Heating Homes – Saving The Planet
BY BRIDGET DOHERTY The inability to pay for utility costs is the second highest reason for homelessness. This is why Sisters of Providence are members of the steering committee with the Low Income Energy Network (LIEN) in Toronto. Together we have been working with the provincial government to develop strategies that assist low income individuals and families dealing with the rising costs of energy. It is a sad reality that in a country as rich...
Annual Conference – ‘Celebrate Ourselves’
left to right: Tom McCarthy, Sister Gayle Desarmia and Danielle Hughes wear costumes from the Stratford Costume House.The Archives team at Providence Motherhouse got to play “dress up” during a quick stop at the Stratford Festival Archives and Costume Warehouse in mid-May. The three were attending a conference in nearby London, Ontario — the annual conference of the Catholic Archivist Group. The theme this year was Advocay & Outreach: How...
Living Generously
Kingston author Larry Scanlan shares his experiences in his book A Year of Living Generously.BY CHRISTINE ROSS Sister Pauline Lally introduced Kingston author, Larry Scanlan, to a capacity crowd during a book launch on May 19th at Providence Motherhouse. Saying it must be in the DNA, Sister Pauline compared Larry to his aunt, deceased Sister of Providence Rose Marie Scanlan, who formed the congregation’s first Social Awareness Committee, a...
Nicholson celebrates 50 years
2010 – Sister Mary Joan LaFleur, seated, gave the keynote address at the Nicholson reunion standing- reunion committee co-chair Anne (Culhane) BunnettSister of Providence Mary Joan LaFleur admits it was both a privilege and honour when asked to be the guest speaker at the 50th anniversary reunion at Nicholson Catholic College in Belleville on May 15, 2010. Sister Mary Joan served as Principal from September 1978 to June 1993. An excerpt from...
Jubilee 2010 – I am the Way…
Congratulations Jubilarians.standing left to right: Sisters Yvette Girard, Judith Ann Murphy, Rita Gleason, Nöella Séguin, Mary Benildaseated left to right: Sisters Nancy Hunter, Mary Regina, Monica Laton, Lucy Bethel, Loretto BolandBY CHRISTINE ROSS General Superior, Sister Pauline Lally loves to take photographs of paths – a subject that became the theme of her congratulatory speech to the Jubilarians on June 11. Drawing on these experiences...
Sister Sheila Brady’s work in prison ministry
When Sister Sheila Brady arrives for her weekly visit at a Kingston area prison, an inmate announces “the quiet flame has arrived.” Sister Sheila found a new direction in life after a two-month retreat at a prayer center in Arizona in 2000. The sabbatical came after a five-year term on the Leadership Council of the Sisters of Providence. Not knowing what life held, she reached out to God for inspiration. Sister Sheila thought a great deal about...
Scenes of Early Kingston
Construction site of the Novitiate at Heathfield, 1931BY DANIELLE HUGHES Members of the Kingston Historical Society meet monthly at the Kingston Frontenac Public Library to listen to presenters discuss Kingston history. On November 18, 2009, four young archivists came together to present “Scenes from Early Kingston and Area”; a pictorial history of the city. In addition to myself, Rodney Carter, archivist for the Religious Hospitallers of St....
Vocation / Formation News
BY SISTERS BARBARA THIFFAULT AND LUCY KEARNEY The Inter-Congregational Vocation Committee met on January 26, 2010. At this meeting, Anne Heemskerk, the new Coordinator for Youth Ministry for the Archdiocese of Kingston, presented plans underway for the upcoming Youth Conference, ‘Celebrating Catholic Youth 2010’, at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School in Kingston on May 8th. Representatives from most of the Religious Congregations will make a...
Alayne Scanlon Called to New Life
Alayne Scanlon, former Director of Communications and Providence Associate, died peacefully at the Kingston General Hospital on December 24, 2009. Grieving her loss are her son Steve, his wife Wendy, her grandchildren Philip and Angela and Angela’s husband Elliot Gauthier. Her first great grandchild Nolan Gregory was born on January 21st weighing in at 5lbs 15oz. Alayne was born in Kingston on September 7, 1930. Her father worked for the...
Information update concerning the Sisters of Providence Healing Violence Committee
The original committee was called Healing Violence Against Women. Our mandate to provide a major conference every two years over a period of ten years has been copmleted. These conferences, and the smaller workshops we arranged, were well attended. Awareness of violence against women and children was raised, as well as attitudes and actions taken to promote prevention and healing. Part of our mandate was also to provide a bursary fund for women...
Holy work on holy ground
Cate Henderson attends the Kingston Garden Expo in early March.BY CATE HENDERSON Today’s Holy work on Holy ground is the tag line of Val Westgate’s new instructional video. Indeed, Holy work is taking place out on these Holy grounds, even as I, the farmer, try to take my winter rest! The land is working hard to assess all that has been done to it over the growing season. As I write this, the land is gathering moisture and cosmic energies that...
Sanctity of Seed
BY CHRISTINE ROSS Sanctity of Seed, a film produced by the Sisters of Providence and directed by Kingstonian Val Westgate, premiered at the Kingston public library on March 10. The 5 disc DVD series introduces us to Carol and Robert Mouck, local seed savers hired by the Sisters of Providence over a decade ago. In partnership with the Sisters, their collective work resulted in the 2008 prestigious award — Canadian Geographic Environment,...
Awakening the Dreamer, changing the Dream
Symposium facilitator: Tom PickensBY CHRISTINE ROSS The workshop delivered on its promise to disturb, inspire and force real action on environmental sustainability. Awaking the Dreamer, changing the Dream was held at Providence Motherhouse in Kingston on Saturday, February 27th. Designed with the collaboration of widely recognized experts from around the world, Awakening the Dreamer pledges to wake people up from the destructive dream in which...
Letters from Peru
BY SISTER SARA JIMÉNEZ The following Christmas season letter was submitted by Sr. Sara Jiménez in San Felipé, Peru. It did not arrive in time for previous edition of Providence Pages. We always wait for gifts at Christmas, we have become accustomed to this. I would like to send a box as a gift with the following letter to the authorities of Peru and to the thousands of businesses, bankers, investors and representatives of the world...
ISARC Social Audit – taking the pulse of our city
photo courtesy: Mark Kerr, EMC KingstonJamie Swift and Tara Kainer of the SP’s JPIC office, and members of the Kingston Community Roundtable on Poverty Reduction, organized a panel discussion on poverty in February. It featured social policy expert Marvyn Novick and Senator Hugh Segal.BY JAMIE SWIFT It was exactly eight years ago this month — well before I started working here at Heathfield — that I arrived at the Vincentian Room to meet other...
Time running out to save prison farms
Sister Pauline Lally visits the prison farm at Frontenac Institution along Bath Road during a visit in July 2009.BY BRIDGET DOHERTY Time is running out to save prison farms. In a few months, the Frontenac Institution dairy herd will be auctioned off. This herd genetically dates back to the 1800’s and when it’s sold, the decision to close Canada’s prison farms is virtually irreversible. To highlight the urgency, the Kingston Save Our Prison...
Lenten Reflection on Providence Quote
This Lenten Reflection was written by Sister of Providence Frances O’Brien May you be blessed in Providence this Lenten season. Lenten Reflection on Providence Quote “Jesus replaced the love of enlightened self-interest with creative love, which gives one’s life to foster life in others… To be ‘in Christ’ is to enter into the revolutionary events of Holy Thursday by experiencing the archetypal death and resurrection, letting an old modality of...
Protect yourself in a Wired World
BY SISTER PEGGY FLANAGAN The rapid rate of technological changes, a part of the society in which we live, leaves many of us feeling a bit dizzy and unable to keep up with the latest innovations. Change is inevitable, a law of life, as we all know. Still, have you noticed that whereas the older generation used to teach the next generation, now, grandchildren teach their grandparents how to navigate the internet? Do we still have anything...
350 Climate Change
BY TARA KAINER 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide, measured in parts per million in our atmosphere. It’s the number humanity needs to avoid runaway climate change. Read more about the involvement of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul to encourage real change. This photo was taken at the “Fill the Hill” event in Ottawa on Oct. 25th. A leading expert in issues relating to energy...
Canada’s Prison Farms
BY LAWRENCE SCANLAN Why it’s wise to keep them,folly to close them down Stroke a cat.Pet a dog.Groom a horse.Observe any creature, even fish swimming in a tank. These activities have one thing in common: All lower blood pressure, relax us, and make us feel better about being alive. We are hard-wired to connect with our fellow creatures, and pet owners in this country — who spend $4 billion annually on their animal companions — know it. The...