Forty Days for Life Ottawa, Fall 2010 Campaign

40 Days for Life Inaugural Mass 7:00 pm Tuesday September 21


The 40 Days for Life inaugural Mass took  place on Tuesday evening September 21st at 7:00 pm at Saint Patrick’s Basilica (220 Kent St. Ottawa). It is paramount that we start off the campaign on the right spiritual footing. Our struggle against abortion is, after all, mainly a spiritual battle. Father Richard Siok gave an excellent homily on the right to Life as being the most important and basic human right. Without the right to life all other rights are moot. The Mass was followed by a candlelight procession of about 200 people from the Basilica to abortion site at 65 Bank Street on Bank Street for a rally.

Vigil Signup

As of today, 12 days of the campaign’s 40 Days of the prayer vigil across from the abortuary have been reserved. Parishes have taken ten days; Couples for Christ and a Council of the Knights of Columbus have taken one day each.  We remain very hopeful that other parishes, and parish groups such as other Knights of Columbus Councils, Catholic Womens’ Leagues, prayer groups, etc will get involved in this life-changing/ culture-transforming initiative. As a member of the legion of Mary in Ottawa, I hope and pray that we partcipate as well.


The calendar also reveals that we have many vacancies between September 22nd and September 27th inclusively, just prior to our first parish commitment. We are encouraging everyone to consider registering for one of these vacant shifts early in the campaign .  It is important that we start the campaign with a strong presence.


Key dates:

September 21st: Kick-off Mass St. Patrick's Basilica at 7:00 pm followed by a candle-light procession to the Abortion facility at 65 Bank Street (Ground Zero).


October 14th: Mid Point Rally at Ground Zero
starting at 7:00 pm.


October 31st: Closing Rally - Celebrate another successful 40 Days for Life Campaign…. starts 07:00 pm at Ground Zero - more details to follow.


Resources:

Online info: http://www.40daysforlife.com/ottawa/

International Website: http://www.40daysforlife.com/

More info see your Parish Rep, or Campaign Life Coalition: 613-729-0379

or Email: Stan Siok 40daysottawa@gmail.com  English Parish Coordinator, 40 Days for Life


For information on Past Campaigns go to this link on my website
https://sites.google.com/site/faithfulcatholics/Home/40-days-for-life-in-ottawa-from-the-beginning

Tokyo Street Scenes

Monthly Pro Life Masses

Monthly Pro Life Masses to be held

to pray for the opening of a Pro-Life Centre in Ottawa,

In obedience to Pope John Paul ll’s writing in Evangelium Vitae, para 88, in which he stated that “Centres for Natural methods of regulating fertility should be promoted as a valuable help to responsible parenthood”, a series of Masses to pray for the opening of a Pro-Life Centre in Ottawa, and for an end to Abortion,will begin on Saturday, September 18th, 2010. for more information click here
https://sites.google.com/site/legionofmarysenatusofontario/Home/monthly-pro-life-mass

Run With Life: A thought of God

Run With Life: A thought of God: "'Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.'

- Pope Benedict XVI"

Our Lady of the Cape / Notre Dame du Cap in Cap de la Madeleine Quebec

Photos I took at the beautiful and peaceful Shrine of Our Lady of the Cape in Cap de la Madeleine Quebec, during our August 2010 Legion of Mary Pilgrimage. This holy place is a source of God's Grace, His Mercy and His Love. Mother Mary is truly present to her children here, and she assures each one of us that she is always with us: in our sorrows and in our joys. I just regret that I didn't take more pictures of the beautiful grounds where heaven and earth meet. Thank you Jesus and Mary, and thank you Father Yoland Ouellet, o.m.i. for the beautiful background hymns to Jesus and Mary.


The hymns "Ave Maria a Notre-Dame du Cap / Ave Maria of our Lady of the Cape" and " Magnificat Traditionnel, Francais - English" were used with permission and were taken from the CD "PROCESSION AUX FLAMBEAUX / CANDELIGHT PROCESSION - Notre Dame Dame du Cap"

Our Lady of the Cape Pilgrimage

I spent the past weekend at the beautiful Shrine of Our lady of the Cape in Trois Rivieres Quebec. I attended the yearly Legion of Mary Pilgrimage to the Shrines of Our lady of the Cape and Saint Anne de Beaupre. I took oodles of pictures and made a slide show above with some of the better ones. Included are some photos I took at two other Shrines we visited as well, Sacred Heart Shrine in Montreal and Our lady of Lourdes Shrine in Rigaud.  It was a beautiful peaceful weekend and the weather was perfect to boot.

Saint Joseph's Oratory, Photos

Another slide show.

Saint Joseph's Oratory

Above is a slide show I made of some of my sister's  photos that she took during our visit last weekend to Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal.  The oratory was founded by Brother Andre who will be canonized in Rome  later on this year. For more on Saint Brother Andre please visit my web page at this link
http://sites.google.com/site/faithfulcatholics/Home/saints-and-blesseds/blessed-brother-andre

Don't take the O-Train in Ottawa on a hot day

Here is a copy of a letter I wrote to Oc Transpo regarding the very uncomfortable and I might add unhealthy conditions aboard the OTrain here in Ottawa during the summer heat. All aboard???? Not me any more!!!! I sent a copy to Mayor Larry Obrien and Councillor Alex Cullen. I'll let you know if I get a reply.

Good morning,


Yesterday afternoon I took my 12 year old grandson Matthew for a bus ride to introduce him to Ottawa’s bus system. He had never ridden the O Train and I thought he might like to take a ride on it and so we headed from Beacon Hill North to the Bayview stop. Unfortunately we must have just missed a train because we waited almost half an hour for another one. As you know It was very hot yesterday. Actually it registered 32 degrees celsius at Uplands. When we boarded the train we found it very warm and uncomfortable but we managed to open 1 small window in the front. There was no air conditioning and the one window didn’t help at all, so Matthew and I headed towards the back of the train and tried to open a few more windows but we were unable to do so. The hinges seemed broken but a young man told us they were all locked. All we could do was take a seat until we arrived at the Greenborough Station. This was without a doubt one of the most unpleasant rides I have ever taken with OC Transpo. One woman looked sick. I could see that she had perspiration dripping down her face. Could you please explain to me why on such a hot day the windows on the train are locked and there is no air conditioning? Thank you.

My sister's 50th Birthday Celebration with her three sisters