Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishioners reflect in new grotto

A Sacred Garden for The Season

Young parishioners of Our Lady of Perpetual Help gather in front of newly installed grotto. The grotto was installed for the 150th Anniversary of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. (Photo Credit: Kathy Mok)

First it was the rust and crimson colours of Fall and now the twinkly lights of Christmas which are beckoning parishioners and passersby alike, to stop and stay a while at the newly landscaped garden of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish. Ever since the grotto was installed for the 150th Anniversary of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the garden has become a focal point for parish celebrations.

The parish’s Advent season began with a beautiful concert by parish choirs with the theme of light. The congregation processed to the nativity scene on the lawn for an official light-up of the church and garden after the music. Children and adults were thrilled. Hot chocolate with marshmallows warmed up cold hands. It was a lovely way to begin the preparations for Christmas.

Situated on the north lawn of the church and graced by a Marian shrine, the sacred garden around the OLPH grotto is becoming a quiet attraction for adults and an irresistible place for children to run around and play. Perhaps, it’s the way the graceful figure of Our Lady gently draws all the beauty of the natural setting towards herself. The Japanese maple, so appealing all-year round but simply stunning when it turns bright crimson in the Fall, is a beautiful backdrop for the grey stone of the grotto and the white sculpture of Mary.

OLPH Pastor Fr. Babu Mathew has had a hands-on approach in creating this space. He and his confreres spent several hours digging trenches for the lighting cables over the summer.

“The idea was to create a space which would help people glorify God by simply enjoying nature …the plants, the trees, the water…all in the presence of our Blessed Mother. The idea of using hewn and polished rock is also part of the whole experience of being part of nature,” said Fr. Mathew. “This garden is part of caring for our common home, Laudato Si! It is very appropriate that we should be working on it not very long after the release of Pope Francis’ encyclical.” 

The search for rocks, shrubs and trees began in Squamish. The ground in front of the shrine was leveled and paved for easy wheelchair access. Bluestone was cut and shaped to lead the casual wanderer to the Blessed Virgin’s feet and under her gentle gaze. A variety of unusual dogwoods were planted to create a natural grove that would complement the vista of the grotto. The choice of shrubs and trees were designed to kindle the senses with colour and fragrance. The Katsura tree releases a delicate scent in the Fall. One of the Japanese maples with lovely fall foliage is called Koto no Ito which translates to “harp strings.” A perfect setting for angels.

Gardener and landscaper Deborah Trudel oversaw the planning and planting of trees and shrubs to complement the grotto.

Integral to the concept was the creation of a space intimate for private prayer but not closed off to the public. Small rhododendrons, shrubs, ferns and ground cover, contribute to the sense of peace around the gurgling water from the rock waterfall.

Said Fr. Babu Mathew, “One of the things which moves me is that this spiritual space is created by people who don’t necessarily share the same faith background we do yet they contribute in a very profound way, connecting us all at a deeper level. That alone means we are speaking to a larger community.”

What a wonderful way to bring joy to the world this Christmas season! 

For more information on the 150th anniversary, see the BC Catholic article here.

Bertilla Watanabe is a Pastoral Coordinator at OLPH Parish and a Pastoral Associate at Holy Rosary Cathedral.

12 Days of Christmas Choir

Choral and organ music to fill the halls

The Twelve Days of Christmas poster. (Photo Credit: RCAV)

The lilting tones of Christmas will be visiting three local churches this holiday season.

MOTET Chamber Choir will be performing various choral and organ music leading up to the Epiphany. The concerts will feature works from Orlando Gibbons, Sir David Willcocks, and a new carol by Thomas Hewitt Jones.

The performances will be located on Dec. 30 at 7 p.m., Sts. Joachim & Ann Church, Aldergrove, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m., Sts. Peter & Paul Church, Vancouver, and Jan. 2 at 2 p.m., at St. Hilda's Church, Sechelt.

Admission to each performance is by donation. For more information, visit MOTET's Facebook page or website.

Opus Dei leader dies at 84

Prelate of Opus Dei passes away due to lung infection

Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez (centre), Prelate of Opus Dei, greets Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlanlnepantia, Mexico at the Vatican. Bishop Echevarria headed Opus Dei for more than 20 years before passing away in Rome. (Photo Credit: CNS Photo/Paul Haring)

Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, the Prelate of Opus Dei, died at the age of 84 in Rome Dec. 12, days after being hospitalized with pneumonia.

"I wish to make known to you and to all members of this prelature my deepest condolences," the Pope wrote Dec. 13 expressing his sympathy, "at the same time that I unite to your action of giving thanks to God for his paternal and generous witness of his priestly and episcopal life."

The late bishop was born in Madrid in 1932, where he met St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, a Catholic organization with the goal of growing spiritual health and discipleship among laity. Members of Opus Dei are taught to use their work and daily activities to encounter the Lord.

Bishop Echevarria would eventually become St. Josemaria's secretary from 1953 to 1975, and was ordained a priest of the prelature in 1955. He later became the secretary general of Opus Dei, and was elected prelate in 1994, being consecrated a bishop the following year.

Msgr. Fernando Ocariz, Bishop Echevarria's auxiliary, now controls the prelature's ordinary government. A successor will be nominated later.

For the full story, see Catholic News Agency.

New ministry starts up in the Downtown Eastside

Full-time Catholic Street Missionaries aim to serve the homeless, prostituted, and drug-addicted

Members of a new outreach gather at Westminster Abbey for a fast and pilgrimage to pray for their success. Photo submitted.

A new ministry to people living on the streets has sprung up in Vancouver. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


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More guidance on euthanasia

Edmundston Bishop Claude Champagne

Atlantic Canada's Catholic bishops seem to be leaving the door open for the reception of the Last Rites and Catholic funerals for Those seeking assisted suicide or euthanasia. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Campbell River celebrates with loved hermit

Frater Charles Brandt honoured during the 50th anniversary of his ordination

It was standing room only for 93-year-old Frater Charles Brandt from Oyster River, B.C.

"Brandt, soon to turn 94, is much revered by almost everyone for his tireless work on behalf of the natural world, a world he sees as infused with divine purpose...

He’s a hermit who took a science degree, ornithology, and uses social media to distribute his stunning photographs of wild creatures — a cougar visiting his hermitage, wild swans in flight, a red-winged blackbird."

Find out more about Frater Brandt here.

Pro-life speaker creates documentary

Schadenberg motivated by lack of media coverage on the dangers of euthanasia

Alex Schadenberg holds up his newly released documentary The Euthanasia Deception, about the situation in Belgium. Josh Tng / The B.C. Catholic. Josh Tng / The B.C. Catholic.

A new documentary warns of what the future may be like with euthanasia legal. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


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Christian organizations intervene in ski resort case

Constitutional lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos

Two Christian organizations intervened Dec. 1 before the Supreme Court of Canada behalf of an historic Indigenous religious freedom claim. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Bethlehem documentary changes filmmaker's life

Her work covers the security wall Israel has built around Bethlehem

Executive producer Wael Kabbani stands with Sansour before a screening at the Rio Theatre. Agnieszka Krawczynski / The B.C. Catholic.

When a filmmaker travelled to Bethlehem to create a documentary about the world's most famous "little town," she didn't realize it would change her life. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


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CWL delegation brings resolutions to Parliament Hill

CWL delegation included resolutions chair Joan Bona, president-elect Anne-Marie Gorman, legislation chair Nancy Simms and president Margaret Ann Jacobs. Deborah Gyapong (CCN).

A four-woman delegation from the Catholic Women's League (CWL) visited Parliament Hill Nov. 27-30, meeting with public officials on issues ranging from immigration to palliative care. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Archbishop says God invented liturgy

About 200 attend conference on 'making every Sunday matter'

Keynote speaker Father Samuel Weber, OSB.

The Liturgy was invented by God, not human beings, said Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


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Senate must give Transgender Bill C-16 a thorough vetting: Senator Plett

Senator Don Plett

As Senators began debating Transgender Bill C-16 Nov. 28, a Conservative Senator is urging his colleagues to give the legislation a "thorough and rigorous vetting process." For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Pair encourages couples to understand fertility

Billings practitioners Lisa and Dominic Price find natural family planning strengthens their marriage

The Price family poses at a park near their home in Surrey. Lisa and Dominic have appeared on TV and taught hundreds of couples how to achieve or avoid pregnancy naturally, without drugs or side effects. Agnieszka Krawczynski / The B.C. Catholic.

Women in the Western world don't know enough about themselves, say natural family planning practitioners Dominic and Lisa Price. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


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Greek Orthodox father loses religious freedom and parental rights case

An Orthodox Christian father has lost a religious freedom and parental rights case before the Ontario Superior Court. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Pipeline to pull prayer from local community

Standing Rock inspires solidarity service

Protestors demonstrate at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation against the Dakota Access oil pipeline Sept. 9, 2016. (Photo Credit: Andrew Cullen / Reuters)

Prayer unites individuals peacefully, and that's what a local Eastern Orthodox Church intends to do.

The Eastern Catholic Church in Richmond is holding a vesper to pray for a "just and irenic solution to the concerns of the Native Americans at Standing Rock, North Dakota" Dec. 4, from 6-8 p.m, said Father Richard Soo, SJ.

"The ecumenical patriarchy under Patriarch Bartholomew are very concerned with environmental issues," Father Soo said. "Pope Francis's latest document Ladauto si'  quotes the Eastern Churches extensively."

Escalating accounts of violence against protestors of the Dakota oil line has created many rallies in support, such as in Seattle, Winnipeg, and Courtney, B.C. Father Soo hopes the global support of prayer and peaceful protesting will reduce the violence against protestors, encourage the Dakotan government and corporations to engage in a real dialogue with the Sioux tribe, and for all involved to "be good stewards of God's creation, and treat others with love and respect."

"Everyone is welcome to this ecumenical event, which is cosponsored by Eastern Catholic Church, Richmond, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver's First Nations Office with Deacon Rennie Nahanee," said Father Soo. "It all starts with prayer, we must be grounded in the Lord."