Part Three. St. Gabriel's and Expansion 1953-1965.
Right from the start, St. Gabriel's instituted the customary Passionist religious life. Among the features were establishment of the cloister, and silence at meals, and putting in place the full monastic observance which included getting out of bed for prayer at 2 AM.
St. Gabriel's remained home to a preaching ministry. Directly impacting this were regular fall transfers. Normally, once they arrived they conducted retreats or novenas until Christmas. Junior missionaries—those who were newly ordained—began their efforts preaching novenas or days of recollection for high school students or Catholic Women League groups. They also had to contend with refresher courses or Junior clergy exams. During the McKeown years, eight senior missionaries participated in six hundred and thirty-five assignments. Notable was Passionist Father Donald Keenan who earned the name “Mr. Canada.”
It would be, however, wrong to conclude that this combination of young and veteran signalled a new preaching plan. More correctly, the presence of the junior clergy was to set up a “school of learning” and thereby keep the monastery tax exempt.
Gaining a foothold at the same time was St. Gabriel's parish apostolate. By 1959 St. Gabriel's parish numbered four hundred families.
Father McGreevy was installed as rector on July 14, 1959. Toronto, in 1961, had eleven priests engaged in the preaching ministry. They completed three hundred and sixty assignments. Key to this success were the young student priests. At the same time Toronto was home to three religious brothers: Michael Stomber, Virgil Pasi, and Henry Kavanaugh.
Passionist Father Edward Hennessey was assigned as the new pastor in 1959. Fellow Passionist Father Gregory Paul was his assistant. In June 1960 he was replaced by twenty-nine year old St. John's, New Brunswick native Passionist Father Paul Cusack. By 1962 the parish had grown to over seven hundred families and police were required for Sunday traffic control.
Father McGreevy maintained the traditional Passionist lifestyle, because so many Passionists believed the horarium would facilitate a sense of community and solitude in the monastery. In January 1961 the community members voted against sale of six acres of northern property for $130,000. Still the General Curia went ahead with sale. At the same time the Passionists joined other neighborhood groups to defeat the attempt to rezone the southern side of Sheppard for high rise apartments.
During this era, nine Passionist missionaries, in addition to the rector and vicar, operated from Canada. At the same time, the one hundred and ninety-six assignments completed in this period was a decrease of almost one hundred and fifty from the previous administration.
Of course, the Toronto foundation had to face the new mood which resulted from the 1962-1965 Vatican Council. All indications are that optimism, growth, and a culture of planning began to take shape under Father Provincial Gerard Rooney of the eastern province. On September 24, 1963 six Passionists met to decide future options. Among the points in the Statement of Policy issued in October 1963 was the commitment that personnel in Canada should grow in spirit, prayer and education, local leadership, and financial stability. However, because no students lived at St. Gabriel's, Rooney decided to install an automatic bell that would be rung to call the Passionists to their various prayer exercises. If four religious were present they were to chant the Office. If only three or two were available the Office would be recited. If one religious answered the bell he would still go to the chapel to say the appropriate prayers. Compounding this schedule more was how much parish priests were to participate in this prayer schedule.
1964 also saw the appointment of Passionist Fathers Justinian Manning and Campion Cavanaugh as Director and Assistant Director, respectively, for the Canadian Branch of the Passionist Mission Band as well as the ordination of the first Canadian Passionists, Fathers Maurice (Steve) Dunn and Bertrand McEachern on May 2, 1964 by Archbishop Philip Pocock.
The Passionist experiment in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada began in 1963. Father Clem Adams of Sudbury met with Passionist Father Stephen Paul Kenny to discuss a possible Passionist presence The latter did not have a good first impression of Sudbury.
Still, talks continued. Key was the desire that the Passionists establish a Catholic Information Centre in Sudbury. Location there would be a stepping stone towards the creation of a separate Passionist province. Consensus was that two more sites, in addition to St. Gabriel's were needed to give the plan a chance. In addition, there was some hope that the Passionists would develop a retreat house for sixty retreatants as well as a monastery where Canadian students would get bilingual French/English training. On October 31, 1964 Father Cusack left St. Gabriel's, Toronto to set the project in motion.
Initial negotiations, however, “did not go well.” On March 4, 1965 property on Elm Street came under Passionist direction. That same month Father Cusack and Passionist Brother Stephen (Frank) Sutherland held an organizational meeting for about twenty-five retreat captains from Sudbury area. In May 1965 Passionist Father Isaias Powers arrived to minister there. June 28, 1965 was the first retreat.
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