29 May 2020- The Marian blue and star ceilings are nearing completion! One final touch of beauty in place, just in time for the Dedication Mass tomorrow!
28 May 2020- the doors and grill for the confessional are finished!
20 May 2020- The sanctuary crucifix is installed! May it serve to remind us of the Holy Sacrifice we celebrate at every Mass and of the infinite love Our Lord has for us.
18 May 2020- The sanctuary crucifix is in place! Stay tuned for the install of the crucifix corpus of Our Lord and the statues of Our Lady of Sorrows and St John the Beloved beside the cross. And rest assured Our Lord’s arms will be reattached!!!!
17 May 2020- As we move into the final finishing stages inside the nave of the Shrine Church, the time has come for the sanctuary bell, which indicates when Mass begins, and the holy water fonts to be installed. The 12 consecration cross and candles have also been placed on 12 columns throughout the nave. These candles will be lit as part of the celebration of the Dedication Mass and also on the yearly anniversary of the Dedication.
12 May 2020- Final wood framing for the 4 marble reliefs in the Rosary Chapel. Amazing to see how these 4 altar frontals have been given new life in the Shrine Church!
10 May 2020- To all Mothers, thank you for your yes to life, thank you for your yes to family, thank you to your yes to love. Happy Mothers Day!
7 May 2020- Our sign is up and in place! The dark skies don't quite bring out the lovely blue finish but be sure to drive by and see it in the sunshine! With thanks to CanSign in Canmore for their amazing work on the sign!
6 May 2020- The frame for our new outdoor sign is in place! Stay tuned for photos of the final installation
5 May 2020- Yesterday marked the final statue installation in the new Shrine Church: The two adoring angels next to the tabernacle. May the prayers of the angels keep us safe from all evil and all harm and may they be ever before the tabernacles of our churches.
3 May 2020- The trial run for hanging the sanctuary gates was a resounding success!
2 May 2020- Marble for the Angel podiums beside the tabernacle, the top portion of the ambo and trim being installed. Also exciting to see the sanctuary gates arriving onsite and prepped for installation!
30 April 2020- The altar mensa has arrived and has been set in place. All of the prayer intentions received as of yesterday are safely inside of the altar.
29 April 2020- On this feast day of St. Catherine of Siena, we rejoice that this beautiful statue of her likeliness will be within the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies. I believe that she will be a powerful intercessor for our new House of Prayer and be a source of inspiration and devotion for all who take time to pray before this statue.
The pew installation is also moving ahead nicely and the two adoring angels wait patiently to be place beside the Tabernacle!!!
28 April 2020- Yesterday marked another important achievement in the building of the Shrine Church: The installation of the baptismal font! Many hours of careful planning and precise installation, and many prayers, assured our font is safely in place, just as you enter into the nave of the church.
May this font, which has already baptized many souls in its former home at Our Lady of Peace in Buffalo, NY, continue its saving mission of removing the stain of Original Sin, welcoming new children into the Church and transforming them into temples of the Most Holy Trinity.
27 April 2020- The new pews for the Shrine Church have arrived and are currently being installed!
24 April 2020- Work continues on the tabernacle for the new shrine church. Great to see our adoring angels again and the top portion of the baldacchino finished!
22 April 2020- On behalf of Our Lady of the Rockies Parish and ModCo Structures, we hope this illuminated cross will be a sign of our gratitude to all front line workers here in Canmore, in the Bow Valley and around the world who are keeping us safe in these difficult times.
22 April 2020- The 4 marble reliefs of the Childhood of the Jesus Christ were installed in the Rosary Chapel yesterday. We also see the light that will illuminate the ambry now in place.
21 April 2020- The installation of the baldacchino, overtop of where the tabernacle will eventually be placed, was a success! Next up the pedestals for the two adoring angels on either side of the baldacchino and the placement of the tabernacle!
21 April 2020- Some shots of the tabernacle reassembly and preparation for the baldacchino installation for the tabernacle in the new shrine church. Please pray for everyone involved in today’s installation! Stay tuned for more photos...
19 April 2020- On this Divine Mercy Sunday, please join me in offering a prayer of thanksgiving for the continued building of the new Shrine Church and its nearing completion.
Here we some photos of the wood paneling in the Rosary Chapel and the placements for the 4 marble reliefs depicting the early Childhood of Christ. Also are updated photos of the marble statuary, the finished ambry, marble tops for the tabernacle pedestals, preparation for the install of the baptismal font and reappearance of the header for the Sanctuary Gate.
17 April 2020- Part III of the Stained Glass Window install shows the interesting details on this window, such as the Auspice Maria on Mary's cloak, the Stags, details on the hands and feet of Jesus and Mary and a mine shaft and cart to honour Canmore's mining heritage.
16 April 2020- Part II of the Stained Glass Window install focuses on images of the Christ Child.
15 April 2020- The day has finally arrived to announce that the Stained Glass Window of Our Lady of the Rockies has finally been installed! It took all day but every piece of the window is safely in place! It is hard to describe the overwhelming sense of Joy I feel right now!
Over the next few days, I will offer my favourite pictures of today's installation. Today will focus on the top portion of the window depicting the Three Sisters and images of the face of the Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth.
14 April 2020- The Stained Glass window of Our Lady of the Rockies awaits its installation over the next few days! Please keep our installation team in your prayers as they begin their work tomorrow morning. Cabinets for the Sacristies, Offices, Kiosk, Clergy Vestry, Altar Server Vestry, and Kitchen also arriving onsite and starting to be installed.
10 April 2020- Good Friday
“For us, dear Jesus, was your Incarnation,
Your bitter death and shameful Crucifixion,
Your burial and your glorious Resurrection,
For our Salvation.”
Thank you Jesus for the Cross.
Thank you Our Lady of Sorrows for not abandoning your Son.
9 April 2020- The scaffolding is in place for the installation of the stained glass window of Our Lady of the Rockies, beginning after Easter. The scaffolding provided for some unique photos of the upper sections of the clerestory!
I will be away at St. Mary's Cathedral this week helping to serve as the MC for the Chrism Mass and Holy Triduum so no construction updates until after Easter. God bless you all!
8 April 2020- The remaining 5 Stations of the Cross have been installed. Wood paneling behind the Queenship of Mary Statue is nearing completion, confessional lights are operational and we had our first drone pilgrim in the Shrine Church!
7 April 2020- Yesterday we installed 9 of the 14 Stations of the Cross! 5 stations to go and the Roman numerals at each station remain to be installed. A great joy for me be part of this installation during Holy Week and ponder Our Lord’s Passion as we set each station in place.
2 April 2020- The cove and pedant lights were illuminated this evening. The actual colour of the light is a warmer yellow than these pictures do them justice. Fiat Lux!
1 April 2020- As we move into April, it is exciting to see so many finishes taking place in the new shrine church. The altar, ambo and pedestals for the tabernacle are nearly finished and await their new marble tops. Statuary lighting being put in place, the wood paneling for the servery opening is installed, the Columbarium nearly finished and cabinets continue to go into the Sacristies and at the small kiosk area.
Let us ask Our Lady of the Rockies and St Joseph to bestow a spirit of encouragement in our trades and keep everyone onsite safe and healthy!
29 March 2020- An afternoon walk up on the Benchlands revealed how close we are to having the exterior of the Shrine Church complete! Just the upper clerestory remains to be stuccoed!
Our Lady of the Rockies, please continue to watch over the Bow Valley and bring health and wellbeing to one and all.
27 March 2020- After learning that all publicly celebrated Masses in the Diocese of Calgary, including the the Holy Week liturgies and Easter Sunday, will be cancelled for an indefinite period of time, I am praying more than ever that construction updates of the new Shrine Church will be ray of light in these dark times.
Here we see detailing work on the Ambo, the columns and capitals that will support the baldacchino over the tabernacle, the painted wooden cross that will go on top of the baldacchino and the install of the refurbished door for the Tabernacle of Repose in the main sacristy.
26 March 2020- When visiting the new church yesterday, I was encouraged by our ecclesiastical artist Josef to write something on the inside of the altar before the Mensa is placed over top.
I opted to write a portion of Psalm 42:4 “I will go onto the Altar of God” in memorial of all the bishops and priests who will offer the Holy Mass upon this altar in days to come.
I also wrote Auspice Maria “under the protection of Mary”, as she will continue to watch over her Shrine Church and her children around the world.
Be assured of my prayers when I offer the Holy Mass daily
25 March 2020- Today’s Solemnity of the Annunciation invites us to ponder the mystery of the Incarnation, that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, co-eternal with the Father, became flesh in the Womb of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and became like us in all things but sin.
This means that Mary became the first tabernacle, the first to house within her body the very Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ and know communion with her Lord and her Son.
The new shrine church is blessed to have this tabernacle serve as our tabernacle of repose in our main sacristy for those times when the Blessed Sacrament needs to be removed from the main tabernacle and properly reserved in the sacristy. It will also serve as part of the Altar of Repose on Holy Thursday. The tabernacle door is currently being refurbished and will soon be installed.
24 March 2020- Finishing work continues on the main altar as the 4 corner columns and capitals are now in place. Work on the podium for the tabernacle is underway, as are finishing details for the concrete pedestals that will support the transept statues of Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth and the beautifully moving statue of the Death of St. Joseph in the company of Jesus and Mary. Thank you Lord for another day of work at the Shrine Church!
23 March 2020- Thank you Jesus, Mary and Joseph that construction continues at the new Shrine Church! Further work on the Altar and Ambo, pendent lights installed in the Narthex, wood finishing continues in the Columbarium, Ambry awaits its interior light and pedestals for the Two Adoring Angels beside the Tabernacle nearly complete.
20 March 2020- In the midst so much upheaval around the world and in our local communities and parishes this week, it was a great consolation to see so much wonderful work taking place at the new Shrine Church!
Please continue to pray for our workers and trades, for them to continue their work in a safe and healthy manner, and to implore Our Lady of the Rockies and St. Joseph to watch over us!
18 March 2020- Every Catholic priest is ordained into the Priesthood of Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest. The Letter to the Hebrews states Our Lord was ordained a priest in the Order of Melchizedek (Her 5:6). I was blessed today to exercise my own priestly work in the order of Melchizedek by doing some very Old Testament style priestly work: Helping to build a holy altar for the Lord of Hosts! And with the climbing gyms closed and the rock climbing season not quite yet upon us, was a great way to work out the forearms and work on grip strength!
16-17 March 2020- As our parishes and diocese comes confronts the painful cancellation of Public Masses in our parishes, it was consoling to see the new Altar and Ambo of the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies beginning to be installed over the past two days!
In these difficult times, may the building of this Ambo where the Word of the Lord be proclaimed and this Altar upon which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered in the New Shrine Church, remind us that Our Lord is faithful to His Church and will restore the celebration of His Sacrifice of Love to our parish families when He so wills...
14 March 2020- Frames for the refurbished Stations of the Cross of the new Shrine Church were dropped off for their final black powder coating on Thursday. Excited to see them onsite in the next two weeks!
May they be a reminder to consider praying the Stations during Fridays in Lent, especially for those bearing heavy crosses at this time.
12 March 2020- An exciting day onsite as the base of the baptismal font was installed. Tiling can now commence around the base of the baptismal font and the actual font will be installed once the flooring is complete in the nave. And I continue to be in awe of the play of light in shadow coming from the clerestory windows...
10 March 2020- The catwalk for the bell tower is completely installed. The Rundle Stone for the front entrance is finished, tile flooring is now half way laid throughout the nave and the hardwood stairs leading up into the sanctuary are being installed.
3 March 2020- The nave pendent lights are nearly all installed and the tile flooring continues in the nave of the church.
27 February 2020- The play of light and shadow will be a wonderful feature in the clerestory windows of the new Shrine Church.
26 February 2020- As Lent begins today with Ash Wednesday, so too do we see the beginnings of the blue Marian paint being applied on the ceilings beneath the arches in nave of the church. Gold star stencils will be painted once the blue painting is applied and finished.
More light pedants are also being installed in the nave and sanctuary and we had our first look at the warm light they will provide! A blessed Lent to one and all, please continue to keep our workers in your prayers and consider in your Lenten almsgiving a donation to the building of this new House of Prayer for Our Lord and Our Lady!
25 February 2020- The Columbarium niche cabinets are currently being constructed. The Columbarium's walls have been painted and light fixtures are being installed. The Columbarium should be complete in the next few weeks, making it the first finished room in the new shrine church! The tile and hard wood flooring in the sanctuary is also being set in place and the tile will continue throughout the nave and into the narthex.
18 February 2020- Pendant lights are beginning to be hung in the sanctuary and nave. More finished stucco is beginning to be seen on the parish hall and main entrance to the church. And the last phase of scaffolding going up for the exterior finish on the side of the building where the stained glass window will be installed.
4 February 2020- Round 2 of determine heights for pendant lights in the nave and parish hall. Drywall work and painting taking place throughout the building. Here we can see progress in the parish offices, the confessionals, and throughout the nave. And tiling complete in downstairs washroom floors.
1 January 2020- “Mary has given birth to a King whose name is everlasting; hers the joy of motherhood, hers the virgin’s glory. Never was the like seen before, never shall it be seen again, alleluia.” Antiphon for Lauds of the Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God.
May our Mother and Queen watch over and intercede for us all in 2020! Here is another sneak peek of the stained glass image of Our Lady of the Rockies!
29 December 2019- A rosary walk in honour of the Holy Family on top the Benchlands trail above the Shrine Church allowed for some wintry progress shots. Black + White felt like the best medium for the afternoon light.
25 December 2019- A blessed and holy Christmas to one and all from the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies. Jesus loves you!
24 December 2019- A few shots of the interior and exterior of the shrine church as we prepare for Christmas Eve!
12 November 2019- Windows continue to be installed and more arriving onsite! Moving ever closer to the full enclosure of the building.
26 October 2019- The Sanctus beam header of the Sanctuary Gate was installed this afternoon. A massive thank you to Ken's Iron Works for crafting and installing this beam and Modco for the another fine install within the Shrine Church.
5 October 2019- Pictures of the installation of statue of the Queenship of Mary with the Christ Child in the East Transept of the Nave and the statue of St. Catherine of Siena in the Rosary Chapel.
Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, continue to watch over our building project and enfold us in your motherly love.
St. Catherine of Siena, continue to intercede for our workers, keep them safe and inspire all to lead a life of holiness that so exemplified your life in Christ.
4 October 2019- Yesterday marked another milestone in the Shrine Church's construction: The installation of 3 more statues! Stayed tuned over the next few days to see the how these installations unfolded!
Here are scenes of the install of the Death of St. Joseph Statue in the west transept of the nave.
St. Joseph, patron of a holy death, be with all those who are approaching the end of this life, grant them the grace of final perseverance and bestow strength and comfort to their families.
22 September 2019- The Shrine Church construction enters into the Fall Season! Here is praying and hoping for mild weather for our workers!
10 September 2019- Restoration work on the Purgatory Statue continues.
8 August 2019- We can begin to see how the clerestory windows in the new shrine will allow for an interplay of light & shadow throughout the building
7 July 2019- Thank you to the visitor to our parish who captured these amazing photos of the Shrine Church after yesterday evening's downpour!
1 July 2019- A Blessed Canada Day from The Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies!
12 June 2019- Second layer of roofing continues over the nave and sanctuary. Wall framing for the parish office underway and prep work for tomorrow's second concrete slab pour almost complete. Please pray for warm and dry weather tomorrow!
25 May 2019- First layer of roofing is complete over the entire shrine! These views come from the various trails near the shrine that can be used for pilgrimage and meditative walks.
27 April 2019
Despite the ice and snow, today's visit to the new shrine church and signing of the columns in the nave and sanctuary was a great success!
Thank you to everyone who were present onsite today!
21 April 2019
A Blessed Easter to one and all!!!
18 April 2019
Please join us for The Mass of the Lord’s Supper, 7:00pm @ Our Lady of the Snows Academy (3100A Stewart Creek Dr, Canmore).
One hour of Eucharistic Adoration at the Altar of Repose will follow the conclusion of Mass.
12 April 2019
Today was an exciting day at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies! The bell tower and steeple were installed in three stages: First the Bell Tower, then the connection of the cross to the steeple, and finally the steeple was connected to the bell tower.
Here are some photos of the action from earlier today!
Preparing to install the bell tower
Lift High the Cross!
|
Bell tower in place and ready for the steeple!
Cross preparing to be connected to the steeple
|
Preparing to connect the steeple and bell tower
The Heavens bestow sunlight on the new shrine!
|
Connection complete! The crane had only about 1.5 feet until it was maxed out! Thank you St. Eligius for your intercession!
Torquing bolts at 100 feet above the earth!
|
STAGE THREE - Workers installing the bell tower, last of the superstructure.