptied the papal treasury to ransom prisoners of the Lombards and to care for persecuted Jews and victims of plague and famine. These deeds and others made him, in the words of an antiphon in his office, "the Father of the City, the joy of the World."

Gregory reformed the liturgy, and it still contains several of his most beautiful prayers. The name "Gregorian chant" recalls this great Pope's work in the development of the Church's music. His commentaries on Holy Scripture exercised a considerable influence on Christian thought in the Middle Ages. St. Gregory died on March 12, 604. His body lies at St. Peter's in Rome.

Symbols: dove (the Holy Spirit perched upon St. Gregory's shoulder while he wrote); bishop's staff; book and a pen; papal tiara; a church; a sheet of music written in Gregorian style (4 lines, with square notes); scroll with the words, "Ora pro nobis Deum"; desk and book; altar; double or triple cross; eagle; lectern; tall cross and book.

* * *

O God, who care for your people with gentleness and rule them in love, through the intercession of Pope Saint Gregory, endow, we pray, with a spirit of wisdom those to whom you have given authority to govern, that the flourishing of a holy flock may become the eternal joy of the shepherds. 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.

* * * * * *

DOMINICANS OF CANADA
CELEBRATE 100 YEARS
OF THEIR PROVINCE

A week ago Saturday (i.e. on August 25), the Canadian Province of the Dominicans (the Order of Friars Preachers) concluded their celebration of the centennial of their foundation as a Province in 1911.

The Master General of the Order, Provincials of their sisters Provinces in the United States, Japan and Rwanda (as well as a Vietnamese Vice-Province located in Calgary), religious superiors of religious congregations of women and men came together at the Couvent St. Albert-le-Grand in Montreal for Solemn Vespers, followed by a tour of the facilities and a festive dinner.

There were works of art produced by Province members and photos of the convents of the Order in Canada; I was taken by one of the church and rectory in Ottawa on the arrival of the Dominicans in 1884 (they had been in Canada forty years before the Province was established). 

Some photos of the tour that I took part in and the dinner:

Maitre de l'Ordre. le frere Bruno Cadoré, élu en 2010 (a gauche), avec le frere Yvan Pomerleau

Canada's oldest Dominican, le frère Benoît Lacroix, o.p.

The Day of the Lord - Ordination of Bishop Damphousse in Alexandria

Frederick Varley, Liberation (AGO Collection)

God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured. 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.

* * * * * *

THE EIGHTH BISHOP

OF ALEXANDRIA-CORNWALL

This afternoon, I will travel the one hundred kilometers southeast to the Town of Alexandria for the episcopal ordination of my new neighbour bishop Marcel Damphousse. We had a chance to visit recently, at which time I assured him of my full support and cooperation in his new ministry.

The Alexandria-Cornwall Diocese belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Kingston, so Archbishop Brendan O’Brien will preside as the principal consecrator, assisted by two co-consecrators Archbishop Albert LeGatt of Saint-Boniface and his predecessor, Mgr Paul-Andre Durocher (now of Gatineau) and all the other assisting bishops.

Following his nomination to Gatineau Archbishop Durocher served as Diocesan Administrator of Alexandria-Cornwall until he was installed as Archbishop of Gatineau on November 30; since then, Father Kelvin Maloney has been Diocesan Administrator of Alexandria-Cornwall.

The cathedral in Alexandria is one of the few churches in these parts dedicated to St. Finnan (sometimes spelled Finan), second bishop of Lindisfarne (successor to St. Aidan, mentioned here a couple of days ago); the larger co-cathedral in Cornwall is dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

* * *

At the time of his appointment, Bishop Damphousse was Rector of Saint-Boniface Cathedral in Manitoba.

Born on March 19, 1963, in Saint-Joseph, Manitoba, Bishop Damphousse was ordained a priest on June 28, 1991, for the Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface. He served in a number of parishes before being named Rector of the Cathedral in 2008.

Bishop Damphousse earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1984 at the University College of Saint Boniface, followed by a Bachelor’s degree in theology in 1989 from Saint Paul University, Ottawa. He received his formation for the priesthood at Saint Paul’s Seminary, Ottawa. In 2002 he earned a licentiate in spiritual theology from the Teresianum in Rome.

For a number of years, Bishop Damphousse taught at the Manitoba Catholic School of Evangelization, and was vocations director for more than 12 years. Before being appointed Rector of the Cathedral, he was chaplain at St. Boniface Diocesan High School for five years. Before his appointment, he served the Saint Boniface Diocese aa a member of the Diocesan Finance Committee and of the Diocesan Commission for Liturgy; he had also been spiritual director of the TEC (To Encounter Christ) movement over the last eight years.

The Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall has 29 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of 55,570, which is served by 29 diocesan priests, one priest who is member of a religious community, 25 Religious Sisters and Brothers, and 19 permanent deacons.

Ŵe wish the youthful (49 years old) bishop a long and fruitful ministry and look forward to the addition of his energy particularly to the ranks of the francophone bishops in L’Assembee des Eveques Catholiques de l’Ontario. 

Ad multos annos!