A special Mass in commemoration of Epiphany of Our Lord Parish's golden jubilee year will take place Sept. 7, marking the climax of a year’s worth of observances of the church’s long-standing history in its community. 

Beginning in the fall of 2023, staff, volunteers and parishioners at Epiphany of Our Lord have been organizing various events in honour of the 50th anniversary of the parish. Celebrations culminate with the Holy Mass to be celebrated by Archbishop Francis Leo at the Scarborough church. 

Although similar festivities took place at the turn of the millennium for the parish's 25th anniversary, the sheer grandeur of a half-century of continuous service to the church community was quickly recognized as worthy of a celebration.  

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“Even before September of last year, the pastoral council got together to discuss what we should do. We all knew we were entering a special year for a special church and knowing that we needed to celebrate, we started to put together the jubilee committee,” said Carol Roberts, a parishioner of 30 years. 

From the jubilee committee came numerous offshoot groups, all focusing on different ways to enrich the parish during its anniversary year through to 2024. Social committees began putting on activities for parishioners while liturgical teams set their efforts on special Masses that would be celebrated, all with the main goal of best honouring the rich history Epiphany of Our Lord has given to its community since 1974. 

Across 50 years of active participation and service, the impact the parish has had on its church body is closer to that of family than mere community, according to those who have experienced it first-hand.

“I have spent all my life in this parish and all I can say is that it truly is a family. My two boys along with their brides both agreed to be married here, even though weddings are usually celebrated at the bride's parish. It has always had a sense of being home and anybody who has been to Epiphany of Our Lord comes away with that sense and it is one that often stays with them forever,” said Erminia Baldari-Lumia, a fellow member of the jubilee committee and lifelong parishioner. 

“Having been involved in many aspects of the parish over the years, including teaching many First Communion and Confirmation classes, I can come to Mass now and see these young adults who have their own families who will come talk to me like they did when I was their teacher,” said Roberts. “That is a testament to our church family, there is just something about our community that draws people here no matter the cause.” 

Over the jubilee year, parishioners have welcomed an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary into their homes for rosary devotions with the icon set to be reunited with the church upon its arrival back for the Sept. 7 service. 

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The parish also recently underwent substantial renovations to its altar and sanctuary, providing a newly constructed backdrop where a special jubilee prayer is recited, as it has for every Mass over the past year. 

Perhaps the most substantial of all the commemorations is the custom-made church booklets designed by the jubilee committee, a tangible time capsule of memories and moments from the parish lifespan.  

“Apart from being a beautiful, physical keepsake, we wanted both our old and new family to reflect back on the years and how we have grown together and how our church has developed to be the beautiful place of worship that it is today,” Roberts said.

“Going beyond the inception of the parish to where it is today and including all of the traditions we have celebrated was our way of trying to capture as best we could the essence of what makes (our parish) so special,” added Baldari-Lumia. 

The impressive 60-page booklets do their best to cover the entire scope of the parish since its inception; from its cultural significance to the local Italian community from its beginnings as an extension of the Scarborough Italian Mission, full-page dedications to parishioners who have followed vocations in the Church and those who have passed away over the years, all the way through to yearly special events from Christmas Nativity reenactments to Good Friday Passion Plays.  

“It was very difficult for us and we spent hours choosing thousands of pictures that capture the essence and spirit of the church. We could never have enough pages to show what this church means to so many,” said Baldari-Lumia. 

The jubilee’s motto of “Gratitude & Growth, thanking God for what has been done and praying for what is to come" is expected to be amplified during the concluding celebration

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For Roberts, Baldari-Lumia and many others at Epiphany of Our Lord, the excitement of a celebration that promises renewal for both the parish and parishioners' next 50 years is already being demonstrated. 

“We are honoured to have Archbishop Leo in attendance to celebrate with us and I am hoping that our new parishioners and our young people see that this is a very special place of worship and that it encourages them to come because we need our youth (for the future),” Roberts said.