50th Anniversary of the blessing of the Providence Motherhouse chapel
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST January 11th was the 50th anniversary of the blessing of the chapel at Providence Motherhouse. The photo below shows how the chapel looked when it opened in 1969.It was renovated in 1992-1993. The photo at the right (bottom) shows what the chapel looks like today.A display was setup in the chapel to mark the occasion.“A day to be remembered! The blessing of the new chapel, the consecration of the altar of...
Providence Care Leadership Missioning Service
Sister Frances O’Brien was one of three Sisters from the Leadership Team that participated in the annual missioning service for Providence Care this past September 25. This is part of Sister Frances’ reflection on the Charism of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul presented during the missioning service. In the late 1970’s, after Vatican Council II, religious orders were asked to identify their founding charism, their special gift...
Remembering for Peace…One more time
Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies, University of Bradford. Image still from video by Clarke MackeyJAMIE SWIFT, JPIC DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER OF PEACEQUEST PeaceQuest wound up its formal events on November 11 with our third sold-out Remembrance Day concert at The Isabel. It was an afternoon of song and celebration. The previous day we assembled 150 people at City Hall’s Memorial Room for a conference called “Imagining Peace.” The...
November 11th, 1918
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST This year November 11th marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. The Congregational annals, which in 1918 cover life at the House of Providence in Kingston, and the annals of St. Mark’s Convent in Prescott record how the Sisters and the towns they were living in reacted to the declaration of peace.Congregational Annals - November 11, 1918 This morning while the Meditation is being read...
Remembering the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
St. Mark’s Convent in PrescottBY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The Fall of 1918 was a tumultuous time around the world, in Ontario and for the Sisters of Providence. The First World War wasn’t over yet, but soldiers were starting to arrive home from Europe bringing with them an unwelcome guest – the Spanish Influenza. In Ontario alone, there were 300,000 cases of the flu and approximately 10,000 people died. The majority of those who died were...
Farewell Sister Rita Gleason
In January of 2008, Sister Rita Gleason retired from St. Joseph’s Auxiliary Hospital after almost 7 years as a member of the Spiritual and Religious Team. As part of this team Sister Rita ministered to residents’ spiritual, emotional and physical needs, including directing the staff choir which sang at Memorial Services of deceased residents. After retiring, Sister Rita returned to St. Joseph’s to volunteer her musical talents until recently.BY...
Illuminating the Word of God
BY ALBERT DUNN, COORDINATOR OF PASTORAL LITURGY On Sunday, October 21, 2018, through the generosity of the Diocese of Hamilton, two volumes of the Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible were displayed in Providence Motherhouse’s Chapel of Mary, Mother of Compassion. Volumes displayed were the Wisdom Books and Gospels and Acts of the Apostles. In 1998, the Benedictine monks of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota...
Communities Face ‘Final Eruption’ and beyond
This article excerpt is reprinted with permission by Global Sisters Report. Original story is by Soli Salgado, titled “Sr. Teresa Maya challenges LCWR assembly to go forth amid changing times”.In early August, Sisters Sandra Shannon, Gayle Desarmia and Frances O’Brien attended the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) assembly in St. Louis, Missouri. The guiding theme of the assembly was “Being the Presence of Love: The Power of...
Tomato Tasting Celebration: Connecting food with health, joy, justice & nature
Early tomato tasting days were offered in the garden area.With the Heirloom Seed Sanctuary (HSS) ministry moving towards completion, the HSS committee felt a return of the Heirloom Tomato Celebration would be appropriate to mark the final growing season of the heirloom seeds on the Providence Motherhouse grounds. The Heirloom Tomato Tasting Day was one of the first public events Carol and Robert Mouck co-hosted with the Sisters of Providence of...
The Good Food Stand: A New Project Provides Affordable Healthy Food
Photo by Kathy SturmeyBY TARA KAINER, JPIC, AND KATHY STURMEY, GOOD FOOD STAND ORGANIZER The Good Food Stand, a two-year pilot project initiated by the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (KFL&A) Food Access Advisory Committee, “launched under cloudy skies on Monday, August 27, 2018 at Regiopolis-Notre Dame Catholic High School. The school was abuzz with students and parents, and many were curious about the tables loaded with fresh,...
A Game of Hide and Seek
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST Here is a funny story from the Congregational Annals of the Sisters of Providence: November 5th, 1970 - An amusing incident occurred this afternoon. A lady from an apartment house which borders on our property telephoned that she saw some boys carrying a bag enter one of our out-buildings. Sr. M. Roberta became very excited, picturing marijuana smokers or glue-sniffers, and called Peter, our efficient...
Teaching in Lancaster
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST The Sisters of Providence taught in Lancaster Ontario from 1923 to 1937. They lived in a cement house, known as St. Joseph’s Convent. The Sisters found it very cold in winter, telling of how they had to wear cloak and gloves to Morning Prayer. There were usually five Sisters in the mission: a housekeeper, a music teacher and three teachers. The Sisters taught in St. Joseph’s School. It had outdoor facilities and...
Making a Commitment
From left: Ann Boniferro, Helen Driver and Mary Olenick.BY ANN BONIFERRO, PROVIDENCE ASSOCIATE On April 7th the weather outside was cold and dreary, yet inside the Chapel of Mary, Mother of Compassion, the joy of the Easter season was evident as the Providence Associates celebrated Evening Prayer. The sanctuary was decorated with spring flowers, and a graceful drape of rainbow fabric reflected the covenant between God and all of creation which...
Echoing the Providence of Peace in an intercultural World
Our Sisters and Associates who attended this year. Back row: (from left) Sister Gayle Desarmia, Sister Pauline Lally, Associates Barbara Baker and Carol Groten. Front row: Sisters Diane Brennen, Sandra Shannon, Barbara Thiffault and Frances O’Brien. Missing from photo: Sister Lucy BethelBY SISTER PAULINE LALLY In mid-June, three carloads of Sisters and Associates drove in beautiful weather through scenic countryside to attend the 14th event of...
Kingston Seedy Saturday says ‘Thank you!’
From left: Sister Diane Brennen, Cate Henderson, and Pat Joslin, KSS planning committee chair.BY CATE HENDERSON, SEED SAVER AND GARDENER Sister of Providence Kay Morrell attended Kingston Seedy Saturday for the first time this year, bringing along Sister Elise Nikiema who is a Sister of the Immaculate Conception of Ouagadougou visiting from Burkina Faso, in Africa. She wanted to share with Sister Elise an original Canadian phenomenon, Seedy...
The World Remembers
BY JAMIE SWIFT, JPIC DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER OF PEACEQUEST Just as the schools let out, marking the real start of summer, PeaceQuest held an event in front of City Hall. It was the official announcement of our November Gathering and concert. We got the news out moments before the skies opened up. City Councillor Jeff McLaren, whose Meadowbrook-Strathcona district includes the Providence Motherhouse, was there in support of PeaceQuest. And, in...
Grieving the tragedy of war – Committed to the promise of peace
Photo courtesy: Jolene Simko. Back Row: (from left) Bronek Korczynski, Barbara Linds, Jamie Swift. Middle Row: Ann Boniferro, Pauline Lally, SP, Judy Wyatt. Front Row: Elaine Berman, Michael Cooke. Missing: Laurie Davey-Quantick, Jolene Simko, Administrative CoordinatorBY SISTER PAULINE LALLY, CO-FOUNDER OF PEACEQUEST PeaceQuest was founded in late 2013 as a grassroots organization dedicated to creating conversations about WWI. Our idea was to...
Breaking ground in a historic way
BY VERONICA STIENBURG, ARCHIVIST On Friday, May 4th the groundbreaking for Hospice Kingston, the first partner in Providence Village, took place on the Motherhouse grounds. There have been numerous groundbreakings on the property before this, as the congregation built and added onto the Motherhouse itself. The first groundbreaking occurred on July 2, 1931, when Archbishop Spratt broke ground for the construction of the Motherhouse. The...
Healing Violence Committee Comes to Completion
The final year committee members were (from left): Sister Marie Dundon, Sister Catherine Casey, Providence Associate Carol Groten, Providence Associate Barbara Baker, Sister Margo Shafer, Friar Ed Debono, and Sister Frances O’Brien with Sister Dianne McNamara (pray–er).BY SISTER FRANCES O'BRIEN, MEMBER OF THE HEALING VIOLENCE COMMITTEE On June 2nd, 2018, the Healing Violence Committee commemorated 20 years of work guided by their mandate. We...
Annual Congress on Basic Income
Technological Unemployment as Thought Experiment presenters Jason Burke Murphy (United States), Sergey Zolotov (Russia), and David Goutor (Canada).BY TARA KAINER, JPIC TEAM The 17th Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress was held this year in Hamilton from May 24 to May 27. The assembly, jointly-sponsored by the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN), USBIG, the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, and McMaster...