Visiting St. Patrick Parish

On the First Sunday of Advent, I drove out to the snowy village of Fallowfield, in Ottawa’s rural west-end, and visited a historic church with some of the most extraordinary examples of sacred art in this region. St. Patrick Parish at 15 Steeple Hill Crescent was dedicated in 1866. Today, the sturdy stone church stands at the crossroads of rural life and Ottawa’s sprawling suburbia, with populations having increased all around it thanks to the rapid development of Nepean and Kanata since amalgamation in 2001. What drew me to visit St. Patrick was a priest in the Archdiocese telling me about the church’s restored ceiling and the extraordinary sacred art that now fills the space.

The ceiling — painted in a rich blue with gold stars and enhanced with depictions of the four Evangelists, angels and prophets — was a major undertaking for St. Patrick Parish, with the project completed this past summer. The sacred art cost some $150,000 — an amount above and beyond the costs associated with repainting the church’s interior, repairing plaster and restoring the pews. Parishioners had the opportunity to vote on the proposed project in early 2025. Painters came from British Columbia and all the artwork was hand-painted. Parishioners got their first in-person glimpse of the restored church on September 13, at a grand reveal celebration.

In a pamphlet explaining the project, the Parish shares: “more than for artistic effect, these stars remind us of the covenant God made with Abraham in the Book of Genesis. St. Paul wrote that through our faith in Christ Jesus, we are also descendants of Abraham.” Looking up from the pews, we’re reminded of the words from Genesis 15:5, where we read: “God brought Abraham outside and said, ‘Look towards heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.'”

I attended the 11:00 AM Mass on the First Sunday of Advent and found a dynamic, bustling parish with some 200 people of all ages gathered in the pews. The liturgy began with parishioners greeting each other — an important gesture of both welcome and community. The choristers numbered two dozen and the more contemporary music selection and style could most be described as Catholic folk, accompanied by piano, guitar and percussion. The music came from a Missal available in the pews published by Oregon Catholic Press. The lyrics of the songs matched the themes of Advent. One entitled “Beyond the Moon and Stars” stood out the most for its lyricism: “Beyond the Moon and stars, as deep as night, so great our hunger, Lord, to see your light. The sparrow finds her home beneath your wing. So may we come to rest where angels sing.” The music also included a more contemporary piece, “Come, Emmanuel,” by Trevor Thomson.

In his homily, Fr. Paul Shepherd referenced the saying that it’s often darkest before the dawn. With a hint of humour, Fr. Paul shared that he’s hardly a morning person himself, so he can’t personally fact check this. And yet in the Gospel reading, Matthew 24, Jesus is saying something much the same. “Before the coming of the Son of Man, things are going to get pretty dark, pretty bleak, and things are going to seem especially hopeless,” Fr. Paul said, in reference to the reading. “There is something that we can do, even in the darkest of nights and in the direst of situations. Jesus wants us not to be afraid, but with him to triumph over all those things that threaten our peace and our sense of well-being,” Fr. Paul added.

Fr. Paul shared a personal story from a time when he sat by his brother’s bedside, as he lay dying. “It was in those long and dark nights that the grace of God was a light in the darkness. The Gospel gives assurance that God’s salvation reaches out to each person equally, making the pain of loss and separation bearable. It didn’t change the outcome,” Fr. Paul said of his brother’s illness, “but it gave me and my family a sense of help when we felt helpless. This is Jesus’ Good News. Christ has overcome the world, and all the darkness that’s in it.”

The printed Sunday Bulletin included an Advent prayer from Henri Nouwen, which spoke of the faithful as “people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.”

Following Mass, all were invited to the bright, modern ground-level Parish Hall — filled with natural light — where the Knights of Columbus served the congregation coffee, tea, and baked goods. St. Patrick Church is both a well-preserved historic landmark and a living community of faith.

Christopher Adam