100 Years of Fortitude

Convivium, 26 October 2017

Convivium's editor in chief Father Raymond J. de Souza marks the anniversary of both the Sacred Heart of Mary parish and Queen's University's "Newman Club." 

The Year of Our Lord 2017 has been rather full of notable anniversaries. Five hundred years since the Reformation, something that reminds us that our work across confessional lines at Cardus, Catholics and Protestants together in a common mission, is a blessing not to be taken for granted. We are spending a great deal of time and energy on Faith in Canada 150, which reaches beyond the Christian Church and back to the earliest days of faithful presence in our country.

For Catholics, 2017 marked the centennial of the Marian apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, which significantly shaped the Catholic view of Providence in history as well as Catholic piety. The addition of the “Fatima prayer” to the Rosary means that millions of Catholics who pray that devotion simply, but insistently, ask Jesus to “forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.”  Hard to beat that for a summation of the mission the Redeemer.

For me though, 2017 has brought twin centennials closer to home. Though Convivium readers know me principally from this journal that Peter Stockland and I established at Cardus, my days are mostly occupied with my priestly work.

Read more at Convivium:
https://www.convivium.ca/articles/100-years-of-fortitude