By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-11-14 19:01:26 | Updated at 2024-11-21 12:34:06
6 days ago
CV NEWS FEED // The world’s largest shrine dedicated to St. Joseph, Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, will welcome Fr. Bernard Antoine of the Congregation of the Holy Cross (CSC) as its new rector on December 1.
The oratory announced in a news release that Fr. Antoine has worked at the Oratory since 2017.
“I accept this responsibility with the joy of serving the Oratory, its mission, its dedicated team, and its devoted pilgrims,” said Fr. Antoine. “We all share a deep, indescribable joy to be in this blessed place, following in the footsteps of Saint Brother André, welcoming visitors from all languages and cultures with a spirit of openness, faith, and compassion.”
As rector, Fr. Antoine will be responsible for the shrine’s mission, management, and development.
Fr. Claude Grou, CSC, provincial superior of the Canadian Province of the Religious of Holy Cross, will preside over Fr. Antoine’s installation Mass.
“Over the past seven years,” Fr. Grou said, “his quiet yet radiant presence, attentive listening, and welcoming spirit have earned him the trust and warmth of pilgrims, staff, and fellow brothers.”
Fr. Antoine will succeed Fr. Michael M. DeLaney, CSC, who served as rector during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) and the Year of St. Joseph (2021.)
The new rector was born in Haiti and baptized on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19. He joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross when he was 20 years old and was ordained to the priesthood on December 19, 1993.
He taught at Collège Notre-Dame du Perpétuel Secours in Cap-Haïtien from 1993-2000, and after he pursued graduate studies in Paris from 2000-2009, he returned to teach at the college from 2009-2017.
Fr. Antoine was also appointed as the director of the Holy Cross seminarians’ formation house in Haiti between 2000-2009.
Fr. Antoine came to the Oratory in 2017.
Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal is the largest shrine in the world dedicated to the saint, and attracts around two million visitors and pilgrims every year.
The Oratory is also known for its famous caretaker, St. André Bessette, an early 20th-century religious brother of the Congregation of the Holy Cross who served as porter for a time. He would receive the many sick pilgrims visiting the Oratory, and became known as the “Miracle Man of Montreal” through the many healings attributed to his intercession.
