ExCathedra is now available. This edition features the Dean's vision for 2024 along with information on music for Easter and this year's restoration projects. Enjoy!

...directly serves our Diocesan Community Ministries (Ottawa Pastoral Counselling Centre; Refugee Ministry; Centre 105 Cornwall; Belong Ottawa; Cornerstone Housing)? In 2024, this will amount to almost $60K.

"Did you know?" is a new feature in our weekly newsletter. If you have a question, be in touch!

The ACW have been busy the last two weeks brewing up a fresh batch of marmalade just in time for Easter. Stop by their table in the Great Hall at coffee time to get yours.

Palm Sunday/The Sunday of the Passion, March 24th
8:30 am Holy Eucharist with Blessing of Palms
10:30 am Choral Eucharist with Liturgy of the Palms
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, March 25, 26 and 27th
12.05 pm Sung Eucharist in the Chancel
Maundy Thursday, March 28th
7 pm Choral Eucharist with the Stripping of the Altar
Good Friday, March 29th
Noon Solemnity of the Lord’s Passion
3 pm Sacred Concert
Holy Saturday, March 30th
8 pm A Vigil for Easter
Easter Morning, March 31st
8:30 am Holy Eucharist
10:30 am Festal Eucharist

In what has become a regular feature of Holy Week here at Christ Church, we invite you to join us as the Cathedral Girls Choir performs Giovanni Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” accompanied by strings and continuo; a devotional and solemn musical offering in the shadow of the Cross. 

The 2024 Easter Blood Drive is an interdenominational effort to encourage Christians in Ottawa to donate blood or plasma. While 1 in 2 Canadians are eligible to donate, only 1 in 81 does. Book an appointment to donate at Canadian Blood Services donation sites (Carling Avenue for blood or Place d’Orleans for plasma) from March 23 to 30. It’s easy to make your donation part of a team effort, joining Christians in Anglican and other churches across the city. Simply:
1. Sign in or create your donor account at the Partners for Life portal on the Canadian Blood Services website at https://myaccount.blood.ca/en or the Give Blood app.
2. In your account, click on “Join a team” to join by typing out and selecting the Easter Blood Drive Team.
3. Book your appointment to donate blood or plasma during Holy Week or any time during 2024.
4. Donate once or as often as you are eligible.

Questions? Visit easterblooddrive.ca or email info@easterblooddrive.ca.
The Easter Blood Drive is supported by Love Ottawa and CHRI Christian radio.

Easter is a lovely time to honour a loved one through a financial donation toward memorial flowers, as they will be resplendent! The names of those being memorialized will be printed in the Order of Service for Easter Sunday. To make a memorial donation, please contact the cathedral office by (info@ottawacathedral.ca or 613.236.9149).

An Action Plan for Contextual Mission and New Worshipping Communities was agreed at Synod in October 2023 to help us be a Spirit-led Church and create new worshipping communities in parishes across our diocese. Monthly resources have been developed to pray, listen, consider and be inspired. These resources invite us to reflect and pray about how being fed by the Spirit can and should guide our actions in the world. You will find prayers of the people (PRAY), a Bible study guide for a selected Scripture passage (LISTEN), information on religiosity in Canada (CONSIDER) and a short video interview with Kitty Galt, whose actions at All Saints’ Sandy Hill were the origins of Cornerstone Housing for Women (INSPIRE).

Christ Church Cathedral
For a blessed Holy Week.
Those on our Hearts
All those whom we hold near, who are ill or suffering and for those who care for them.
Diocese of Ottawa
The Right Reverend Dr. Shane Parker; St. John the Evangelist, Ottawa, The Reverend Canon Gary van der Meer.
Canadian Cathedrals
St. Matthew's Cathedral, Brandon, MB, The Very Reverend Don Bernhardt.
Anglican Church of Canada (ACC)
The theological colleges and training programs within the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada: The Atlantic School of Theology, Montreal Diocesan Theological, College, and Queen’s College.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC)
The congregations of the Northwestern Ontario area of the Manitoba-Northwestern Ontario Synod.
Companion Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East
The Diocese of Jerusalem, Archbishop Hosam Naoum, and for peace in Israel and Palestine.

Time of Prayer
As we engage in a Time of Prayer across our diocese to listen for your divine sparks in our midst, we remember that you, O God, have been with your church since its beginning. You are with us now, and you will be with us as we prayerfully discern how to support your action in the world you love. Help us keep our hearts and minds open to hear your desires for our diocesan church, our parish, and our communities, and give us your wisdom and grace so that we can faithfully bring them to fruition. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

A Prayer for Peace
O God of all justice and peace, we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land. Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths - Jews, Muslims, Christians, and for all people of the land. While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to the violence and the establishment of peace, we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples. Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Requests for prayer may be sent to the office at info@ottawacathedral.ca and will be prayed for during the week by our Clergy and Prayer Team.

Please note that access to Queen Street between Bay and Bronson is now restricted as part of city works installing new storm and sanitary sewers, sidewalks, curbs, catch basins, and completing paving, traffic calming, and landscaping over the next several months. We do not have details as to the extent nor timing of the closures so please plan accordingly when travelling to and from the Cathedral. We thank you in advance for your patience as this work is undertaken.

Just 300 metres away from the Cathedral, both sides of the Library and Archives at 395 Wellington offer lots of free parking on Sundays.

Looking for more parking near our Cathedral? Click on the following link to find a map and list of "Free on Sundays" parking spots, most of them within easy walking distance appreciating the situation can change without notice due to special events and/or construction.

Please direct questions or comments to info@ottawacathedral.ca.

Children are welcome to fully participate in worship and the life of the Cathedral! Activity sheets and supplies are available in the bookshelves at the entrance to the Cathedral. Please help yourself to these resources or ask a sidesperson to locate them. There is also a table in the Great Hall to use and the labyrinth to walk. If your child is interested in being a junior server, member of a choir, or a reader, please speak with our clergy.

Readings for Next Sunday

Easter Sunday - March 31st, 2024
Readings | Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Mark 16:1-8

Questions?
For more information on anything in this newsletter or if you are in need of pastoral care or other assistance,
please contact us by calling (613) 236.9149 or emailing info@ottawacathedral.ca.