Kiply Lukan Yaworski

 

The second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Sept. 30 featured events across the country to honour those who attended residential schools and experienced the loss of language, family connections and culture — as well as those who suffered abuse and those who died there — and to raise awareness about the ongoing inter-generational effects of residential schools, colonization, and racism.

The new federal holiday builds upon “Orange Shirt Day” marked on Sept. 30 in recent years. Wearing orange was prompted by the experience of Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, who as a six-year-old arriving at residential school in 1973 had her beloved orange shirt immediately taken away.

Parish hosts afternoon walk

In the diocese of Saskatoon, parishioners from Holy Spirit Catholic Church joined with leaders from Our Lady of Guadalupe Indigenous parish Sept. 30 for prayer, smudging and a late-afternoon walk through a neighbourhood park, accompanied by pastors Fr. Joseph Salihu and Fr. Graham Hill, CSsR, along with Bishop Mark Hagemoen.

 

CCCB Statement for National Day of Truth and Reconciliation – English / French

Reconciliation Saskatoon walk

Earlier in the day, a larger “Rock Your Roots” walk for reconciliation was held, starting after a pancake breakfast at CUMFI, with a sea of orange-clad participants walking together along 20th Street West to the “Where Our Paths Cross” art installation at Reconciliation Circle in Victoria Park. The walk was followed by a program in the park featuring First Nations and Métis cultural performers, musicians and guest speakers.

Rock Your Roots is put on by Reconciliation Saskatoon, which the City of Saskatoon co-chairs along with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner. The event, which has seen attendance in the thousands in past years, was first held in 2016. The intent of this event is to answer the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action by demonstrating a commitment to Reconciliation, honouring Residential School Survivors, and continuing work towards an inclusive community.

“The significance of a walk can be attributed to the Sunday walks in residential schools; this was often the only time when siblings and cousins of different genders might be reunited,” says Judy Pelly, a Residential School Survivor and member of the Rock Your Roots Walk organizing committee. “It’s meaningful to see Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples come together in this way.”

“This walk is an opportunity to learn about and honour First Nation and Métis residential school survivors,” says Shirley Isbister, President of Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. (CUMFI). “It’s an inclusive event that welcomes everyone to come out and participate. We look forward to being together.”

“This walk is a symbol of Reconciliation and a commitment to change for the better so that all people can have a good quality of life,” says Saskatoon Tribal Chief Mark Arcand.

Other events

Special programs were also offered at Wanuskewin Heritage Site that day, and an evening pow-wow was organized by the Saskatoon Tribal Council at SaskTel Centre.

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Bishop Mark Hagemoen joined residents and Knights of Columbus members for celebration of Mass Sept. 24 to mark the 10th anniversary of Columbian Place in Saskatoon.

Located across the street from St. Mary Parish on 20th Street West, Columbian Place is a project of KC Charities, opening in 2012 with support from all levels of government.

The project was a follow-up to the earlier Columbian Manor project that KC Charities built and operates on Louise Street on the east side of the city.

The two locations together provide more than 260 seniors a place to call home, with a range of support, amenities and features.

As well, a new Columbian Village building currently under construction on Louise Street will be part of the same faith-based 55-plus community as the neighbouring Columbian Manor. The new building will feature additions including a fitness centre, beauty salon and a large common area for entertainment and other activities. Columbian Village will also include a new 100-seat chapel.

As a non-profit charitable organization, K.C. Charities Inc. strives to provide “active and healthy aging free from loneliness and boredom, and offer the most affordable supportive living seniors rentals in Saskatchewan. The communities we’ve built are vibrant, welcoming, and safe,” states the KC Charities Housing website. “Although K.C. Charities housing has faith-based Catholic roots, people of many faiths, denominations and backgrounds live in our communities.”

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Priests and deacons from across our diocese gathered Sept. 15 at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon for a Clergy Day of Recollection, with guest speaker Archbishop Gérard Pettipas, CSsR of the Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan, AB. The day included opportunities for prayer, sacrament and reflection.

Bishop Mark Hagemoen gathered with pastors, parish leaders, and ministry staff Sept. 14, 2022, for an annual Administration Day, held at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon, as well as on Zoom.

New staff were introduced, reflections on the recent visit to Canada by Pope Francis and his apology to Canada’s Indigenous peoples for the church’s involvement in Residential Schools, updates related to human resources, safeguarding and the Covenant of Care, administration and ministry were among the topics covered at the day-long meeting. The 2022 Bishop’s Annual Appeal was also launched, with the distribution of materials to parishes for the weeks ahead.

Read a full article about Administration Day at Catholic Saskatoon News – LINK

Saskatoon Bishop Mark Hagemoen joined with brother bishops Archbishop Donald Bolen of Regina; Archbishop Murray Chatlain of Keewatin Le Pas; Bishop Stephen Hero of Prince Albert and Archbishop Lawrence Huculak, apostolic administrator of the Eparchy of Saskatoon to send a message of condolences, prayer and support to all those affected by the recent tragic events at James Smith First Nation and Weldon, SK.

Saskatchewan Catholic Bishops – “Joining in Prayer in this Time of Grief” (Click here for PDF) –

Sr. John Paul Marie of the Trinity (Nicole Mireau) celebrated her Perpetual Vows with the Queenship of Mary Community in Ottawa Aug. 22 — and on Sunday, Sept. 4, family, parishioners and community members gathered with her in Saskatoon for prayers of thanksgiving and blessing at a Mass with Bishop Mark Hagemoen, Fr. Gerard Cooper, and Fr. Geoffrey Young.

Accompanied by Sr. Micheline Thibault, canonical novice with the Queenship of Mary Community, the newly-professed Sr. John Paul Marie gathered with family, friends and parishioners from her home parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in Saskatoon who celebrated Sunday Mass with the Cathedral of the Holy Family. Among those present was Sr. John Paul Marie’s sister Sr. April Mireau, PM, who joined with other family members for a Marian hymn at the conclusion of Mass.

Bishop Mark Hagemoen conveyed a blessing upon Sr. John Paul Marie at the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, which was followed by a banquet and program.

The celebration of Sr. John Paul Marie’s perpetual vows Aug. 22 on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary in Ottawa was a joint celebration with Sr. Anna Marie du Sacré Coeur de Jesus (video below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIDEO – Sr. John Paul Marie of the Trinity & Sr. Anna Marie du Sacré Coeur de Jesus perpetual vows in Ottawa

 

VIDEO – Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated Sept. 4 at Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon

 

RELATED: Joyfully answering the call with the Queenship of Mary Community

RELATED: Sr. April Mireau celebrates vows as a Sister of the Presentation of Mary

“Four Bros and a Bishop” fund-raising effort

 

Bishop Mark Hagemoen and a team of brothers — Luc, Jerome and Dominic Montpetit and their brother-in-law Jacob Powell, along with Montpetit cousin Raphael Pelletier — completed the 118-km extreme relay run known as the Canadian Death Race July 20-31, raising funds in support of the diocese’s Catholic TRC Healing Response fund.

The bishop’s team placed 25th (out of 83 teams).

The “Canadian Death Race” features a 118-km course beginning and ending on a 4200-foot plateau, passing over three mountain summits, with over 17,000 feet of elevation. You can support the “Four Bros and a Bishop” fund-raising effort by visiting the Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation website: dscf.ca/annual-bishops-race

• Find out more about the Catholic TRC Healing Response: ARTICLE

 

 

A diocesan delegation travelled to Edmonton July 25-26 to participate in events with Pope Francis.

The pilgrimage group from Our Lady of Guadalupe Indigenous parish witnessed the papal apology at Maskwacis, as well as joining Pope Francis on his pilgrimage to Lac Ste. Anne.

Bishop Mark Hagemoen also joined other bishops from across Canada in celebrating Mass with Pope Francis July 26 at Commonwealth Stadium.

• Papal visit 2022 – The seven public statements by Pope Francis in Canada (CCCB links)
• Prayers and support for the papal visit (Letter)
• Local event held in conjunction with papal visit (Article)
• Canada’s Catholic Bishops express thanks for Pope Francis’ visit to Canada (Link)

In a message from Edmonton July 25 to a Saskatoon local event at St. Mary School, papal visit pilgrims reflected on hearing Pope Francis apologize for the Church’s involvement in Residential Schools:

Our Lady of Guadalupe parishioner Sandra Harper said: “Today when I was able to listen and to hear our pope, I felt very good about the words he had for us, and I felt that they were very genuine, and that he is a very compassionate person who understands our issues and came to the table with a good open heart and so I was very pleased.”

“I was happy that he used the words ‘forgive me,’ because as a Catholic, as a practicing Catholic, it is important to me to hear that he understands that we needed to hear him say that, because the wrongs that we experienced, that a lot of us experienced, through the residential schools was very vast… that is part of the healing journey,” Sandi Harper said.

Sandra Harper also noted the pope’s message included that the opposite of love is indifference, stressing that on the road to reconciliation, we must overcome indifference to the sufferings of others. “If we could concentrate on the loving relationship that we need, then reconciliation is more able to happen.”

“Today was so awesome,” said Debbie Ledoux, Parish Life Director at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish who led the diocesan delegation to papal visit events in Edmonton. “The pope’s visit to Canada on our sacred ground was amazing.” She noted that she too felt Pope Francis had “genuine and compassion and love that he sent us all as Indigenous People.”

Debbie Ledoux added: “I am a Survivor and this did more for my healing journey than has been there for a long time now.”

Bishop Hagemoen said that he was touched by the Holy Father’s humility, echoing his April apology, in which Pope Francis stressed the need for the church to be in a place of humility and to come to the foot of the cross. “Tomorrow we go off to prayer, and we pray, pray, pray and see what God will continue to do, because there is a long journey ahead,” said Hagemoen on the evening of July 25, the day of the papal apology. “We have heard many times that reconciliation is a process, it’s a great journey, and people are at different places, so we are looking forward to the journey, tomorrow and beyond.”

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By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News

A memorable celebration of 100 years of pilgrimage on the sacred hill at Mount Carmel was interrupted by a thunderstorm Sunday, July 17, resuming after the rain stopped.

The morning began with hundreds filling the side of the hill under the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel to pray the Rosary, sing hymns and begin the celebration of Mass with Saskatoon Bishop Mark Hagemoen, Abbot Peter Novecosky, OSB, of St. Peter’s Abbey, and a number of priests from throughout the region.

As a prairie storm rolled in from the west bringing lightning, wind and a downpour of rain, a temporary “pause” of the celebration happened after the homily to permit the pilgrims gathered on the hill to find shelter. A somewhat reduced number resumed the celebration some 45 minutes later, concluding the Liturgy of the Eucharist once the storm had passed.

The Mount Carmel choir, led by the choir of St. Scholastica Parish, Burr, provided music ministry throughout the event – including during the wildest moments of the storm.

Before Mass began, local educator and author Norman Duerr of Humboldt presented a brief history of the Mount Carmel pilgrimage in St. Peter’s Colony.

“A special place and a special time – we are blessed to be here today,” Duerr said, welcoming pilgrims to the event. “One hundred years ago on Sept. 10, 1922, this Mount was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

“Today we pay tribute to the Benedictines who had the vision and the foresight to set aside this Mount as a place of pilgrimage and prayer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel,” Duerr said.

He urged those in attendance to appreciate the beauty, the view, and the sacredness of the site – a sacredness that extends back many generations. “The hill we stand upon today has been here for some 9,000 years,” born at the end of the last ice age, he noted. “Today, I think, it is also appropriate to recognize that this Mount was also a sacred site for the Indigenous People…. A place for them where heaven and earth could meet, and the human and the divine could symbolically touch hands.”

In his homily, Bishop Mark Hagemoen began by reflecting upon the Gospel account from Luke of Martha and Mary. “We have Martha, who is busy doing many good things that she knows and thinks that the Lord is calling her to….  yet in the midst of the way of Martha, we have the way of Mary,” he said, adding that the Mount Carmel pilgrimage is about “the way of Mary” — the way of Mary the sister of Martha as well as the way of the Blessed Virgin Mary — a way focused firmly on Jesus Christ.

“On this 100th anniversary it is good to pause on this mountaintop and think about what is truly important,” Hagemoen said, thanking the Benedictines and all those who have worked to create this place of pilgrimage. “We are sustained by what it means to truly be a people of the covenant, a people called to be the disciples of Jesus.”

The bishop noted that the 100th anniversary celebration comes at a “prophetic and providential time,” with Pope Francis about to arrive on this land on a penitential pilgrimage of reconciliation and healing. The issues that the Holy Father will address during his visit to Canada will be a message for the entire world, said Hagemoen, especially given the sinfulness and strife that have so often been part of the encounter of cultures and the meeting of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in every nation.

“This is a time when our religion and our spiritual life can be called into deeper and ongoing conversion,” Hagemoen said, describing how this involves moving away from pride and triumphalism “to a place where the faith is made fully manifest” in the humility of the cross. “So let us on this day be renewed in what it means to be on the place of the ultimate fruitfulness, the place of the cross.”

In his apology April 1 to the Indigenous delegation that travelled to Rome, Pope Francis spoke about the call to be in relationship, Hagemoen said. “He recognized the Indigenous history and culture that connects with respect for one another, respect for the Creator, respect for the land and all creation. All of this is given by God and we are in relationship… let us never forget that call to relationship and the call to honour the gift.”

Mass concluded with Bishop Hagemoen carrying the Blessed Sacrament to the top of the hill to bless the surrounding fields and countryside. After Mass, pilgrims came forward for special blessings, with those in attendance invited to spend time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as well as to pray the Stations of the Cross around the base of the hill.

History of the Mount Carmel site:

Sept. 10, 1922 – The pilgrimage site is dedicated with some 3,500 in attendance from throughout St. Peter’s Colony.

1928 – An Italian-made white carara marble 2.5-metre-high statue of Mary holding the child Jesus  was erected and blessed. The statue’s pedestal was struck by lightning in 1937 and 1950.

1938 – Stone mason and architect Antonion Molaro constructed the chapel from local stone.

1939 – Stations of the Cross, designed by Antonio Molaro, were canonically erected.

2019 – Lightning pole replaced and solar-powered light installed.

Video of Mass

 

From the Archives:

A report about the first pilgrimage held on Mount Carmel in 1922

The following account of the first pilgrimage made at Mount Carmel on Sept. 10, 1922 appeared in the St. Peter’s Bote, a German language newspaper published by the monks of St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster, and translated by the late Sr. Celine Graf, OSU, entitled “Mount Carmel now a holy hill.” Some 3500 attended that first pilgrimage in 1922, which featured a make-shift chapel.

“Last Sunday, Sept. 10 (1922), nearly all the priests of St. Peter’s Colony and thousands of people from all areas of the diocese took part in a most imposing celebration on Mount Carmel, the heart of St. Peter’s Colony.

The weather was favourable. The hill was blessed and dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God, under the title “Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” At the same time, Mary Queen of Heaven, was openly acknowledged by all present as patron and protectres of St. Peter’s Colony.

From now on, the Sunday after the feast of Our Lady of the Scapular, which the Church celebrates on July 16, a festive Mass will be celebrated annually on Mount Carmel to express publicly our appreciation and thanks to our dear Mother of God for her great intercession for us before the throne of God. Next year this feast will be held on July 22 (1923).

The day before (the first pilgrimage in 1922), the men and women of the Carmel parish prepared the Mount for this beautiful celebration. Under the leadership of their zealous pastor, Fr. Matthew Michel, they erected a temporary chapel and altar and decorated the hill with trees.

On Sunday morning in the various churches of the colony, an early Mass was celebrated to make it possible for people to attend the 11:00 am celebration of Mass on the hill. Thus, the good people came in throngs to show their love and attachment to our Mother of Mount Carmel and to receive from her hands blessings for themselves and their loved ones.

From all directions came hundreds of cars: from Muenster and St. Gregor, from Annaheim and Lake Lenore, from Dead Moose Lake and Pilger, from Fulda and Willmont, From Humboldt and parishes from the south, from Bruno and Dana, from Leofeld, Bremen, Cudworth, St. Benedict, and St. Leo. From everywhere they came, feeling themselves fortunate to be able to take part in this memorable celebration.

Already long before the opening of the festive celebration, the hill began filling with people who were enthralled at the view from the summit. Everyone wanted to spot their church, their elevator, or this or that village. At the foot of the hill, in all directions, were parked the cars and other means of transport. It was a glorious sight.

High Mass began at 11:00. Abbot Michael Ott was vested in his pontifical robes, as were all his assistant prelates….

The first action was to bless Mount Carmel. Through this blessing the hill was dedicated to the most Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Abbot Michael prayed in Latin as he walked around the hill, accompanied by all the priests, and sprinkled it with holy water.

The men’s choir of St. Peter’s Church, under the direction of Mr. Pitzel and Mr. Schaeffer of Humboldt, vigorously sang the Magnificat, Mary’s song of praise. This was followed by two Marian hymns in German.

After blessing the hill, Abbot Michael preached a festive sermon in which he reminded pilgrims of the significance of the feast and admonished them to remain firm in their love for the Mother of God, and to followe her example. Mary, among all the creatures who came from the hand of God, is the richest in love and a mighty helper in all our needs and petitions. Here on this hill, he said, we want to greet our Mother annually; we want to thank her for all the blessings she obtains for us, and we want to beg her for continued favours and help. That she will continue always to look graciously upon the people of St. Peter’s Colony, we now want to consecrate ourselves to our heavenly Queen forever and take her as our patron and protectress.

The abbot then knelt down with the whole assembly of about 3,500 people and prayed the blessing in German. This was followed by the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After this, Abbot Michael gave a short talk in German to complement what he said previously in English.

At the end of Mass, the Annaheim choir accompanied by horns and drums, sang the Te Deum with great enthusiasm.”  – St. Peter’s Bote, Muenster, SK

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