Sacred Heart Parish, Delta, British Columbia
Originally, services were held in the dining room of the Laurent Guichon home until a church could be built at Port Guichon. Bishop Paul Durieu of New Westminster blessed the first church on November 15, 1891. on the invitation of Archbishop William Duke of Vancouver, the Augustinians came to Ladner in 1943 and took over the diocesan seminary ( originally the McNeeley residence ), which had been vacant since 1939. Besides their commitment to establish a retreat house and to open a Marian shrine under the title of Mother of Consolation, the Augustinians were also to be responsible for the needs of the parish. in 1966, a new parish church was constructed at its present location. This construction was largely through the voluntary labour of the parishioners and the active participation and guidance of the long-time pastor, Father Othmar Mussmacher.
In 1991, as part of Sacred Heart’s Centennial celebration, the church was refurbished and re-dedicated to the service of the Catholic Community in the Ladner and Tsawwassen area.
Today, Sacred Heart Parish, with approximately 1,800 families, is a well-established and vibrant faith community. It continues its tradition of very active participation and a strong sense of ownership by the parishioners. As we venture into the future, we trust that we will always be open to the changing needs of our people and respond creatively to them through our academic and religious education programs, our worship experiences, and our service and recreational activities. May the Spirit guide and direct our endeavours.
Parish Office Hours
Tuesdays to Fridays:
From 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Closed for lunch from 12:00 to 1:30 pm.
Sacred Heart Parish
3900 Arthur Drive, P.O. Box 10,
Delta, British Columbia V4K 3N5
Tel: (604) 946-4522
Fax: (604) 946-4533
Email: sacredheartparish@shsdelta.org
Our Lady of Grace Monastery, Monastery, Nova Scotia
Our Lady of Grace Shrine located just a short walk from the Monastery proper is a place blessed by God. There is a Holy Spring found here which has long been the vehicle of many blessings and graces, including all sorts of healing. Pilgrims are able to pray at this Holy Shrine asking for the powerful and maternal intercession of the Mother of God and to walk the way of the Cross with her.
Our Lady of Grace Monastery, located in the town of Monastery – about 25 minutes east of Antigonish – has roots deep in the history of Nova Scotia and is a historic landmark of the region. The Monastery was originally founded in 1825 by a Trappist monk from France: Fr. Vincent de Paul Merle. He called the new monastery “Petit Clairvaux” after the Cistercian monastery in France made famous by St. Bernard. It was the first Trappist foundation in North America.
Trappists lived, worked and prayed at the monastery continuously from 1825 till 1919 with the exception of the years 1900 to 1903. The Trappist community that struggled from the beginning of the foundation was greatly helped by a large contingent of monks from Belgium who arrived in 1857. Under their direction the monastery flourished and saw at one time 45 monks in residence. However two fires, one in 1892 which destroyed the monastery and another in 1896 which destroyed the farm buildings, along with other difficulties, caused the Belgian monks in 1900 to vacate the Monastery and move to Rhode Island. The present monastery building was begun in 1894 to replace the one that burned down.
In 1903 another group of Trappists sought refuge from religious persecution at Monastery. They came from France, but due to the scarcity of vocations and the easing of the persecutions in that country they returned in 1919.
For the next 19 years the monastery remained vacant. In 1938 a group of German Augustinians purchased the property and began the hard work of restoration. This was the first foundation of the Augustinian Order in Canada. The Augustinians restored the buildings on the property and renamed the monastery “St. Augustine’s”.
A retreat house was opened in 1948; a wayside shrine to Our Lady of Grace, in a beautiful rustic setting on the property was established and opened in May 1952.
In the Fall of 2000 there arrived a new group of monks to continue the work so courageously begun by the Trappists and carried forward by the Augustinians. They have renamed the monastery “Our Lady of Grace”. The new monks form part of a small monastic order of Eastern Catholics of the Maronite rite which is in union with the Pope. They are called “Monks of St. Maron” after the father of the Maronite Church.
As of June 27, 2007 the Monks of St. Maron are no longer in residence at Our Lady of Grace Monastery. Today it is occupied by the Contemplative Augustinian Nuns.
Our Lady of Grace Monastery
940 Monastery Road,
Monastery, Nova Scotia B0H 1W0
Email: ladyofgracemonastery@live.com
Tel: (902) 232-2214
Fax: (902) 232-2257