St. Peter Celestine Church is known for its fine building and its superb original interior decor
intact from 1892 – one of 3 Canadian churches known to retain Classic Italianate decoration.
Adoration, Confession and Rosary
1st Sunday of the Month, Adoration & Confession 8:15am – 8:45am.
The Rosary (all other Sundays) 8:30am – 8:50am. Mass 9am.
Holy Week Schedule
Holy Thursday April 6 6:00 pm – Fr. Matthew Chojna
Good Friday April 7 3:00 pm – Fr. Tavis Goski
Holy Saturday April 8 8:00 pm – Fr. Matthew Chojna
Easter Sunday April 9 9:00 am – Fr. Matthew Chojna
Annunciation – Mar 25th
The Birth of Jesus Foretold (Luke 1:26-38)
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Lent
Ash Wednesday begins the forty-day penitential season of Lent, and concluding at sundown on Holy Thursday. The ashes are received and worn as a public declaration that we are sinners and suppliants before the mercy and grace of God. Ashes announce these humbling admissions of our souls to the rest of the world. They speak a sobering message of our human weakness before God and our neighbour.
Lent is about accepting who we are. It’s acknowledging the bad news that is oftentimes in our hearts and in our world. It’s about confessing our fallenness. Lent is the season of self-honesty. It’s a time when we can put away the masks and bring down the facades. Lent opens a forum where we can admit to ourselves, and to those around us, that we are sinners and in need of divine help.
By acknowledging the sinfulness in our souls, such sinfulness loses its power over us. By confessing our sins, we realize their interior weakness and futility. By removing pride, our desire to hide or justify our sins – we are able to see a new way of life. We are able to see our dignity and true worth as the children of God and are shown the life-giving way of love and reconciliation. In this process, light dispels darkness, healing overcomes brokenness, and freedom vanquishes the slavery of sin. We are blessed with clarity of mind, integrity of heart, and liberty of will. Lent is the season of confessions and of freedom in Jesus Christ. It’s the season of conversion and re-creation by grace.
Weekdays: Wed & Friday – Adoration 8 am / Mass 9 am + Stations (Friday)
March – month dedicated to St. Joseph
March is the month that Mother Church dedicates to St. Joseph. He is both the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus. St. Joseph is also the model husband who listened to the will of God and devoted himself to care and provide for his wife and child.
From all eternity, Joseph was destined to be the spouse of the Blessed Virgin – they were truly married. Joseph was Mary’s husband, and she was his wife. Marriage is the most intimate of all unions between two human beings. It imparts a community of gifts between those joined together in matrimony. In giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as his spouse, God appointed him to be not only her life’s companion, but also the witness of her virginity, the protector of her honour.
In the Liturgical Year, St. Joseph is recognized twice: spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Mar. 19) and as being the model of a good worker and provider for the Holy Family (May 1). St. Joseph led his family on the straight and narrow path to the glory of God.
John Paul II said, “Because St. Joseph is the protector of the Church, he is the guardian of the Eucharist and the Christian family. Therefore, we must turn to St. Joseph today to ward off attacks upon the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and upon the family. We must plead with St. Joseph to guard the Eucharistic Lord and the Christian family during this time of peril.”
John Paul II, in his 1989 Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos (Guardian of the Redeemer), hoping “that all may grow in devotion to the Patron of the Universal Church and in love for the Savior whom he served in such an exemplary manner … In this way the whole Christian people not only will turn to St. Joseph with greater fervor and invoke his patronage with trust, but also will always keep before their eyes his humble, mature way of serving and of “taking part” in the plan of salvation.”
St. Joseph is the patron of the Universal Church and patron of the dying because Jesus and Mary were at his death bed. He is also the patron of fathers, of carpenters, and of social justice.