History
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On the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in 1953, Archbishop Lemieux formally established the new English Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Until that time, the people making the new suburb of Manor Park their home, celebrated Mass in a succession of locations in the area. It took less than four years to complete the church building.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, in the address given by Archbishop Gervais, his Grace challenged the parishioners to take the parish a "center of Carmelite prayer" and that prayerfulness should be a distinct quality of our parish.
In accepting this challenge, the parishioners believe that those who pray are drawn closer to God, and are thereby drawn closer to other people, making them more aware of the needs and concerns of their neighbours. Whether volunteering at the Shepherds of Good Hope, in local community activities or other organizations, the parish's response to Christ's service to others has contributed greatly to the larger community.
Sixty years later, Our Lady of Mount Carmel continues to be a vibrant community of God's people who come together to worship.
The closure of St. Brigid's Church saw our parish boundaries grow as well as an additional school placed under our pastoral care. In order to make our new parishioners feel welcome in their new community, the Knights of Columbus, Council 5558, built a shrine to St. Brigid in the back of the church. On the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in 1953, Archbishop Lemieux formally established the new English Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Until that time, the people making the new suburb of Manor Park their home, celebrated Mass in a succession of locations in the area. It took less than four years to complete the church building.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, in the address given by Archbishop Gervais, his Grace challenged the parishioners to take the parish a "center of Carmelite prayer" and that prayerfulness should be a distinct quality of our parish. Since January 2010, the Nigerian Catholic Community of Ottawa has become an active and integral part of our parish. They celebrate Mass in their native Igbo dialect the last Sunday of every month. Our latest venture is our new parish website. Although it is still a work in progress, we are proud to have a new way to reach out to God's people.
We pray that God will continue to bless Our Lady of Mount Carmel and its parishioners for many years to come.
Our Pastors
Over the course of our sixty years, we have been blessed with warm and friendly pastors with a deep love of God. They brougth their own special qualities and talents to the parish as wll as ideas we were eager to embrace. We thank them for all they have done. May God bless each of them and may Our Lady of Mount Carmel keep them in her care.
They are:- 1953-1967 – Rev. John Angus MacDonald
- 1967-1984 – Rev. Thomas V. O’Rourke
- 1984-1998 – Rev. Stephen Hill
- 1998-2007 – Rev. Frank Brewer
- 2007-2015 – Rev. Stephen Liang
- 2015- Rev. Jessimar Cavan-Tapia
Dedication Mass celebrated by The Most Reverend Joseph Aurèle Plourde,
Archbishop of Ottawa on March 17, 1957