Stories: Early Days of Tradition Part 8 - Convention Centre Chapel

JMJ

I came to Tradition a few years after they had bought a chapel. My wife told me of the earlier years when Fr. Normandin would come to town and Mass would be held in a room at the convention centre.

He'd start by blessing the room and then proceed with Mass.

This went on for a while before the one of the faithful found a small hall that would suit just fine. They pooled their money and bought the building. Then came the work as the retiree's refinished the floor, setup the sactuary.

Oh, did I mention that I heard that the hall had been used by a motorcycle gang?

The floor needed a lot of work. I remember seeing pictures of the founders working to make the hall into a fitting place for the Sacrifice of the Mass.

That little chapel would be a refuge like many others serviced by Fr. Normandin. From Thunderbay, Ontrario to Nanaimo, British Columbia - the SSPX chapels are all the results of Fr. Normandin's missionary work in those desperate times.

Without him it would have been a devastated landscape.

That little chapel worked well for about decade until we outgrew it and were able buy a church about four times its size.

I look forward to seeing what happens when the SSPX is given a no-compromise regularization.

It will be interesting to see if the congregation grows at that point. The SSPX noticed an up-tick when the Dioceses closed the Churches during COVID.

P^3

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Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

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News Roundup: September 19, 2026

+ JMJ The reactions to the July 2026 Episcopal Consecrations continue as the media storm subsides. I guess the most interesting news this week is Tim Flander's decision to stop his support of the SSPX. There's a lot of comments about this and while I've only read a little of his reasons, I came to one conclusion - everyone seems to get tripped up on some ancillary issue or event without looking at the whole picture and the key principles. One thought that occurred is that this isn't about jurisdiction, schism or any of the other dozens of opinions. Rome has already stated what it is about multiple times and it is about the New Mass and the Second Vatican Council. Any canonically regular religious organization that has made a move towards the Tridentine Mass or even pre-conciliar thinking gets persecuted by Rome, the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate are one example that did both. In the same era, the Knights of Malta also were punished. The persecution of any and a...

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