St
Francis Xavier Jubilee Year Celebrations
Excerpts
from the Catholic Register & www.jesuits.ca
In the year 2006, the Society
of Jesus celebrates three special and important anniversaries:
the birth in 1506 of both Francis Xavier and Pierre Favre, and
the death in 1556 St. Ignatius Loyola. Through the course of
the year there will be numerous celebrations as well as
commemorative activities, publications, and productions.
Some of the
most extensive plans to honour the three Jesuit founders are
taking place in Toronto’s very large Indian community. St.
Francis Xavier, who was a spectacularly successful missionary
in India, is patron saint for missions and particularly dear
to the Indian community in Canada.
Toronto
Indian community events for the St. Francis Xavier Jubilee
Year include.
-
A food and
craft fair at Brebeuf College High School May 14;
-
A summer
picnic at Etobicoke’s Centennial Park June 11;
-
A Parish
mission will be preached in three parishes at once Sept. 22,
Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 at Isaac Jogues parish in pickering,
Holy Spirit in Toronto, St. Francis Xavier in Missisauga.
-
A Closing
Eucharist for the St. Francis Xavier Jubilee Year will to
held Dec. 3 at a church yet to be determined.
“It’s
certainly very significant,” said Jesuit Father Daryl Miranda,
who has been organizing the events in the Indian community.
Also in
Toronto, the Jesuit run parish of Our Lady of Lourdes will
present a day of celebration March 25, including a
presentation by the parish-based “No Name Popular Theatre,”
unveiling of Ignatian portraits and a 5:15 p.m. Mass. The
celebration gets underway 2:45 p.m.
With the
help of the Catholic publishing house Novalis, the French and
English provinces of the Jesuits will bring out perpetual
calendars in July. The calendars will feature images and
quotes from the three founding Jesuits for every day of the
year.
In Montreal
the Jesuit Province of French Canada and Haiti will sponsor a
series of art exhibitions and lectures from Sept. 22 to Oct.
8.
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