FR. LEE KENYON, DEAN OF CSP ORDINARIATE (Canada) TO CELEBRATE MASS, SUN. JULY 7 with ST. THOMAS MORE (Sacre Coeur) TORONTO

The Dean of the Canadian CSP Deanery of St. John the Baptist will make a visit to Toronto in July. Fr. Kenyon will celebrate and preach for St. Thomas More (Sacre-Coeur) on Sunday, July 7 AT 1:45 pm.

He was the first of what is now eight Anglican Ordinariate priests in Canada and is rector of the historic Church of St. John the Evangelist in Calgary which has doubled Sunday Mass attendance since joining the Ordinariate in 2011.

A native of England, Fr. Kenyon was educated for the Anglican priesthood at Mirfield with the Community of the Resurrection. He and his wife, Elizabeth, are expecting their fourth child in August.

A History of the Anglican Use in the Catholic Church in Toronto

Excerpted  and adapted from the website of TAUS now St. Thomas More Catholic (Ordinariate Use) Toronto

On the eve of the Feast of Saint Thomas More . . . . Mgr Steenson, has officially designated Thomas More as our new patron saint [of the Toronto Ordinariate parish in formation]. 

In January 1993, a small group of Anglicans met in downtown Toronto on a freezing Saturday afternoon to discuss joining the Catholic Church as a parish set up according to the Anglican Use (AU), similar to existing parishes in the United States as authorized by Blessed Pope John Paul II. While being fully Catholic in every respect, AU churches, parishes and groups retain an Anglican identity in terms of language, liturgy and music.

The group continued to meet for two years and, having chosen Sir Thomas More as its patron, became known as the Society of Saint Thomas More. Evensong was held monthly at St Cecilia's Catholic Church on Annette St.  Exploratory meetings were held with Catholic officials in Toronto and then . . .  nothing. Rumour had it that Cardinal Ambrozic had raised the matter with the bishops’ conference, but no positive response was ever received.

While hopes and prayers for the Anglican Use in Toronto never ceased, nothing more was able to happen until the promulgation of Anglicanorum Coetibus (AC) by Pope Benedict XVI in late 2009. This deeply visionary and pastoral act of Pope Benedict’s dramatically responded to the long-standing hopes and prayers of many Anglicans throughout the English-speaking world by greatly expanding the free use of the Anglican liturgy in the Catholic Church and by enabling those parishes and groups of Anglican heritage to unite under their own hierarchy as Personal Ordinariates, similar to but distinct from territorial dioceses.

Interest in the Anglican Use continued to grow in Toronto, and in March 2011 the Archdiocese of Toronto hosted a national conference on the Anglican Ordinariate, which included, on the Feast of the Annunciation, the first ever AU Mass in Canada.  A few weeks later, on the 1^st of May, a new group of Anglicans and former Anglicans, incorporating many of the members of the old Society of St Thomas More, began meeting regularly once again – this time on a weekly basis – for Sung Evensong, catechesis, fellowship and discussion at the Newman Centre at U of T.

After just over a year of weekly Evensong, the Toronto Anglican Use Sodality, as it had become known, was able to begin offering weekly Anglican Use Sung Masses and received a number of Anglicans into the full Communion of the Catholic Church. Now, after yet another year, we are continuing to grow and are on the verge of receiving some more Anglicans into full Communion.

Our meeting last Sunday was full of enthusiasm and goodwill. There was strong support for adopting the name and patronage of St Thomas More, and within days the Dean, Fr Kenyon, passed along the joyful news that Mgr Steenson had officially given his approval. We look forward to the permanent assignment of a priest and pastor in the coming months and in the meantime will continue our beautiful weekly Sung Masses in Sacre-Coeur church under the care of Fr Eric Rodrigues.

As we celebrate our newfound patronal feast day today and the patronal of the Canadian Ordinariate Deanery on Monday (St John the Baptist), we can trust that St Thomas More’s prayers for us, as well as the intercessions of the Baptist and so many other great saints, are most efficacious, and our Lord’s mercies are great.

As always, our Sung Anglican Use Mass is every Sunday at 1:45pm at Sacré-Coeur, 381 Sherbourne St. AU Masses fulfill Sunday obligation for all Catholics, regardless of whether or not they are of an Anglican background. There is parking immediately north of the Church and coffee hour afterward.

Everyone is welcome to attend and we hope to see you there. Have a blessed feast day!

Laus Deo! St Thomas More, ora pro nobis!

Saint Thomas More Catholic (Anglican Use), Toronto

Blessings on the Feast of St. Thomas More

Saint Thomas More, English Martyr:  February 7, 1478 - July 6, 1535
Patronal Feast Day - June 22

The Toronto AU sodality celebrates the Feast of St. Thomas More this weekend as their new patron. June 22 is a memorial on the Calendar of the Catholic Church in Canada and is now the patronal feast day for the Ordinariate parish in formation.

Please remember the community in your prayers today and this weekend as we also celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, patron of the Canadian Deanery of the CSP Ordinariate for North America.

We are also praying for St. John's, Calgary, Fr. Kenyon, his family and the people of Southern Alberta as they face massive flooding. May God grant them grace and peace and many the intercessions of Our Lady of Walsingham, St. Peter, St John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist and St Thomas More assist them.

St. Thomas More (Anglican Use of the Catholic Church), Toronto

That is the new name for the Catholic congregation formerly the Toronto Anglican Use Sodality (TAUS). Msgr. Steenson sent word that the congregation, seeking to enter the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (CSP), could come under the patronage of St. Thomas More, the sixteenth-century English Catholic layman, noted author and Chancellor of England who maintained his allegiance to the Holy See despite pressure to acknowledge the king as supreme over the Church. He was martyred.

The congregation will be developed within the CSP initially as what Ordinariate chancellor, Margaret Chalmers, has said is canonically a "Public Association of the Faithful". This is the first step towards development as a parish over time.

TAUS June 16 meeting and YouTube Video of Anglican Use Mass in Toronto

Here are some  clips of the Kyrie and Offertory from the AU Sunday Sung Mass, June 16 celebrated at Sacré-Coeur Church in downtown Toronto before a meeting to begin the establishment of an Ordinariate mission parish. See clips at:

TAUS Youtube Sung Mass Music

This fine music is offered weekly and shared with Ordinariate friends around the world as we establish a vibrant patrimonial community for those seeking unity in the Catholic faith while preserving the best of Anglican liturgy, music and pastoral outreach.

Peter Mahon, a noted choral conductor in Toronto, along with a four part choir have offered a full Sung Mass weekly from September to June (a single cantor assists with plainchant during the summer). The full choir returns SUNDAY, SEPT. 8.

At the June 16 meeting more than the required 24 signed people were registered on forms to form the Toronto Ordinariate mission. The parish's official name is to be announced soon, following approval by Msgr Steenson. Detailed News of the meeting later this week.

Selecting a Patron Saint

The selection of a patron saint for a mission or parish is a very important process. Not only does it create a relationship of prayer between the community and the saint, it establishes the priorities and public image of the mission or  parish.

Anglican Ordinariate parishes and communities in this Year of Faith select patron saints with the approval of the ordinary as a part of the New Evangelization, bringing the Word of God afresh to society. In this process the Toronto Anglican Use Sodality (TAUS) will become a mission parish under the patronage of one of the great saints in Anglican and Catholic patrimony. 

Saints proposed as patron come from various backgrounds. One was a pre-Reformation English Catholic. St. Thomas More, when faced with the  decision to renounce his allegiance to Rome proclaimed: "I am the king's good servant, but God's first." Others like St. Edmund Campion (an Anglican deacon) entered into full communion with Rome, was ordained a priest and then was later martyred for the Catholic faith as he sought to bring others into full communion with the Holy See.

We pray that all the saints will be with TAUS on Sunday as the sodality continues the process of becoming a mission parish under the patronage of a great saint and with the prayers of our Lady and all the saints. 

TAUS MEETING TO FORM TORONTO MISSION PARISH AND SELECT NAME Sunday, June 16 at 3 pm.

TAUS MEETING - After Sung Mass on Sunday, June 16 at 3 pm. All are welcome as forms are gathered for those affiliating with the Ordinariate. 

We will also be selecting a mission name to submit to Msgr Steenson for approval. Those suggested so far include:

1. St. Benedict
2. St. Thomas More
3. St Edmund Campion
4. St. John Fisher
5. St Hilda
6. St. Kateri Tekakwitha
7. Blessed John Henry Newman


Here is a link to the Ordinariate website and the pdf form for membership.

http://www.usordinariate.org/documents/Request_to_Enter_Ordinariate.pdf

If you fill one out please bring it to the meeting so that these can be submitted as a group with the 24+.

TAUS to discuss formation of an Ordinariate Mission Parish in Toronto

The June meeting of the Toronto Anglican Use Sodality (TAUS) will choose a name to submit to Msgr. Steenson with an application to form a Mission Parish (technically a quasi-parish) in Toronto.

A few practical points:

1.  AN ORDINARIATE MISSION PARISH FOR TORONTO

Twenty-four members are required to form an Ordinariate mission parish. 

2.  WHO CAN BE A MEMBER?

A)  If you are an Anglican (Episcopalian), a former Anglican, or are married to or in the family of an Anglican or former Anglican you can be a member of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

B)  If you are a non-Catholic of any denomination or none and wish to be received into the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate you can belong to the Ordinariate. 

C)  Basically, only those who have been both baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church and have no familial connection to an Anglican cannot, formally, be a member of the Personal Ordinariate but, of course, any Catholic can attend Ordinariate Masses, fulfill their Sunday obligation and partake of the sacraments (Penance, etc.) through the ministry of an Ordinariate priest or chaplain. [Subsequent to this posting, Pope Francis has extended the mandate of Ordinariates to reach out to baptized but unchatechized and unconfirmed Catholics who seek full communion through an Ordinariate community.]

3.  DO I HAVE TO STOP ATTENDING MY LOCAL PARISH AND ATTEND THE ORDINARIATE MASS EVERY SUNDAY?

You can continue to attend any Catholic Church and come to Ordinariate Masses when possible. Once a member of the Ordinariate though, you cannot hold an official position in another parish e.g. Parish Council. 

4.  DO I HAVE TO BE A RESIDENT OF TORONTO?

Any Canadian who meets the criteria in # 2 above can affiliate with the Ordinariate in Canada and may attend the closest Ordinariate mission parish or sodality when possible. If in doubt on this or other issues, fill out a form and we will have the Ordinariate Chancellor review the case. 

5. MSGR STEENSON NEEDS THE FORMS

Even those who filled out a form for the archdiocese must complete a form for the Ordinariate office in Houston.  These can be collected at the June meeting.