Liturgy
Our Lenten journey is more than half way through! For those wanting to celebrate the important liturgies of Holy Week and Easter at the mother church of the Archdiocese, below are the liturgy schedules for Saint Mary’s Cathedral Basilica in Halifax and Saint Ambrose Co-Cathedral in Yarmouth.
Chemin de croix et célébration de la Cène du Seigneur (Jeudi Saint) en français.
Vous trouverez sur cette affiche toutes les seules célébrations offertes en français dans la période du Carême et dans le temps pascal : un chemin de croix, le vendredi 22 mars et le 28 mars, le jeudi saint. Ces célébrations se dérouleront toutes à l’église de Saint-Vincent de Paul dans la paroisse Christ-Roi dont la communauté catholique francophone fait partie. Nous lançons une invitation particulière aux francophones pratiquants dans d’autres paroisses de venir nous joindre à l’occasion du jeudi saint. Nous préparons, dans un esprit familial, un bel environnement de recueillement au tombeau de notre Seigneur qui suivra la messe.
A reminder to mark your calendars for the annual Chrism Mass on Tuesday, March 26 at 12 noon at Saint Mary’s Cathedral Basilica. This important diocesan liturgy gathers the whole presbytery with the Archbishop and the people of God during Holy Week. At this Mass the sacred oils used in various sacraments during the coming year are blessed by the Archbishop who then distributes them to the pastors to bring back to their parishes.
For those preparing for baptism this Easter, Lent is the final period of preparation. After the Rite of Election, those who were catechumens are now known as the Elect, and part of our duty as the local Catholic community is to pray for them! Whether you have Elect within your parish or not, we invite all of you to include these people in your prayers this week as they look forward to being formally welcomed into the Church. On the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays in Lent they will celebrate “the scrutinies”, which are rituals that date back to the early days of the Church and are linked to the Gospel read for Mass, and take place after the Homily.
Rite of Election 2024
On Sunday at 10:30am we celebrated the Rite of Election at the Cathedral with all of the catechumens from across the diocese. This is the final step of preparation for those who are preparing to be baptized this Easter season as they gather at the Cathedral and are greeted by Archbishop Dunn before having their names inscribed into their parishes Book of the Elect. It was a joy to celebrate this with the parishioners from the Cathedral and we are happy to report that this year we have 30 catechumens, which is the most people that we have had for over twenty years. Please pray for all of the Elect as they embark on this final spiritual preparations for their baptisms this Lent.
Prayer for Peace
Liturgy Contacts
Very Rev. Craig Cameron
Rector, Saint Mary's Cathedral Basilica, Director of Vocations & Liturgy, University Chaplain
(902) 429-9800
Fr. James Richards
Liturgy Formation