Continual sacrifice: a history of the origins of Saint Clement Parish, Ottawa, 1968-1998.

1998, Knights of Columbus, St. Clement's Church, 87 Mann Ave, Ottawa, ON, K1M 6Y8, 83 pages, softcover, $12.00

REVIEWED BY ROBERT EADY

Many parish histories are published every year, but none will likely be of more interest to Canadian Catholics who love and respect ecclesiastical tradition than professional historical researcher Bernard Pothier's highly readable overview of the birth and triumph of Ottawa's St. Clement's, the only church in Canada where one can receive all the sacraments in the same manner that one's Catholic ancestors did forty, fifty, or five hundred years ago. Unique in Canada, St. Clement's has managed to retain for most of the past thirty tumultuous years, what its current pastor Father Charles Ryan (F.S.S.P.) describes in the book's foreword as the "tradition," or faith in its entirety, "propagated from generation to generation."

In 1967 when the iconoclastic changes wrought by the misapplication of Vatican II were all the rage (in actual fact Latin was never banned by any document issuing from Vatican II, nor was it made mandatory that any traditional altar should be destroyed, nor that any priest must face the congregation), a small group of Ottawa Catholics gathered 200 signatures on a petition in support of retaining the traditional Mass. This petition received no response when presented to Joseph-Aurele Plourde, Archbishop of Ottawa. Shortly thereafter, however, a Catholic from the French embassy named Jean-Louis Guibert suggested in a letter to the Archbishop that due to the large number of academics and members of the international diplomatic community in Ottawa, it might be appropriate to allow a traditional Latin Mass. The request was granted within a week, the first traditional Latin mass being celebrated in the chapel at Ottawa's historic Precious Blood monastery.

Six years later, however, a dramatic change took place. Permission for the traditional Tridentine Mass allowed at the monastery was rescinded after Father Leonard Sullivan (Regina Archdiocese), then the director of the English liturgy office of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, paid the Latin congregation a short visit and suggested the Archbishop was going to have to "come to grips with you people." When contacted about the matter by Archbishop Plourde after being prompted by Sullivan, Cardinal James R. Knox, prefect for the Sacred Congregation of Divine Worship, quickly banned the Tridentine Rite. The ban was countersigned by the secretary, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, the architect of the Novus Ordo Missae. Although to no avail, the Ottawa congregation appealed, citing the Novus Ordo exemption granted in 1971 to the Catholics of England and Wales.

Resilient as always, the 120-soul congregation of the still to be named St. Clement's, accepted a "Novus Ordo mass," which the then priest in charge, Father Guy Martin, tailored to appear as close as possible to the Tridentine. For ten years the congregation quietly endured while many "wildcat" masses were being performed in the National Capital region.

In 1984 Pope John Paul II issued the indult that allowed celebration of the Holy Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962. After two moves to new locations, St. Clement's obtained from the Archdiocese a handsome stone church on Ottawa's Mann Avenue. On November 13, 1997, St. Clement's received full canonical erection as a parish.

The most interesting and poignant portion of the book is the description of how the beautifully carved front and side altars of the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood were rescued. Slated for demolition because the nuns had decided to create a "modern liturgy space" for themselves, the approximately 150-year-old altars were stored in a barn before being obtained by the St. Clement's congregation. Sadly, as Bernard Pothier points out in a footnote, only seven years after the sisters disposed of the traditional altars of their monastery, they were compelled to close their doors for want of vocations and withdraw from the archdiocese.

Bernard Pothier provides sufficient detail in his history of St. Clement's to give the reader a clear sense of how difficult it was for the parishioners to retain their Catholic heritage and tradition while remaining obedient to Rome and their local bishop. Moderation and common sense eventually paid off. St. Clement's stands today as an example of what can be achieved in the Church through prayers, sacrifice and quiet determination.

Robert Eady is a contributing editor to Catholic Insight. He is a poet and letterwriter, especially to newspapers.