Category: Saints

Our Beacon of Hope

7/24/2019

Standing inside the steel frame of the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of the Rockies under construction in Canmore, the fresh mountain breeze intermingles with the scent of burnt metal, plaster and cement. This time next summer, the doors of the shrine are expected to open for both parishioners and pilgrims.

Last spring, 144 screw piles were being drilled into a hole in the ground to help secure the foundation.

“I entered into the project right on the cusp of it really beginning to move forward. It was a really exciting moment to be there,” said Fr. Nathan Siray, who was transferred to take over as pastor in April 2018.

Today, construction is well underway: the entire steel structure erected, some framing for the walls and windows in place and the concrete floor poured.

When Fr. Siray stands inside the skeleton of the church, he imagines a feeling of overwhelm and splendor, but also connection and closeness. “It achieves this wonderful balance between grandeur and intimacy, which I think people are really looking for in a church building. I’m really excited that spirit is captured within the architecture,” he said.

Some key design features will be a larger-than-life custom-made stained-glass window of Our Lady of the Rockies in the apse of the church. It will depict Mary holding the Christ Child amidst images of the Three Sister Mountains and Canmore’s coal mining heritage.

“The moment you walk through the doors into the nave of the church, this window is going to blow you away. I think it’s going to be the centrepiece of the shrine,” said Siray.

Large clerestory windows on the upper portion of the church roof will bring in an incredible amount of natural light, explained Fr. Sirary. As the sun rises and sets you will have a different play of light and shadow in the building.

The official feast day of the shrine will be Aug. 22 — The Queenship of Mary. A marble statue depicting Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth holding the Christ Child will further highlight Our Lady’s centrality.

Another marble statue will feature the passing of St. Joseph with Mary kneeling beside him and Jesus extending His hand over in blessing.

“It is a very consoling image for someone who has lost a loved one, or is currently going through the grief of anticipating the death of someone they care for,” said Fr. Siray.

A rosary chapel will host a statue of St. Catherine of Sienna. The front of old altars placed in the wall will showcase the infancy narratives of Jesus.

“It’s going to be an incredible place,” said Siray. “I think it will entice people to want to come in and spend quiet time in prayer and reflection, and really help people to have a deep sense of the presence of God and the Holy Mother of God in their life of faith.”

Calgary Bishop William McGrattan discerned that Our Lady of the Rockies should expand its reach, becoming a diocesan marian shrine. He envisions it as a spiritual base camp located at the gateway to the mountains. He hopes it will also have the potential to be a gateway to an experience with God.

“In our tradition a shrine is a church or a sacred place to which members of the faithful make pilgrimage for special reason of piety and prayer,” he said in a statement.

“The Rockies, by their natural beauty and grandeur, have the power to draw us out of our busy lives and lead us to contemplation and prayer.”

The Bow Valley Corridor draws people from around the world to experience the majesty of the mountains. While Canmore has a relatively small parish community, it welcomes an impressive amount of visitors. Fr. Siray said the hope is this shrine will encourage people to not simply come to the area as tourists, but pilgrims making a spiritual journey.

“The nature of our parish has always been to welcome people for weekend Masses,” said Fr. Siray. “The Bishop’s inspiration was to take this and honour the local parish community, but really give it a very universal dimension; by being a shrine we are able to achieve that.”

The infrastructure to make pilgrimages is already in place with the extensive trail system within Canmore and the Legacy Trail linking Canmore and Banff. Fr. Siray dreams there could even be a Calgary to Canmore pilgrimage, but he is clear he wants to leave room for the Holy Spirit to guide.

“We want all the people of our diocese to feel like this is their second home. They may come for days of recollection or to hold a special Mass.

“I hope people from all over will have a sense like here’s a sanctuary, here’s a place where I can gain some peace in my life. I think Christian and non-Christian alike are looking for that, that’s what our shine can be for them.”

Fr. Siray has kept a detailed photo journal of all the construction milestones on the parish website: www.rockiesparish.com. First and foremost, he welcomes prayers of protection for the construction workers and the entire site, and secondly for excitement and support for the shrine. Any financial donations can be made directly through the parish website or by calling the office at 403-678-5022.

“We are always asking for a spirit of charity first with prayers and then to whatever degree financially,” Fr. Siray said. “If people can assist us in that way, it will help us move ever closer to paying down our mortgage eventually, and to allow the shrine to thrive and to grow.”

The amazing view of Our Lady of the Rockies in Canmore.

Holy Mary and the Christ Child Statue.

Life size statue of the Death of St. Joseph.

Stained glass window of Our Lady of the Rockies, which will be installed in January 2020.

Written by Sara Francis
Photos courtesy of Our Lady of the Rockies Parish

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Fatherhood Fast Forward

6/6/2019

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The landscape of family roles is challenged by contemporary shifts in our culture and society. Fatherhood is not exempt from the impact of these changes. However, there are promising trends in the lives of faithful men who are called to the vocation of marriage and family. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) affirms the vital role of the father in the family, “The divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood; this is the foundation of the honor owed to parents.” (CCC, 2214) I want to encourage fathers who in striving to be authentic examples for their children live this important calling in our present culture.

Statistics Canada reports that there are about 8.5 million fathers in Canada and that in contrast to previous generations, they are beginning to assume a more engaged role in the family. I have witnessed a growing number of fathers becoming more active in their faith life through gatherings such as our annual God Squad Men’s Conference and programs that support men's spiritual growth and fraternity like That Man is You, Exodus 90, and others. Additionally, they are assuming a greater share of the household tasks which reflects the loving, caring face of fatherhood that we see in Scripture.

Inspired by these changes, some fathers are also beginning to reshape the relationship between family and work. Data from Statistics Canada reveals that in 1976, 1 out of every 70 families with a stay-at-home parent was the father. By 2015, that number grew to about 1 in 10 fathers representing a significant increase over those years. For the majority of fathers employed outside of the home, they are striving to balance home and work commitments as a priority. This change in focus is reflected in being more present to their family, supporting the relationships that are essential to its growth and maturity while forging a true masculine identity in their midst.

With a deeper focus on prayer, living and witnessing to the Faith, building the strength of the marriage covenant and taking on more day-to-day responsibilities, our fathers are walking in the shadow of St. Joseph. In 1989, Saint John Paul II issued the Apostolic Exhortation, Guardian of the Redeemer: On the Person and Mission of St. Joseph in the Life of Christ and the Church. This apostolic exhortation articulates the Catholic understanding of fatherhood and reflects these current promising trends.

St. Joseph was called by God to serve the person and mission of Jesus directly through the exercise of his fatherhood. It is precisely in this way that, as the Church's Liturgy teaches, he "cooperated in the fullness of time in the great mystery of salvation" and is truly a "minister of salvation." His fatherhood is expressed concretely "in his having made his life a service, a sacrifice to the mystery of the Incarnation and to the redemptive mission connected with it; in having used the legal authority which was his over the Holy Family in order to make a total gift of self, of his life and work; in having turned his human vocation to domestic love into a superhuman oblation of self, an oblation of his heart and all his abilities into love placed at the service of the Messiah growing up in his house." (Redemptoris Custos, 1989, No. 8.)

Pope Francis reemphasized the link between fatherhood and St. Joseph during a papal audience in 2015 saying, “For the younger generations, fathers are the irreplaceable guardians and mediators of faith in the goodness, of faith in the justice, and faith in the protection of God, like Saint Joseph.” In the same year during a series of talks on the family, His Holiness speculated that a wise and mature father would be able to say to his adult children, "I taught you things that you didn't know, I corrected errors that you did not see. I let you feel an affection that was both deep and discreet that perhaps you did not fully recognize when you were young and unsure. I gave you witness of rigor and willpower that perhaps you did not understand when you just wanted complicity and protection."

There have been and are many challenges in fulfilling the role of a father in the past, today, and foreseeably, into the future. As I have come to see in my own life, the gift of a father’s presence is both formative and an instrument of blessing. Let us pray with gratitude for the men of faith in our lives who are loving husbands and fathers, leaders in parishes, wise stewards in communities and above all, humble disciples of Jesus Christ.

Written by Bishop William McGrattan, June 2019

Most Rev. William McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

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Our Beacon of Hope

Fatherhood Fast Forward

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