Saint Patrick's Basilica has a long history in the City of Ottawa, being its first English-speaking Roman Catholic Parish. Your Church was completed in 1875 and was declared a Basilica on Saint Patrick's Day, March 1995.

Beautiful as it is, Saint Patrick's Basilica is primarily a place of worship and repentance - Catholics citywide make use of the confessional at St.Patrick's. It also serves the downtown core and offers Masses before work (7:00a.m., 8:00a.m.), during lunch (12:15p.m.), and after the workday (4:30p.m.), with confessions before each service.. For directions click here.

March 7th:  3rd Sunday of Lent

Click 3rd Sunday of Lent for the readings.

• In this Gospel passage Our Lord points out one of the deep mysteries of our existence: the problem of evil.
• We are tempted to be scandalized by evil men who thrive and destroy the innocent, and natural disasters make no distinction between the good and the bad.
• To avoid such a scandal, we have to be aware of the supreme holiness of God, and that we have to conform to His standards and not ours: as the heavens are above the earth, so are God's ways above our ways.
• God disclosed His Holiness to Moses when He spoke out of the burning bush, and revealed that He is the very ground of reality: no created concept could do Him justice, and there is no appeal to a higher justice.
• God's final answer to suffering was to endure suffering and death on the Cross Himself in order to free all mankind.
• Who are we to tell God how to deal with evil: we are dealing with a much higher logic than we can grasp.

Hymns as sung by the 11:00 am Choir.

Processional: O CROSS OF CHRIST ,  lyrics
Offertory:   FROM THE DEPTHS OF SIN ,   lyrics
Communion 1:   O SACRED HEAD SURROUNDED ,   lyrics
Communion 2:   GODHEAD HERE IN HIDING ,   lyrics
Communion 3:   ADOREMUS TE CHRISTE ,   lyrics
Recessional:   LIFT HIGH THE CROSS ,   lyrics

Why would someone, at age 61, leave his church to become a Roman Catholic? ...especially someone like author, professor, and lawyer Ian Hunter, whose upbringing was in an Evangelical Protestantism that considered Catholicism an abomination and the Pope likely the Antichrist?

What culture shock awaits the recent Protestant convert? Come and hear Ian Hunter speak to these questions and more.

Click HERE for details.

Feast Of Saint Patrick

We will celebrate an additional Mass on
Saint Patrick's Day Wednesday March 17th, at 10:30 am.
This is in addition to our regularly scheduled Masses.

Every Sunday At 4:30 PM, During Lent
Mass In Latin At Saint Patrick's Basilica

Every Sunday afternoon throughout Lent (including Palm Sunday) at 4:30 pm there will be a recited Mass, celebrated in Latin, at the Basilica.

March 2010 - Overview for the Month

The month of March is dedicated to St. Joseph, whose feast-day falls on March 19th.



A faithful man shall be greatly praised; and he
that is the keeper of his Lord shall be glorified.

For overview of month, including Papal Intentions, click HERE.

We live in a secular culture. The attitude of many towards Christianity is scepticism if not outright rejection. Surveys indicate that atheism is a growing concern.

Question: What are you doing to address the issue? We all receive the following admonition in 1 Peter 3: "Should anyone ask you for the reason for this hope of yours, be ever ready to reply, but speak gently and respectfully."

Are you ready to explain and defend the basic tenets of our faith? Are you equipped to articulate our faith?


Dr. Tim Lau will be offering seven Wednesday sessions beginning on February 24th, and ending April 7th. These sessions will provide you with a foundation to conform to St. Peter's admonition. Each session will be held in the Basilica Scavi (basement), from 7:30 to 8:30pm ...click HERE for details.

All are welcome.

Click HERE to view lecture slides, or to listen to recordings.

Benedict XVI's Lenten Message 2010


"The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ."

Click HERE to read the Pope's message

Lenten Prayer Vigil Initiative to
Defend Life - Save the Unborn

Come pray with us

The Helpers of God's Precious Infants, a new pro-life ministry in Ottawa is dedicated to maintaining a prayerful presence in front of abortion sites. During Lent, a prayer vigil is being held in front of the abortuary at 65 Bank Street, three days a week, during the hours when the abortions take place. The prayer vigils will take place

from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays,

During those periods, people will be there, praying for the unborn, their mothers and fathers, abortion workers and those who pass by - often indifferent to this great injustice. Such public witnessing has been instrumental in changing the hearts of some women seeking abortions, thereby saving babies. Also workers in the abortion industry have quit there jobs because of these actions. - What better Lenten prayer initiative?

You can register for the prayer vigil or find out more about the Helpers of God's Precious Infants at www.helpersottawa.org or by calling Campaign Life Coalition, 613-729-0379.

Over 100 books are available on our Web Portal in PDF format, including the Sermons of the Cure of Ars, the complete set of books by GK Chesterton, as well as books by some of the Church Fathers such as Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Therese of Lisieux.

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Parish Office: 281 Nepean Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 5G2     Tel: (613) 233-1126    Fax:(613) 234-8667
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