Twenty three members listened intently as Sister Norma Gallant gave a presentation at the May meeting of the Catholic Women’s League.
Sister Norma, a member of the Congregation of Notre Dame, gave an account of the life Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, the founder of the Community. Sister Norma outlined Marguerite’s life from her birth in 1620 at Troyes in Champagne (France) to her death in 1700 in Montreal, Quebec.
In France at the age of 20, she experienced a profound change in herself during a church procession that led her to set aside the frivolous things of life and her decision to accept an offer from Monsieur de Maisonneuve, Governor of Montreal in New France.
While in New France, she realized the role of women, taught them survival skills, built houses, established a farm, opened schools and even witnessed marriages.
In 1982 Marguerite was canonized by the Catholic Church as the first female saint of Canada. In her memory each year the CWL offer a scholarship to a graduating student of J.L Crowe.
The month of May proves to be a busy month for CWL. May 6-12 is Hospice Week. Hospice palliative care in Canada advocates for quality end of life care and thus a motion was made to support the local Hospice with a monetary donation.
Pentecost Sunday, May 20, can be considered the birthday of the Catholic Church since that is when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ. The next Sunday, May 27, is Trinity Sunday which celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for which our local church is named (Holy Trinity).
In addition, St. Michael’s School is celebrating World Catholic Education Day on May 10 with a tea and social on Friday, May 4 from 1: to 2:30 which includes a bake sale, raffle, treats and entertainment.
To add to that busy list the CWL will be supporting the First Communion children on May 6, the Citizen of the year on May 8 and a visit to Mountainside Village on May 28. To finalize the evening, plans were confirmed to have the June dinner meeting in the Gathering room on June 5. Members will be emailed or phoned with the information about the dinner.