Renewed life for old instruments
As music teachers retired and local convents closed, many instruments made their way to the Motherhouse in Kingston. After a while, quite a collection accumulated made up of tambourines, drums, many recorders and more. There were a fair number of pitch pipes and metronomes as well. This winter, many of those instruments were donated to the Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library (Joe’s M.I.L.L.), a first-of-its-kind charity...
A global call for just solutions on every level
The Kingston climate change town hall. Photo: Kim Sutherland MillsBY BRIDGET DOHERTY Climate change is a global problem that hurts vulnerable people most. In Canada, it disproportionately affects seniors and those with pre-existing health problems, remote and First Nations communities, low-income individuals, and the marginalized. That’s why it’s necessary to talk about climate change not just as an environmental issue, but also as an issue of...
Marking milestones of 50, 60, 70 years
Providence General Superior Sister Sandra Shannon offered these remarks to the Jubilarians: At the International Union of Superiors General meeting I attended in Rome in May, we heard from Sister Mary Sujita, SND from India. Her question to us was, “Who has benefited from your vows?” On reflection I would say both “the others out there” and “community in here.” Let us see how this message relates to our Jubilarians: Sister Josephine...
Following the example of Jesus
At the Jubilee mass, Friar Ed at the altar with Archbishop O'Brien and eucharistic ministers.From the Jubilee homily of Friar Ed Debono OFM Conv. Your eyes have been fixed on Jesus even before you consecrated your life to him. You accepted his invitation to join him in building the Kingdom of God. Over the years you have read the scriptures, searched the scriptures and examined his life. Over the years you have turned to Jesus for guidance in...
Sr. Marie’s meditations for peace/fulness
From February to April this winter, Sister Marie Dundon transformed the auditorium of the Motherhouse into an oasis of stillness and peace. Her Wednesday evening series, Kingston Meditates for Peace, was held in partnership with PeaceQuest. PeaceQuest is a movement that started in Kingston to bring peace to the anniversaries of war, especially the years marking the centenary of the Great War. Its focus is largely outward – public events, school...
Through the eyes of children
Self portrait, child soldier, northern Uganda. Courtesy: Children/Youth as PeacebuildersBY JAMIE SWIFT A fascinating new web-based PeaceQuest project will soon be providing teachers with an innovative tool to help students learn about war and peace - through the eyes of children. Unlike many Remembrance Day lessons and conventional history teaching, War and Children has no patriotic message. There are no stories about heroism. No soldiers...
Clergy sexual abuse and bursary follow-up
From left: Keynote speaker Sister Nuala Kenny MD, Sister Frances O'Brien SP, Barbara Baker, Sister Marie Dundon SP, Christine DiZazzo, Carol Groten, Friar Ed Debono OFM Conv., Sister Catherine Casey SP, Sister Margo Shafer SP.As a follow-up to our conference last September 11 and 12, 2015, entitled “Healing the Church: Diagnosing and Treating the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis” the Healing Violence Committee of the Sisters of Providence wishes to...
Students give witness to social teaching in an homage to 20 years of social justice vigils
BY ANN BONIFERRO Throughout the month of April, students in each of the 39 schools of the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board were asked to show mercy by standing in solidarity with those who experience injustice. They did that by holding vigils and pilgrimages that honoured the legacy of the Sisters of Providence and vigil-keepers who held a Friday vigil in front of Kingston City Hall for 20 years. These events allowed...
Suggestions on further steps for healing the church
These suggestions came out of two day-long conferences held in September 2015 on the them of Healing the Church: Addressing the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis." They were presented to Archbishop Brendan O'Brien in the spring of 2016,. as promised. And they are made available for your consideration, presented according to theme. Priests Our priests are hurting. They do not come together to share their pain. They need encouragement...
Sister Una Byrne’s first two months
BY SISTER UNA BYRNE Sitting here on a rainy Sunday evening in Norway House, I can look back on the last two months and say I am settled now. I live in a trailer between the old and the new church. It took a while to get things set up but now I have t.v. and internet (though I am out of water due to a mix up in the delivery on Friday), but then one can’t expect everything in life! Today, we had a Liturgy of the Word, then First Communion...
Summer at the Villa
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The congregation purchased the cottage “Marillac Villa” in the fall of 1955 and enlarged it so it could accommodate 30 sisters at one time. Here is a reprint of an article from the September 1956 issue of the Guardian. The Guardian was a magazine created and printed by the Sisters of Providence at the Printing Room at the House of Providence from 1916 to the late 1950s. Proceeds from the sale of the magazine...
Retreat centers as touchstones of mercy
May 29-June 1, the North American Conference of Oblate Retreat and Renewal Centers (NACORRC) held its 39th annual meeting, hosted this year at King’s House, Belleville, IL. Twenty-three members gathered, representing eight Oblate Retreat/Renewal Centers. Providence Sister Jeannette Filthaut was there as chair of the Star of the North board (you’ll see her in the middle of the back row). The theme of this year’s gathering was “Leave No Stone...
BBQing Associates? That can’t be right!
Well, a barbeque with and for Associates is a better guess. Last Friday eve, guitars came out, food was tucked in, and the annual gathering made for a pleasant evening.
The Road to Emmaus: Associates Retreat in Kingston
The retreat, directed by Sister Irene Wilson and assisted by Sister Marilyn Kearns and Associate Sheila LaRush, was a time to reflect on mutual collaboration using the Emmaus story as a backdrop. We were invited, through story, to reflect on how we collaborate with others in our decision-making and how that collaboration brings about healing. It was a very peaceful time of reflection and integration. --Barbara Baker, Co-Director Providence...
Embraced by a merciful God: Camrose Associates
Back row, from left: Sr. Jeannette, Jan Kehoe, Debbie Muise, Bernice Schlaut-Macfarlane. Front row: Kathy Leibel, Audrey Heck, Archbishop Sylvain Lavoie OMI, Connie Prost.Sr. Jeannette Filthaut organized the Camrose Associates’ meeting at the Star of the North Retreat Centre in St. Albert for the annual retreat on June 6, 2016. Facilitated by the centre’s chaplain, retired archbishop Sylvain Lavoie, the theme of the retreat was “Mercy”,...
Ideas in the barn
In June, Heirloom Seed Sanctuary staff Cate Henderson and Annie Richard were interviewed for a CBC Radio Ideas segment, likely to be broadcast in November. Interviewing them was University of Calgary English scholar Maria Zytaruk, who is producing a radio documentary on the subject of seed banks, and seed collections and exchange. Profession Zytaruk commented during the interviews that many seed banks approach their work from a vision of...
Sister Anna is honoured by a visit from MPP Sophie Kiwala
On Sunday, June 19, Providence Sister Anna Moran celebrated her 100th birthday amid her family and her Congregation. Just days prior to the celebration Sister Anna was visited by MPP Sophie Kiwala in honour of Sister Anna's milestone birthday.
Sister Anna Moran has 100 years of story to tell
BY LOUISE SLOBODIAN The first impression of the Sisters of Providence Motherhouse property in midtown Kingston is trees. One tall old tree has special meaning for Sister Anna Moran. It’s the only tree older than her on the property known as Heathfield, one she has read beneath many times. When someone turns 100, as Sister Anna does on June 19, you look for points of reference ... and in this case, it’s the many trees younger than she, some of...
Where angels did not fear to tread
Sr. Mary Cosmas (Sr. Verna Plue) serving lunch to the “angels” at the back door of Rosary Hall, Edmonton in May, 1962BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The Sisters of Providence ran Rosary Hall in Edmonton Alberta from 1915 to 2012. Rosary Hall was a hostel for immigrant women and girls coming to the city for study or employment until the early 1960s when the mandate of Rosary Hall shifted to serve the mentally handicapped and women suffering...
Welcome Ann Boniferro
Ann Boniferro in 2015 being awarded her school board’s Contribution to Catholic Education Award from chair (trustee) Greg Speagle The Liturgy team is delighted to announce that Ann Boniferro has signed on as the Director of Liturgical Music, and Organist, filling the special organ shoes left by dear Marg Spooner who passed away this last year. Ann was the choir director and organist at The Church of the Good Thief in Portsmouth before it closed...