St. Margaret Mary Ottawa ON

As of June 24, 2019 St. Margaret Mary is no longer a Parish

 

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A practising Catholic community has existed in the Cumberland Village area for more than a century and a half. The original chapel was constructed south of the village, and was later replaced by a larger church and presbytery located in the center of the village. It was blessed by the bishop in 1862. Tragedy struck shortly thereafter: both the church and presbytery were destroyed by fire in 1866. In spite of this setback, the Catholic community in Cumberland struggled on and attended Mass in nearby Sarsfield (St. Hugues), Rockland (Holy Trinity) and Orleans (St. Joseph). Since Cumberland was a "mission" under the care of St. Hugues Parish in Sarsfield, St. Hugues supported it by organizing the community to hold Sunday Mass in a local residence, the home of Mr. & Mrs. Theophile Giroux, and dispatched a priest from Sarsfield for Mass and spiritual support. As time progressed, the Catholic community slowly grew until, finally, planning commenced to build a new place of worship. The number of parishioners was small and necessary funding scarce; however, Mr. & Mrs. James Morin donated a parcel of land along the Ottawa River north of what is now known as Highway 174. Construction began, as did the hours of toil, dedication, hard work and prayer on the part of these "builders". The new building, known as St. Margaret Mary Church until June 30th, 2019, was constructed, and officially opened in 1951, as recorded on the cornerstone of this marvelous little edifice. Within a few years, a residence was built, attached to the church building. The parish soon welcomed a resident parish priest in the person of Father Roger Morin, who would become Monsignor Morin in later years, and who would continue to be one of the outstanding leaders in the Ottawa archdiocese right up until his death on November 8, 2006. The struggle to build and operate St. Margaret Mary's was not over. In the early 1980s, a shifting of the land upon which the church was built caused structural damage. The church had to be closed to permit structural repair and bracing, as it was located in close proximity to a very large gully or ravine, which ran parallel to the building. It was felt that the bracing would offset any future land movement, which it did for almost ten years. In the Fall of 1991, the foundation problem struck again. This time the results were truly devastating. There had been a shifting of earth towards the ravine, which had now undermined the entire east side of the building. The church was once again closed, and experts concluded that the only way to safeguard the building to permit repair and reopening was to fill the ravine, a massive undertaking. In spite of the discouragement and disappointment, the parishioners rallied together and, led by a generous local contractor, Jacques Bedard, more than 1100 truckloads of material were used to fill the ravine. Once that was accomplished, permanent repairs were completed and St. Margaret Mary Church was certified as structurally sound. It re-opened in time for Christmas Masses in the same year. That astounding feat inspired the parishioners to envision, plan and implement a long list of impressive projects: In 1992 a beautiful and much-needed vestibule was added, providing greatly expanded space, shelter and a fitting front entrance to our church. Next, the exteriors of the church and residence were completely re-clad with modern efficient materials, and landscaping was completed. In 1998 new windows were installed and the entire interior of the church was redesigned, including illumination, painting, decorating and refurbishing of the altar and pews. In 1999, the parking lot was paved. In 2001, the windows of the residence were replaced and a carport was constructed. To mark the 50th anniversary of the church, an illuminated cross was installed, thanks to the generosity of a parishioner. Major renovations were also completed in our parish hall, including a new kitchen and washroom facilities. The upkeep, maintenance and ongoing improvements to the church, the rectory and the chapel continue to this day, thanks to our many dedicated and versatile volunteers. We can take comfort in knowing that God has guided us every inch of the way and will continue to do so. We must also highlight the marvelous spiritual side of our parish achievements. As we met the challenges set before us in 1991 and began our improvement program, God blessed us in a special way. For a number of years prior to 1992, St. Margaret Mary was without a resident pastor. The parish was very well served through those years by visiting priests who had special and specific assignments during the week on behalf of the diocese. In 1992 we were rewarded for our love of God, hard work and spirit. Father James Whalen was named resident parish priest at St. Margaret Mary, Cumberland. He brought to his parishioners the daily ongoing spiritual leadership for which we had prayed. We now had the privilege of daily Masses. Groups such as the Legion of Mary were formed to complement our existing Catholic Women's League, an organization which has held a prominent position in the parish for over 65 years. Great things, both spiritual and temporal, were achieved under Father Jim's stewardship. Most notably, he was committed to supporting the establishment of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. A beautifully constructed and appropriately furnished chapel was opened on September 14, 2001. Here the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and venerated by at least one person every hour of every day of every week, right to the present day. Adorers are from our local area and from many of our surrounding parishes. We are blessed to have such a meaningful devotion in our church. It is important to note that on June 11, 2009, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast solemnly dedicated the Cor Jesu Chapel as a place of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. A great tragedy befell our parish on February 24th, 2008. Fr. Whalen, who, besides being our pastor was also national director of Priests for Life Canada, was preaching a pro-life mission in Thorold, Ontario. Immediately after having delivered his homily, he collapsed and died. His untimely passing was a great shock to all, and especially to St. Margaret Mary parishioners. After our period of mourning, we realized that once again we were without a resident pastor, although a number of devoted replacement priests ministered to us. It was not until August, 2008, that Father Daryl Kennedy, pastoral adminstrator of St. Edith Stein Parish in Rockland, was appointed as pastoral administrator at St. Margaret Mary. He celebrated the sacraments with us for two and a half years. In January, 2011, we welcomed our new pastoral administrator, Father Gerard Monaghan. We are thankful to have our own church in Cumberland and are anxious to share this privilege with those who may wish to join us. We work hard at living our motto: "A Parish with Heart". We dedicated another milestone, our 60th anniversary in 2011 to our pioneer families, and to all the priests and parishioners who have come after them. Through determination, dedication and hard work, we have endeavoured to make our place of worship a vibrant reality. We pledge to preserve and build upon what has been passed on to us by our predecessors. In mid-2017, discussions began regarding the need to re-locate St. Margaret Mary Church. This was necessary for at least two reasons: 1) the increase in the number of parishioners due to new home construction in the area, and in particular the very large development in Cardinal Creek, and 2) the future expansion of Highway 174 to four lanes, with limited-access ramps cutting off easy access to the church property, and with the related expropriation of church land reducing the size of the church property. Archbishop Terrence Prendergast was favourably inclined to the plan. On October 5, 2017, a six-acre parcel of land was purchased on Old Montreal Road, near the Cumberland Heritage Museum. Plans for financing the purchase and for the construction of the new church were undertaken. At about the same time, parishioners of St. Edith Stein Church in Rockland were experiencing accommodation problems of their own, because their access to Ste-Felicité Church in Clarence Creek no longer filled their needs. After lengthy consideration, a decision was made to amalgamate with St. Margaret Mary Parish, and the first joint parish council meeting was held on April 25th, 2018. An additional Mass would be celebrated at 11:30 each Sunday morning, and the parish would now be known as St. Margaret Mary and St. Edith Stein Parish, pending the selection of a new name. The two parishes were officially united as one on July 1, 2018. At our annual outdoor Mass and barbecue, held at the Cumberland Museum on August 26, 2018, suggestions for a new name for the parish were solicited. A majority favoured Our Lady of Mercy and St. Faustina. Subsequently, all parishioners were invited to vote on their preferences for the name of the parish, and, once again, Our Lady of Mercy and St. Faustina were preferred by almost exactly equal numbers, so the result was sent to Archbishop Terrence Prendergast for the final decision. On January 19th and 20th, 2019, the decision of Archbishop Prendergast was announced at all Masses. His choice, St. Faustina, was greeted with enthusiasm. The week-end of April 28, 2019 was a milestone for the new parish. At all Masses, a decree was read entitled “Extinctive Union of the Parish of St. Margaret Mary of Cumberland and the Community of St. Edith Stein of Rockland to form the Parish of St. Faustina Parish of Cumberland”. In it, the boundaries of the new parish were delineated, St. Faustina Parish was designated as a territorial parish for all English-speaking persons within that boundary, and would be part of Archdiocesan Region 1. Father Gerard Monaghan was named the first pastor of Saint Faustina Parish. The effective date for the establishment of the new parish was proclaimed: July 1, 2019. The decree was signed on April 25th, 2019 by Terrence Prendergast, S.J., Archbishop of Ottawa, and by Father Daniel Van Delst, JCL, Chancellor. On Saturday, July 13th, Father Gerard was installed as the first pastor of the parish by Ottawa’s newest Auxiliary Bishop, Guy Desrochers.

From: https://www.stfaustina.ca/httpswwwstmargaretmarycumberlandcomdocuments20197st20faustina20parish20history20engpdf-1