Holy Week

>>click here to view Bulletin April 1, 2012

THANK YOU

The parish wishes to thank the Knights of Columbus of St. Francis Xavier Council #12067 for the donation of $5,000.00

Community Garage Sale

It’s time again for our Annual St. Francis Xavier Community Garage Sale!  Mark your calendars! Saturday, May 5, 2012. Due to the great response we received last year, we will be holding the sale in the larger southwest parking lot. Reserve your spot for only $10.00. This is a good opportunity to clean out your garage, basement and shed and earn some cash! Come join us for a morning filled with fun, bargain hunting, BBQ and music. You will not leave empty handed, guaranteed! Reserving a spot is easy. We’ve made it even easier this year. Either fill out the registration form and hand it in to the church office with your $10.00 or email: vendie99@hotmail.com or see a Knight in the foyer after Sunday Mass and pick your choice location and pay for it right away… and you’re all set!

Sacred Relics of the Saints: Treasures of the Church

>>click here to view Bulletin March 25, 2012

St. Francis Xavier Parish presents a teaching and exposition of Sacred Relics on Friday, April 13 at 7:30pm and on Saturday, April 14 at 10am and at 6:15pm.  Father Carlos Martins of the Companions of the Cross will be here with his very special ministry to teach about these holy objects.  He will bring with him over 150 relics, some as old as 2000 years.  Among the treasures will be relics of St. Maria Goretti, St. Therese of Lisieux (the “Little Flower"), St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Faustina Kowalska.  In addition, there will also be present a portion of the veil of Our Lady, as well as one of the largest remaining pieces of the True Cross in the world.  Those in attendance will be able to examine and venerate each relic.  In the Church’s history many miracles and healings have been worked in the presence of relics, and many have been healed through this ministry.  Please do not miss this opportunity.  You are encouraged to bring your articles of devotion (such as rosaries, holy cards, etc.) and pictures of ill friends/family members which you will be able to touch to the reliquaries as a means of intercession.

A Word of Thanks

>>click here to view Bulletin March 18, 2012

“If you don’t fight the fights that you may not win, how can you call yourself a Champion?  Our parishioners are the champions in many ways in organizing and in bringing glory to St. Francis Xavier Church by action and by word.  It is with great pleasure; we thank His Eminence Cardinal Thomas Collins for his acceptance to say Mass at our Parish.  We thank our pastor Msgr. Edgardo Pan for inviting the Cardinal to our midst and our thanks to all parishioners for the food and donations you contributed towards many occasions.  We thank wholeheartedly the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Women League, the Altar Servers and the Sacristans.  Let us look forward for many more celebrations and till then we pray together…Parish Office.   

Tenebrae Service

>>click here to view Bulletin March 11, 2012

Please join us for the Tenebrae service which is on Monday, April 2 at 8pm after the 7pm Mass.

Tenebrae (Latin for shadows) is a Christian religious service celebrated by the Western Church on the eves of Maundy or Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The liturgy of Tenebrae is characterized by the gradual extinguishing of candles while a series of readings and psalms are chanted or recited. Tenebrae is observed by the Roman Catholic Church (though not widely), and by some churches within the Anglican community.  Additionally, various Holy Week services among Protestant churches are named Tenebrae. Until the revision of 1955 by Pope Pius XII, this was part of the Holy Week ceremonies and as sung for many years in St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto, it consisted of the first nocturn of Matins and the entirety of Lauds for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, anticipated on the preceding evenings.  This part of the Divine Office or Prayer of the Church was made up of psalms and Scripture readings.  Intermingled are the Lamentations of Jeremiah.   Each reading was followed by a responsory and lighting was gradually reduced until the service ended in darkness with a ‘strepitus’ (Latin for “great noise”).  This noise was usually generated by slamming a book closed, banging a hymnal or breviary against a pew or stomping on the floor, all symbolizing the earthquake which followed Christ’s death. A single hidden candle was then placed on a special stand, representing the Resurrection and the congregation would leave in silence.  These nine responsories form the basis for Msgr. John Edward Ronan’s Tenebrae music which was composed prior to 1930 while he was the Professor of Sacred Music at St. Augustine’s Seminary.  He later became the Founder and Director of St. Michael’s Choir School in Toronto. Graduates of the Choir School continue to offer this music at parishes in and around the GTA and as far away as Ottawa every year, offering a powerfully expressive component of the Church at prayer. 

CELEBRATIONS WITH OUR NEW CARDINAL

>>click here to view Bulletin March 4, 2012

Picture courtesy of Archdiocese of Toronto

On Monday, March 12, 2012, there will be a Regional Mass in honour of our new Cardinal at St. Francis Xavier Church, Mississauga. Thomas Cardinal Collins will celebrate Mass at 7:30pm followed by a reception ( potluck) in the Parish Hall. Everyone is invited to come and celebrate and meet the Cardinal. 

Visit The Tribult website for Thomas Cardinal Collins