Message from the Rector

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December 6, 2020

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

Next Tuesday, December 8, is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Church teaches that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. In the 19th century, it was adopted as Church dogma when Pope Pius IX promulgated Ineffabilis Deus in 1854. In Saint Patrick’s, we have a stained-glass window near the Altar of Our Lady, which commemorates the proclamation of this dogma. This is not to be confused with the virginal conception of Jesus, which is also part of the deposit of faith that Catholics proclaim. In a particular way next Tuesday, please remember to keep in your prayers Archbishop Damphousse, who inaugurates his pastoral leadership of our Archdiocese.

Next Thursday at sundown, our Jewish brothers and sisters commence their Feast of Hanukkah. It is the feast of lights and the rededication of the Temple in the time of the Maccabees who defeated the pagan occupying power who had taken Jerusalem and desecrated the Temple.

December 12, the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, is the National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples. One of the unique aspects of the apparition of Mary at Guadalupe is that she appeared in the form of an indigenous woman. Let us continue to seek the intercession of the Virgin of Guadalupe for the reconciliation of the First Nations with other Canadians.

Father Kevin