NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL

Archbishop Prendergast is posting periodic messages to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Ottawa and Cornwall-Alexandria.  To see the latest message go to www.catholicottawa.ca

The Archbishop and Auxiliary Bishop have celebrated a Mass in English and in French for Sunday April 5th.  Click here to view the English Mass.  Come back next week for the April 12th Easter Sunday Mass. Click here to view all previous Masses.

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast and Rabbi Dr, Reuven P, Bulka have composed a National Prayer in the wake of COVID-19. Please click here to read.

Click here to read the message to Canadians from Religious Leaders in Canada in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Cathedral is located on Sussex Dr. between St. Patrick and Guigues,
across from the National Gallery.

OFFICE
56 Guigues Ave, Ottawa, K1N 5H5
Phone: 613-241-7496
Fax: 613-241-1627
info@notredameottawa.com

OFFICE HOURS- CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Monday-Friday 9-12, 1-4

During July and August we will be closed Fridays @ 12 Noon

15 minutes before each mass

Confessors understand both English and French

A campaign was launched on May 26th, 2019 to help us preserve one of Canada's musical gems: the organ here at Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica.

It is the first organ to use electric key action in North America and one of the three outstanding organs in the history of the Casavant firm.

Please pick up a leaflet at the main entrance for more information on what the project entailed. You may also click on the picture.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings from your parish priests and deacons at Notre Dame Cathedral Parish.

The current pandemic crisis is unprecedented in our history. I do not know of any event in modern times that forced our bishops to cancel public celebrations of the Mass on Sundays and now even the weekday celebrations. I know many people are missing Mass!

I want you to know something important: although we cannot have Masses open to the parishioners and visitors because of restrictions, the priests assigned to the Cathedral are continuing to celebrate a closed Mass each day in the Cathedral chapel downstairs in the crypt. We think it is important to continue the tradition of daily Mass at the Cathedral as the Mother Church of the Archdiocese for the Mass intentions we have received and for intercession for the world and you, our parishioners.

Although we may not all be able to gather yet together for the celebration of the Eucharist, we can still pray for each other. When we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our prayers are united as members of his Body. Let us pray for each other, for those affected by this pandemic, for health care providers, for family members supporting ill relatives, for those affected by the economic impact of this situation and for an end to the spread of this virus.

Thank you for your prayers and support. With God’s grace, we will weather this storm and join one another again around the Table of the Lord.

May our Blessed Mother intercede for us all and may God bless you and your family.
 
Yours truly in Christ,
 
Father Geoffrey Kerslake Rector
Abbé Léo Villeneuve Associate Rector
Deacon Ricardo Santiago
Diacre Gilles Ouellette

Dear friends, I am sad to announce that we have to close the Notre Dame Cathedral even for private prayer for the time being to help contain the spread of the virus. The Medical Health Officer for Eastern Ontario directed that all churches must be closed and our Archbishop has followed this directive for the Archdiocese of Ottawa and also for the Archdiocese of Alexandria-Cornwall. 

Thank you very much to parishioners who have been able to keep supporting the Cathedral with a donation. All of our revenue for operations comes from you and your support is greatly appreciated. For now we still have staff working, but we had to close the church even for private prayer, yet many of the regular expenses are continuing with some changes. For many this pandemic has serious economic repercussions so thank you to all who have contributed. May God bless you!

Seniors For Seniors is an organization that offers a full range of services such as grocery and prescription delivery, driver companion transportation, companionship, personal and homemaking services, home cleaning and handy person services, as well as live-in and overnight services. Please click here to view the brochure listing all services and phone numbers to contact on a per area basis.

When we are happy, time seems to pass quickly and we wish the experience would last longer. When we are unhappy that experience can seem to drag on forever. Many people are wondering how long this ‘new normal’ of physical distancing and restrictions on gathering with others will last? Already it feels like a long time. 

Have you noticed that Moses and the Israelites wandered for forty years in the desert before entering the Promised Land?   The number forty is significant in scripture because it meant “a long time.” Some have offered a tongue in cheek explanation that it took forty years to reach their destination because Moses was a man and when he got lost, he was too proud to ask for directions. The real explanation is more significant.
 
The Israelites had lived in captivity oppressed by their neighbours for a long time. The sense of their own identity and religious faith was being eroded by the dominant culture in which they lived. Part of the process of liberation from captivity was the time it took them to unlearn the things they had knowingly or unconsciously had absorbed. In the journey through the desert they relearned that their faith was in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They rediscovered their core identity and their faith. That process took a long time, forty years, that probably felt like it lasted forever. But that time helped prepare them to enter the Promise Land renewed. 

Our Lenten journey of forty days this year has been unprecedented. I have heard from people how much they miss coming to the Cathedral for Mass, how they long for the Eucharist and to see their friends. This Lent has been a time of suffering and privation for much of the world as we see on the news. We have two weeks left in Lent but an undetermined time left in our efforts to limit the spread of the virus.

The Israelites knew they were on a journey towards a new beginning. They sometimes strayed from the path but they had a destination, a goal to reach – the land promised to them by God. It is important for us to live with a goal in mind. We are heading to the eternal promised land! We can choose to journey towards that goals with a spirit of hope knowing that Lent will culminate in the mystery of Easter where Christ arises from the dead, bringing life to us and freeing us from the burden of sin and death. So too, we will come through this pandemic as well on the journey to a restored home. Each act of kindness reaching out to others, each offer to shop for an elderly neighbour, each rosary prayed and Mass watched online or on TV in a spirit of prayer is a concrete act of hope in God’s saving and renewing power. We may be on a long journey this Lent but we can engage in it as a time of reflection and renewal on our ultimate journey home to God. May we see in this time of suffering and difficulty a time to renew our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, to entrust our country and world to the Blessed Mother Mary and to commit to being God’s agents of mercy, faith and hope to the world. May God bless you.

For many it is a difficult time made more challenging by not being able to come to church, to receive Holy Communion and to gather with my church family and friends. We know we can pray anywhere but it is difficult to pray when we are anxious and not able to be together to pray. What can we do? May I suggest one practical thing that may help?

The Rosary is a great prayers that we can pray when we struggle to find our own words or when we are feeling anxious or distracted. The prayers of the Rosary provide us with the words and, the meditations of each mystery give us a brief instance from our Lord or our Blessed Mother’s life to give us a focus for a few moments. When we lack the words, the prayers of the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be to God “carry us”. Also we can offer our Rosary for those we love and miss, for our friends we do not see in person, for our church family and friends and for those who are suffering. It is a great prayer!

I tell people not to worry if they find themselves distracted praying the Rosary. Just refocus and offer the distraction to the Lord (a sense of humour too can help – “there I go again wandering in my thoughts Lord. Sorry! I’m back!). I am positive the Lord understands and he values our efforts to pray especially when it is hard for us. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make an effort to pray the Rosary together each day even though we might not be physically together? When we pray, we are united to each other through Jesus Christ no matter where we are! May Our Blessed Mother intercede for us and may God bless you!

Please click here for a link to the Rosary online that has the different mysteries and a "how-to" guide

Please click here to view a list of Masses on TV and Internet

Please click here for Spiritual Communion

For many it is a difficult time because of the desire to go to individual confession. How can we do that and keep everyone safe from potentially encountering and then spreading the COVID-19 virus? This is a big question. The reality is any individual encounter for Confession has to be in close proximity and if many people come to Confession we risk gathering people in numbers and thus exposing them to greater risk.
 
The Pope gave instructions through the Vatican Congregation in charge of the sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as Confession or Penance) for this difficult time.
 
If we cannot go right now to individual Confession we are told: “where the individual faithful find themselves in the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution, it should be remembered that perfect contrition, coming from the love of God, beloved above all things, expressed by a sincere request for forgiveness (that which the penitent is at present able to express) and accompanied by… the firm resolution to have recourse, as soon as possible, to sacramental confession, obtains forgiveness of sins, even mortal ones (cf. CCC, no. 1452).” (Note from the Apostolic Penitentiary on the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the current pandemic, 20.03.2020)
 
In simpler language, if we cannot go to Confession, then confessing to God out of our love for him our sins with a sincere desire for forgiveness and the intention to avoid sin and to go to individual confession as soon as it is possible, God forgives us our sins. God is just and merciful. He sees our love for Him and He knows our desire for forgiveness. 

So, when the churches can be opened again and we can hear confessions, come and experience once more the grace of hearing “your sins are forgiven, go in peace!”

St Patrick's Gift Shop and Bookstore, located at 220 Kent Street, has been serving the Ottawa Catholic community for over 20 years.  The store is open 7 days a week and offers materials you need to learn and grow closer to Christ. Click on the picture on the left for contact and location details.

For hours of operation, click on the picture below. 

Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica is featured in the following blog:
https://www.flightnetwork.com.au/blog/ottawas-top-15-alternate-entertainment-options/ as one of the top 15 places to visit in Ottawa.  We are number 13 on the list along with other interesting destinations such as festivals, theatre, comedy, outdoor activities, etc. as seen in Flightnetwork's article - https://www.flightnetwork.com.au/blog/ottawas-top-15-alternate-entertainment-options/. https://www.flightnetwork.com.