Una Voce Canada

Una Voce Canada annual general meeting: November 11, 2017

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Frank Chow

The annual general meeting of Una Voce Canada (Vancouver Traditional Mass Society) will be held on Saturday, November 11, following the 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Family Church, 4851 Beatrice Street, Vancouver, BC. The meeting will take place in the parish hall.

Dr. John Rao, associate professor of European history at St. John’s University in New York and director of the Roman Forum, a Catholic cultural organization founded by the late Dietrich von Hildebrand, will be our guest speaker. His topic will be “My End Is My Beginning – A Historical Guide to Catholic Hope in an Age of Unprecedented Collapse.”

Only registered members may vote during the meeting. To join or to renew your membership, pick up a form in the foyer of the church, email info@unavocecanada.org, or visit our membership page online. The cost of a year’s membership, which includes a subscription to our quarterly newsletter, is $20 for an individual and $25 per family.

A complimentary light lunch will be served following the Mass for all those who will be staying for the meeting. If you plan to attend, please sign up on the sheet in the foyer at Holy Family, email info@unavocecanada.org, or leave a message at 604-608-3552 by November 5.

All are invited!

Meeting poster | Membership form | Works by Dr. Rao

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Fr. Caleb Insco, FSSP

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Frank Chow

… will celebrate a First Mass at Holy Family at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. First blessings will take place before and after the Solemn High Mass. Fr. Insco was ordained on October 22, 2016, and is currently the parochial vicar at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tacoma, Washington.

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Traditional summer camp: Holy Family Parish, Vancouver

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Frank Chow

by Claire Phillips

Holy Family Parish Camp took place at Fintry Provincial Park in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley from July 15 to 19. It was a huge success, with 117 people registered this year.

The Traditional Latin Mass was celebrated each morning by Holy Family pastor Father Daniel Geddes, FSSP, with altar servers from Holy Family and those visiting the camp from other parishes, including young men from Calgary. Deacon Graham Latimer, FSSP, assisted Father. Confession was offered daily before Holy Mass. One could also find quiet spaces for prayer and reflection.

Fun and games during the day kept everyone busy. There were impromptu nature walks, hikes, swimming, boating, and a visit to the historic Fintry House for Fintry Days. A Viking battle reenactment, music, and local vendors made a visit enjoyable. There were opportunities for meeting and visiting other campers, and the talks given by fellow campers were interesting and well received. The annual cribbage tournament was enjoyed by young and old alike, both experts and novices. As usual, the water fight was rowdy with laughs galore. Talent night featured songs, recitations, instrumentals, a card trick, and a yoyo demonstration. Fr. Geddes led the Rosary after dinner each evening, after which campers had the opportunity to “Ask Father” questions from the question box.

The weather cooperated beautifully and the forest fires in the vicinity didn’t get too close despite a few gusts of wind, doubtless due in no small part to the prayers offered by many.

Each year is unique and this one seemed especially blessed by camaraderie, community, hospitality, sportsmanship, and all that comes from a shared faith in Christ and His Holy Church.

Deo gratias!

(Photos courtesy of Claire Phillips and Carl Wolkenstein)

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Confirmations at Holy Family Parish, Vancouver

Posted on July 23, 2017 by Frank Chow

Signo te signo crucis et confirmo te chrismate salutis. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. (I sign thee with the sign of the Cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.)

With these words, His Grace the Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, CSB, Archbishop of Vancouver, conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation on 14 young men and women on the evening of July 6, 2017, at Holy Family Church in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was assisted by Holy Family pastor Fr. Daniel Geddes, FSSP, and Mr. James Eichman, a seminarian at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Lincoln, Nebraska, who was the MC for this ceremony in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

The ceremony closed with Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and was followed by a sumptuous reception in the parish hall.

(Photos courtesy of Claire Phillips)

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Fr. David Franco, FSSP

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Frank Chow

On Sunday, June 25, Holy Family Parish in Vancouver bade farewell to Fr. David Franco, FSSP, its parochial vicar for the past two years. Fr. Franco celebrated the High Mass for the Third Sunday after Pentecost, and it was a particularly poignant moment when he sang “Ite missa est” for the last time at Holy Family. The Mass was followed by a reception in the church hall. During a program emceed by Una Voce Canada board member Kenneth Lieblich, Father was presented with a spiritual bouquet from the altar servers’ Archconfraternity of St. Stephen and bested two of the archconfraternity’s members in a Star Wars trivia contest. Mr. Lieblich thanked Father on behalf of the parishioners, while pastor Fr. Daniel Geddes, FSSP, spoke of Fr. Franco’s contributions to the parish, including “many known only to God, such as the advice that he gave in the Sacrament of Confession.”

Fr. Franco begins his new assignment at the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter’s apostolate in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Mater Dei FSSP Latin Mass Community) on July 1. We are grateful for his presence at Holy Family during the past two years, and will miss his sense of humour and his joyful communication of the truths of the Faith.

(Photos courtesy of Claire Phillips)

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Solemn High Mass at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Victoria, BC

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Frank Chow

(Excerpted with the kind permission of John Sonnen. The article and photos by Mr. Sonnen were originally posted at Orbis Catholicus Travel Blog.)

Soaring skyward with its bold array of colored brick, stone and slate, the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Victoria displays the confident spirituality that characterizes the best religious architecture in Canada.

The High Victorian Gothic style, an inspiration to generations of Canadians, was a fitting backdrop to sung Mass in the Classical rite on Saturday, June 24, a part of the Cathedral’s 125 year celebration and Canada’s 150 years.

Mass was sung by Fr. Pablo Santa Maria, Vice-Rector of the Cathedral of Vancouver. The excellent choir sang Palestrina’s other-worldly Missa Aeterna Christi Munera, sung by the CapriCCio Vocal Ensemble, directed by Mr. Michael Gormley.

For many of the participants of the packed church, it was their first experience of sung Mass in Latin. One young participant remarked: “This was my first time hearing Gregorian chant. I am an illiterate in the worship of the Church. The super-terrestrial, meditative and other-wordly aspects of the ceremony were a touch of heaven. Thank you to all!”

Another exclaimed: “What a great way to renew culture! A big defect in our age is a lack of reverence or even an experience of the sacred.”

Another visiting musician remarked: “The Roman Church possesses a mature Christian musical culture, the core of which is the Roman rite sung in the Latin language. The choir was terrific!”

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Sung Mass at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Victoria, BC

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Frank Chow

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Ordinations for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Frank Chow

At ten o’clock on Friday, May 26, 2017, seven men were ordained to the priesthood for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter by His Grace the Most Reverend Terrence Prendergast, SJ, Archbishop of Ottawa, Canada. The seven new priests are Fathers Adrian Debow, James M. Smith, Joseph Favole-Mihm, Caleb Kick, Jonathan Heinricy, Anthony Dorsa, and Matthew Vierno. Fr. Debow hails from Calgary, and, like Frs. Smith, Kick, and Heinricy, spent one of his summer apostolates at Holy Family Parish in Vancouver.

The ordinations took place at North American Martyrs Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, which was filled with family and friends. The conferring of Holy Orders, one of the seven sacraments of Holy Mother Church, and the Solemn Pontifical Mass were celebrated in the Traditional Latin rite as beautifully as they could possibly be through the hands of men guided by the Holy Ghost.

Archbishop Prendergast spoke eloquently of the responsibilities that these new priests would inherit through this sacrament. He encouraged them to place their lives into the hands of the Blessed Mother, and to reinforce their vocation through frequent prayer and visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Following the Mass, there was time to visit with the newly ordained priests in the gardens behind the church. A reception featuring meatless dishes and ample beer and wine was hosted by the priests and seminarians at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.

– Claire Phillips

Fr. Debow with Archbishop Prendergast

Fr. Debow giving first blessings

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First Mass of Rev. Adrian Debow, FSSP

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Frank Chow

Deacon Adrian Debow of Calgary will be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Friday, May 26. He will celebrate his First Mass at Holy Family Parish in Vancouver at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, May 31, the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Parishioners may remember Deacon Debow from the time he spent at Holy Family as part of his summer apostolate a few years ago.