St. Clement Parish (french: Paroisse St-Clément) is a bilingual

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

community located in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada and entrusted to the

Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri; FSSP) is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians which is in communion with the Holy See. The society was founded in 19 ...

. After the replacement of the liturgical norms of the

1962 Roman Missal The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass (liturgy), Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in Editio typica, typical editions of the Roman Missal published from ...

by the post-Vatican II Mass in the 1960s, St. Clement Parish was the first community in the world to be authorized to celebrate the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...

and other

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the rea ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

only, according to the older liturgical norms. Since June 3, 2012, St. Clement Parish operates out of Ste-Anne Church in Lowertown.

History

In 1968, Ottawa Archbishop

Joseph-Aurèle Plourde Joseph-Aurèle Plourde, (January 12, 1915 – January 5, 2013) was a Canadian Roman Catholic Archbishop of Ottawa, Ontario. Early years Archbishop Plourde was born in Saint-François-de-Madawaska, New Brunswick to Antoine Plourde and Suzanne ...

authorized a small group of

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who remained attached to the Church's traditional liturgical heritage to continue to use the Latin

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated alm ...

. This group found an older priest who agreed to serve them in this desire, and they received permission to use the chapel of the Monastery of the

Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood The Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood are a contemplative and cloistered religious institute of the Catholic Church. They were founded in 1861 by Catherine Aurelia Caouette in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. History The ''Sœurs Adoratrices ...

on Echo Drive in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

for Mass. They were served first by Canon René Martin, the chaplain of the convent, then by Fr. Guy Martin, W.F. In the early 1970s, the community was told to use the

Mass of Paul VI The Mass of Paul VI, also known as the Ordinary Form or Novus Ordo, is the most commonly used liturgy in the Catholic Church. It is a form of the Latin Church's Roman Rite and was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969, published by him in the 19 ...

, which they did, but using the Latin language. Fr. Charles-Henri Bélanger, a former padre of the Canadian Armed Forces, became chaplain to the congregation in 1981. The Community continued to gather at the Precious Blood Sisters' Monastery until 1984 when the Sisters renovated their chapel. That year the Community acquired a small building of their own in the Ottawa suburb of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...

, which they renovated into a chapel, placed under the patronage of Saint Clement, and furnished with altars salvaged from the renovated Monastery chapel. PDR 2211

The Community continued to use that chapel until the summer of 1993, when Archbishop Plourde's successor, Archbishop

Marcel Gervais Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

, made available a purpose-built church complete with rectory at the corner of Mann and Russell Avenues in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa. Built in 1957, this building had housed a French-language Catholic parish, St. Pie X, until 1983, when the building had been sold to the

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the largest ...

diocese of Ottawa and renamed St. Charbel's. At the time the Maronite community in Ottawa was growing rapidly as a result of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. In 1993 the Maronites moved to a larger church in Vanier. With this new church building, the Archbishop elevated the St. Clement Latin Community of Ottawa to the rank of a quasi-parish. The Community had been served on an ad hoc basis by three older priests (one of them being Fr. John Mole, OMI) who were familiar with the rubrics of the Tridentine Mass. However, with failing health of all of them, the Community was concerned that it might have secured a permanent building but would be without a priest. At about that time, the

Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri; FSSP) is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians which is Communion (Christian), in communion with the Holy See. The soci ...

(FSSP) was getting ready to ordain its first Canadian-born priest. The FSSP is a fraternity of priests who are loyal to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

and are dedicated to preserving the pre-

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

form of the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the '' sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while d ...

and all 1962 forms and liturgical books for the

, as well as fostering Catholic teaching and devotion. Archbishop Gervais discussed the problem with the FSSP and it was agreed that the FSSP would assign a priest to minister to the needs of the St. Clement Community, making it the first personal parish entrusted to the FSSP in their history. The first FSSP-appointed priest, Fr. Charles Ryan, had been ordained only a few weeks before his assignment to St. Clement on New Year's Day, 1995. The FSSP has been serving the parish ever since. In 1997, on the patronal feast (23 November), Archbishop Gervais erected St. Clement as a full canonical bilingual

indult In Catholic canon law, an indult is a permission or privilege, granted by the competent church authority – the Holy See or the diocesan bishop, as the case may be – for an exception from a particular norm of church law in an individual case ...

parish serving the faithful wishing to worship according to the earlier Roman liturgy. In June 2011, Archbishop

Terrence Prendergast Terrence Thomas Prendergast (born 19 February 1944) is a Canadian member of the Society of Jesus who is also a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and the Archbishop Emeritus of Ottawa-Cornwall. He was formerly an Auxiliary Bishop of the Ar ...

proposed that the St Clement parish community relocate to Ste-Anne Church, a heritage building in Lowertown which had closed due to low attendance. The parish agreed to the move and began holding Masses at Ste-Anne's on June 3, 2012.Phil Gaudreau
St Clement's Parishoners Will Move To Ste-Anne Church
CFRA News, April 23, 2012 L'église Sainte-Anne d'Ottawa restera ouverte grâce à de nouveaux fidèles
Radio-Canada, 23 avril 2012

Marie Reine du Canada Pilgrimage

Members of the parish organize and lead the annual Marie Reine du Canada Pilgrimage, a 100 km

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

on foot from

Saint-Joseph-de-Lanoraie Lanoraie is a town in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada, part of the D'Autray Regional County Municipality. History When Jacques Cartier passed through in the 16th century, the Iroquois had already established themselves in the area, calli ...

to the Marian shrine of Notre-Dame du Cap at

Cap de la Madeleine Cap-de-la-Madeleine is a former city in Quebec, Canada at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River and the St. Lawrence River. It was amalgamated into the City of Trois-Rivières in 2002. Population (2006 census) 33,022. History Cap-de-la-Ma ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

. Founded by a group of lay parishioners and first partially walked in 2003, the pilgrimage is based on the

Notre-Dame de Chrétienté The Chartres pilgrimage (french: pèlerinage de Chartres), also known in French as the pèlerinage de Chrétienté ( en, pilgrimage of Christendom), is an annual pilgrimage from Notre-Dame de Paris to Notre-Dame de Chartres occurring around the Chr ...

pilgrimage from

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to th ...

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. It takes place over the

Labour Day Labour Day (''Labor Day'' in the United States) is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours fo ...

weekend and draws over 70 pilgrims each year. In recent years the number has been about 100.''Faithful in All Generations: A History of Saint Clement Parish 1968-2018'', p. 99

References

External links

St. Clement parish websiteThe Priestly Fraternity of St. PeterThe Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (Canada)Marie Reine du Canada Pilgrimage
the Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI given ''motu proprio'' {{Catholicism Roman Catholic churches in Ottawa Roman Catholic churches in Ontario Churches used by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter