St. Paul in the Square

On May 17th 2009, Archbishop Thomas Collins and several priests, religious and laity from the Archdiocese of Toronto filled Dundas Square with prayer, praise and joyful song. Based on the account of St. Paul's preaching in the public area called the Areopagus of Athens, the Archdiocese reserved the Square for a prayerful use.
Toronto's own Susan Hongkook Taylor sang, Matt Maher a Canadian born musician who now resides in Arizona provided an upbeat music concert. The group prayed the rosary.
Neil McCarthy the Archdiocesan director of communications, proved a very able emcee along with Father Robert Mengella. The sun was bright, but temperatures were on the cool side. Then Archbishop Collins lead all the group in a "Lectio Divina" based on the account of St. Paul in Athens from the Acts of the Apostles. Even though brisk shafts of air kept pummeling us all day, people stayed to the end
clapping to Matt Maher's music, and praising God at the same time. We Paulines, myself and a good number of Pauline Cooperators, Holy Family members and volunteers staffed two book tables. We brought Bibles and St. Paul titles especially.
Here are some photos of St. Paul in the Square.
With the help of Pauline Cooperators and friends, we held a book display very near the stage. The Archdiocesan Icon of St. Paul was strapped to the tent posts next to our first book table. Friends of our stopped to have their picture taken with the St. Paul Icon. May St. Paul accompany all of us as we finish this year dedicated to him and begin the Year of the Priest.
Have a beautiful Trinity Sunday.

June A Month of Feasts

The photo is a long shot of the bell tower at St. Paul Church in Burlington, Ontario.
The entire Easter Season rushed by and I never blogged once! I missed communicating with all my blog readers. My apologies for not scheduling in the time to post.
For me, June is filled with anniversaries and feast days. I graduated from High School on June 5th many years ago. I entered the Daughters of St. Paul on June 15, just as many years ago. I entered the novitiate on June 29th; I received the religious habit on June 25th; I made my first profession of vows on June 30th. I have a brother and a sister whose birthdays fall on June 2nd and June 12th. Tomorrow the Church celebrates the Feast of the Most Blessed Trinity, Three Persons in One God. Next week will be the Feast of Corpus Christ, the Body and Blood of Christ. Then we will have the Feast of Jesus' Sacred Heart on June 19, and the Immaculate or Sacred Heart of Mary on June 20.
On June 29th we celebrate the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. And, for us members of the Pauline religious Family, we celebrate a special Feast of St. Paul on June 30.
The Pauline Family observes a solemn Novena in honor of St. Paul during the nine days prior to June 30.
On the afternoon of June 27th, we Sisters and a group of young women are planning to have a special hour of Eucharistic Adoration or other prayers for our solemn closing of the Year of St. Paul.
The Archdiocese of Toronto celebrated the end of the Pauline Year by reserving the pubic space in the heart of Toronto's downtown Dundas Square. I will blog again about the St. Paul in the Square event.

Easter

Greetings for a beautiful Easter Season. In the Church's liturgy, every day of Easter Week is another celebration of Easter.
The weather here in Toronto has been and promises to be very much in sync with the season of joy. The sun is beckoning our tulips and daffodils to wake up and flower soon.
Even though physical death has visited some over this weekend of joy--there is the Easter hope that one day we will all rise again. For all our loved ones who have "passed away" our faith assures us that they are closer to us now than when we could see them.
Pope Benedict XVI has been giving us a clear and uplifting explanation of Easter. I recommend checking out the Vatican's website, www.vatican.va to find all of Pope Benedict's talks in English. Other sources for the Pope's talks and his many activities can be found at the Vatican press office's news source. Another site worth checking out is www.zenit.org.
Music can help us relax and prepare us to pray. "In Paradisum" the newest CD from the Daughters of St. Paul helps me too.
Enjoy this Easter week.

St. Paul

In this photo you will see the Maltese statue of St. Paul with the viper.
May St. Paul inspire you to rejoice even more deeply in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus!
In the other photo you see Lena doing the reading at Mass in St. Paul's Basilica. The choir is on the right.

Pilgrimages and Holy Week

Today is Good Friday when we Christians commemorate Christ's saving death on a cross. Jesus' death gives us courage and hope, especially when we see sorrow around us, or view scenes of the earthquake in Italy. On Monday I attended a funeral Mass for a relative of one of our Sisters. It was impressive to see how many people filled the parish church. Even though the family and friends mourned the loss of their husband, brother, father, and friend, no one seemed desperate or bitter. Tony had lived a good life, he was truly a devout Catholic who professed his faith openly and courageously.
On Wednesday Pauline Cooperators Ann and Pat D'Cruz welcomed me on their bus pilgrimage throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Ann and Pat had asked me to be the spiritual guide for what we billed as a "Pilgrimage/Mini-Retreat." I was able to prepare some hand-outs with prayers to St. Paul, and some of his own prayers from his letters, and songs. The weather at first was cold and gloomy looking. When we emerged from the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Mississauga--a sprawling suburb of Toronto--the sun came out. The Mississauga church has a contemporary painting of St. Paul, a large mural depicting his life and travels; still another picture of his call at Damascus, and a separate painting of the shipwreck off of Malta.
The priests at each parish were very welcoming. At. St. Paul Church in Burlington, Ontario we were greeted by the assistant pastor who was very welcoming and enthusiastic. One of the pilgrims mentioned to me that he resembled the young St. Paul in the statue in the church foyer. All four churches which we visited had different architecture and styles inside. The Burlington church was built in 1990. It is home to over 5,000 families and growing.
Our third stop was at St. Paul the Apostle Maltese church in Toronto. Although I had been there twice before I did not notice the particularly Maltese aspect of their large St. Paul statue. As I observed it closely I could see the figure of a snake rising from a bonfire. The Acts of the Apostles tell us that after the Maltese people saved St. Paul and his companions from their shipwreck, a viper rose from the fire which was lit to warm the people. It bit St. Paul, but he simply shook it off his hand and threw it back into the fire. The Maltese expected him to keel over dead from the poison. Instead he was as healthy as ever. It was a sign to them that God favored Paul. The parish also had a Holy Week display which showed images of Christ's Last Supper and his Passion.
Our last stop was at St. Paul's Basilica in downtown Toronto, site of the first Catholic parish in Toronto. The parish grounds also serve as the resting place of the mortal remains of many of the Irish who died of typhus during the massive immigration in 1847 during the great Famine. The Basilica is full of art work expressing Paul's life. There we found a statue of Paul "The Elderly." We ended our pilgrimage with a Mass celebrated by Father Vic, a good friend of the Cruz's. The bus trip was truly a prayerful journey, since we prayed at each place for Pope Benedict, and for many other intentions. It was a chance for many of the 55 people to learn more about St. Paul. The Mass was made even more special by an impromptu choir of pilgrims who joined Pat in providing good music.
Yesterday, Holy Thursday, I was a guest on Radio Maria. My host, Sharon Di Cecco, had prepared a wonderful program on the Holy Eucharist. Sharon makes a lovely hostess for her program "Community in Concert." What we said and the music we heard prepared us to celebrate the Eucharist last night in a more prayerful way.
Sharon also had some of the ingredients for a Passover meal, since yesterday was the start of the greatest of all Jewish feasts.
During the radio program, listeners were able to hear the newest CD of the Daughters of St. Paul, In Paradisum. It is truly uplifting and relaxing.
Tomorrow we will end our day with the celebration of the Easter Vigil. I love the many readings of this special Mass because they recall the whole story of salvation from the Bible. And, the "Alleluia" is resurrected at the Easter Vigil. There is a triple Alleluia and then at the end of the Mass, when the priest dismisses the people He says or sings, Go in peace, alleluia, alleluia. St. Augustine says that "We are Easter people and alleluia is our song." May you enjoy an Easter filled with promise, with hope, with deep joy and cheerful song.
Happy Easter!

40 Days for Life

Today I attended a Mass marking the 20th day, or the mid-point of 40 Days for Life. This is a 24/7 prayer vigil held on the sidewalk across the street from an abortion facility. The targetted abortion clinic is diagonally across the street from our parish church, St. Charles Borromeo. From the little knowledge I have of it, the 40 Days for Life movement is an intensive prayer effort coupled with the sacrifice of praying outdoors for an end to abortion. The prayers are focused first of all on the clients, the young pregnant women who seek to end the life of the child within them. There were some extremely cold days and nights in the past 20 days. I pray that the sacrifices made by men and women of all ages and walks of life will save many children from extinction in abortion mills. Our Archbishop Thomas Collins quoted one of G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories about a man who wanted to steal from Father Brown. The would-be-thief tried to distract Father Brown with highfalutin language so as to steal a cross from him. Father Brown broke into the man's rambling by quoting the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not steal." Thou shalt not steal is a commandment, not an option. So too "Thou shalt not kill" is not a suggestion. It is a commandment. May abortion be replaced by a love for and a culture for life. May 40 Days for Life continue on for all the days of this year. I pray that both America and Canada be places where love for unborn life is a priority among all citizens.

The penance which the 40 Days for Life participants practice reminded me again of St. Patrick whose feast is on Tuesday. There is a place of pilgrimage in County Mayo, Ireland, in a little village near the town of Westport. Pilgrims walk or drive to a visitor center from where they climb a steep rock strewn hill. It is said that in the year 441 A.D. St. Patrick spent 40 days in prayer and fasting on that mountain. Croagh Patrick, as it is called, has been a place for Christian pilgrims and penitents since the earliest of Christian days in Ireland.
For more information on Croagh Patrick check out the web site: www.croagh-patrick.com.
Tomorrow evening, March 16, for those who can tune in, watch the story of the wave of Irish immigrants who came to Toronto in 1847: Death or Canada. It will tell also the story of Toronto's first Catholic prelate, Bishop Power.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick and Wearing of the Green

Today at morning mass a gentleman was dressed in a green shirt, green jacket and a sequined oversize green bow tie. Apparently he was headed to a St. Patrick's Day celebration. Sunday there will be a parade in St. Patrick's honor in Toronto; on Sunday evening the Canadian History channel (if I am not mistaken) will air a special called "Death or Canada." It tells the story of just one year of Irish immigration to Toronto--1847. It was a sad reality for thousands of Irish: either die of famine, or immigrate to North America.
An article I read several months ago told the story of Irish children whose parents had died aboard "coffin" ships moored in Montreal's harbor. There were scores of orphans alone in a strange country and ignorant of the language. At a Sunday Mass the children filled the front pews of the Cathedral. At the end of Mass the doors were closed. The Bishop told the people that the children needed homes. The parishioners were asked not to go home until each child also had a home. From then on many "French Canadians" were really Irish immigrants taken in and adopted by French speaking Canadians. One set of brother and sister began to cry when they were being separated. The couple who had chosen the boy, figuring he would be an asset on their farm, took in his sister. At their death, the couple who had raised the two orphans, left them both all of their property. Only God knows how many times similar stories were repeated as waves of immigrants spilled onto Canadian shores.
In Toronto, the area around the Basilica of St. Paul at Queen and Power was the site of many Irish immigrants whose sacrifices built the original church on that site.
I am of Irish descent. It was instilled in us that the Faith was our most important heritage. Thanks to St. Patrick for the gift he brought to the Emerald isle and to so many parts of our world because of his perseverance.
May St. Patrick pray for all of us!

PALS EGG

Today I read a comment on my last post on the Big Seven Capitol Sins. The comment said that, like a bad egg, once it is cracked open, things get worse. Thanks to the person who sent his comment.
Today's Gospel tells us that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. He told his apostles that suffering and humiliation awaited him. They were put off by what He said. How could the Messiah be a Man of Sorrows? I can sympathize with the Apostles. Suffering is not something our nature seeks after. Yet we know from experience that the Cross is always somewhere. Jesus carried his. He gives us the grace to carry ours.
During this world wide financial crunch there are in-laid crosses: Perhaps the cross is hidden in the restrictions of a very tight budget; it may mean working harder with less pay; putting up with disappointments and other inconveniences. Bearing our own shortcomings and those of the people with whom we live is a daily cross. When we allow Jesus to live in us, we are able to bear the weight of our daily share in His passion. Mpther Thecla Merlo, the first Mother General of the Daughters of St. Paul said, "Even if we cannot always be joyful, we can always be at peace!" Keeping our eyes on the Prize--Heaven--helps us to have a light heart as we journey with the Lord this Lent.

Get rid of PALE GAS

Lent is already in its second week! I came across some notes I made a few years ago in a Lenten journal: PALE GAS. I thought to myself, "What's that?" The seven letters represent seven sins, better known as the capitol sins. These are the ones we struggle with that have little "side bars" attached to them. The first is pride; then comes anger; then lust; then envy, the "green monster"; the letter g stands for gluttony, which can also be cholesterol laden and a real killer; avarice is the second A, another name for greed; sloth, the last, is the one that lets everything slide downhill. Some of the side bars may be arrogance, gossiping, stinginess, sadness when certain others do well, and I miss the mark. The three main "works" of Lent are geared to diminishing the effects of Pale Gas. These three are prayer, fasting and alms giving. Honest prayer and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit help us to recognize the inroads of Pale Gas. Grace also helps us to apply the remedies which open us to the gifts of the Spirit.
Last weekend I spoke to two groups about St. Paul and Lent. Lent was not yet instituted when Paul was alive. His sufferings and imprisonments made his life as an Apostle one long journey, very similar to our Lent. He said to the Galatians (2:19)"I am crucified with Christ." In Ephesians 4 he says to "live a life" worthy of our calling.
Some of the people whom I met did not realize that many of the hymns and songs we use at Mass are words from the Letters of St. Paul. Today we sang one of the "Pauline hymns" called "Only this I Want."
May St. Paul help us to continue our Lenten journey toward Easter with humility and determination. I like the short prayer our Founder, Blessed Alberione, gave us: "By myself, I can do nothing. But, with God, I can do all things. To God the honor and glory; to me Paradise!"