Our 10th annual golf event fundraiser on August 13th was a huge success!
We had 167 people at the dinner with 98 golfers and raised $32,357 after expenses. Deo gratias!

Thank you for all your support – to all the volunteers, to those who contacted sponsors, to all the sponsors, to those who provided auction items, to those who made financial donations, and to all who were able to join us for the day.

We would like to especially thank the many businesses and professionals who were sponsors for the tournament and all the donors who contributed to this year’s silent auction. These are identified in the programme below :

PDF format:  Template Golf Pamphlet 05-08

Powerpoint format:  Golf Pamphlet 05-08

May God reward you for your generosity and support of the parish !

Holy Thursday
7:30 pm Solemn High Mass with Adoration at the Altar of Repose until Midnight.

Good Friday:
Stations at 2:00 pm
Solemn Liturgy at 3:00 pm

Holy Saturday:
9:00 pm Easter Vigil (fulfills Sunday obligation)

Easter Sunday:
8:00 am Low Mass
10:30 am Solemn High Mass
(the 5:30 pm Mass is cancelled)

Theme: The Holy Eucharist 

Schedule for each evening:
6:30 pm Talk by Fr. Insco, followed by Exposition & Confessions
7:15 pm Benediction
7:30 pm Mass with Sermon by Fr. Insco

The liturgical season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 14. The following are guidelines of Lenten observance for the faithful in the Archdiocese of Ottawa:

• Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence from meat.

• all other Fridays in Lent are days of abstinence from meat.

Fasting binds all persons who have completed their 18th birthday through those who have completed their 59th year, unless prevented by poor health.

On days of fast, one full meal is allowed. Two other meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to one’s own needs. Eating between meals is not allowed although fluids may be taken.

Abstinence from meat binds all persons who have completed their 14th birthday, unless prevented by poor health.

The consumption of meat is not allowed on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent (in the Archdiocese of Ottawa).   The Archbishop mandates this observance for the spiritual well-being of the faithful.

Removing Holy Water from fonts during the season of Lent is not permitted (CDF Prot. N. 569/00/L March 14, 2000).

The covering of crosses and images from the Fifth Sunday of Lent may be observed.

Lent is a penitential season and, as such, religious practices such as daily Mass, the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Stations of the Cross, works of charity and justice, and acts of self-denial are highly encouraged.

As so many of you remarked, the St. Elias Centre was a very nice venue for a parish dinner celebrating the 150^th anniversary of our beautiful church, our spiritual home since 2012.

As nice as this venue was, in the future we hope to be able to host this type of celebration on Old St. Patrick Street in our own parish hall.

This past July our parish launched a capital campaign to raise $900,000 over three years, beginning this year, toward the building of our hall. Without including the proceeds from the dinner, we have received about $165,000 in pledges from about 45 donors. This is a good start, but we need to reach $900,000 in pledges by the end of December.  Although we don’t require all the money by that time, we do need your pledges now. The reason for the December deadline is that early in 2024 we can meet with the archdiocese for approval of a mortgage. Then we would be able to finalize our hall design and begin the construction process.  

We presently have about 500 donors to our parish. We know that regular donations vary widely according to the means of each individual. But, when averaged out, everything counts, and each donation makes a difference. To put the campaign in perspective, if our 500 donors pledged, on average, an additional $50 per month above and beyond their normal contributions, realizing that some will give more and some less, we would attain our goal of $900,000 to qualify for the mortgage. But we will never really know until we see your pledges of support.

If you have not done so already, we would ask that you consider making a pledge using the pledge form below. Please determine how much you can give above and beyond your normal contributions.

Parish Hall–capital campaign–Pledge Form (PDF)

Remember that your donations are eligible for a significant tax credit.

Our parish has a great future and together we can meet our campaign goal.  May God reward you for your generosity!

Fr. Erik Deprey, FSSP
November 26, 2023

Just a reminder that the time changes tomorrow morning!  We fall back one hour.

My fellow parishioners,

We have launched our Capital Campaign to raise funds needed to build a new parish hall here beside the church.

As you know, we have considered several options for a hall. You will recall the plan presented in 2019 to retrofit 17 Myrand Avenue to create a grand banquet room by combining the 2nd and 3rd floors.

Since that time, conditions have changed. Our parish has grown tremendously, to the point where the anticipated capacity of a retrofitted Myrand Avenue building was deemed too small to meet our needs. Instead, the building will be restored to its original vocation as the clergy residence and parish offices.

Moreover, following consultations with the Archdiocese, we have determined that a more cost-effective option is to build a new parish hall on the west side of the church where the rectory is currently located. This will provide greater capacity to meet our needs and allow easy access for all. We now have a draft design for the building prepared by an architect.

The projected cost of construction is $3.5 million. While this may seem like a daunting figure, we are confident that the strong financial position of our parish and the anticipated continued growth in revenues will enable us to succeed. We will finance three quarters of the cost through a mortgage from the Archdiocese and some of the savings currently on deposit with the Archdiocese. For the remainder, we will need to launch this Capital Campaign to raise $900,000 over the next three years.

As a healthy growing parish, we need a place to come together outside of Mass and enjoy social activities at a time when such opportunities for faithful Catholics are sorely lacking. Our proposed parish hall project will be a major undertaking, but I know we can meet the challenge just as our parish community has met all the other challenges it faced in its 50-year history. Your patience with this process has been most appreciated.

I want to assure you that we will give you ample opportunity to examine the details of the parish hall design and how the cost can be financed. At the entrance to the church, you will see the architectural rendering of the draft design, financial details related to the hall construction, and other information about the Capital Campaign, including more copies of the pledge form. Please pick up this information as you leave the church, take it home and review it. I invite you to communicate your questions and comments using the e-mail address provided in the attached pledge form.

Attached is the campaign pledge form as well as information on the available tax credit for donations and how the tax credit actually reduces the cost of your donation. I would ask that you carefully consider making a pledge to contribute over the three years to enable us to achieve our goal and finally make a parish hall a reality.

More detailed information can be found on our dedicated Capital Campaign website:

https://www.saintclement.ca

And any questions on the project itself should be directed to the following project email:

God bless you and thank you for your support and prayers.

In Christo,

Father Erik Deprey, FSSP
Pastor

Our golf event fundraiser on August 17th was a huge success!  We hosted 161 for dinner, including 91 golfers, and raised $28,223 after expenses. Thank you to all who supported this important fundraising and social event for our parish. A special thank-you to our volunteers and organizing committee. Also, we encourage you to support those businesses listed in our program who were sponsors or donors of silent auction items.  These are identified in the program below :

Golf Sponsors 2023

The details of this year’s event may be found in the attached poster here.

In addition, the page below outlines specific ways in which people helped ensure the success of this year’s event, especially by soliciting financial support from businesses and by soliciting or donating items for the silent auction:

How to Help Solicit Support

The golf day was an enjoyable social event for our parish and an important fundraiser. With your help next year, we can continue to raise many thousands of dollars annually.  Please consider how you can assist the golf committee to ensure its continued success.

Lenten Mission with Fr. Caleb Insco, FSSP:  March 6 to 9

Theme: The Interior Castle of St. Teresa of Avila. 

         Schedule for each evening:

6:30 pm Conference on The Interior Castle

6:45 pm Exposition 

6:50 pm Discursive meditation

6:55 pm Confessions

7:15 pm Benediction

7:30 pm Mass with Sermon

https://www.youtube.com/@st.clementsparishparoisses8409/streams

October 20, 2022

Subject: Update re: parish hall and related projects

Dear parishioners,

Many of you will recall our plan presented in the summer of 2019 to retrofit 17 Myrand Avenue to meet our needs for a parish hall. The main component of that plan was to create a banquet room on the 2nd floor by effectively combining the 2nd and 3rd floors. Since that time, we have worked with our architect, engineers, and consulted with the Archdiocese with a view to making that plan a reality.

Concurrently the parish has grown substantially. Since 2019, God has blessed us with an increase of around 30% in the number of parishioners. Attendance at our three Sunday Masses now averages 700-750 faithful. Collections have also increased considerably, enabling the parish to be in a very solid financial position.

Considering the significant increase in the size of our parish, the planned retrofit of the Myrand Avenue building with a maximum capacity of only 220 persons in a banquet room on the 2nd floor is not adequate. Additionally, the professionals hired in designing and providing us with a cost estimate for such an undertaking priced the project at approximately $2.5 million. Accordingly, and after consultation with the Archdiocese, our steering committee decided not to spend that amount of money for a church hall that wouldn’t meet our needs.

Considering that our parish has not only grown significantly, but also continues to grow with the grace of God, the steering committee determined that the better and more cost-effective option would be to build a new parish hall permitting venues for 350 to 400 persons. This can happen only on an expanded footprint on the west side of the church where the existing rectory is located. Such an undertaking will be more expensive than the Myrand Avenue retrofit, but we would almost double the capacity and it would provide easier (Universal) ground level access. We are optimistic that with the solid financial position of our parish and the anticipated continued growth in revenues, we will be able to finance the cost of a new hall. Once we have a draft design of a new parish hall prepared by an architect and its projected cost, we will provide it to you for review.

In view of the foregoing, the following steering committee decisions have been made:

1. The Myrand Avenue building will be returned to its primary function as the residence for our priests and will also provide rental office space for FSSP Canada. The main
floor will serve mainly as parish offices, with a section for FSSP Canada, and the second and third floors as the priests’ residence with accommodation for visiting clergy and seminarians. We are working towards having the building ready for FSSP Canada and for our priests by the spring of 2023.

The Myrand Avenue building requires some repairs to the exterior and upgrades to the interior. For example, we need to replace the eaves troughs that were causing water damage. Some of the upgrades for the interior include replacing old carpeting, repairing and restoring hardwood floors as well as renovating the main bathrooms on the ground and second floors. The overall costs for these repairs and upgrades will be approximately $225,000. These are not insignificant costs; however, once it is occupied, the rent collected from FSSP Canada will more than offset the normal operating costs of the building.

2. As part of the plan to move the rectory to 17 Myrand, our priests will no longer park on the east side of the church. Instead they, as well as the secretary and any additional staff working for the parish, will park on the small parking lot adjacent to the Myrand Avenue building. Although we largely resolved our Sunday parking problem by renting the Ste-Anne Medical Centre parking lot, further parking will become available with the removal of the old garage which is in peril of collapsing. In its place we will be able to provide paved parking that meets City requirements and thereby alleviate the shortage of weekday parking. In addition to removing the old garage, we will also be clearing trees to make way for the installation of new fencing on the east side of the church property. We will be sharing the cost of the fencing with Inner City Health, the new owners of the former John Howard Society property, and with the private owner of the neighbouring property. We estimate that the total costs for these property improvements, including the creation of additional parking will be approximately $112,000. Not only will this facilitate parking for those attending weekday Masses, it will also significantly improve the appearance of that property next to the Church. I must add that we are very grateful to the management of Inner City Health who agreed we can continue to use the former John Howard Society parking lot on Sundays.

3. When our priests vacate the current rectory and until such time as we build the new hall, we will use that building for meeting space for Sunday coffee, small social gatherings and for various parish groups.

Finally, I would like to thank our volunteers, our steering committee and all of you for your continued support. I ask that you continue to keep these projects in your prayers.

In Christo
Father Erik Deprey, FSSP Pastor

Feb. 22: Masses with imposition of ashes will be celebrated at the following times.  Ashes will be imposed at the very beginning of Mass:

7:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 7:30 pm (High Mass).

Feast of the Epiphany Friday Jan. 6th:
7:00 am Low Mass (followed by Exposition for 1st Friday)
12:00 pm Low Mass (Exposition then continues)
7:15 pm Benediction
7:30 pm High Mass

We will have a Solemn High Mass (Priest, Deacon & Subdeacon) for the Feast of St. Clement on Wednesday Nov. 23, at 7:30 pm.   Come and celebrate our parish feast day. We will also celebrate 25 years as a fully canonically erected parish in Ottawa. A book covering the Latin Mass Community of Ottawa’s history, from its humble beginnings in 1968 to the present day, is available at the bookstore. Just in time for Christmas, Faithful In All Generations now at a reduced price: $35. A great gift !

The Litany of the Most Precious Blood gives us a poignant reminder of not only the Passion but also of the good our Lord’s Blood can do for us as the “Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls”.

St. Peter reminds us of its importance when he writes. “You were redeemed not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). As our Lord Himself said, His blood would be shed for “the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:28).

May the Litany of the Most Precious Blood throughout the month of July inspire you in your efforts to receive Him worthily in Communion and to have Him fortify you in your efforts to serve Him and others on your journey towards Eternal Life!

We have included along with the Litany the meditation on The Seven Sheddings of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Each day of the week has a suggested meditation as a preparation for the praying of this beautiful Litany;  the document can be downloaded by clicking the link here below:

Litaniae pretiosissimi Sanguinis Domini Nostri Iesu Christi

Monday June 13:
7:00 am, 9:00 am, 6:30 pm Fatima Devotions, followed by Low Mass at 7:30 pm

Thursday June 16: 
Corpus Christi Masses:  7:00 am Low Mass; 7:30 pm High Mass.

Sunday, June 12^th which marked the celebration of the feast of the Holy Trinity was also the tenth anniversary of Saint Clement Parish’s arrival on Old St. Patrick in Lower Town. In 2012 that feast day fell on June 3^rd.

With the majority of its move from Mann Avenue behind it by the end of day on Saturday, June the 2^nd, the morning of the 3^rd ten years ago saw the Feast of the Holy Trinity marked by the first Solemn High Mass to be celebrated in Latin at Saint Anne Church in over 40 years. Since then the parish has continued to gain momentum with achievements on both the spiritual front and in its physical presence that speak to a healthy, active community.

In keeping with its convictions and without stinting, the parish successfully undertook the refitting of the patrimonial church’s interior thus ensuring the careful, studied return of elements which been removed during the nineteen sixties. It was in this spirit that the restoration of the altars of the Precious Blood, profoundly linked to the parish’s identity, took place. It also reunited the former rectory on Myrand Avenue with the church it was built to serve, bringing two building with a heritage designation back under the stewardship of the Church. And despite the trends of the contemporary world, those ten years have seen the number of faithful Saint Clement Parish serves continue to grow at an appreciable rate. Deo Gratias!