Growing up in a parish with a lively and abundant presence of Oblate priests, one could see the zeal, excitement and, most importantly, the joy the priests shared. I assume from this, not surprisingly, a fascination was born which quickly turned into a desire and yearning to be and act like them.
Oblates founded western dioceses
By Ramon Gonzalez, Canadian Catholic NewsEDMONTON The Oblates of Mary Immaculate have deep roots in Edmonton and in Canada as a whole. In fact, the missionaries were paramount in establishing the archdiocese and other dioceses across the West.
An inspiration so powerful it has endured for 200 years
By Fr. Frank Santucci, OMIOn Jan. 25, 1816, six priests came together in Aix en Provence, France, drawn by an inspiration so powerful they were prepared to dedicate their lives to it. They were roused into action by the situation of the poor people around them, whose lives were changed by the events of the French Revolution.
Eugene de Mazenod: a shepherd of his people
By Tomasz Machnicki, Catholic Register SpecialSt. Eugene de Mazenod was born in 1782 in Aix-en-Provence, France. His father, Charles Antoine, was a member of the French nobility and the President of the Aix parliament. His mother, Marie-Rose Joannis, was affiliated with the expeditiously evolving bourgeois merchants.
The Oblates: God’s servants for 200 years
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterTwo hundred years ago the French aristocrat Eugene de Mazenod gathered a few priests into a kind of evangelical team in southeastern France. They went into neglected, impoverished parishes preaching in the local dialect of Provençal, not French, sharing their lives and the Gospel with poor people who had been left behind by modern France.
A Requiem for today
By Jean Ko Din, The Catholic RegisterFew artists have left as lasting a legacy as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In just 35 years of life he composed more than 600 musical works that are acknowledged as the pinnacle of symphonic, operatic, orchestral and choral music.
Military chaplaincy a ‘complex ministry’
By Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic NewsOTTAWA - When Brigadier General Guy Chapdelaine, Canada’s new Chaplain General, spent Christmas in Afghanistan in 2006, he took no chances on what might be in store for him.
Gesù is a Montreal gem
By Alan Hustak, Catholic Register SpecialMONTREAL - The Church of the Gesù is in the heart of Montreal, just east of Place Ville Marie. Hidden from view, in part by a high stone wall, its main doors are four metres above street level and the marquees between the ascending spiral staircases mean it is easily mistaken for a theatre. Which the Church of the Gesù also happens to be.
Post-earthquake Haiti makes one forget their troubles in Canada
By Kristen Curtis, The Catholic RegisterJan. 12 marks the sixth anniversary of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010. The anniversary always takes me back to time spent in Haiti two years after the earthquake. It was a life- changing experience.
Christ's birth can bring peace, hope to suffering world, Pope says
By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY - Christmas is a reminder that through the birth of Christ, hope and peace are possible and that only through his grace can humanity find peaceful solutions to the world's most difficult problems, Pope Francis said.
O come to church all ye faithful, sort of faithful and atheists, too
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, Religion News ServiceDecember means curtains up for church Christmas pageants, hand-bell concerts, caroling kiddie choirs and Nativity displays on the front lawns.