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.

Deo Gratias!