Holy Week in Manitoba
Fr. Richard Beaudette, OMI

I travelled to Manitoba for Holy Week to assist with the liturgies in South Interlake District in the parishes of Stonewall, Stony Mountain and Teulon, where Fr. Vijay Deivenayagam, OMI, is the pastor. He also has a number of parishes further north, around and including Fisher Branch, which meant that he would not be able to celebrate all the Holy Week liturgies in all the parishes. After celebrating Palm Sunday in the three communities, I travelled to Winnipeg, where I was able to visit a number of the Oblates and celebrate the Chrism Mass with newly installed Archbishop Murray Chatlain. One of the highlights, for me, was the blessing of Easter food on Holy Saturday in Stonewall and Teulon. These blessings brought back wonderful memories of going to church with my Ukrainian grandmother as she brought her large picnic basket of traditional Ukrainian foods to be blessed. We then enjoy all that food Easter Sunday morning after Mass, when we gathered at her house for an Easter feast.

By Richard Beaudette, OMI