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The
Tale of 2 Cities
in the Hot Summer of British Columbia
By
Rev. Fr. Dominique Boulet SSPX
1:
The City of Man:
"I am
come to cast fire on the earth: and what will I, but that it be kindled"
(Luke XII, 49)
It seems that this
quote from the gospel according to St. Luke describes quite well the summer
we had this year in British Columbia. A number of people may think about
the forest fires that were scorching hills in the interior of BC, but
it also expresses some of the activity around the Society of St. Pius
X chapels in BC. I am pleased to give report of the chapels for the readers
of the Communicantes.
First of all, I would
like to reassure our readers from Eastern Canada. Only one of our families
suffered damage from the fire, and lost its house. Let us give thanks
to God because they had a good insurance policy, and their house is being
rebuild now.
On the other hand
on August 1st, the Strawberry Hill fire forced the evacuation
of the village of Rayleigh, a suburb of Kamloops. The Society of St. Pius
X chapel for Kamloops is in Rayleigh, in the home of the Ward family.
On Monday, August
4th, the Ward family was able to get back in their home...
but during a few weeks, they were under a one-hour evacuation notice.
That family was glad to see that their home was not affected by the fire,
which stopped on the other side of the Highway #5, less than one kilometre
from them. I think that it is a miracle that the fire did not cross over
that highway, because the same fire managed to jump over the North Thompson
River some kilometres north of the same village, and that river is much
wider that Hwy #5. Because of the evacuation, on Sunday August
3rd, I had to say Mass in the house of another family from
our Kamloops faithful. From the balcony of that house, directly across
the river from where the Strawberry Hill fire originated, I gave a blessing
to protect our people from the fire.
Another menacing fire was the Cedar Hills Fire, which started August 2,
and stopped at only 20 kilometres from Vernon. If a strong wind comes
to blow the wrong direction, no man-made barrier could stop such fires,
which can move up to 75 metres per minute, with flames up to 100 metres
high! As an official for the provincial emergency program said, "The
only thing I can tell you that make this disaster different than the other
ones we've ever dealt with, are the volatility of it, the size of it and
the explosiveness of it".
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Our
chapel in Rayleigh (Kamloops) |
e could be
looking as natural causes for these fires, at improperly discarded cigarettes
or lightning or the hot and dry weather, but I think that we should mostly
consider the spiritual causes. How could God be pleased with the way many
men are behaving nowadays? For example, the flood of immodesty and immorality
that is surrounding us is certainly not calling for the blessings of God
upon us. Let me mention especially the iniquitous decision that came on
July 8 from the Supreme Court of British Columbia, to allow the marriages
of homosexuals. Such a decision is much more serious than the sin itself,
of which St. Paul said briefly, "let it not so much as be named
among you, as becometh saints." (Ephesians V, 3). This is a matter
of a false principle, by which the legislator is placing unnatural unions
on the same level as the natural institution of marriage, up to the point
to pretend to call them by the same name! When I think about the fires
that were raging around the province, I cannot forget that the cities
of Sodom & Gomorrah were destroyed by the fires of heaven as a chastisement
because of the sins of impurity, especially the sins against nature that
were happening there. It is clear, if man sins against nature, and pretends
to stick a label of virtue over his vices, no wonder that nature revolts
against man, as a punishment for his revolt against God.
2;
The City of God:
While men are carrying
on with their dreams of building a city which would be a Paradise on earth,
the children of God always keep in mind that their true home is not to
be found down below on earth, but up in heaven. "Lay not up to
yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where
thieves do not break through, nor steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures
in heaven." (Mathew VI, 19-20).
2.1:
Up-grades to our churches in BC: "I have
loved, o Lord, the beauty of thy house; and the place where thy glory
dwelleth. " (Psalm XXV, 8). If we wish to belong to the city
of God, we need to spend the time of our life on earth by thinking of
God, praying and worshipping Him as He deserves. Pope St. Pius X said,
"I want that my people pray on beauty." Answering to the wish
of their patron saint, the priests of the Society of St. Pius X are dedicated
to embellish the places of worship they are looking after. As a matter
of fact, a number of projects have been undertaken over the last six months,
and some of them are still under way, to embellish our churches in British
Columbia:
Vernon
Altar: Let me make a special mention of the new altar at
Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, in Vernon. After many inquiries since
last summer, I was finally able to get an altar that came from St. Dorothy
church, in the small town of Dorothy, Minnesota, as it is attested by
the engraving on the tabernacle door key. Here is a brief excerpt from
the life of St. Dorothy (t304): "Saint Dorothy suffered in
mid-winter, and on the road to her execution a lawyer called Theophilus,
who had grown accustomed to calumniate and persecute the Christians, asked
her, in mockery, to send him "apples or roses from the garden of
her Spouse." The Saint promised to grant his request. Just before
she died, a little child stood by her side bearing three apples and three
roses. She told him to take them to Theophilus, and to tell him it was
the present he sought from the garden of her Spouse. Saint Dorothy had
gone to heaven, and Theophilus was still making merry over his challenge
to her, when the child entered his room. He recognized that the fruit
and flowers were of no earthly growth, and that the child was an Angel
in disguise. He was converted to the faith, and then shared in the martyrdom
of Saint Dorothy."
It is quite interesting
that Vernon, in the heart of the Okanagan Valley region, famous for its
orchards and flowers, is getting an altar formerly dedicated to St. Dorothy.
Since she moved to Vernon, she will be entrusted to convert all the Theophili
from the area. As we have related above, this should keep her quite busy!
Our new altar was
made out of plaster in the 1930's by the St. Paul Statuary Co. The altar
has 3 niches of Baroque style, which are topped by little domes, and it
fits nicely with the Byzantine style of our Vernon church, the only church
in the Society of St. Pius X that has a dome. That altar, which weighs
over 2000 lbs, had to be picked up on site in Northern Minnesota, and
brought up to British Columbia. Thanks to Jacques and Edouard Saurette,
from Winnipeg who managed the moving. Needless to say, it was a challenge
both to load it and to unload the sections of that altar onto the rental
truck. On April 1st, when a U-Haul truck pulled over our parking
lot in Vernon, this was not April fools day, but it was real! The parts
were stored temporary in the parish hall, to do the initial fixing and
old paint removing. An anxious problem was coming to our minds: how are
we going to take it up to the church, and put all the parts together?
Will the floor of the sanctuary be strong enough to bear the new altar?
Some professional people were called, and, on the morning of Easter Tuesday,
this altar was finding home in the sanctuary. Let me thank Robert Kelly,
from Edmonton, for the sealing of the sections. Let me also thank the
dedicated ladies of our Vernon parish, especially Genevieve Ring, Nellie
Ruhland, Valerie Firth and Johanna Zalcik for the innumerable hours spent
in scraping the old paint, and patching up all the scratches and holes
occasioned by eighty years of use and by the moving! As you can see from
the picture, the result is quite nice, even before the final painting
job, to be done this coming fall!
Vernon
wheel-chair ramp: In our effort to embellish our places
of worship, we should not forget to make them more easily accessible to
our seniors, who, by their generosity, have contributed to establish our
chapels throughout the country. With the aging population of our Vernon
church, it was necessary to help those with declining body strength to
keep coming to the church they love. At the same time, Divine Providence
provided us with the means to carry on with that project. Thanks to Garry
& Michael Long, our valued workers, for the nice job! The final result
is a gentle slope that leads from the parking lot onto the main entrance
of our church, through a new foyer, that will help to keep us secluded
from the noise of the street, to help for a better recollection. A bell
was also installed in the attic above the vestibule.
Langley:
Meanwhile, over the last months, some major improvements were also
done in our church in Langley, which include a new drainage system along
with a connection to the city sewer. This allowed us to cover our parking
lot with asphalt.
Nanaimo:
Under the vigilant care of our dear Father Paul Greuter, our little church
is the focus of attraction for the traditional Catholics of Vancouver
Island. Some landscaping up-grades are under way, to make it even more
attractive. Please pray for Rev. Fr. Greuter who has suffered a heart
attack recently, and who is recovering slowly.
2.2.St.
Pius X Boys' camp:
For the second consecutive
year, we were able to take the altar boys from our Langley & Vernon
parishes for a five days camp at Salmon Lake resort, located on the famous
Douglas Lake ranch, the largest working ranch in North America, with 22,000
heads of cattle, grazing on 500,000 acres of the BC Interior's plateaus.
We could not find
any mad cow on that ranch, but 16 lively boys staffed by 4 counsellors
and our two priests. Luckily, our camp happened to be held just before
a province-wide ban was established for campfires. Boys are remembering
the fun and good morals in the skits that were played every night around
the campfire. The fishing was not as good as last year, but the water
was very nice to swim! This backcountry campsite was quite an experience
for some of the city boys, who had some encounters with wildlife, mostly
coyotes and loons. At the end of these five days, the boys went home,
with many stories to tell to their parents, brothers and sisters. They
are already looking forward next year's camp!
Fr.
Herkel makes sure the canoes are securely loaded
2.3: Retreats: We have been preaching
the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius to 12 men & 17 women from
Alberta, BC, Idaho, and Washington. It is thanks to the prayers of the
Carmelite nuns from Spokane, and those of the children of the Eucharistic
Crusade, that we were finally able to get a good number of registrations
over the last weeks, which enabled us to give the retreats. Please pray
for the perseverance of those who attended.
God bless you ←
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