NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL

Archbishop Prendergast is posting periodic messages to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall.  To see the latest message go to www.catholicottawa.ca
Click here for the Archbishop's Easter message.

Click here to hear the address of Apostolic Nuncio, H.E. Mgr. Luigi Bonazzi followed by the Mass for Life.

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.

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

The Vatican has published online a new prayer booklet called: “Strong in the Face of Tribulation” for this specific moment in our history. The free 192 page PDF booklet is available for download here:

https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/lev/forti-nella-tribolazione/pdf/eng/strong-in-tribulation.-20042020.pdf

Archbishop Prendergast announced the pastoral assignments for the new Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall that take effect August 1st. We will receive a new, half-time assistant Father Francois Kibwenge. He will divide his time between the Cathedral and his ministry as Episcopal Vicar for the the French Sector. Our frequent celebrant, Father Pierre Domerson, is appointed Parochial Administrator of Saint-Joachim Parish in Chute-à- Blondeau, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Parish in l’Orignal, Saint-Bernardin Parish in Saint-Bernardin, Saint-Eugène in St-Eugène, Saint-Grégoire-de-Naziance Parish in Vankleek Hill, and Sainte- Anne Parish in Ste-Anne-de-Prescott. We welcome Fr. Kibwenge and thank Fr. Domerson for his ministry, wishing them both many blessings in their new assignment.

The next part of the “Our Father” has a powerful petition embedded with a loaded word - “as.” We petition God to treat us the same way we behave towards others: we give God the standard to use to judge how forgiving to be towards us for our own sinful behaviour with that one, little, significant word, “as.” In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus uses the “Parable of the Unforgiving Servant” to make this point when teaching his disciples about mercy and forgiveness (Matthew 18.23-35). The unforgiving servant is released from a monumental debt himself but refuses to forgive a minor one owed him by another servant. For his failure to be merciful, he is obliged to repay his own huge debt. When we ask God for mercy for our sins against Him, we need to examine the way we forgive those who have sinned against us. Granting mercy or forgiveness to others is a choice we make that allows us the possibility to receive mercy. Sometimes we may need to pray for the grace to forgive others as God forgives us because it is not an easy thing to do when we have been hurt. Forgiveness does not mean that wrong behaviour was acceptable; rather it frees both the offender and the injured party from carrying the burden of guilt, anger or resentment, lightening the load for both people. It is a ‘big ask,’ but one that aligns us with the Father and the Son. When we ourselves practice compassion, mercy and forgiveness towards another, we are truly children of our heavenly Father.

This petition is rich in meaning. We see once again that we are concerned for each other and ask God to provide for everyone: “give us this day our daily bread.” It is not enough for me to be ok if my sister or brother is suffering or going without the necessities of life. We pray for and also look out for each other. It is worth noting we petition God for what we need today, provisions for the present moment, and not an abundance providing for the future. This petition also shines a light on discerning the difference between our wants and our needs. This petition focuses on what we need at this moment.

There was a song years ago by the “Rolling Stones” that had a refrain “You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, well, you might find, you get what you need” This petition focuses on prayers on asking for what we truly need. Finally, the phrase, “daily bread” is not a literally accurate translation from Latin. It is hard to translate the original phrase which alludes to the eucharist – ‘super special bread’ – which is the Body of Christ. This is the daily bread we need to sustain ourselves not only physically but spiritually each day. In these difficult days, more than ever we may need to periodically remind ourselves to pray with and for each other and to be grateful for the way the Lord sustains us each day. 

The words “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” are sometimes difficult words to pray and mean. When things are going well for us, it is easy to pray that the Lord’s will be accomplished in our lives. When we encounter difficulty or suffering, maybe we shy away from this part of the prayer or mentally qualify these words? What is God’s will for me? This is an important question that we need to reflect upon in our lives and to pray about asking Him for guidance. When we encounter suffering, our natural tendency is to ask to be delivered from it, for it to be ‘taken away’, which is a normal reaction. A more significant response is to pray to have the strength and wisdom to deal with the problem with God’s assistance, waiting on Him to show us the path forward.

In my own life, I stumble over these words in difficult times and it reminds me that I should place my trust in the Father and rely more on his strength than on my own ability to ‘fix’ the problem myself. God’s will or his plan for us is for our ultimate good even when in the moment we do not see its benefits. This part of the “Our Father” reminds us that God’s will for us is based on his mercy and compassion and his ability to see all of our life through with his eyes of love

Christ’s disciples often saw Jesus at prayer. One day, as he “was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples” (Lk 11.1). We learn the “Our Father” prayer at an early age and we pray it every time we celebrate the Eucharist. Many pray it everyday as part of their daily prayers.

Over the course of the Church’s history, a lot has been written about this perfect prayer. I would like to devote a few words to this gift that Jesus gave us over the next week. It is important to note that from the very beginning of this prayer, it is meant to be the prayer of the community and not just the intention of a single individual: “Our Father who art in heaven…”. This prayer is one we pray with and for each other, lifting our prayers together to our heavenly Father. If God is our common Father, then we are sisters and brothers. This is a profound statement. The next time you pray the “Our Father” think for a moment before you begin of all the people you are including in your first words of this prayer and realize that others are including in their prayer to God our Father. What an amazing gift!

When we are at a loss for words, do not know how to pray or maybe even what we should be praying for, we can always turn to the familiarity of the rosary. Its set structure of prayers means we do not have to be creative when we struggle to put our needs into words and the comfort of the rhythm of prayers carries us when need assistance. Some families are rediscovering the value of a rosary prayed together in the home. Each person takes a turn leading one of the decades of “Hail Mary” prayers and has an opportunity to present an intention for which to pray. I know one family where, pre-pandemic times, they did this on long car trips. The parents told me it was instructive to see what was on the hearts of the children that they wanted to bring to the Lord (many were requests for heavenly aid for their classmates whose relatives were sick or who were experiencing difficulties at home). The beauty of the rosary is that its pattern of Mysteries of our Lord’s and Lady’s life and the structure of the prayers are tremendous helps when we know we need to pray, want to pray and yet struggle to pray with the ‘right words’ or with all of our focused attention. I encourage you to continue or rediscover this powerful aid to prayer in this month dedicated to our Blessed Mother Mary.

Today, May 6th 2020, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, announced the official canonical amalgamation of the Archdiocese of Ottawa and the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall into one ecclesiastical circumscription, creating the new Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall. The decree takes effect on May 6, 2020.

The Holy Father also announced that His Excellency Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J. will become the first Archbishop of the newly created archdiocese.

His Excellency the Most Rev. Marcel Damphousse, currently Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie, has been appointed as Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall.

His Excellency the Most Rev. Guy Desrochers, C.Ss.R., currently auxiliary bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall, has been named Bishop for the Diocese of Pembroke.

A new logo has been created for the new Archdiocese and appears below.


History of this Amalgamation

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., who at the time was the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, was named the Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall on January 16, 2016. At that time, he was tasked with making a recommendation about the possible amalgamation of the two dioceses.

Over the following years, a series of consultations was held in the two dioceses and a recommendation was sent to the Vatican in June 2017.

On April 27, 2018, it was announced that Pope Francis had united the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall to the Archdiocese of Ottawa “in the person of the bishop.” Thus Archbishop Prendergast became the ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall.

On December 12, 2018, Father Guy Desrochers, C.Ss.R. was named the auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall.

In early 2019, a Transition Committee was struck consisting of key representatives of both dioceses. Over the past year, they have been meeting to discuss and work out the various aspects of uniting the two dioceses into the new Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall.

Although the canonical amalgamation has now been announced, the civil amalgamation will take place several months from now following an Act of Parliament.

Prayer does make a difference and in these difficult times of physical distancing the value of being present in prayers with loved ones and people in need is especially relevant. 

My mom was taken to the hospital on Sunday morning. What is really hard on Dad, my sister, brother and me is that we cannot go into the hospital to be with her because of the new hospital protocol to protect patients and staff. We talk on the phone and I brought over her iPad but it’s not the same as ‘being with Mom’ in her illness and suffering. 

But we are praying for her and many others have offered their prayers too. Thank you so much! The prayers do make a difference and they are one way we show our love and concern for others. I encourage you to keep up the prayers for your family, those you know who are struggling, our senior citizens and health care workers and all who need God’s strength. 

I pray for the parish everyday. May God bless and strengthen you and in this month of May let us renew our prayers asking our Blessed Mother for her intercession.

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