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. Completed in 1956, St. Augustine may seem like a plain A-frame church on the outside, but the interior boasts a rich display of stained glass windows. They line the full length of both the east and west sides of the nave and were installed a half century after the church was built, during the noughties. Soon after I posted two photographs of the church’s interior to our Facebook page, I received over a dozen comments from current and former parishioners — and it’s from these that I learned that among the volunteers who made the stained glass were Sheila Ogrady and Will Dekker. These works of art, along with the sanctuary’s modern artwork and rose-tinted windows, are important architectural highlights of this mid-century modern church.
In its August 29, 1956 issue, The Ottawa Citizen reported on the dedication of the newly completed St. Augustine Church by Archbishop M.J. Lemieux. The Citizen, which described the church as “ultramodern,” noted that some 400 people gathered for the dedication. The parish was to serve the growing suburb that sprung up around the church following the Second World War, when federal housing policies allowed for veterans to purchase plots in this area at affordable prices. At the invitation of the Archbishop, Augustinians from New York, led by Fr. Cyril Smetana, established a modest monastery on these lands in 1953. The order was well-represented at the blessing of the new church, which was designed with a capacity to seat up to 530 people.
Over 100 parishioners attended the 10:30 AM Mass on January 25. Fr. Jonathan Kelly presided and Fr. Frank Scott offered the homily. Fr. Jonathan, ordained in 2020, serves in chaplaincy at the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital, while Fr. Frank is the Pastor at St. Augustine Parish.
In his homily, Fr. Frank opened with a quote from Cardinal Newman and an episode from his life as a young man. The young Newman had been returning from Italy by sea to his home in Britain. He had fallen ill during his journey and nearly died. As he recovered back home, he wrote: “lead kindly light amid the encircling gloom.” Cardinal Newman believed that the prophecy of Isaiah had come true — the people who walked in darkness had seen a great light. Fr. Frank noted that all of us experience times of darkness in life, such as the death of a spouse or the passing of a dear family or community member, and even the unexpected rejection by someone we love or the loss of good health. We can be easily thrown into temporary darkness. “But in these tragic moments, true believers have the light of Christ that illuminates the shadows with the radiance of His splendour — guiding us, accompanying us to travel safely over the tempestuous sea of life,” Fr. Frank said.
“We might ask today, is all the darkness really gone from our world? How strong is that light of Christ, shining in the darkness of the human condition? We claim Jesus here among us as the light of our lives. I’m reminded of that beautiful hymn: in Him there is no darkness at all, the night and the day are both alike, shining in the darkness,” Fr. Frank added. He noted how he had recently presided at the funeral service of a long-time parishioner, Maxine Kelly. She was a regular at Saturday evening Mass, attending the liturgy in a wheelchair. In the eulogies at her funeral, people revealed just how precious her life was, as she showed compassion to all who came to her, helping people with clothing, food and warm words. Mrs. Kelly was a real light to others.
After sharing a story, Fr. Frank used the image of a copper kettle, encouraging us to be copper kettle Christians, catching the rays of Christ and reflecting His light on someone in a dark corner. He connected this to the Sunday’s Scripture reading, Matthew 4:12-23, which tells us that Christ came as a light, calling us to repentance and to enter the Kingdom of God, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy.
The music ministry at this Mass included four young choristers and a pianist. An excellent cantor led the congregation during the Psalm. The church’s sound system was also noteworthy — both music and the spoken word were crisp, clear and easy to understand throughout the liturgy. One of the hymns, sung as the parish’s children gathered near the beginning of the Mass, was Children of the Light. It captured very well the themes of the reading and of the homily. The choir also led us in singing the contemplative Taizé chant, Lord Jesus Christ.
Near the end of Mass, we recited a prayer to St. Augustine, asking the community’s patron saint to help the parish rediscover the richness and depth of the Christian faith, growing as a community of faith that shares God’s love for each other.
After Mass concluded, all were invited downstairs to the parish hall for a coffee social. Volunteers arranged a generous spread of sandwiches, cheese, baked treats, savoury snacks, as well as coffee and a selection of teas. Contemporary worship music played from speakers in the background as parishioners took the time to mingle and visit with each other.
Christopher Adam