Our Place / Chez Nous Christmas Party

On Sunday, December 13th, it was bitterly cold outside but warm and welcoming inside Our Place/ Chez Nous. It took a lot of effort to move all the furniture to the basement and replace it with long tables and 103 chairs. Everyone waited expectantly for the food to arrive from the caterer. A line formed at the door was getting longer, many people arriving early, afraid that they wouldn’t get in.

The main room was decked out with many Christmas decorations from red Christmas stockings to jolly snowmen. On the side of the room was a Christmas tree full of ornaments, including little knit angels with names taped on the front. I was told that every time one of the ‘regulars’ died, an angel was placed on the Our Place/Chez Nous Christmas tree to remember them. At the Christmas party, St. Charles Parish’s Deacon Robert Gate identified two men who had passed away this year. Robert asked that a friend or family member place their angel on the tree.

One couple, who volunteer at Our Place/Chez Nous, pointed out the angel in memory of their 34 year old son who died on December 3rd, 2005. Their voice broke as they talked about how they still missed him.

“Word that there is a Christmas Dinner travels pretty fast on the street”, said Larry Stuart, Executive Director of Our Place/Chez Nous. “Often we will see people who we have never seen before and we worry about getting our 60 to 70 regulars in for the Christmas dinner and to receive their gift bag. When we reach our capacity of 103 people, we have to close our doors and unfortunately last year we had to turn people away.”

Because most organizations provide turkey dinners to the homeless during the Christmas season, Our Place/Chez Nous decided to offer a non-traditional meal. Ham, meat balls, perogies, coleslaw, buns, soft drinks and a Santa cake was served to a very grateful room full of guests.

Santa Claus in his bright red suit and white beard mingled through the crowd ringing his bell and wishing people a Merry Christmas. As they were leaving, Santa gave them a gift bag which contained some basic necessities and a few treats. Each bag contained mitts, a warm hat, a scarf, deodorant, toothpaste and a tooth brush, candy, playing cards, a comb or brush and a $10 gift certificate for Giant Tiger.

St. Charles Deacon Claude Lambert, a regular volunteer at Our Place/Chez Nous, said he was blown away with the number of people who showed up this year to help. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. These people deserve this because they have so little.”

Rachelle Prawdzik, a grade 12 student at Collège Lorette Collegiate was one of the volunteers serving the meal. Her leadership class had collected over $200 to contribute to the Christmas dinner. Rachelle was accompanied by Nancy Duykers who is a school counselor at Collège Lorette Collegiate.

When I asked Nancy why she came to volunteer today, she replied, “I volunteered to help at Our Place/Chez Nous Christmas dinner because it felt like the right thing to do at Christmas time. I want for nothing and have been quite fortunate in my life. However, instead of giving to others as I originally intended, in the end, it was I, who received.

One hundred and three people gathered on a very cold winter night and waited "patiently" in the frigid temperatures until it was time to be invited in for Christmas dinner. The guests were polite, respectful and grateful. They were patient and appreciative. Many returned to the buffet line for seconds and some for thirds. Some returned to the buffet line simply to thank the volunteers for the delicious meal and to extend wishes of Merry Christmas.

I felt comfortable and relaxed in a room full of people I did not know. I felt humbled by the experience and quite emotional. It is said "it is better to give than to receive", but when we give from our hearts, we too, receive – ten-fold”.

St. Charles Parish Throws a Birthday Party for Jesus

Once again, the Children of St. Charles participated in the annual Birthday Party for Jesus. Held on Sunday, December 13th, the birthday party included lots of games, celebrating and food! Be sure to join us next year for this annual party.

St. Charles Birthday Girls

Who doesn’t like dressing up and going out to lunch? St. Charles “Birthday” Girl’s Club has been doing this for 15 years. Usually on the 3rd Tuesday of the month an average of 15 ladies meet at a local restaurant and “just have fun”. Reservations are made for 11:30 A.M. and the get-together lasts about an hour and a half. After an informal discussion a decision is made where they will have lunch the following month. Claire La Croix reads the list of ladies who are celebrating their birthday and they receive a birthday card from the group. Often someone will bring “door prizes” and a draw is made.
The December meeting was at Perkins restaurant in St. James. The birthday Girls, decked out in their Christmas red outfits, had a great lunch and lots of laughs. There is an open invitation to any members of St. Charles Parish who wish to join the group. If interested call Claire 885-2724.

St. Charles Helps out Operation Christmas Child Once Again

Operation Christmas Child was a huge success this year at St. Charles. Both the members of St. Charles Church and the parents and children of St. Charles Catholic School collected enough items to fill 160 Christmas shoe boxes! These boxes will join over a million others to be shipped to needy children all around the world.

This charity began in 1990 when Dave and Jill Cooke in Great Britain began sending relief supplies and children's Christmas gifts to Romania. In 1993, their charity was adapted by Samaritan's Purse. So far, over 61 million boxes have been shipped to 135 countries around the world. It has grown to become the world's largest children's Christmas program.

Pictured at the St. Charles Altar surrounded by the shoe boxes are project coordinators Walter and Madelaine Kotowich and their son Luke. Missing from the photo is Jenn Bevan, the coordinator from St Charles Catholic School.

A “Praying Powerhouse” Has Moved Into the Neighbourhood

This past Summer, St. Charles was blessed with 19 new parishioners. As Father Paul announced to the Parish upon their arrival, “ A Praying Powerhouse has moved to the neighbourhood”. They are members of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart and of Mary Immaculate.

Recently the Oblate Mother House at 601 Aulneau in St. Boniface was sold to the Manitoba Catholic Health Corporation. Over the next two years, the building which previously served as the Mother House will be renovated into individual suites. When they are completed, at least 40 of these apartments have been promised to any of the Oblate Sisters who are able to live on their own. The complex will be called Villa Aulneau.

In the intervening period, some of the Sisters who prefer not to stay on their own are residing at St. Charles Convent (formerly called St. Charles Retreat Center). It will be run like an assisted living complex. It is well suited for older residents, being on one floor and having 24 hour care with a nurse and health care aids.

The Sisters who previously lived at the retreat center have moved to apartments. This is a big change for one sister who called the retreat center home for 30 years.

Presently the convent is full to capacity with 19 permanent residents and one Sister who works out of town but uses the convent as a home base. Since moving to the convent, two Sisters who were ill have passed away.

When they were younger, the Sisters had various careers – teaching, counseling and working in food services as well as various other jobs at the Mother House.

What do retired Sisters do to fill their day? They have daily Mass and especially appreciate the French Masses at the convent on Monday at 9 a.m. and Sunday at 4:15 p.m. The Sisters who are well enough enjoy going for long walks and having exercise classes five times a week. They share the daily household chores, knit and work on puzzles. Occasionally they will receive a phone call regarding a problematic situation and the Sisters are asked to pray for the people involved. They also regularly visit the 13 members of their community who are in the Tache Center Nursing Home.

I asked them how they felt about being relocated from the St. Boniface Mother House to St. Charles Parish. Many said that it felt like they were “coming home” since they have taught at St. Charles Academy during their working years. One sister said she enjoyed seeing the children from the school running around the playground. They enjoy the quiet of their new home and feel closer to nature. The Sisters have already seen some of the wild life in the neighborhood – geese, squirrels, deer and even a fox. All agreed that the parishioners have been very friendly.

To learn more about the Congregation of the Missionary Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart and of Mary Immaculate, check out their website. The site tells about how the order began in 1904 up to their latest venture in Pattaya, Thailand.

http://www.missionaryoblateSisters.ca/missionary/historical.html

Thank you to Parishioner Eva Arseneault for writing this interview.