Reflections on the heritage, life & work of faith communities in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
On the Third Sunday of Lent, March 8, I joined around 100 parishioners for 10:00 AM Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Manor Park. The establishment of a new parish for English-speaking Catholics in 1953, and the completion of the Mid-century modern A-frame church at 400 St. Laurent Boulevard in 1957 was…
Over 200 people attended a lecture by Anishinaabe writer, editor, professor and activist Niigaan Sinclair at St. Joseph’s Church in downtown Ottawa on March 5. Entitled “The Top Five Struggles of the Reconciliation Journey for the Church and Indigenous Peoples Following the 2021 Papal Apology,” the lecture was the first of an annual series of…
A uniquely amicable priest and a thoroughly multicultural congregation — those are the characteristics that struck me the most when I visited St. Elizabeth Parish at 1303 Leaside Avenue on the Second Sunday of Lent, March 1, for their 10:30 AM Mass. Around 80 parishioners seated in the pews came from a wide range of…
On the First Sunday of Lent, February 22, I visited St. George’s Parish at 415 Piccadilly Avenue North, in Ottawa’s Westboro neighbourhood. I attended their 10:30 AM Sunday Mass, alongside around 100 parishioners. Opened in 1924, the church is a great example of Collegiate Gothic architecture. That’s the architectural style commonly associated with private schools…
You are the salt of the earth — those words from Jesus, recorded in Matthew 5:13, were at the heart of the 10:00 AM Sunday liturgy I attended on February 15 at Russell United Church, a historic house of worship built in 1887. By the end of it, everyone walked away with savoury surprise gifts…
Built in 1909, MacKay United Church at 39 Dufferin Road is a Romanesque Revival architectural jewel. I visited the church on February 8 for their 10:30 am service, alongside around 50 members of the congregation who gathered in person, with several more following a live-stream remotely. I found a crisp, bright interior and a multi-generational…
It’s best not to underestimate small-town Ontario: they have some of the grandest churches in the province. Arnprior’s St. John Chrysostom Parish, completed in 1908, is an example of the best in ecclesial architecture in our rural communities. Admittedly, Arnprior is increasingly a commuter town, located just beyond the western peripheries of Ottawa, merely 65…
St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Kanata is a bright, crisp and modern house of worship built in 2004 as the third church to be constructed on this site. The traditionally-designed cruciform church is a reminder of two prior Anglican houses of worship that stood here, the first built in 1874 and the second in 1937….
St. Augustine Parish may be the most enthusiastically welcoming church I’ve visited in a long time, thanks in large measure to Deacon Christopher Moffat. When I arrived at 1060 Baseline Road on Sunday, January 25 for the 10:30 AM Mass, he greeted me at the entrance with a wide smile and a warm, impromptu blessing….
A portrait of St. Paul towered over the clergy and laity that gathered at de Mazenod Chapel on January 22 for an ecumenical liturgy marking the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Ottawa. Hosted by Saint Paul University’s Pastoral Services and the Christian Council of the Capital Area, the liturgy — which drew around…