This event was a tie. After a few more outside activities, we moved inside to enjoy a snack and a few more activities. They all enjoyed themselves!

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MONTREAL. In the first days of August, Fr. Romano arrived from Edmonton to participate in the titular feast of our parish on its 25th anniversary of the blessing of the church. Fr. Romano is the founder of M.A. and we might almost say, its builder.
A few days before the event, Fr. Michael Winstanley, Salesian Provincial of Great Britain, also arrived from England to preach the spiritual exercises to the Salesians of Canada in Châteauguay, just south of Montreal.
Our titular feast of Maria Ausiliatrice took place again this year on the 2nd Sunday of August. The festivities began the night before with a show consisting of songs and dances put on by the youth of our summer camp. At 19h00, a Mass presided by Fr. Romano was celebrated in a packed church. Honoured us with their presence were the members of the arrondissement council, together with the mayor as well as the Hon, Pablo Rodriguez and the M.N.A. Tony Tomassi. The procession with the statue of Our Lady then took place in the neighbouring streets; a mild evening weather favoured a large participation.
On the day of the feast itself, after the morning Masses, with a good participation of the parishioners, the feast continued with the festa paesana: tricks, games, sale of food and different objects... and with music far into the night.
That same evening the confreres left for the week long retreat at the Manoir d’Youville in Châteauguay. The Salesian Sisters of Canada had scheduled their own retreat there at the same time. So it turned out to be a joint retreat.
During the retreat, Fr. Richard came down with a viral infection in the leg. And then, strangely enough, a few days later, the day he was to return to England, Fr. Michael was afflicted with a similar infection. But his case was more serious. While under observation, it was discovered that some blood clots had infiltrated his lung. After a few days in intensive care and a few more days of rest at the Youth Centre in Montreal, he was allowed to return to his province on September 1st. A forced holiday, you might say! We wish him well since he will have to live on the “adagio mode” for some time more. And we hope this will not scare him to the point of hesitating in coming back to Canada in the future…
Fr. Richard who came to the end of his mandate as Provincial on July 1st left a few days after the retreat for some 2 months before assuming his task as director.

EDMONTON- St.Dominic Savio. August was a busy month for St. Dominic Savio Parish’s youth ministry. A youth- led Mass, a week long summer camp, and our Summer Wacky Olympics!
This was our first year hosting a summer camp. It was held August 17-21, from 9am to 3pm. We had 30 children 5-12 years old join us. The mornings saw us using a CatChat Vacation Bible School kit. (CatChat is a Catholic Audio Show for kids.) This program is designed for children 4-12 years old. The kit was titled, “Cool Kingdom Party: Mary leads me closer to Jesus.”
Each day has a virtue as theme. As the children learn about that virtue and how Mary lived it out in her life, they learn how she can lead us closer to her Son. Every day begins with a great assembly, which includes a drama, a virtue demonstration, and a quick review of previous virtues. There are 5 stations that have activities and teachings meant to help develop the understanding of the day’s virtue for the children: the music station, craft station, snack station, faith station, and fun and games station. We incorporated the music station into our opening assembly. We divided our children up into four groups, and had them rotate between the four other stations in 30 minute intervals.
The afternoons saw us do different activities. We brought the children to the playground one day where they had several activity choices. Another day the weather wasn’t quite as nice, so we gave the children the option of playing soccer, or staying inside to colour. We surprised the ones who stayed inside with a short 30 minute film. We took the children swimming another afternoon. They really enjoyed this event. Since we had a parent program on Friday, Thursday afternoon was spent practicing dramas, songs, and short explanations the children prepared for their parents. Friday, the parents arrived at 2pm to see the program. The children worked very hard to memorize their lines and be comfortable making their presentations. They did a very good job! We look forward to having another camp next summer.
Friday, August 21st, we hosted a Summer Wacky Olympics for our youth 13 and up. We started by playing water-bomb baseball, which uses a ‘water-bomb’ (foam ball that soaks up water, and releases it on impact) as a baseball and a wooden spoon for a bat. The girls won! Following this, there was a relay race, in which each member of each team had to take his/her turn to run to the line, put on two pairs of goggles, run to a skipping rope to jump three times, hop on one foot to pick up a ball, put on three items of dress up clothes, use the hoola hoops three times, drop the balls in a bucket, and do the whole thing in reverse. The girls won…again! Following this was a water-balloon fight. The team who got the least wet won.

SURREY. August was a travelled month for most of our community with our retreat outside of Montreal, QC, and then to visit family and relatives in Calgary, Winnipeg and Chicago. Fr, Mario with our guest Salesians visited Harrison Springs, BC, and the Benedictine Abbey in Mission, leaving on August 31st for a few days. It was also a month of priest visitors.
OLGC Parish Picnic: On Saturday, August 1, OLGC had their annual parish picnic from 10 am to late in the afternoon at nearby Hawthorne Park. The weather was perfect for the hundreds of parishioners who gathered for hot dogs, hamburgers, and of course Filipino noodles! A lot of fun and fellowship made the day very pleasant for all. The Hospitality Committee did the arrangements and the children from the Summer Scriptural Camp also attended and did some skits.
On August 3-4, the 1st Couples for Christ Lay-Clergy Congress was held at Trinity Western University, Langley. Fr. Dave Sajdak joined the three dozen clergy in the Congress. Approximately 170 people attended in all. Topics presented and discussed centered around the pillars of Couples for Christ: commitment to God, family, life, and the poor. Archbishop Michael Miller presided at the main Eucharist and later gave a key note address. The goal of the Congress was to strengthen clergy-lay relations, as we journey in faith to build up the Church in our local parish. Two of the guest priests in attendance stayed at OLGC Rectory: Fr. Patrick Furtado from Calgary, AB, and Fr. Pedro Arana from Ottawa, ON.
August 5th, after Our Lady of Perpetual Help novena devotions, there was a Memorial Mass for Mrs. Corazon Aquino, the former President of the Philippines. Three priests concelebrated with Fr. Mario, the main celebrant. He spoke on the theme of the Good Shepherd, sharing examples of her honesty and Christian values in politics, where she championed the life of the unborn and the integrity of marriage. Mrs. Aquino was a Christian leader who found strength in God and in the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially through her devotion to the Rosary. There was a good attendance, with representatives from the Filipino Consulate of Vancouver. The Filipino choir provided the music accompaniment, making this special occasion all the more sacred. Refreshments were served afterwards under the church porticos.
Bro. Jerry and Salesian Cooperator, Mr. Neville Buckle, returned from their Scriptural Cruise on a “spiritual high”.
Fr. Rolando Molina, SDB, arrived on a student’s visa from the Philippines on the 26th to spend some time with us before continuing on to Guelph, ON, the Jesuits’ Residence, for a Spirituality Program at Regis in Toronto, in view of guidance of seminarians in his own country.

Before coming to us, he directed retreats and gave spiritual direction at a Salesian Center there.
So ends this busy month of August in Surrey, still hot, humid and very dry.

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Brother Bernard Dubé is the Canadian confrere on the council of the newly merged Provinces Canada-USA East, his specific responsibility being that of the Salesian Family. He attends the monthly two- day meetings in New Rochelle, N.Y. He oversees and supports the different branches of the Salesian Family such as the FMA, the Salesian Cooperators, Don Bosco Volunteers, Past Pupils, ADMA, etc.

He will be speaking to the personnel and candidates at our house of formation in Orange, N.J., in February. He will also attend some meetings of the SF groups for retreats and formation days. His hope is to help carry out the Rector Major’s wish of animating and unifying the Salesian Family.

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Interview: MGR TITO SOLARI
Mgr Tito Solari, salésien, est né en Italie et, jeune salésien, se porta volontaire pour aller travailler en Bolivie. Il est évêque depuis 1987 et archevêque de Cochabamba depuis 1999.
Que pouvez-vous nous dire de votre archidiocèse? Tout d’abord qu’il a une courte histoire, d’à peu près 160 ans, mais qu’il possède un clergé nombreux, tant diocésain que religieux. Il y a une centaine de congrégations dans le diocèse, dont 70 féminines et environ une centaine de maisons de formation. C’est aussi une Église jeune, son clergé l’est aussi. L’âge moyen des prêtres ne dépasse pas les 45 ans.
Et la situation géographique? C’est très diversifié. Il y a des paroisses à 200 m d’altitude, d’autres à 4000 m.
 Est-ce que la population de la Bolivie est religieuse? Très religieuse. Mais il y a un problème aussi. Il s’agit d’un mélange de religion catholique et de rites indigènes, une sorte de religiosité mixte. Il y a certaines fêtes et certains événements que cela atteint davantage. Par ex. les fêtes de la Vierge ou les anniversaires des défunts. On ressent le problème de l’inculturation, mais la solution n’est pas pour demain.
Et les jeunes, Monseigneur?
Ils constituent plus de 50% de la population. Ils vivent de sérieux problèmes, mais aujourd’hui ils manifestent une grande volonté d’apprendre, d’étudier, de connaître. Ceux qui sont pauvres et ne peuvent se permettre de se s’adonner qu’aux études- et ils sont nombreux- étudient le jour et travaillent la nuit. Comme dans les pays plus développés, il existe un grand écart entre parents et enfants, entre tradition et modernité. Les medias souvent accentuent cette opposition
Y a-t-il des vocations ?
Il y en a et beaucoup. Nous avons maintenant 320 séminaristes. Certaines années on en a eu 500, d’autres années 200…Cela varie beaucoup d’année en année. On n’a pas encore compris la dynamique de tel phénomène.