Prayer Service at the Cathedral
For information on the Prayer service click here ( fr. Adrian's blog ) click here ( Archbishop Terry's blog )
Prayer Service at the Cathedral for the Opening of the Year of Faith
Dear pastors and administrators,
In Archbishop Prendergast’s most recent letter to the clergy and faithful of the Archdiocese, His Grace invited us to participate in a Liturgy of the Word on October 11th at 7:30 pm: “That evening, we will have a special prayer service at Notre Dame Cathedral to open the celebrations in the Archdiocese of Ottawa.”
The theme for our pastoral year uses two quotations from Sacred Scripture to help guide us in the Year of Faith: “When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them and how he had opened a door of faith” (Acts 14.27) and “increase our faith” (Luke 17.5).
The October 11th prayer service will begin with a procession with the parish representatives and their pastors. They will enter through the main doors of the cathedral. This will symbolize our desire to begin our celebration of the Year of Faith by entering through the door of faith of the Mother Church of the Archdiocese of Ottawa. Therefore, we are asking our parish priests to invite a family or alternatively three or four representatives of the parish to join them in this prayer service.
At the end of the liturgy, we celebrate the beginning of the Year of Faith with a symbolic gesture of light. Jesus instructs us in the Gospel of Matthew: “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5.16). Please invite as many members of the faithful of the parish as possible.
Please include an invitation in the parish bulletin to this liturgy. Also, please invite your parishioners to participate by announcing the October 11th prayer service at each Sunday Mass. We thank you very much in advance for promoting this special opening of the Year of Faith in the Archdiocese of Ottawa.
Please send the names of the people you choose to represent your parish to Annmarie Brown by phone: 613-738-5025 ext. 217 or by email at abrown@archottawa.ca no later than October 9th. Parish representatives should arrive in the parish hall for 7 pm.
Thank you in advance for your usual cooperation and I look forward to seeing you at the opening of the Year of Faith on October 11th.
Sincerely in Christ,
Msgr. Daniel Berniquez, v.é.,
Chair of the diocesan celebrations committee