To counter the partying that goes hand-in-hand with FROSH week at post-secondary institutions, campus chaplaincies offer students something a little different.
At King's University College at the University of Western Ontario, the campus chaplaincy will be holding a prayer service to welcome students back to school.
"It's a prayer service instead of Mass because we want it to be inclusive for all our students who may not be Catholic," said campus minister Sr. Susan Glaab.
The service will involve some quiet reflection, some Taizé prayer, singing and sharing in small groups, said Glaab.
Campus chaplaincy will also be there on Labour Day as an unofficial welcoming committee, as the students move into residence, to answer any last-minute questions and offer support to both students and parents, she said. Glaab said it's important for campus chaplaincies to hold FROSH events — particularly when they're affiliated with a larger university — so students know there's a place they can go on campus for support, space and some much-needed quiet.
"It's very important because during FROSH week they're just bombarded with everything and, for a lot of students, that can be an overwhelming experience," said Glaab. "Some adapt to it right away but others need more balance in their lives… so we're there to offer that and promote our Catholicity."
Toronto Catholic board passes amended equity policy
By Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic RegisterTORONTO - At a raucous meeting to amend its equity policy, the Toronto Catholic District School Board passed a resolution that affirms denominational rights will take precedence when there is a conflict with government policy.
The Aug. 31 meeting was intended to be the final leg in an emotional ride in the board's efforts to hammer out a policy to come onside with the provincially mandated equity policy. Each board in Ontario was to have its policy in place by Sept. 1.
The board voted on a series of amendments from trustees John Del Grande and Angela Kennedy during the stormy four-hour meeting. In the end, the board voted to accept one amendment and passed watered-down versions of the others. One other amendment was put off to be dealt with at a future meeting. Emotions ran high during the meeting attended by more than 120 people, many of whom favoured the unequivocal language of Del Grande's amendments that asserted Catholic denominational rights in education. There were loud outbursts when the majority of the Del Grande-Kennedy amendments were defeated and replaced by amendments with less-stringent language. The temporary commotion led to TCDSB chair Ann Andrachuk calling a five-minute recess.
This reaction was in contrast to the loud applause that greeted the passing of Del Grande's amendment, which read: "When there is an apparent conflict between denominational rights and other rights, the board will favour the protection of the denominational rights." However, the board also said it would leave it to courts to determine any conflict of rights.
Robotics team wins engineering competition
By Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, The Catholic Register
TORONTO - A team from Blessed Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough recently won the top prize at this year’s National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Design Competition in Rochester, N.Y. Beating out 10 other teams from New York State, the all-girls robotics team designed and built a robot which had to pick up as many white cans as possible from their field positions on an obstacle course and place them in the “finish box” within a three-minute period. “We were the only team competing from Canada,” said Mary Charles Hills, one of the team’s teacher advisors.
Thousands flock to the Vatican to welcome St. André to sainthood
By John Thavis, Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY - The former doorman from Montreal’s Notre Dame College received a hero’s welcome from approximately 5,000 Canadians in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 17 when Pope Benedict XVI elevated Blessed Brother André to sainthood.In proclaiming him St. André Bessette, Benedict praised André for living “the beatitude of the pure of heart.”
The Pope said St. André “showed boundless charity and did everything to soothe the despair of those who confided in him.” Although he had little instruction, he “understood what was essential to the faith” and had an intense prayer life.
Brother André among six 'shining examples' of holiness canonized
By John Thavis, Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed six new saints Oct. 17, including the "Miracle Man of Montreal," calling them "shining examples" of holiness and the power of prayer.Canadians cheered the canonization of Blessed André Bessette, 1845-1937, a doorman known for his devotional practices and his healing touch, which led to him becoming known as the Miracle Man of Montreal.
The Pope said St. Bessette "showed boundless charity and did everything to soothe the despair of those who confided in him." Although he had little instruction, he "understood what was essential to the faith" and had an intense prayer life, the Pope said.
Members of Holy Cross 'family' rejoice over Brother André's sainthood
By Catherine M. Odell, Catholic News Service
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Members of the Holy Cross "family" have been sharing stories about one of their own — Blessed André Bessette.
The founder of St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal — to be canonized Oct. 17 by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican along with five others — will become the Holy Cross Brothers' first saint.
Blessed André banners, pamphlets, statues, photos and celebrations to mark the canonization can be found at Holy Cross parishes, schools, missions and university campuses all over. But perhaps the best tributes to him are the lessons members of the Congregation of Holy Cross say they have drawn from his life and applied to their own lives and ministries.
Brother André immortalized in art
By Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, The Catholic Register
Markham, Ont. - When Leeza Shakkouri creates a painting, her audience is usually her art teacher and her classmates. But the Grade 12 student’s recent project was different. She painted a portrait of Brother André that was unveiled Oct. 9 at a Mass celebrating Brother André Catholic High School’s 25th anniversary.
The portrait will be permanently hung in the school for the entire school body to enjoy.
Salt+Light will have canonization covered
By Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, The Catholic Register
TORONTO - Every time Sébastian Lacroix visits St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, he pays a visit to the Votive Chapel.
“Just being there for me is inspiring and you realize there’s a big story to tell: the story of Brother André but also Brother André’s dream that continues today,” he said, referring to the soon-to-be canonized Canadian’s dream of building the Oratory.
Brother André’s story is captured in two documentaries (an English and French version) created by Salt + Light Television that offer a biographical look at Brother André’s life and legacy in time for his Oct. 17 canonization, said Lacroix, producer of the French version.
The Church takes its saint-making seriously
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
By some estimates, the Church has formally recognized and honoured more than 10,000 saints. There have been saints ever since the first century. In the long history of the Church, Catholics have even celebrated and prayed to saints who never existed (St. Christopher, St. Ursula). Pope John Paul II himself declared 482 saints over his 28-year papacy.The process of canonization normally stretches over a generation or more. Some causes for saints have been maintained over a century before finally making the grade.
For Catholics, all this effort put into saint-making is not a sideshow, not a frill, not the arcane nonsense of the canon law hobbyist. Saints are essential to our communion. We are not who we profess to be without the communion of the saints.
The Canadian saints
By Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, The Catholic Register
 |
 |
 |
|
St. Isaac Jogues (1608-1646): born in Orleans, France, he was ordained to the Society of Jesus. In 1636, he was sent to Quebec as a missionary to the Hurons and was tortured and imprisoned by the Iroquois in 1642. He was rescued and returned to France, but went back to Quebec and sent on a peace mission to his torturers. He was captured by the Iroquois en route and on Oct. 18, 1646, his captors killed him. Named one of the Canadian martyrs by Pope Pius XI, their feast day is Oct. 19.
|
St. Jean de Brébeuf (1593-1649): was a French Jesuit missionary and martyr of New France whose mission was to evangelize native Americans. He lived among the Hurons for more than 15 years. In 1648, the Iroquois launched a war of extermination against the Huron. Refusing to flee when their village was attacked, Brébeuf and his assistant, Gabriel Lalemant, were captured and tortured to death by the Iroquois. Brébeuf is one of the Canadian martyrs.
|
St. Charles Garnier (1606-1649): was born in Paris and joined the Jesuits in 1624. After teaching at the Jesuit college at Eu, he was ordained in 1635. The following year, he was sent to Quebec as a missionary to the Hurons. Garnier was murdered by a war party of Iroquois on Dec. 7 at Etarita, where he was stationed. Even when the mission was attacked and he himself wounded, he continued to baptize neophytes and to assist a wounded Huron. Garnier is also one of the Canadian martyrs.
|
 |
 |
 |
|
St. Antoine Daniel (1600-1648): was born in Dieppe, France, and became a Jesuit in 1621 at 29. He arrived in Acadia in 1632 and was then sent to Quebec. He was a missionary near Bias-d’or Lakes and founded the first boy’s college in North America in Quebec in 1635. He worked in Huronia for 12 years. On July 4, he had just finished Mass when the mission was attacked. His martyred body was thrown in the flames of the burning Church at Mount St. Louis.
|
St. Gabriel Lalemant (1610-1649): was born in Paris and became a Jesuit priest in 1630. After remaining in Quebec for two years, he was sent to the Huron missions as Brébeuf’s assistant. He was barely there a month when the Iroquois attacked the mission of St. Louis where they found Brébeuf and Lalement. After setting fire to the village, they led the two priests back to St. Ignatius where they were tied to stakes and put to death. Some of the relics of Lalemant were carried to Quebec. Also one of the Canadian martyrs.
|
St. Noël Chabanel (1613-1649): was the youngest of the priests and the last of the eight martyrs. Born in France, he became a Jesuit priest at the age of 28. He was a successful professor and humanist and had a strong desire to help the Canadian missions. He was martyred on Dec. 8 at Nottawasaga.
|
 |
 |
 |
|
St. René Goupil (1608-1642): had to leave the Jesuit novitiate because of bad health. He studied medicine and offered his services to the Jesuit missions in Canada. On his way to Ste. Marie, he was captured and tortured by an Iroquois war party, along with Isaac Jogues. He was the first of all the martyrs and was killed while making the Sign of the Cross on the brow of a child near Auriesville, New York.
|
St. Jean de Lalande (1600s-1646): at 19, offered his services as a layman to the Jesuits in New France. He accompanied Jogues to the Mohawk mission in 1646 and was captured with him and tortured. The day after Jogues’ death, he tried to sneak out of the lodge at night to recover the priest’s body. A guard killed him.
|
St. Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700): Born in France, the stories of hardships and dangers in Montreal that made other people shiver awoke a call in St. Marguerite Bourgeoys from God to serve the native Americans. She helped start a school for the children of Montreal, called Ville Marie. Making numerous trips to France to recruit teachers, these woman became the first sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. Her feast day is Jan. 12.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
St. Marguerite d’Youville (1701-1771): founder of the Sisters of Charity, is the first Canadian to be elevated to sainthood. She studied under the Ursulines, married Francois D’Youville in 1722 and became a widow in 1730. She worked to support herself and her three children and devoted much of her time to the Confraternity of the Holy Family in charitable activities. She was appointed directress of the General Hospital in Montreal and, since her death, her order has established schools, hospitals and orphanages across the world. Canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1990, she is known as the “mother of the poor.”
|
|
 |
Canada's
|
|
BlessedsAndré Grasset |
VenerableVital Grandin |
Causes For SainthoodJérôme Le Royer de la Dauversière |
Brother André still speaks to ‘le petit monde’
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
For those of us whose 21st-century lives are defined more by the Internet, our genetic codes and dollars that ricochet around the world at the speed of light, it might be difficult to imagine how the life of a 19th-century farm boy who grew up to offer healing through St. Joseph, holy oil and prayer could possibly matter to us.
In his new devotional book about Br. Andre, Fr. George Madore imaginatively meditates on the life of Canada’s first male native-born saint. Madore’s meditation brings him to a conclusion that he makes the title of the book — Brother André: A Saint for Today.