Latin community worships in renovated Queen of Angels Oratory by LINO DeGASPERIS Posted: Thursday, December, 19, 2002 Bishop James Wingle and Fr. Denis Bouchard pose with the Latin community at the first annual picnic. Ever since I started attending St. Alfred parish in the mid-1980s, I used to regularly pass by a smaller church about a block away. It is on the corner of Rolls Avenue and Carlton Street. I remember that the trees and bushes were quite over-grown. It said "Franciscan Fathers" on the front doors, but there were some other words as well, which I did not understand. Was it Ukrainian? Was it Russian? Was it even Catholic? I was unsure. There was at this time a new community forming in St. Catharines. It was small and its followers were those who felt drawn to the beauty of the traditional Latin Mass. They gathered weekly at the chapel of the Carmelite residence on Yates Street. Fr. Charles Padanyi who is the current chaplain there, began offering Mass according to the 1962 Missal promulgated by Pope John XXIII. It was the first time the immemorial traditional Latin Mass was to be found in St. Catharines since Novu Ordo Mass was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969. Bishop Thomas Fulton, then bishop of St. Catharines in 1985, gave his approval and blessing to the new apostolate and community. Permission for the celebration of traditional (Tridentine) Mass had been granted in 1984 by the Congregation for Divine Worship through the promulgation of the Indult called Quattuor Abhinc Annos. In 1988, Pope John Paul II, in his 'motu proprio Ecclesia Dei adflicta', says: "To all those Catholics faithful who feel attached to some previous tradition, I wish to manifest my will to facilitate their ecclesial communion by means of the necessary measures to guarantee respect for their rightful aspirations by the wide and generous application of the directives already issued." With the exception of a couple of years in the late 1980s when Fr. Greer was the principal celebrant, Fr. Padanyi continued to offer the traditional Mass for the Latin community. Then in 1997, Bishop John O'Mara requested and received a full-time priest from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. This Fraternity had been brought into existence by Pope John Paul II in 1988 with the issuance of the same 'motu proprio Ecclesia Dei adflicta' under the auspices of the Ecclesia Dei commission in Rome. St. Catharines was the second Fraternity apostolate in Canada, the first being in Ottawa. Fr. Joseph Poisson, was assigned to the diocese, and Fr. John Croal at St. Patrick's, St. Catharines, welcomed the new traditional Latin Mass Apostolate and its community with open arms to their new home. St. Patrick's community extended their hospitality and graciously shared all their parish facilities with the budding new community for four years. In the summer of 2001, the Fraternity of St. Peter re-assigned Fr. Poisson to its apostolate in Oklahoma and assigned Fr. Denis Bouchard to the St. Catharines apostolate. At the same time, Bishop O'Mara arranged for the purchase of a rectory and small chapel on Rolls Avenue. This now allows the Latin community more freedom to schedule liturgical and parish events common to all communities, as well as those unique to the apostolate. The Queen of the Angels property was purchased from the Franciscan Friars, who operated the Lithuanian mission there for about 80 years. Fr. Butkus, the priest who lived there most recently, has since retired due to poor health. He was very excited to see new life and new energy being injected into the chapel which he had looked after for many years. Although the basic structures were sound, both the house and chapel are undergoing renovations to meet the needs of the community. The entire Latin community contributes their time, expertise, muscle power and financial resources to bringing the whole project together. With the purchase of the property from the Franciscans, the canonical status of the former 'chapel' was changed to that of an 'oratory' by Bishop O'Mara. It's official title is now Queen of the Angels Oratory. One of the reminders of the former guardians and historical roots of the property is a bronze statue of St. Francis of Assisi that was erected in the front yard to honour those who watched over this little corner of the church in St. Catharines.