Mass Times
REGULAR WEEKEND MASSES Location of the Following Masses Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy Gym 3100A Stewart Creek Drive Saturday Mass 7:00 pm Sunday Mass 10:00 am WEEKDAY MASSES Location of the Following Masses Office: Unit 108, 104 Kananaskis Way (Same building as the Canmore Registry) Monday No Mass Tuesday 6:30 pm Wednesday 12:15 pm Thursday 12:15 pm Friday 8:30 am The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available from 6:00pm-6:45pm on Saturdays, from 5:30pm-6:15pm on Tuesdays and by appointment with Fr. Nathan |
Contact UsOFFICE LOCATION Unit 108, 104 Kananaskis Way (Same building as the Canmore Registry) OFFICE MAILING ADDRESS 2 Silvertip Trail Canmore, AB T1W 2Z7 OFFICE HOURS Monday - CLOSED Tuesday 9:00am - 3:30 pm Wednesday 9:00am - 3:30 pm Thursday 9:00am - 3:30 pm Friday 9:00am - 1:00 pm Phone 403-678-5022 Fax 403-678-1834 Emergency 403-675-5044 Pastor: Fr. Nathan Siray frnsiray@gmail.com Parish Secretary: Ada Veronneau rockiesparish@shaw.ca Deacon: Deacon Brian West bgwest@shaw.ca Donations: Richard Veronneau rveronneau@outlook.com 
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Spiritual Reflections From a Priest in the Rockies
On August 15th, our Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. When Venerable Pope Pius XII declared Mary's Assumption to be a dogma of the Catholic Faith, he said that he was simply affirming what Christians have believed since the very beginnings of our faith: That when the earthly life of the Blessed Virgin had run its course, she did not experience the corruption of the tomb and was assumed body and soul into heaven.
Like every Marian Dogma, these teachings are less about the glories of the Blessed Virgin and more about giving further praise, glory and honour to the Most Holy Trinity. Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven as a witness to the power of her Son's resurrection from the dead. She was the first to experience what Jesus had won through the victory of His Cross: The resurrection of the body and definitive salvation over sin and death. Mary now experiences what all Christians hope to one day know: the resurrection of our bodies to eternal life and joy of knowing we will dwell in the Kingdom of God forevermore.
May Our Lady inspires us to look forward to the day of our resurrection and peace in the Kingdom of light, happiness and peace.
Fr. Nathan
"Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did." St. Maximilian Kolbe
On August 15th, our Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. When Venerable Pope Pius XII declared Mary's Assumption to be a dogma of the Catholic Faith, he said that he was simply affirming what Christians have believed since the very beginnings of our faith: That when the earthly life of the Blessed Virgin had run its course, she did not experience the corruption of the tomb and was assumed body and soul into heaven.
Like every Marian Dogma, these teachings are less about the glories of the Blessed Virgin and more about giving further praise, glory and honour to the Most Holy Trinity. Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven as a witness to the power of her Son's resurrection from the dead. She was the first to experience what Jesus had won through the victory of His Cross: The resurrection of the body and definitive salvation over sin and death. Mary now experiences what all Christians hope to one day know: the resurrection of our bodies to eternal life and joy of knowing we will dwell in the Kingdom of God forevermore.
May Our Lady inspires us to look forward to the day of our resurrection and peace in the Kingdom of light, happiness and peace.
Fr. Nathan
"Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did." St. Maximilian Kolbe
The Marble Statuary and Restoration Presentation given on August 4/5, 2018 at Our Lady of the Snows Academy, Canmore
Pastoral Letter from the Roman Catholic Bishops of Alberta and the NWT concerning abuse in the Church: A Pastoral Response.
To read this letter, please click on the following link:
| alberta-nwt_catholic_bishops_response_to_pennsylvania_abuse_report__002_....pdf |
PHOTOS FROM THE FINAL MASS IN SACRED HEART CHURCH
On the First Sunday of Advent, the Bishop announced his desire and intention to designate Our Lady of the Rockies Parish as a Marian Diocesan Shrine on the day of the consecration of the new church.
As we move forward towards the Shrine, I am reminded of the nature of our Christian life here on earth as being on a pilgrimage… from this earthly life to heaven as God beckons us, from immaturity to the maturity of faith, from death to life…
On Sunday, January 28, 2018 at the 11 am Mass, we will have Bishop William McGrattan celebrate our last Mass here in Sacred Heart Church. This, for sure, will bring about great sadness as we let go of our current church building. This will bring about feelings of being without a home as we will be celebrating Sunday Masses in the gym of Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy. This will bring feelings of uncertainty as we become truly vulnerable to elements over which we have no direct control. But are not these the common experiences of human life?
In fact, when we think of our ancestors, the Israelites, being pushed out of Egypt, they too grumbled when they found themselves living in the desert. They constantly reminisced about the past, as though it was better than their present state.
I suspect that we too will feel this when we move out of this church and experience the inconveniences, the unfamiliar spaces, the awkwardness, being around different people, and not having our special spot or favourite pew. However, just like the Israelites, we are called to see the big picture of God. We are not closing down as a parish. We are not shrinking. Instead, we are being called to a greater participation in the work of the New Evangelization!
Sometimes we may feel that tourism is hurting us as a parish, as many people come and go. We know the ups and downs, the slow seasons and the peak seasons, the half-filled church and the overly packed Masses.
Becoming a shrine parish, we have been given this special role in our diocese to celebrate tourism and not curse it. We are called to bring out the spiritual elements of that trek towards the Rockies, teaching others the path of pilgrimage. Ours is not just a pilgrimage towards the new church building, but also, ultimately, towards God in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies will become the gateway to spiritually experiencing the special presence of God, on the way to the Rockies, and on the way back to our ordinary lives.
We pray the Shrine will become a humble beacon of Christ through His Church, a testament of the discipleship of Mary and of the faithfulness of God.
Just as the Rockies feel like the crowning glory of God in the magnificent beauty of His creation, we hope that through the dedication of the Shrine to Our Lady, we can honour her as the crowning glory of God in all of creation.
May we all be graced on this pilgrimage, as we leave this church towards the Shrine Church. May we not curse the way even when inconvenienced. Let us instead, find in our journey the blessings of God and the lessons of love that we are to learn. May we be the best of teachers to others on how to make a pilgrimage to God.
To those of you who are visitors, I urge you to join us on this pilgrimage to the Shrine Church. Join us at our Sunday Masses in the gym of Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy. Join us for weekday Masses at our temporary parish office. While we are without a church building, we never stop being Church.
Hopefully, when the Shrine Church is completed, we can truly offer you greater hospitality here in the Rockies.
God bless you.
Our Lady of the Rockies, pray for us!
In Christ,
Fr. Wilbert Chin Jon
Former Pastor
As we move forward towards the Shrine, I am reminded of the nature of our Christian life here on earth as being on a pilgrimage… from this earthly life to heaven as God beckons us, from immaturity to the maturity of faith, from death to life…
On Sunday, January 28, 2018 at the 11 am Mass, we will have Bishop William McGrattan celebrate our last Mass here in Sacred Heart Church. This, for sure, will bring about great sadness as we let go of our current church building. This will bring about feelings of being without a home as we will be celebrating Sunday Masses in the gym of Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy. This will bring feelings of uncertainty as we become truly vulnerable to elements over which we have no direct control. But are not these the common experiences of human life?
In fact, when we think of our ancestors, the Israelites, being pushed out of Egypt, they too grumbled when they found themselves living in the desert. They constantly reminisced about the past, as though it was better than their present state.
I suspect that we too will feel this when we move out of this church and experience the inconveniences, the unfamiliar spaces, the awkwardness, being around different people, and not having our special spot or favourite pew. However, just like the Israelites, we are called to see the big picture of God. We are not closing down as a parish. We are not shrinking. Instead, we are being called to a greater participation in the work of the New Evangelization!
Sometimes we may feel that tourism is hurting us as a parish, as many people come and go. We know the ups and downs, the slow seasons and the peak seasons, the half-filled church and the overly packed Masses.
Becoming a shrine parish, we have been given this special role in our diocese to celebrate tourism and not curse it. We are called to bring out the spiritual elements of that trek towards the Rockies, teaching others the path of pilgrimage. Ours is not just a pilgrimage towards the new church building, but also, ultimately, towards God in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies will become the gateway to spiritually experiencing the special presence of God, on the way to the Rockies, and on the way back to our ordinary lives.
We pray the Shrine will become a humble beacon of Christ through His Church, a testament of the discipleship of Mary and of the faithfulness of God.
Just as the Rockies feel like the crowning glory of God in the magnificent beauty of His creation, we hope that through the dedication of the Shrine to Our Lady, we can honour her as the crowning glory of God in all of creation.
May we all be graced on this pilgrimage, as we leave this church towards the Shrine Church. May we not curse the way even when inconvenienced. Let us instead, find in our journey the blessings of God and the lessons of love that we are to learn. May we be the best of teachers to others on how to make a pilgrimage to God.
To those of you who are visitors, I urge you to join us on this pilgrimage to the Shrine Church. Join us at our Sunday Masses in the gym of Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy. Join us for weekday Masses at our temporary parish office. While we are without a church building, we never stop being Church.
Hopefully, when the Shrine Church is completed, we can truly offer you greater hospitality here in the Rockies.
God bless you.
Our Lady of the Rockies, pray for us!
In Christ,
Fr. Wilbert Chin Jon
Former Pastor
BUILDING THE NEW CHURCH
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ST. JOSEPH
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Things you may want to know
Our LogoAs a Marian parish, we entrust ourselves to her maternal protection.
Our Lady of the Rockies, Pray for us. 
Booking for 2020We will be moving out of the current church in February 2018. We are not able to make bookings in 2018 or 2019.
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Welcome to your parish in Canmore.
Our Lady of the Rockies Parish now only covers the Town of Canmore, Alberta. The pastor is Fr. Nathan Siray. St. Mary's Church in Banff is its own parish under the pastorship of Fr. Dan Stevenot. You may access their new website here. 
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