St. André Thanksgiving Mass and Foundation Day.

We were packed into San Andrea (St. Andrew the apostle) church with well over a thousand Canadians and friends of St. Andre. Cardinal Turcotte was the main presider and homilist. There were a number of things that Cardinal Turcotte said that stood out to us as we shared as a group after the mass. (We were accompanied by Canadian friend, alumni and NET Ireland Administrator, Sheila Trainor).

Cardinal Turcotte spoke of how Brother Andre, because of his intimacy with God, placed himself entirely at God’s service. He met people where they were. He met them in their situations, he listened, he recommended them in prayer to God and he pointed them to Jesus. We saw a parallel with our work. In the mission that God has give us we meet “the poor in spirit” where they are on campus. We listen to them, we recommend them in prayer to God and we point them to Jesus. Brother Andre, like us is a first-responder, on the front lines of bringing Jesus to the people, and being a first point of contact with Christ and the Church. This resonated with the second reading from the Canonization mass, where in 2 Ti 3, Paul tells Timothy essentially to continue doing what you have learned. We are to be holy in the exact vocation, situation, environment and calling the Lord has placed us in. For Brother Andre it was his ministry of prayer and healing with St. Joseph at the Oratory, for us it is go on to the university campuses and clearly proclaim Jesus, and to build these people up so that they too can be missionary.

Cardinal Turcotte also said a beautiful thing about St. Andre. He said something like “Brother Andre was completely attentive to God and that is why the Lord fixed his attention on him.” In other words, Brother Andre practiced what we call in CCO, “prophetic listening” which is to be attentive and always listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying, and then to be prepared to act on that sense if he calls us to.

Cardinal Turcotte also affirmed the call we all have to be Saints, that through Brother Andre we are shown that it is possible, to keep going. He said, “I believe here in this church right now, we are in the presence of the future canonized”. Wow this is the kind of inspiration the Church in Canada needs to hear.

Another great reflection was when he mentioned how St. Andre said that when his trials were greatest, is when his work was most successful. This also resonated with themes from our Staff training from last year on the “hidden life” and the paschal mystery in our life as missionaries.

The prayer (Preface of the Saints) from the mass just before the Eucharistic Prayers tied into themes from the first days with the Saints, especially St Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, St. Joseph, and Blessed Pier Giorgio, We felt they were our dear, close friends and that we shared their heart. They are examples to us, they strengthen us in our battle and mission through their prayers (like Aaron and Hur who held up Moses’ arms from the first reading at the Canonization mass). As you can imagine, it was astonishing to see the prayer written in this particular way, in light of our experiences:

You are glorified in your saints, for their glory in the crowning of your gifts. In their lives on earth you give us an example. In our communion with them, you give us their friendship. In their prayer for the Church you give us strength and protection. This great company of witnesses spurs us on to victory, to share their prize of everlasting glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We were affirmed in all of this to just keep doing what you are doing.

We pilgrimaged to the catacombs where six early popes from the 2^nd and 3^rd century were buried. Indeed we were standing on the shoulders of giants in this holy place. Not far away we reflected on St. Peter and the Lord at “Domine Quo Vadis” church. St Peter was on his way to safety fleeing from Rome, when the Lord appeared to him on that very road. After this encounter Peter returned to Rome and was crucified as the Lord foretold. Interestingly enough our plan was to go to St. Peter’s directly afterwards. As we stood at the obelisk, we were reminded that this monument was probably one of the last things St. Peter ever saw as he died on his cross upside down on Vatican Hill. This offered a profound challenge for us as missionaries to do what the Lord is telling us to do, not in a spirit of fear but with power, love and self-control. Happy Foundation Day CCO!

Photos from Archbishop Prendergast's Blog

As noted below, we were able to spend some time prior to the canonization with the Archbishop of Ottawa, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast SJ. Archbishop Prendergast is also a member of CCO's Board of Directors. Here is a link to his blog post which includes some photos from our time together: http://archbishopterry.blogspot.com/2010/10/st-luke-evangelist-canonization-photos.html.

Post for October 17, 2010 - The Canonization

Considering that this event was the whole point of our trip to Rome, we got up very early to head to St. Peter’s square. It paid off, we were sitting very close to the front, under the shadow of the large statue of St. Peter.  We were able to see the Holy Father very clearly and everything that was happening. We even sat with two CCO alumnus, who are Sisters from the Servants of the Cross in Ottawa! The weather was gorgeous as well, what a gift!


Again, we felt the privilege of having such a great seat for the canonization. We definitely noticed that many Aussies were in attendance (for the canonization of Blessed Mary MacKillop), but not quite so many Canadians. We still believe that the significance of St. Andre will continue to unfold in Canada because the Holy Father said he was man of great faith and healing, as well as calling people to conversion. The scriptures say that signs and wonders would follow the preaching of the gospel. With the intercession of Brother Andre, let us all preach the gospel and let the Holy Spirit do as He wills.


It is evident that Rome is a city of great Saints, and we sensed that the way we can honour these Saints is to not just speak about them, or put pictures of them up on our walls. We honour them best by glorifying God in our lives – being abandoned, and doing what the Lord has asked of us. In the communion of Saints, they are supporting us in our battle, as the men who held up the arms of Moses so that God would have the victory (from the first reading today). In St. Peter’s square today we were truly surrounded by the Communion of Saints and St. Andre of Montreal was front and centre. As a movement, we were affirmed again to keep doing our part in the battle which is to lift the name of Jesus high and proclaim him clearly and simply.

Post for Saturday October 16, 2010 - Shout it out from the Rooftops

Today we continue a theme of having the “red carpet” rolled out for us in Rome. We cannot believe how privileged we have been over and over again. This morning began with prayer and reflection in St Peter’s Basilica. We then headed across the piazza to the rooftop of the Sisters Maria Bambina to be interviewed for CTV National News by Scott Laurie. How can one fathom how incredible that opportunity is! Each of us were interviewed separately and given an opportunity to declare to the country our love for Canada, Brother Andre and St. Joseph. We each communicated on some level our belief that something significant was happening in Canada through the intercession and witness of Brother Andre. 


We left in haste on foot to Trastevere, to the home of Wanda Gawronska, the niece of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. We were overwhelmed and blessed to be her guests, as we sat on her rooftop terrace with a group of university students in Rome who desire to do evangelization on campuses here. They desire to emulate Pier Giorgio and it was Wanda who desired for them to hear from us – as we are all friends of Pier Giorgio! All of us shared our approach to campus evangelization and the necessity of proclaiming Jesus clearly and simply, one-on-one, and then calling them to proclaim to others. They weren’t expecting such fire and zeal to exude from laid-back Canadians, but we were very passionate in our sharing. 


In the evening there were Vigil prayers for the Canonization of Brother Andre at a church across the Tiber. It was amazing to see the church packed with other pilgrims like us who have come to Rome for this great event for the Church of Canada.

View CTV Interview Online!

Members of the CCO Delegation in Rome for Brother André's canonization were featured on the CTV National News last night. André Regnier, Etienne De Champlain, and Angele Regnier give brief comments. You can view the interview online at http://watch.ctv.ca/news/ctv-national-news/#clip361875. It is Part 1 of the Oct 16 National News clip and goes from the 6:00 min - 8:23 min time marker. 

CCO Group to be on CTV News!

Tune in to CTV National News tonight (Saturday) at 11pm or tomorrow at 11pm (Sunday) to see the delegation interviewed by CTV News. It may also be aired during your local CTV news broadcast today or tomorrow. 


You can also view CTV National News online at:  http://watch.ctv.ca/news/ctv-national-news/ on demand if you can’t be in front of a TV at the time of the News.

Post from Friday October 15, 2010

Today was a day of open doors and blessings that was humbling and overwhelming for us. We entered into the calling and heart of the founders of the Jesuits during an amazing morning with Archbishop Prendergast. We celebrated mass in the apartment home of St. Ignatius of Loyola. We were deeply touched by the events in his life and his personal affection for the name of Jesus. During our tour of Gesu and San Ignazio Churches we were stuck by the statements found in the artwork – “for the greater glory of God”, “the entire world”.  The style of these churches is Baroque, which creates exaggerated emphasis. The Jesuits felt that nothing was too much to proclaim Christ or to glorify God and we couldn’t agree more. We were moved to spend precious moments in prayers with St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, and others…


We shared a beautiful meal of celebration with our Archbishop and shared how our hearts were burning from our experiences with the Jesuits that morning. Andre and Angele spoke into the staff team about the significance of their role and calling to be on this pilgrimage. We encouraged them that they are walking in the footsteps of the Saints in a similar way through courageous obedience to their calling as staff with CCO. 


We then spent a few hours with a friend Fr. William Slattery who gave us a whirlwind tour. We saw and learned many interesting things. In the end what we came away from our time with him was an inspiration to be heroic as the Holy Popes and Saints who came before us. We were in awe of being taken care of by the Lord in Rome with yet another friend who could explain these holy places to us. 


Our next blessing and open door was at the Vatican no less, the Swiss Guard let us pass and doors to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith were opened to us. We enjoyed a great discussion and tour of the building, and again overwhelmed that we would have the opportunity to experience this.


The doors kept opening as we attended the premiere of the Salt and Light documentary on Brother Andre. It was there that we found out we would be interviewed by CTV National News tomorrow. 


It was a day, pressed-down, shaken together and running over!