Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Vancouver, Canada
The Carmelite family of Western Canada came together for the solemn feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Saturday July 15th at St. Edmonds Church in North Vancouver. Bishop Joseph Nguyen of Kamloops Diocese presided over the Eucharist. In his homily he said that Mother Mary who is depicted in today’s gospel is not the usual Mary with the decorations of the nativity scene rather the one who stood beside her suffering Son. The same Mary is beside us whenever we suffer and stand by our suffering brothers and sisters.

Fr. Jerald D’ Souza OCD, the Parish Priest and Bursar of the region thanked the Bishop and all those who contributed their mite for the feast. Fr. Rudolf D’ Souza the Regional Superior introduced all the priest concelebrants. Frs. Alex and Fr. Vincent who joined recently the Canadian band of missionaries were warmly welcomed. He gave a bird’s eye view of our mission in Canada and invited the faithful to visit our houses at Carmel Hill and Edmonton and experience Carmelite spirituality and hospitality. At this juncture he also acknowledged the presence of the Secular Carmelites and thanked them for their contribution to our mission.

Around 300 people from all over Vancouver and neighboring cities participated in the liturgy. The Solemn Mass was concelebrated by 9 priests and a deacon which was preceded by St Edmond’s angelic choir singing traditional Marian anthems in praise of Mother Mary. The CWL of St Edmond’s served the guests a delicious lunch.