-
-
Written by Catherine Casserly, based on parish records and documents and interviews with parishioners.
Former pastor and liturgist, Father Corbin Eddy has proposed that a true church has three parts. First, it must be orthodox: that is, be in line with liturgical traditions. Secondly, it must be involved with the wider world through social justice. Thirdly, it must be beautiful in order to reflect God’s absolute beauty. In its sixty years’ journey, St. Basil’s has become a true church. The following story does not give a chronological history but tells of some of the events and people that shaped the parish.
-
-
-
Saint Basil the Great was born in 329 in Caesarea of Cappadocia (present day Turkey), to a family renowned for their learning and holiness. His mother, Emily, and his grandmother, Macrina, are Saints of the Church, together with all his brothers and sisters: Macrina, Gregory of Nyssa, Peter of Sebastia, and Naucratius. Basil studied in Constantinople then in Athens, where also he formed a friendship with Gregory, a fellow Cappadocian, later called "the Theologian." Through the influence of his sister Macrina, he embraced the ascetical life and abandoned his worldly career. He visited the monks in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia, and when he returned to Caesarea, he went to a hermitage on the Iris River in Pontus, not far from Annesi, where his mother and his sister were already living ascetical lives. Here he wrote his ascetical homilies which were meant to help the faithful to more perfectly follow Christ and attain Christian perfection through self-discipline. He was a spiritual monastic who taught the importance of community and balance; a bishop who shepherded faithfully through treacherous controversies; a liturgist and scholarly theologian who contributed to the marriage of Christianity and classical culture in his time. The influence of St. Basil the Great remains among the best of Catholic tradition.
(continued on right ...)
-
The Congregation of St. Basil was established in France as a teaching order. They chose St. Basil the Great, a fourth century teacher, bishop and doctor of the Church, to be the namesake of the new community that they came to serve. Their time in Ottawa spanned the period of 1958 to 1992 – 34 years of service to the parish and community. This is recognized in the parish mission statement which states the parish is rich in a heritage built by laity and Basilians. The priests who taught at St. Joseph’s High School on Broadview Ave. were very much involved in parish life.
-
-
-
The Pastors
Father Germain Heery, O. Carm, was pastor from 1956 to 1958 when the parish was under the direction of the Order of Carmelites.
Father John Ruth, CSB, (1914 – 1998) was pastor from 1958 to 1964 and from 1970 to 1979. He then semi-retired and stayed on at St. Basil’s as the assistant pastor. A few years later, he moved to the next stage of his outstanding career by becoming a missionary in St. Lucia. An exceptional pastor, he was instrumental in shaping the culture of the parish and of the worship space itself.
Father George Sylvester, CSB, (1920 – 2001) was assistant to pastor in the early days of the parish and became pastor from 1964 to 1970. Under his direction and guidance, many of the changes promoted by the Second Vatican Council (1962 – 65) were implemented in the parish. As a skilled teacher, he was renowned for the props he used during his sermons.
Father Gerry Gregoire, CSB, (1924 – 2005) was pastor from 1979 to 1985.
Father Jim Rent, CSB, (1936 - 2013) was pastor from 1985 to 1987. His goal was to revitalize a parish that had grown dormant and complacent. This was a major challenge for the parish.
Father John Reddy, CSB, was pastor from January, 1987 to September, 1987. He was an outstanding homilist.
-
Father Kevin Casperson, CSB, who had been assistant parish, became interim parish administrator from September, 1987 to August, 1988.
Father Bill Riegel, CSB, was pastor from 1988 to 1992. He led the way in transforming the Parish Council to becoming the Pastoral Council and worked closely with the council(s) to prepare the mission statement of the parish which stands to this day.
Father Corbin Eddy was pastor from 1992 to summer, 2000. He was the first diocesan priest for the parish. He was a brilliant liturgist and homilist and superb musician and brought with him others of great expertise which made the parish a very special place renowned for the quality of its worship. He left to become a professor of young seminarians in Baltimore, Maryland.
Father Jeff Archambeault served as parish administrator from the summer of 1997 to the summer of 1998 when Father Eddy took a sabbatical.
Father Bosco Wong, was pastor from 2000 to the summer of 2013. Originally from Hong Kong, Father Wong saw himself as a missionary to St. Basil’s. One of his greatest accomplishments was leading many parishioners on trips to Asia, including China, View Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand and to Europe.
Father Dan Hawkins, MSF, became pastor in the summer of 2013.
-
-
-
Vocations from the parish
Rev. Brian Swords was ordained as a priest in the Scarboro Foreign Missionaries in 1968 and served for many years in China. He is currently Moderator of his order.
Rev. Donald McLeod, CSB, was ordained at St. Basil’s in 1978.
Archbishop Michael Miller, CSB, was from St. George’s parish, but as a student at St. Joseph’s High School, he considered St. Basil’s as his second parish home.
The Beginning
In the mid 1950’s, housing subdivisions began to spring up in the Ottawa West area and the population exploded. In response, in 1955, the new parish of St. Andrew Corsini was announced by Archbishop Lemieux. It was to be operated by the Order of Carmelites who were also to run a new Catholic high school. Because the Carmelites were unable to become accredited to teach in Canada, they withdrew and were replaced by the teaching order of the Congregation of St. Basil, more commonly known as Basilians. The Basilians insisted that the parish be renamed after their patron saint. That change took place on January 18, 1958.
For the first two years, the parish met on Sundays at Nepean High School. In 1958, it moved to the gymnasium of St. Joseph’s High School. On Christmas Eve., 1960, the first Mass was celebrated in the new round church.
-
Parish Philosophy Was Established Early
A key step in determining the kind of parish St. Basil’s would become was the establishment in 1959 of a chapter of the Christian Family Movement (CFM) whose motto was Observe, Judge, Act. Couples came together in small cells to study Scripture and try to figure how it could be applied to their own lives and demands. The approach was one that they integrated into every facet of their lives. One of their first major activities was the sponsorship of a refugee family and facilitating their integration into Canadian life. Together, each cell pondered many questions. One was the role of women in the church. It marked the beginning of a profound change to begin to share leadership with the lay people.
The questions the cells discussed were not easy ones. One major topic was the issue of birth control. These couples were the parents of rapidly expanding families. Once, Father John Kelly, then assistant pastor, was at a meeting of the cell as the chaplain, a role in which the priests were supposed to remain silent unless asked. But he could not take the challenge to the Church’s beliefs. He stormed out and when he got to the Rectory, Father Ruth asked him what he was doing back so soon. Father Kelly told him the problem. “Well,” said Father Ruth, “I guess that you better turn around and go back and talk with the people and not at the people.”
The CFM was to have a profound impact on couples and individuals, and it contributed directly to the social activism for which St. Basil’s developed a well-deserved reputation.
-
-
-
The Design Challenges of the Church in the Round
In the beginning, the parish did not have its own worship space and made do with the high school gym. The goal was always to build a church that would be vibrant. Father Ruth and the Basilian hierarchy wanted to build a round church. The circle represents eternity and is a constant reminder of Creation and Resurrection. At St. Basil’s, the circle was also chosen as a good design for getting the congregation around the altar and as close to it as possible. The sanctuary and altar were pushed to one side of the circle, to eliminate the problem (chief among others) of having the preacher at Mass always standing with his back to some people, as he would if the altar were in the very centre. It was also decided that there should not be any beams in the dome ceiling which would converge at its centre because this would tend to distract the eye from the altar, the centre of all attention. The dome was designed to play a role not only in roofing the structure, but in handling the sound and distributing the light.
Because the dome was essentially supported on a colonnade of columns right round in a circle and was to be used as a sound reflector rather than a sound absorber, the walls had to be designed to provide a tremendous amount of sound absorption. To achieve this, the outside walls were staggered. The outer walls became simple curtains, and the inner walls became structural bearing walls. This left several voids, some of which were designed to provide space for the confessionals and the balcony stairs. Other voids between the columns of the structural walls were used for sound absorption by covering the insulating material in the wall only with an open grill. The insulation functioned in two ways: it kept out the cold and heat and it absorbed sound. Similarly, the dome covered the building and also acted as a sound and light reflector. The tile grills also served the double purpose of providing an attractive black and white design, while covering the insulation in an open manner to allow it to absorb sound.
Similarly, the great reinforced concrete ring at the base of the dome was made to serve several functions. Besides being the “chain” of the dome, it served as an element of design to emphasize the circular form, and, faced with perforated material, it also absorbed sound. The four large panels, in turn, not only provided surfaces upon which the first set of the Stations of the Cross were painted but also contributed to the elimination of echoes. Even the amount of sound absorbed by the large number of people in the pews entered into final acoustical calculations.
The shape of the altar was based on the shape used in the catacombs where Christians first worshipped. There the most common furnishings were the caskets, rectangular in shape, and used as the first altars because of their availability. The Catholic Church maintains this traditional shape to remind Catholics of their roots. It is another reflection of Creation and Redemption.
The canopy of the altar is both a baldachino in the best liturgical tradition and a sound board, carefully designed and placed to project the preacher’s voice to the pews at the extreme edges of the circle. It evolved from the Jewish tradition of having something over the altar to protect it. Prior to Vatican II, the sermon was delivered from the top step of the altar, and that meant that the altar was the focus of attention for the congregation while hearing the word of God and participating in the celebration of the Eucharist. It remains the focus for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
(continued on the right)
-
Other elements of interior design included the placing of altar and baptismal font at either ends of the main aisle of the church to emphasize their related roles in the spiritual life of the person. By dropping the baptistery floor two steps below that of the narthex, another liturgical tradition was followed, symbolizing a person’s rise, by means of the waters of baptism, from the death of sin to the life of the Church, just as Christ conquered death in rising from the tomb.
As further elements of interior design, the plain white of the walls was chosen as the background which would give most emphasis to the colours of the vestments and the tabernacle veil. Other colour was confined to the Stations of the Cross. The purposeful de-emphasis of statues, vigil lights and the like was part of the overall attempt to stress that the Mass at the altar has first place, far above any ancillary devotions. Sadly, this key design element has been corrupted over the years with wall décor having nothing to do with liturgy. It is ongoing struggle to maintain and protect the design elements.
The balcony was designed to serve the double purpose of supplying seating space to 130 parishioners and concealing in its triangular interior a great quantity of unsightly heating and air-changing equipment. The ceiling under the balcony was deliberately brought low, like the atrium of a Roman house, in an attempt to provide a feeling of transition from the space outdoors to the interior of the main body of the church. The cloister-like covered walkway and the entrance to the church itself are other elements in this change of experience between the world outside and the inside of God’s house.
The circular form will accommodate a congregation of 700 people and yet the maximum distance between any pew and the altar is less than 69 feet.
-
-
-
The Parish Schools
The first parish schools were St. Basil’s Elementary School and St. Joseph’s High School. The Sisters of Holy Cross came to the parish in 1958 to teach at both these schools. As the parish grew, St. Andrew’s and St. Daniel’s were added to the local schools as well as St. Raymond’s Intermediary School. St. Daniel’s School is now the only school within the parish boundaries.
Stewardship Campaigns
On a regular basis, the parish has responded to calls for stewardship to maintain the parish properties in good shape. The first one was in 1970 as inflation started to hit everything. In 1986, with the buildings showing major wear and tear, another successful stewardship campaign was launched. In April, 1990, the next major renovation campaign was launched because it was obvious that the long delayed repairs could no longer be delayed or ignored. In January, 2001 the Open Doors Project was officially launched. The goal this time was to make the worship space more accessible. The narthex was enlarged and the elevator lift was installed and generally the worship space was brought up to safety codes. This one was successful enough that the next major stewardship campaign was not done until 2016. The parishioners have always responded generously and all targets have been met.
Ecumenical Inititiatives
In response to the openness of Vatican II, St. Basil embraced ecumenical sharing. Over time, it has worked closely with the Jewish community and with several adjacent Protestant congregations. One of the first large initiatives was the Campaign for the Big Red Ox in1973. Together with Trinity United Church and St. Michael’s and All Angels Anglican Church, money was raised to buy a large red tractor to be used by farmers in a remote part of Angola. In 1983, when the first tractor died, the three congregations worked together again to fund a new one. In the 1900’s and early 2000’s, these churches also co-operated in the Winter Solstice service.
Helping Refugees
St. Basil’s has a long tradition of helping refugees, both as a parish and by groups of parishioners in small groups. Almost as soon as the parish was established it sponsored its first refugee family - a Hungarian family fleeing the 1956 Hungarian revolution. In 1979, Mayor Marion Dewar began Project 4000 in response to the crisis in southeast Asia. St. Basils’ responded by sponsoring and helping to integrate two large families from Cambodia. In 1994, a parish group sponsored a Kurdish family. In 1995, it was a group from Kosovo followed by a family from Bosnia in 1996. At the turn of the century, the parish helped several Rwandan families become settled. Then in 2004, the parish sponsored a Chin family from Mynamar. In 2015, it was time to sponsor a Syrian Refugee family.
The Start of Social Action
In the mid-60’s, it became apparent that St. Basil’s had to become better organized in its outreach to the needs of others. Ken Dewar was asked if he would start a St. Vincent de Paul Society. He refused because it was a men-only group. Based on his experience with the Christian Family Movement, he saw no reason why couples could not get involved together. In short order, he realized that this approach was also exclusive. And so participation in social action became open to anyone who wanted to help. Helping meant not only delivering food but getting to know the families receiving help, changing diapers, cleaning, taking people to doctors (and even paying for it on occasion), and learning how to listen and not judge. In so many ways, public and private, Ken Dewar was a true parish pioneer. In the mid-1970’s, the committee divided. The original part continued to help those in need in Ottawa and a new group called the Missions Committee sought to help people in other parts of Canada and internationally.
Ministry of Care
In 1989, recognizing the increasing need to help and support the sick and elderly of the parish and their families, a small group of volunteers came together. This group continues to visit the sick and to organize regular visits to Medex.
The Changes from Vatican II – the Church reaches out to the people
St. Basil’s eagerly embraced the changes from Vatican II. Very quickly, it adopted lay lectors, the use of the English language, and singing by the congregation. The altar was moved and the priest faced the people. By June, 1977, people were receiving communion in their hands. In 1979, married couples began to be Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist and this quickly evolved into being open to any willing volunteer. Altar servers began to include girls.
As people moved away from regular church attendance, the parish worked hard to keep the parish as a central part of the social life of its parishioners by having dances, parties, sleigh rides, bowling, curling and bazaars. There was regular communication through the newsletter The Roundhouse News. It had Friday night dances for the young people. For the younger kids, there were brownies, girl guides, cubs and scouts.
Fathers Eddy and Wong built on the social gathering traditions of the parish and established many annual events including the Volunteer Recognition party, the Solstice Gathering, the reception for the Veterans following the Remembrance Mass, St. Patrick’s Day Party, the Easter Vigil reception, the annual roast beef dinner, the Christmas turkey dinner, the spaghetti dinner for families, and the regular Sunday coffee gathering after Masses, to name just a few.
Parish Council and Pastoral Council
The first parish council was elected in 1968. At the time, it was considered earth shattering to have lay involvement in the running of the parish and caused much consternation among the faithful. It had taken two years of hard work to bring it to fruition. In 1989, it evolved into a Pastoral Council whose mission was to provide advice and guidance to the pastor. At the same time, the council went through an intense discernment process to develop the parish mission statement.
The Catacombs Mass in the “Basement Church”
On most Sundays for the first few decades, there were 7 Masses celebrated but one was especially unique. In the late 60’s through to the early 80’s, the basement church developed its own identity. Father Silvester would refer to it as the “Catacombs Mass” – a reminder of early Christian days when people gathered to celebrate the Eucharist away from prying hostile eyes. The first to come were families who kids who had a hard time staying still in the pews upstairs and the young people who wanted folk music but it ended up attracting a cross section of people. Originally, the Mass was at 11:45 a.m. but in later years, it was moved forward to 10:15 a.m., just 15 minutes later than the upstairs Mass so there was always a crush of people in the small lobby, half going upstairs and half going downstairs.
These two Masses were the antithesis in style. Upstairs was the Mass in the tradition of a High Mass. But below stairs, the music was popular folk. There was rarely a Mass when Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” was not sung. Standing during the consecration was the norm. And the place was full of kids and babies, with everyone joining in to a very participatory Mass. It was a noisy, cheerful, expressive and, at times, slightly chaotic Mass where everyone was involved. Seating was provided by the old metal chairs and kids often wove in and out of them. This is where many of the new initiatives were first tried out – baptisms (by immersion) during Mass; special liturgies for wedding anniversaries with renewal of vows; prayers for newly engaged couples, and children doing the readings.
-
-
-
Special Moments
Every parish has milestone moments. Most are associated with celebrations of anniversaries or the loss of a loved leader. But three others of a different kind stand out.- The Waltonsteins
- St. Basil’s – a Future Faith Church!
(continued on right)
-
- Seder Supper
One outstanding event in all of the usual Lenten and Easter liturgies was the Seder Supper on Holy Thursday in 1985. The Liturgy Committee, under chair David Casey, decided that it was important that the parish learn more about what the Last Supper was really like. It was a sell-out. The menu was traditional and every step was explained carefully. There was lamb, salt, unleavened bread (matzoh), and bitter herbs (moror) as a reminder of the cruel bondage that the Jewish people had suffered. The ritual included four cups of wine. Their Jewish advisors warned the Liturgy Committee to be very careful to follow the Jewish rite and not to pretend to be Jewish. So everyone covered their heads. Father Gregoire wore a beret. And as he put wine in the glasses, he stopped and carefully said the blessing over each glass exactly as the rite prescribed. During dinner, one of the biggest thunderstorms of the year started. The electricity went out with one of the deafening booms. There were 150 people in the hall all round-eyed in a place as dark as a tomb, except for the small candles scattered here and there. Just as the lector got to the line “That night I shall go through the land of Egypt. I am the Lord.” there came the biggest thunderclap of all. It was an earth shattering, floor moving thunderclap. The kids were awestruck. That night there was lot more piety in the church than usual. They knew that God was watching them.
-
-
-
Parish Heroes
A parish is fortunate when it has true witnesses to the faith. St. Basil’s has been fortunate to have had many who whether leading public or private lives, showed their love of God and their love of neighbours. The following are just some of the more colourful ones who have left an indelible mark on the parish.
- Lillian Bergin
The following is an abridged transcript from Fr. Corbin Eddy’s tribute for someone he greatly admired and respected – long time parishioner Lillian Bergin. Because it was exceptionally moving for everyone at the funeral, it is included here. At the end of the Funeral Mass, Fr. Eddy went to the casket and as a way of special farewell for this loved friend, he sang her favourite hymn a capello “Ave Maria”. This was truly a celebration of a life well lived.
I have heard it or read somewhere that the best commentary on sacred scripture is lived faith. Does not Lady Wisdom herself call out and does not understanding raise her voice? “Learn prudence, acquire intelligence, speak noble things. Wickedness is an abomination to me. Be righteous. Do nothing twisted or crooked.” says Lady Wisdom.
Lillian is Lady Wisdom. I’m going to tell you a mystery. What you see isn’t all there is. We are to be changed in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet. This life is so beautiful, so wonderful, so fascinating that it’s impossible to think of it just being snuffed out. It’s going somewhere. Life is not ended – merely changed. Thank you, Lady Lillian, for speaking that to us in your way. Don’t build your house on sand when the wind can take it away and a storm can demolish it. Build your house on a rock. The best commentary on sacred scripture is lived faith. Thank you, Lady Lillian, for lived faith.
“I’m in the choir at St. Basil’s,” she told me, “not because I’m such a great singer but I like to encourage the rest of them. I think that’s important.”
Lady Lillian. A couple of times each year, she would write to me, just a little note. Sometimes, there would be a gift in the envelope, too. One time, she said: “I want to thank you very much for your ministry here, for the liturgy, for the homily, especially for the short ones (and she underlined the “the short ones”) during the week when the scriptures live for me a little bit better.” So the next time I saw her, I said to her “Thank you very much, Lillian but are you trying to tell me that I’m getting a little windy on Sundays?” Her reply was: “Well, that’s not the way I would say it.” But that’s what she meant.
She was interested in so many things. She was interested in the quest for the historical Jesus. She was interested in the Dead Sea scrolls. She read the Ottawa Citizen when these stories came out about who’s who and what’s what and she came to me and asked: “Do you think that the Church has been stringing us a line over the years about some of this business?” And I said: “Well, no, Lillian, certainly not intentionally. We’re all still learning.” And she replied: “I know what you mean. I was a teacher and sometimes when I didn’t know something, I made it up – but not very often, not very often at all.”
Lillian was a fabulous person. A lady. Lady Wisdom incarnate. She was here for us in so many ways – pointing to the mystery of life’s truth, its ongoing beauty and wonder. We can’t get stuck anywhere along the line. She was going forward. She was moving. She wanted to see the Millennium. She is going to see it. She is going to see it far better than we will. Develop. Mystery. Don’t hang around saying “Lord, Lord!”. Live your life. Build your house, and build it on a rock.
And so, Lady Lillian, we are not here so much to honour you but to thank you and to thank and honour God who made you and gave you to us and to our world. Giving you back to God is very easy for us but I believe that you and God are both pleased with our efforts to remember and celebrate your full and beautiful life. Watch over us. Be our guardian angel. Help us to make our own comments on the wonderful truth of the Bible which you loved.
-
- Tomas De Fayer (1919 – 1999) Knight of the Order of St. Gregory
Tom De Fayer , was a genuine parish character – brilliant, eccentric, acerbic, humble and very funny. When he was young, he earned university degrees simultaneously in Hungary and England, while wooing the sweet and very young Joyce. Their courtship faced many challenges, including living in two different countries for much of the time, their age difference, two different cultural traditions and mother tongues and membership in different religions at a time when such things were very, very important. But it all worked out splendidly. In middle age, Tom was made a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory by the Pope. This reflected his intense devotion to the Catholic faith. Of the five pontifical orders of knighthood in the Catholic Church, it is the highest honour that a layman can attain. The order is bestowed on Catholic men in recognition of their service to the Church, unusual labors, support of the Holy See and the good example set in their communities and country. Tom was deeply aware that men and women were losing their humanity and their spirituality in a frantic race for “progress”. As an international expert on the environment, he was a founding member of the Canadian Association for the Club of Rome. Tom’s initial interest in the Club of Rome and the global “problematique” may have been as a scientist and environmentalist; but it was his concern for humanity that led him to bring these issues to the notice of his Church, to the further attention of his country and to very broad public attention.
- Marion Dewar (1928 – 2008)
Marion Dewar , a founding member of St. Basil’s, was the 52 nd mayor of Ottawa from 1978 to 1985, and a member of the Parliament of Canada from 1986 to 1988. She was born in Montreal and was raised in the town of Buckingham, Quebec. Originally a public health nurse, she married civil servant Ken Dewar in 1951. She, Ken and their children settled on Rex Avenue in what was then a new subdivision in the city. Always willing to put up or shutup, she became an Ottawa alderman in 1972.
Marian said that her activism was fanned by her involvement with the Christian Family Movement and her mentorship by Father John Ruth. She was a committed peace activist pushing for nuclear disarmament. Always one to walk the talk, she personally picketed the American embassy after the invasion of Grenada. As mayor, she convened a convention on the issue of homosexuality six months after taking office. In 1979, she helped launch Project 4000 with the aim of finding sponsors for 4,000 Vietnamese refugees in Ottawa. Her leadership on this issue inspired the parish to sponsor two Cambodian families itself as well as led to the formation of parish groups who sponsored other refugees. Among the policy areas she emphasized were improved public access to municipal decision-making, low-cost housing and child care. She co-hosted the Women's Constitutional Conference calling for gender equality provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights.
In 1985 Dewar was elected president of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP), and urged the party to have more female candidates. In July 1987 she was a successful candidate for the NDP in a federal by-election in Hamilton West but she lost the seat in the 1988 general election. After her defeat she became the executive director of the Canadian Council on Children and Youth from 1989 to 1992 and in 1995 the national chair of Oxfam Canada, an organization created in 1963 and based on Oxfam International that seeks to reduce international poverty and create self-sustaining communities.
In the early 1990s, Dewar was appointed to the regional Police Services Board, but was subsequently fired by the Conservative government in 1995. She won a court ruling to be reinstated, in spite of the Tory government's appeal. In 2000, she was awarded Honourary Doctorate of Laws by both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. To honour her, the parish presented her with a card of congratulations and a book. In 2002, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour. She died suddenly in September, 2008 after a severe fall.
-
- June Lewis (1930 – 2013)
Mother Teresa once said that love begins by taking care of those closest ones – the ones at home. June took this message to heart. To her, the closest ones were people in Ottawa, especially those in the west end, who needed help. June was committed to a life of service, first to family and then to the whole community. In every action that she took, she represented all that is best in this Christian community of St. Basil’s. For more than 30 years, June and her husband, Jim, were the leaders of Social Action in the parish. This was a never ending and often thankless role. The commitment in Social Action is for every day of the week, and for every month of the year. Here and there, there are small breaks of a few days when the social assistance cheques arrive. But to head up Social Action at St. Basil’s is a daunting task. Imagine doing that for decades - moreover doing it with good cheer. That is what June did. Serving St. Basil’s was not enough for June. She made St. Basil’s a vital cog in the West End Interfaith Social Action group. Working and praying together, many of the churches in the west end co-ordinate their efforts at reaching out and fighting for social justice, often quietly, but achieving their goals with persistence. The Carlington Community Health Centre is only one group that is in debt to June and this group of church volunteers. On her trusty and very old computer, June also took care of doing all the minutes. To be the co-ordinator and involved in all of this work demands patience, organization, commitment, charity, diligence, resilience and a huge strength of character. June had all of this in spades.
But this is not all that June did for this parish. She served on parish council and was a role model for her daughter, who later became chair of pastoral council. She served as Minister of the Eucharist for almost 20 years. She made the little baptismal robes given to each baby and child being baptized at St. Basil’s. She then joined the team that works behind the scenes to do the weekly laundry of these cloths. She was an active member of the Catholic Women’s League. If there was a task to do, June was always there with a smile and ready hands. When June was asked what she wanted to be remembered for, she replied that she wanted to be known for her work with feeding the poor and hungry. June practiced this corporal work of mercy every single day.
- Senator Frederic McGrand (1895 – 1988)
Dr. McGrand was first and foremost a physician. He became a politician to fight for better health care when he saw what was happening to his patients. Soon after he began to practice in rural New Brunswick he was appointed to the council of Queen’s County. In 1935, he was elected as a Liberal to the Legislature Assembly of New Brunswick. From 1939 to 1944, he was the Speaker of the House and from 1944 to 1952 he was the Minister of Health and Social Services. There he introduced many changes to help the people of his province. He drew from a very deep Christian faith and believed that to whom much was given, much was expected. In 1955, he was summoned to the Senate of Canada representing Sunbury, New Brunswick. He initiated a Senate Subcommittee on Childhood Experiences as Causes of Criminal Behaviour (1977–1979). He remained a Senator until he resigned in 1988 at age 93. The Senator, as he was affectionately called, decided to remain in the Senate as long as possible because it never interfered with the time he spent writing books. He thought of his senate salary as a great bonus and gave it all to charity. His office had originally belonged to Sir John A Macdonald and included a secret back stairs which he loved showing to his visitors. He and his wife, May, sponsored many of the initiatives undertaken by the Social Action Committee including sending kids to summer camps and helping women in need. The Senator was a firm member of the Basement Church. He felt that the initiatives of Vatican II were not nearly sufficiently revolutionary and supported every change introduced at the parish except for one. While he enjoyed the guitars and the folk music, he never inflicted his voice on anyone.
-
-
-
- Sally Roberts and The Story of the Roses at the Tabernacle
Sally Roberts was a remarkable woman of faith. She had been active in the parish since the days of “St. Nepean” and always been a quiet leader. Sometime in the mid-1970s, she decided that it was not respectful to have artificial flowers in front of the tabernacle. She made it her personal and private mission to ensure that there would always be fresh flowers. Sally never had much in the way of material goods but has always shared what she had. Each week, after carefully shopping for groceries and things that her children needed, she took the money saved in this way and went to a little flower shop owned by one of the parishioners. There, she bought fresh roses and took them to church. Very quietly, she taught the importance of the Blessed Sacrament in repose. She continued to do this “easy work” (her words) every week for years and years on end without fail until her poor health and need to use a walker made it too difficult. Then, she had her son, Tim, continue this quiet and unsung ministry. Between them, they provided the roses for the tabernacle on a weekly basis for over 30 years.
- Dick Weiler (1942 - 1995)
Long time parishioner, Dick Weiler (husband of Dr. Maureen Law) was a social advocate and humanitarian who devoted his life to making the world a better place to be. He helped lay the groundwork for social policies to promote national and community values in Canada. After his death in 1995, The Richard Weiler Visiting Scholars Program was established in honour of Dick's extensive work in the field of social justice and social development. It is presented annually to acknowledge and honour exceptional contributions to community and social development in Canada by the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family.
Within his own parish community, Dick was a committed, active member. His faith was a central tenant of his life. He sat on many parish communities and was an exceptional lector. One of his greatest impacts on parish life was how he prepared for his own funeral. Knowing that his death was approaching, he did not complain or become angry. Instead, he regularly met with Father Corbin and together they designed a special celebration for his funeral liturgy. The readings were about joy and love, and the importance of contributing in this life to prepare for going home. The church was packed because both Dick and Maureen were people of great accomplishment. There they heard the Christian message of the Resurrection delivered in Dick’s own words and selections. No-one who attended that funeral would ever forget it.
-
- Ralph Stewart, (1929 – 2004)
Ralph Stewart was a published author, politician and professional diplomat. He was elected to Canada's Parliament where he served for eleven years as Member of Parliament for Cochrane from 1968 to 1978. He chaired a committee at the NATO Assembly, and was Canada's Consul General to the Southeastern U.S. and Puerto Rico. After leaving his ambassadorial post he became a permanent resident of the U.S. and settled in Naples, Florida where he served for twelve years as Director of Music at St. Leo Catholic Church in Bonita Springs. He formed his first civic chorus in Northern Ontario at the age of seventeen. Later his experience included choirs, chorales and orchestras in Ottawa, where he established a one hundred voice chorus for the nation's centennial, and in the United States. Somehow among his many activities, he still found time to serve as St. Basil’s organist for several years beginning in 1990. Ralph had studied in the Grand Seminary of Montreal and was a devout Catholic. He was named a Knight of Malta by the Pope, one of the highest laic honors in the Catholic Church.
-
- Gerald Trottier, (1925 – 2004)
As the chief architect, Tim Murray worked with several key people in designing and building the church and rectory. One of the most outstanding was Gerald Trottier, who has often been described as one of Canada’s most important artists. This artist designed the altar with tabernacle, cross and corpus, and candlesticks; and the baptismal font with the carved alpha and omega wave marks symbolizing the saving waters, and the surmounted dove. The doors to the baptistry, depicting water and fishes (early symbols of the Christian) are also his design.
When first approached by the architect to do the design of the religious articles, Trottier approached the assignment with huge enthusiasm. For him, it was the venue that he had been hoping for all his life – the ultimate canvas to show that a church is enhanced by the work of the artist. Trottier made moulds for the different appointments: the baptismal font, the candle sticks, and the corpus. He then passed it to Wilfred Schwarzkogler who had a foundry to make the bronzes. These beautiful artifacts would then come back to Trottier for final buffing, polishing and design work.
When this work was done, he was asked to create the Stations of the Cross. In designing what was far from a traditional approach, he said:
We refer, and rightly, to the stations as the Way of the Cross, which suggests movement. When I think of the Stations of the Cross, immediately I think of colours and noise, confusion, movement, smell, all these things – and especially that tremendous movement.
So this is what I have in mind here: to get some continuity when you look at it first; and then gradually the individual stations stand out when you make the Way of the Cross. Certainly, the Way of the Cross is just that: it’s a great continuity of movement and sound.
For the first set of the Stations, Trottier painted them on site. As he worked on his scaffold in the church, people would come in and stare at what was clearly a non-traditional approach. His work reflected the expertise of the Basilians in liturgical matters, especially Father Francis Michael Sheehan who was the Superior of the order at the time. He later worked closely with Father Corbin Eddy to prepare the second set of Stations. Gerald’s love of the parish was so strong that when he died, he asked that the funeral Mass be celebrated in the place that reflected his values, even though he had been living in Calumet Island.
-
-
-
There are many more stories to be told of those who made St. Basil’s the place it is today. This story of St. Basil’s Parish and its heroes is still being written. May St. Basil’s stay faithful to being a true church. May it continue to respect liturgical traditions. May it continue to be involved with the wider world through social justice. May it continue to reflect God’s absolute beauty
-
