| Church Bulletin |
| Canadian Martyrs was the first Catholic church in the archdiocese to have
bulletins, the first being issued on November 3, 1946, when Father Herlihy
was parish priest. Reading through their pages would give an interesting
glimpse of the parish and its changing activities. |
| Foreign Mission Support |
Collections for the Foreign Missions have been donated to the Association
of Mary Immaculate for the upkeep of a parish in Peru which Canadian Martyrs
has adopted.
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| Parish Council and Parish Assembly |
| Those who were baptized into the Church 60 or more years ago have experienced
what might be called a spiritual revolution during their lives. This revolution,
with its changes in life styles and codes of conduct, began about 30 years
ago. The Church, sensing the need to modify some of its structures to keep
abreast of the changing times, introduced a number of rather drastic changes. |
| Using the guidelines set forth in Vatican 11, the Assembly of Canadian
Martyrs was founded in 1969 with the appointment of an interim Parish Council.
Under the leadership of Father McNamara, the interim council prepared to
assume the enhanced responsibilities of the laity. At the first Parish Assembly,
held on February 22, 1970, the activities of the interim council were reported,
a draft constitution and a financial report for the parish were presented
and discussed and a Parish Council executive was elected. Committees were
set up to deal with the main areas of concern - constitution, finance, liturgy,
social activities and youth programs. |
| In its 20 years of existence in Canadian Martyrs Parish, the Parish Council,
under the guidance of the various resident pastors, has more than fulfilled
its mandate to encourage the involvement of the laity in parish affairs,
and to provide for the special needs of the people and the community in
fields of education, catechetic, welfare, social advancement, etc. |
| In addition to the core committees of finance and liturgy, groups which
attend to the special needs of the community have also been established.
These include the Grief Support Group, Development and Peace, contact with
the Shepherds of Good Hope and our Sandwich Makers, Baptismal and Pre--Marriage
Counseling, Pastoral Care and Rectory Volunteers and those concerned with
the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, Eucharistic Ministers Altar
Servers and Lectors, to name a few. All of these groups, under the wise
counseling of Father Conlon, have made Canadian Martyrs Parish a place where
the laity of all environments and associations can meet to celebrate the
Eucharist and where the special needs of the people can be served. It must
be added that the Parish Council was used as the medium when a survey was
conducted in 1987 to determine whether the parish should continue to exist. |
| An additional benefit to the Parish, which resulted from the Papal changes
in 1969, was the emergence of the role of Parish Assistants or Co-Ordinators.
Canadian Martyrs has had the dedicated service of three of these special
ministers - Miss Roslyn Brown, Miss Anne-Marie Bazinet and Sr. Joan Whittingham
S. P., each of whom has contributed her own talents and special interests
to assist in the spiritual works of the parish. |
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