Love God

The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, we will be building this section for the many facets of our Catholic Faith.

– Mass & Sacraments
– Faith Formation
– Vocations

Love thy Neighbour

We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ, we will be building this section for the Social justice initiatives and assisting those in need.

Leave Peace

Our Parish is a gift, that was given to us by the generations before and is extended to the generations to come. We will be building this section for stewardship initiatives.

Upcoming Events

STATIONS OF THE CROSS with ADORATION
Beginning on February 24th at 7:00pm, the parish with have the Stations of the Cross devotion with a period of Adoration.
This will continue each Friday evening up to and including Good Friday.

Liturgical Season

Why is the season called Lent?

Lent is the Old English word for spring. In almost all other languages, Lent’s name is a derivative of the Latin term quadragesima or “the forty days.”

Why is Lent approximately forty days long?

In the Bible, forty days is a traditional number of discipline, devotion, and preparation. Moses stayed on the mountain of God forty days (Ex. 24:18, 34:28). The Israelites’ spies were in the land of Canaan forty days (Num. 13:25). Elijah traveled forty days before he reached the cave where he had his vision (1 Kings 19:8). Nineveh was given forty days to repent (Jon. 3:4). And, most significantly for our Lenten observance, Jesus spent forty days in wilderness praying and fasting prior to undertaking his ministry (Matt. 4:2). Thus, it is fitting for Christians to imitate him with a forty-day period of prayer and fasting to prepare to celebrate the climax of Christ’s ministry, Good Friday (the day of the crucifixion) and Easter Sunday (the day of the Resurrection).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “‘For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning’ [Heb. 4:15]. By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert” (CCC 540).

What are fast and abstinence?

Under current canon law in the Western rite of the Church, a day of fast is one on which Catholics who are eighteen to fifty-eight years old are required to keep a limited fast. In this country you may eat a single, normal meal and have two snacks. Children are not required to fast, but their parents must ensure they are properly educated in the spiritual practice of fasting.

A day of abstinence is a day on which Catholics fourteen years and older are required to abstain from eating meat. (Though under the current discipline of the Western rite of the Church, fish, eggs, milk products, and foods made using animal fat are permitted, they are not in the Eastern rites.) Their pastor can easily dispense those with medical conditions from the requirements of fast and abstinence.

Is there a biblical basis for abstaining from meat as a sign of repentance?

Yes. The book of Daniel states, “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia . . . ‘I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over’” (Dan. 10:1-3)

History

Founded in 1829, St. Columban’s Church was the first Roman Catholic Church to be established in Cornwall. Formed originally to meet the spiritual need of a few, mainly Scottish families in Cornwall, the parish grew with the arrival of Irish Canal workers in the 1830s and then again with the influx of French-Canadians who came to work in the textile industries in the 1880s.The cultural composition of the parish therefore reflected the changes occurring in the town during the 19th century and until 1887 when the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was opened on Montreal Road.