Dear Friend of the Cathedral

In church this Sunday we will be singing Alleluia for the last time before Easter – but what joyous alleluias they will be as we welcome Bertrand Olivier to the Cathedral. There will be a combined service at 10 am for the 10 o’clock and 12:45 congregations with a reception in Fulford Hall to follow. Everybody is welcome at both events.

Everybody is also welcome to come to the pancake party on Shrove Tuesday, February 13, at 6 pm in Fulford Hall. Cost $7 per person or $10 per family. Enjoy a feast of sausages and pancakes before starting your Lenten fast the following day, Ash Wednesday. There will be three Eucharists, all with imposition of ashes, at 7:30 am, 12:15 pm (choral), and 7:30 pm (choral).

Then we will be in Lent—a  time to step back a bit from the world, reinforce our faith through prayer and Bible study, a time when we try to curb our indulgences, knowing that though we might suffer a little Christ suffered greatly. Here is a link to a blog by Vivian about preparing for Lent.

If you are a person who likes to spend time in study during Lent, please note that Amy has organized a program for Monday evenings touching on a number of ways to pray and led by different members of the congregation. Each evening starts at 6:30 with soup, followed by a study of the evening’s topic at 7 and finishing with compline at 8:15. Here are the dates, topics and leaders:

February 19th    Amy – Prayer through art

February 26th    Patrick – Music and prayer

March 5th           Gideon Strauss  – Psalms

March 12th         Vivian – Ignatian prayer

March 19th         Ben Stuchbery  – Daily Offices

Please register here to make sure there’s a place for you.

Cassidy VanderSchee has begun talking about Nuit blanche after the 10 am service, and Catherine has created an attractive poster which you’ll see at the back of the church and which I will attach to this newsletter. There will also be some fliers at the back of the church. Cassidy and Catherine have put together a great programme for the evening under the title Musique Mixe. There will indeed be a heady mixture of music in our beautiful candle-lit cathedral, starting with Patrick playing Bach on the organ at 4:30 pm, continuing with two choirs singing alternate 30 minute concerts – the Choir Sympholies Vocales at 7 o’clock, 8:30 and 10:30 and the Choeur Gai de Montreal at 7:45, 9:45 and 11:15. Compline will be sung to Gregorian Chant at 9:15, and the evening will be rounded off with some cool jazz. All evening we will be showing 4 short movies made by Indigenous film makers for the NFB. There will also be all kinds of displays from various Cathedral groups as well as something from the diocese. Remrov will exhibit his exquisite pencil drawing of the Cathedral along with a time-lapse video showing the work in progress. Memo to exhibitors, displays will be set up Friday evening between 6 and 8 pm.

How can you help? In several ways

1. Make Fair Trade hot chocolate in huge quantities down in the Undercroft (Speak to Michèle Rattray) Strong people needed to carry the enormous thermoses upstairs
2. Serve free hot chocolate to the several thousand visitors we expect. (Speak to Michèle Rattray)
3. Greet people at the door and wield a clicker to count numbers of visitors. Give out candles and service sheets for compline and generally act as stewards (Speak to Cassidy)
4. Act as security, making sure no one defaces the displays or steals a computer (Speak to Cassidy)
5. Lead the congregational singing for compline. There will be a short rehearsal at around 8:30 before the service at 9:15. Anna Lewin will be the cantor. (Speak to Catherine)
6. Help with publicity during the next 3 weeks. Promote the cathedral’s part in this city-wide event on social media. Help put up posters. Invite your friends. (Speak to Catherine)
7. Money contributions are gratefully received. We try to break even on the evening so as not to burden the cathedral’s budget.

If finding the right person to whom to offer your services is difficult, just email me in the office.

Other people asking for volunteers are Natasha for sandwich making (Sat. Feb. 10) and for serving and cleaning up on Sunday (Feb 11) and George for help cooking, serving and cleaning up on Tuesday’s pancake supper (Feb. 13).

The Cathedral community is amazing – somehow there are always enough volunteers!

Other events coming up

1. L’Oasis Musicale concert this Saturday February 10, Nuits argentées. According to the web page: “Shimmering Nights is a voyage through the different atmospheres, feelings and elements of the night with Audry-Ann Asselin, soprano and Julien LeBlanc, piano, performing music by composers Berg, Charles, Debussy, Dvorak and Rave.l” For details of Oasis concerts visit www.oasismusicale.ca
2. Pain, partage et priére, Le groupe de prière, étude biblique et rencontre se réunira à 14h00 le 18 février.
3. La cathédrale le soir at 6 pm February 18, a bilingual Communion service with contemporary praise music.
4. Cathedral Forum Tuesday, February 20 at 6:30 pm. All congregation members are invited to come to hear what’s happening around the Cathedral and to share their ideas.
5. LGBTQ+ Skating Party and Supper, February 17th, 4 pm skating or walking at Parc Lafontiane, followed by supper. Speak to the Rev’d Jean-Jacques Goulet for details.
6. The Cathedral Book Group is reading The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry this month and will meet on March 4, possibly half asleep as it’s the day after Nuit blanche!
7. Hungry Minds: Supper, bible reading and discussion for young adults every Wednesday at 6 pm in the Undercroft. Speak to Jean-Daniel.

Thank you to Catherine Fagan for an excellent and well attended talk at coffee hour last Sunday about her involvement as a lawyer in issues faced by First Nations Peoples.

I wish you all a blessed Lent.

Ann

To receive this Newsletter earlier by email, and with it, additions like the Forum agenda, financial updates, minutes and reports, posters, photos, etc., simply send your coordinates to the Cathedral office…  the failsafe method is to email both Newsletter author and parish volunteer Ann Elbourne cath_communication@bellnet.ca and Parish Administrator Elizabeth Shama  cathoff@bellnet.ca.