We were privileged to have Pontifical Mass at Notre-Dame Cathedral at 7:30 pm on Friday Nov. 23rd, the Feast of St. Clement. Photos of the Mass can be found here:
In attendance were Fr. Joseph Bisig, first Superior General of the FSSP, Fr. Andrzej Komorowski, current Superior General, and Fr. Michael Stinson, District Superior.
Refreshments followed in the Cathedral hall.
Many thanks to our Archbishop for inviting us to the Cathedral for this Mass, in this the 50th year of the Latin Mass Community of Ottawa which became St. Clement Parish.
Many thanks to Beryl Devine, Rachel Laurin and our parish choir for organizing this special evening of sacred music for us all ! And to Pam Janek, Mary Lavallée, and the volunteers for the hot chocolate and mulled wine afterwards. It was an enjoyable evening !
Fr. Bisig, current rector of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska, gave a talk at the cafeteria of École Publique de la Salle(501 Old St. Patrick St.) on November 24th on the history of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. Fr. Bisig was the first Superior General of the FSSP. Father took questions after his talk. We are grateful that he could be with us on this our 50th anniversary!
Our statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which we use for our Fatima Devotions the 13th of the month from May to October, has finally been restored ! We are very grateful for your donations which made this possible !
We are also awaiting the restoration of our statue of St. Anthony, as well as of two adoring angels recently donated to the parish ! Thank-you for continuing to donate toward these restoration projects !
Information on the art restorer associated with these projects can be found by visiting the following website: https://www.statuerestorers.com .
Fr. Breton will be away on the Youth Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic from Aug 5 to Aug 17. Please keep him and the youth group in your prayers! Masses are reduced as indicated in the bulletin.
Last year’s financial statements, including the 2018 budget are available at the entrance to the church or here below. If you have any questions please contact John Fennelly, Chairman, Parish Finance Council at 613-867-0144.
Work on installing the new engineered hardwood floor that will replace the badly worn carpeting previously in place in the sanctuary is now well underway. Installation is expected to take another two weeks before being complete and when finished, will include a new, larger platform on which the high altar will rest and have stairs whose curved profile match that of the sanctuary enclosure itself.
Spanning the 70 feet width of the transept, the sanctuary enclosure has made the floor installation something of a challenge at times for those installing it whose aim is a faultless fit in the new floor’s 145 year-old setting. Indeed, the curved profile necessitated the use of one-off computer-assisted design help to ensure the new installation conforms perfectly to the floor’s profile.
The estimated cost of the completed project is $51, 300 of which $11, 590 has been secured so far by special parishioner donations. If you wish to contribute to the new floor, please use the “Maintenance and Restoration” envelope and please identify the portion you wish to allocate for the sanctuary floor. Thank you for your generous support.
As part of our parish’s year-long 50th anniversary celebration, please join us for a lecture by author and Latin Mass apologist Dr. Peter Kwasniewski. His lecture, “The Supreme Expression of the Lex Orandi: Twelve Truths of the Faith Transmitted by the Roman Canon,” will be held on Saturday May 26 at 7pm at the auditorium at St. Paul’s University, 223 Main Street. Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $10. He will be selling and signing his books afterwards and complementary refreshments will be provided. Dr. Kwasniewski has written a number of books and is regularly published on the New Liturgical Movement website. We would like to thank the anglophone chapter of our parish’s Domus Christiani group for sponsoring this event.
“The law of worship is the law of belief” (Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi)
High Mass at 7:30 pm, with Benediction (please note: the procession to the park will take place on Sunday, as an External Solemnity, with First Communions)
After the 10:30 Pontifical Mass Sunday June 3th we will process to MacDonald Gardens Park on the corner of Cobourg & Heney, near the Church (weather permitting). Let us pray for the children who will make their first communion that day. His Grace, Archbishop Prendergast (Archbishop of Ottawa) will celebrate the mass, with Fr. Charles Ryan, FSSP, and Fr. Arnaud Devillers, FSSP as assistants. Fr. Ryan was the first FSSP pastor of St. Clement Parish; Fr. Devillers is the former District Superior which negotiated the coming of the FSSP to Ottawa. In conjunction with our First Holy Communions and in celebration of our parish’s 50th anniversary. Reception to follow at the Patro gymnasium, 40 Cobourg St..
St. Clement’s will have High Mass at 10:00 am to mark the annual March for Life on Parliament Hill, which also coincides with the Feast of the Ascension this year ! Come join us as we pray and witness to the life of the unborn.
Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament for Divine Mercy — Sunday April 8 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Divine Mercy Chaplet will start at 3:00 pm closing with Benediction at 4:00 pm.
Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in aeternum misericordia eius (Psaume 135)
This Lenten season is one of special significance to Saint Clement Parish for it was born at a simple Low Mass celebrated 50 years ago on what was then the first Sunday in Lent— March 3, 1968.
The Traditional Mass in Latin had by that time already been replaced liturgically in the Roman Catholic world but on that day 50 years ago, with the permission of Archbishop Joseph-Aurèle Ploudre, a small handful of the faithful gathered for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass in the chapel of the Monastery of the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood on Ottawa’s Echo Drive. The mass offered that day was celebrated on the same altar that today stands in the sanctuary at Saint Anne Church.
Thanks to prayer, quiet forbearance and the grace of God, the modest Mass offered at the beginning of Lent in 1968 became the foundation stone upon which our parish was built.
Starting with Sunday Masses on Mar. 18, and continuing in the evenings of Monday, March 19, through Friday, March 23, Father James Buckley, FSSP will preach a Lenten mission at St. Clement Parish. The mission program is as follows:
Sunday March 18:
8:30 am, 10:30 am & 6:30 pm: Fr. Buckley will preach at all masses.
Monday March 19 to Friday March 23:
6:30 pm Mass; 7:30 pm Mission Talks (Confession available before and after)
11-day Pilgrimage on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of St. Clement Parish
Sunday, July 22 to Thursday, August 2, 2018(Fr. Erik Deprey, FSSP, Chaplain)
Registration form, copy of passport, and nonrefundable deposit of $500 is due on or before Palm Sunday, March 25, 2018. The balance of payment is due Tuesday, May 1, 2018.
Italy requires visitors to possess a passport valid for six months beyond the length of stay, which means the passport of pilgrims for Rome 2018 should not expire before February 2019.
Registering pilgrims without a current passport are asked to start the process of
acquiring one without delay.
Please make cheques payable to “Chartres Pilgrimage”
For more information please contact Helena Champion at
Transportation to all events and activities is by public transport or on foot. This assumes pilgrims are in good physical shape, don’t mind a challenge, and are able to manoeuver their own luggage.
Pilgrimage Highlights:
❖ Accommodation in Rome 1 km from St. Peter’s Square
❖ Daily Mass in the Extraordinary Form
❖ Sunday Angelus and Apostolic Blessing
❖ Visits to St. Peter’s, the Vatican Necropolis, the Vatican Gardens, the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, St. John Lateran, the Scala Sancta , St. Mary Major
❖ Visit and Mass at FSSP parish SS. Trinita dei Pellegrini
❖ Tour of St. Clement Basilica, the Catacombs, ancient Roman sites
❖ Two days in the town of Assisi
The cost of the pilgrimage is $3,300 per person* and includes:
❖ Return overseas flight Ottawa to Rome (via Montreal), departing late afternoon July 22nd and returning August 2nd
❖ 8 nights’ accommodation in Rome
❖ Travel between Rome and Assisi
❖ Breakfast and evening meal each day
❖ Tour escort
❖ Entrance fees and guided tours The cost does not include:
• transportation to and from airport in Canada
• travel and health insurance
• lunches
• alcoholic beverages
• tips
*additional fees apply for pilgrims wishing to have a single room
The 2018 pilgrimage to Rome is a not-for-profit initiative of St. Clement Parish, Ottawa. The organizers reserve the right to make changes to and/or substitute items on the itinerary due to circumstances beyond their control. Please note that pilgrims under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
“To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself…”
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
