On Thursday, August 25 Scholastic Peter Nowak OMI renewed his yearly commitment with the Oblates at St. Charles Scholasticate in Ottawa. Bishop Gerry Weisner OMI presided at a celebration of the Eucharist and received Peter’s vows. Also participating in the liturgy were Fr. Provincial Janusz Blazejak, Fr. Wojciech Kowal, Fr. Stanislaw Kowal, Fr. Jacek Nosowicz and, of course, Fr. Tadeusz Nowak, Superior of the Scholasticate.

                   On September 1^st, Scholastic Pawel Ratajczak will renew his annual vows in Birmingham, England. Fr. Provincial has delegated Fr. Tadeusz Nowak to receive his vows.

                  Given the change of Provincial administration, the Formation Board, Finance Committee, Provincial Treasurer, Renovation and Planning Committee, Archives,  Superior of Provincial House, Vocations Directors, Formation Committee, Ongoing Formation Director, Seniors Committee, MAMI etc. have been dissolved.  If any of our Fathers is interested in working for any of the above committees, please contact Father Provincial.  The commissions and groups will re-form during the first sitting of the Provincial Council, which will take place from October 10-15. A few Fathers have already volunteered to be part of certain committees.

                  Our 2005-2006 calendars – a project connected to the 50^th anniversary events in our Province – has been printed and already shipped out.  I can say that   they look fantastic and I am very happy that we were able to complete them on time.  I’d also like to remind you of the way in which we are to distribute the calendars:  We are to give them out for a donation offered in support of our congregation’s missionary work.  We are not to set a price and sell them for any concrete amount.  All the offerings received are to be sent to the Provincial house: Att. 50^th Anniversary Committee.  This will help us offset the cost of printing the calendars and also of producing our anniversary book, which will have a special significance.

                  Please remember Fr. Ziggy Musielski in your prayers, as his health has significantly deteriorated lately. The cancer has spread out through his body, affecting more internal organs. Fr. Ziggy had been at Toronto General Hospital since August 8^th and he will be transferred to Copernicus Lodge, most likely this Thursday, September 1^st. His room will be #324, 3^rd  floor, North.  Please keep him in your prayers.

                  Our Oblate retreat for 2006 will take place at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre from January 8-13, 2006.  Please mark this date in your calendar and be sure not to have any Mass intentions booked during that time (this applies especially to Fathers in the Toronto area).  The congress marking the 50^th anniversary of our Province will take place from June 11-16, 2006, also at Queen of Apostles in Mississauga.

                  After many difficulties in trying to obtain a visa, Fr. Antoni Ludwiczak finally arrived safely in Canada and is currently working at Holy Ghost parish in Winnipeg.

                     We remind everyone that we still have anniversary vocation posters available.  We ask that they be placed in all the prominent spots inside our churches and offices.  If anyone needs additional posters, please call the Provincial office.

                    We warmly welcome into our Province Fr. Wojciech Kurzydlo, who was ordained on June 21, 2005 in Obra, Poland and received an obedience from Fr. General to come to Canada.  Fr. Wojciech will arrive on September 11 and will spend his first year working at St. Maximilian Kolbe parish, learning English concurrently.  Beginning the following September, as per our Provincial policy, Fr. Wojciech will work at an English-speaking parish to further improve his knowledge of the language.  Fr. Wojciech, we welcome you and wish you God’s many graces.

New e-mail addresses:

Giovanni Gioppato          gioppato@omiap.org

Wojciech Blach             wojtekomi@omiap.org

Jacob Szwarc                jrszwarc@omiap.org

Peter Nowak                  nowakp@omiap.org

Benito Framarin             benito@omiap.org

Andrzej Sowa                andrzejs@omiap.org

Wilhelm Rozmysłowski  wilhelmr@omiap.org

Marcin Mironiuk             marcinm@omiap.org

Mieczyslaw Burdzy        mietekb@omiap.org

Stanisław Kowal            stanleyomi@op.pl

Maciej Pajak                 matpaj@op.pl

Alessandro Costa          acosta@rcec.london.on.ca

Wojciech Kurzydlo         wkurzydlo@yahoo.com

Chris Adamiec               chris.adamiec@gmail.com

If you would like to have our e-mail address please contact Fr. Provincial and he will direct you on how to set it up on our server. For your information: our server supports smtp, which means that you can receive and send mail from your computer or laptop anywhere in the world without making any changes.

We remember the following deceased confreres:

            Fr. Kania Jerzy             September 27, 1974
            Fr. Swiatek Edward     September 6, 2004

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord.
And may perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
 

A note from the Provincial

his summer has been very busy for most of us with World Youth Days and many of us taking on new assignments.  My favourite month for vacationing, July, went by very quickly and I have still not had a true holiday.  The last weeks were spent preparing the 50^th anniversary calendar of our Province for printing.  Many corrections were necessary – and I would like to thank the many fathers, including Fr. John Mazur, who patiently perfected the material so we were able to print calendars on time.  The undertaking was a success, though I understand that some were disappointed that not all of our Oblate work was covered in the calendar.  I tried my best, though some things were simply outside my control. 

Later on, I was busy preparing for the annual pilgrimage to Midland.  Our guest this year was Bishop Piotr Libera of Warsaw.  The Polish altar was partially renovated and a new mosaic was blessed.  The remaining renovations will take place either in late fall or early next year.  A record number of pilgrims came to Midland this year.  Every weekend since becoming Provincial, I have been engaged in various pastoral activities throughout the Toronto-area parishes and in other parishes across Canada.  So it will be over the next number of weeks. 

In the meantime, I am working on the book for our Province’s 50^th anniversary.  Fr. Jaroslaw Rozanski OMI, professor at the Cardinal Wyszynski University in Warsaw, has come to help polish out the Polish texts stylistically.  When the Polish version is complete, Fr. Chris Pulchny, Fr. John Mazur and Fr. Rudy Nowakowski will polish up the English text.  The time-consuming task of picking out and editing photos also remains. 

In the meantime I am also working on new vocational material in the form of a full-colour pamphlet that will be produced in English and Polish and distributed in the hope of attracting new vocations. 

Last week, I also met with Bishop Gerald Weisner OMI from Prince George diocese.  We discussed our commitment to that diocese.  I also met with Fr. Andy Boyer in Ottawa, the Provincial of Lacombe Province and with Douglas Jeffrey. 

The changes that have taken place in our Province are also time consuming since banking requires many administrative changes and notifications of the same.  A few things requiring immediate attention also happened, but thanks to God, everything is moving forward.

Once again, I wish all of you God’s many graces in your daily lives and entrust you to the care of our Lord and His Blessed Mother.   

Fr. Janusz Blazejak OMI