And it was in one of those churches built in the late 1800's that it all took place - a year ago... One of those "twin parishes"... A parish that was still "solid" - one which had been paired up with another - and the other parish would soon... perish. The funeral was held at St-Maxime when its twin parish, St-Norbert, was on its last throes The year would not end before it did too It was sold, as it was - to one of 3 bidders... The Syrian Catholics won out with a bid of 1 MILLION DOLLARS... over the "baptist Arabs" (?) who, sensing they would not get it, only bid 950,000$... but it was going to be IN CASH. And the 3rd bidder was also Syrian... but Orthodox - with a bid in excess of a million (100,000$ extra, to be precise)
The St-Maxime council decided to cash in the lone Catholic bid of the three...
A short time after pocketing the modest sum I paid for a funeral just before Palm Sunday.
Money keeps pouring in, after all... Even with attendance at an all-time low... But that is another story...
The sad story here is that of many who are no more ~ no longer "with us"...
And so many favorites disappeared in 2006, in some way or another: the host of a radio show that both Dad and I used to listen to on a weekly basis... the perennial candidate in my electoral county... a singer exactly the same age as my sire... a cabaret artist I took after, somewhat... the aforementioned St-Norbert parish... a French actor with a voice and a particular appendice quite similar to my own... several other stalwarts, verily - too many to list... and my dear saintly father. ---
And today, I should be at the feet of your final resting place here on God's Green Earth - this world that is defiled in so many insidious ways by other men...
You are in God's Domain now, Father - You are in a far better place
We shall see each other again, Pai. Just Not Yet. Not Yet...!
I should be here today My father's most favorite place in all the land In all the island of Montreal, actually I should be there to honor his memory there, once more On this day, a year to the day after he departed His sudden departure is still so fresh The memory of it so vivid But so are the pleasant memories Of summers past When dad took his entire little family, kins and visitors, to his most favorite place in town - to the Oratory
I do not pray he is now with Brother André -the founder of the fabled Oratory- or with St-Joseph himself, after whom the Oratory is named - we imagine those two standing together now, in Paradise, with all the saints, angels... Forever Blissful in His Presence: The Creator God...
No - I do not pray that he is in a little corner there, with them...
I know he is with them
He has earned his place alongside them
This statue of Saint Joseph has been on display upon the mountain in Montreal since 1917 - a significant year as it is when Saint Joseph's bride, the Virgin Mary, appeared in Fatima, Portugal. My father's two favorite places of pilgrimage were thus linked in more than one way. La statue de saint Joseph, dans la crypte, accueille les pèlerins depuis 1917. C'est une oeuvre de style classique taillée dans le marbre de Carrare par le sculpteur italien A. Giacomini. Esta estatua de Sao José, na cripta do Oratorio em Montreal, fui salva da primeira guerra mundiale e està là desde 1917 - o ano mesmo que Sao José apareceu ao lado da Virgem Maria em Fatima aqueles tres pastorinhos santinhos. Isto é mais uma ligaçâo direita entre os dois lugares preferidos que o meu pai tinha neste mundo; dois lugares de devoçâo lindissimos; dois lugares de Fé pura e verdadeira.
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Born in the Age of Aquarius, destined to seek out truths in many an art form, trained as a historian and a journalist but truly a prose-lover... Luciano is out to dispel any clichés and reinvent them all both to the tune of a little something called the truth as also to his own image - and being old-fashioned, he does not mind that distinction one infinitesimal tiny bit at all...! "There are two ways to spread the light; be the candle... or the mirror that reflects It." I have chosen to be the latter... okay? ~*~
"To be not only a seeker of light... but a dream weaver of light" ~*~ For as surely as the moon reflects the light from the sun, you and I can reflect the Light from Above - and be, indeed, the light of this world! ~*~*~*~ NOTE: THERE ARE COOKIES ~ from at least three parties~ ON ALL OF MY BLOGS! ~*~ accept it!
