03/26/2020
A message from our Pastor, Fr. Daniel Utrecht about how to contact the parish during the COVID-19 closure. During this time, please use [email protected] or call the Oratory directly at 416-532-2879. ** PLEASE NOTE: THIS PAGE IS NOT REGULARLY MONITORED **
Dear Parishioners:
Our Lent has become more penitential since we have had to close our church and parish office. The latest information about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our parish can be found on the Oratory's website at https://oratory-toronto.org/covid19/ More information will be coming about Holy Week and Easter. It is now official that we will not be able to celebrate Easter publicly.
Be assured that the priests of the Oratory are celebrating daily Masses and keeping you all in our prayers. If you have booked an announced Mass, it will be offered on the date requested.
You can get in touch with the parish directly by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or calling the Oratory at 416-532-2879. If you have left a message at the St Vincent’s parish office, it may not have been checked, so please call again at the Oratory. If you are in need of assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out. Although the parish itself has very limited financial resources, we have an active Saint Vincent de Paul Society, who continue to receive calls and attend to requests. And we also have other volunteers who can help in many ways with their time and energy.
For those who now have a lot of free time on their hands, I would suggest Formed.org, a great Catholic web resource. We have a subscription: all you need to do is give them your e-mail and tell them that you belong to Holy Family in Toronto.
I would ask that those who have not suffered financial hardship as a result of the pandemic to remember that, without Sunday Masses, the parish has lost its main source of revenue but still has ongoing bills to pay.
• Your Sunday offerings can be mailed to St Vincent de Paul Parish, 263 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto, ON, M6R 2L9, or dropped off at the office at any time. Slip it through the mail slot on the door.
• You can sign up for PAG. Download the form. Print it. And then send a picture or scan of the filled-in form and a void cheque to this address.
• You can donate online through the “Donate Now” button on the Archdiocesan website. The direct link to the donate page there is https://community.archtoronto.org/. Please select “Toronto West” on the map to find “St Vincent de Paul”.
• Donate through your online banking account. To do this, the Archdiocese will need to send you a unique account number. Please send an e-mail to [email protected]. In the body of the email provide (i) Your name (ii) Address (iii) Parish Name – St. Vincent de Paul and (iv) Municipality – Toronto. You will be emailed account information which you can use to set up the Archdiocese of Toronto as a payee in your on-line banking. Your gift will be forwarded to our parish. You can make a one time or recurring gift to our offertory.
Let us pray for one another and especially for those who are sick and those who are caring for them. It is not the Lent that we would have chosen. But it can nevertheless help us to become more like Christ and to draw us closer to God.
Please don’t respond to this here on this page. It’s not one that I check regularly.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr Daniel Utrecht of the Oratory
Pastor
This page was last updated on Friday March 20, 2020. We have received an instruction from Cardinal Collins asking Catholic parishes to suspend all public Masses, both on weekends and weekdays, beginning Tuesday March 17. The Cardinal has granted dispensation from the Sunday obligation for all weeken...
