In what is surely a providential gesture, two statues of the guardian angels which originally stood sentry to the high altar in the former Monastery of the Precious Blood on Echo Drive have at long last been reunited with their charge as the result of a very generous gift made to the parish during its 50th anniversary year.
The angels have been reunited with the high altar thanks to the generosity of Darlene Lagasse and Denis Orbay, members of the Saint Clement Union of the Precious Blood.
When the Sisters Adorers were constrained in 1984 to bring their sanctuary into line with post-conciliar norms, the statues of the two angels, part of a larger company which had adorned the monastery chapel since 1923, were taken over by the Union of the Precious Blood. It was also at that time that Ottawa’s Latin Congregation assumed custody of the monastery’s three altars. Both angels and high altar remained separated for 34 years until this July 1st, feast of the Precious Blood, when they were at last once more brought together.