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MH Windsor
One of our main focuses during this past Advent season has been our weekly “Advent with the Saints” classes, which we offered to anyone who wished to come. About 12-15 people did, and everyone seemed to enjoy it so much that we added one additional class right after Epiphany to kind of wrap things up.
One woman referred to our classes as an oasis amid all the hustle and bustle of the Advent/Christmas season. That’s what we had wanted to achieve.
Lisa Coxe
MH Ottawa
Advent began in the wee hours of the morning at the German church which was lit only by candlelight. The Rorate Caeli votive Mass to Our Lady is a beloved German Advent tradition.
Catherine Lynch led the “pilgrim” choir as we surprised some of our friends with Christmas carols.
Arlene and I attended the Christmas concert of the Ottawa Police Choir because two of our friends are in it. The music, most of it secular, was lovely in the church setting. At one point the conductor asked the audience what Advent meant to them.
“Jesus is coming!” I responded loudly with great gusto. There was an awkward silence before the conductor replied, “OK, so what else?”
We had our own short time of “peaceful escape” from the secular holiday when we all spent Christmas in the “sacred space” of Madonna House Combermere.
Shatzi Duffy
Marian Centre Edmonton
Hugo Isaza, originally from Colombia, South America, brought with him first to Combermere and then to each house he was assigned to, the Pesebre, a lovely Christmas custom from that country. It consists of making not just a creche, but a whole village around that creche.
Hugo brought his Pesebre with him from Marian Centre Regina, when he was transferred here from there, and he was soon at work constructing new buildings for it. Some of the staff helped him.
The new enlarged Bethlehem required an additional panel for the sky backdrop, which an artist friend generously painted.
This was a popular attraction throughout the Christmas season bringing joy to many of our volunteers. Then they brought their family and friends to see it as well.
The children had a great time trying to find all 13 dogs, 6 doves, and 3 cats, and they were offered prizes for doing so.
Jude Fischer
