OLSWA is a unique approach to the study of the liberal arts at the post-secondary level. In wholehearted solidarity with the Church's call for a renewal in culture we prepare students to grip confidently in mind and heart the future our Saviour Jesus Christ has readied for them.
Katie Hanlon Combermere, Ontario "I am so grateful for the studies and people of OLSWA - truly enriching. When I started out, I thought of it as just another year of schoolwork..."
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Crossroads Comes to Barry's Bay
Students Jonathan Baker, Michael Hayden, and the small Canadian Crossroads team passed through Barry’s Bay last week on their summer-long walk across Canada. Faculty and staff of OLSWA were proud to welcome back these students who, with the help of their small team, have collectively walked some 3800 km of the 5000 km walk.
Both students were happy to return to Barry’s Bay and the Academy, even for a brief respite. A special Mass was offered at St. Hedwig Church for the Crossroads team, and our students were able to show the Academy to the other walkers (who have now been hearing about the Academy for many weeks!).
Baker, Hayden, and the rest of the Crossroads team have walked both night and day, in all kinds of weather. They have walked through the mountains, across the desert, through the flooded prairies and dry western Ontario. The Crossroads team has spoken at churches and prayed outside abortion clinics, wearing white t-shirts with “Pro Life” written prominently across the front. While the visual witness is important, however, it is not the only aspect of their walk. According to student Jonathan Baker, it is the sacrificial aspect of the summer that is perhaps the most important.
Two of the OLSWA staff members joined the walk for an afternoon, covering 15 kilometers, part of which took place in Algonquin Park. It quickly became clear that the drivers who pass by respond in different ways. Most don’t respond at all, while other responses range from enthusiastic beeps to angry horn blasts.
Jonathan Baker offered the following comment: “Our mission is not so much to be ‘anti’ anything, as to be ‘pro-life.’” Baker shared that they want to express that all life is beautiful and sacred, from the life of the pre-born infant to the life of the abortion doctor.
From Barry’s Bay, the walkers continued on to Ottawa, and will eventually reach Quebec City. They will end with a rally on Parliament Hill on August 14. OLSWA looks forward to seeing Jonathan and Michael when they return to school in September, and is proud of her students who have boldly “taken to the streets” to proclaim the Gospel of Life.
For more information visit www.crossroadswalk.org.
Students Walk for Life
Every year approximately 1.6 million children are aborted in Canada and the United States. Worldwide the figure is over 40 million. The numbers are stunning. This summer two students from Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy in Barry’s Bay, Ontario, Michael Hayden and Jonathan Baker, have decided to do something about it. They’ll be going for a walk.
Pope John Paul II, as part of what he called the New Evangelization, made an impassioned plea for Catholics, especially the young, to promote the dignity and the sanctity of all life. In response to the Holy Father’s call Michael and Jonathan will be walking across Canada, from Vancouver to Ottawa, as part of a Pro-life group called Crossroads. Founded in 1995 by a student at Franciscan University in Ohio, Crossroads is composed of small groups of college students who walk across Canada and the United States to raise awareness for the pro-life cause and work towards ending the tragedy of abortion.
During their 5500 kilometer walk, which will take them almost three months to complete, Michael and Jonathan will pray morning and evening prayer plus 20 decades of the rosary every day, attend daily Mass when possible, speak to Churches and youth groups across the country, and pray in front of abortion clinics in every major city they visit.
It will be the walk of a lifetime but it won’t be without sacrifices. In order to do the walk they will have to forgo their summer jobs and will be unable to meet the costs of their education next year. If you would like to help Jonathan and Michael in their mission, donations may be sent to Michael Hayden (attention: Walk for Life) at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, 18 Karol Wojtyla Square, Box 249, Barry’s Bay, ON K0J 1B0. (Please note that these donations are not tax-deductible.)
Catholic Humanities and Hope for the Modern World
OLSWA Artist and Writer in Residence Michael O'Brien's Keynote Address at the "Afternoon of the Arts" event in Ottawa on May 2, 2010:
Michael O'Brien spoke of how OLSW is one of the sources of hope for the modern world, forming and educating young adults in the Truth, and rousing in them the passion to bring it to others. The stirring talk was well attended, accompanied by an exhibit of Mr. O'Brien's artwork, and was preceded by a concert by Seat of Wisdom's Schola Choir.
OLSWA's Tenth Graduation Ceremonies
Unseasonable snow and a cold, windy rain could not dampen the spirits of OLSWA’s Class of 2010. The milestone Tenth Anniversary Commencement was celebrated on May 8 at beautiful St. Hedwig Church.
Following a reverent Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael Mulhall and warm words of welcome by OLSWA President Dr. Keith Cassidy, Mr. Phil Horgan delivered the Commencement Address. As the current president of the Catholic Civil Rights League, Mr. Horgan was well-equipped to comment on the challenges to faith that our graduates will be facing in society, whether at work or at secular educational institutions. After giving vivid and sobering descriptions of current cultural trends, he explained that such negativity is not new; that Jesus faced head-on the corruption of his age; and that Pilate, essentially a “master politician,” could lamentably be “a role model” for the pragmatic politicians of our own day.
Mr. Horgan countered that St. Thomas More is the role model that the Church proposes. “He was in a position of tremendous influence in the affairs of state, and abandoned that office for a prison cell. Perhaps More had the deeper wisdom to understand that what was truly required was to be, in St. Paul’s words, a fool for Christ.”
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Students Jonathan Baker, Michael Hayden, and the small Canadian Crossroads team passed through Barry’s Bay last week on their summer-long walk across Canada. Faculty and staff of OLSWA were proud to welcome back these students who, with the help of their small team, have collectively walked some 3800 km of the 5000 km walk.
Baker, Hayden, and the rest of the Crossroads team have walked both night and day, in all kinds of weather. They have walked through the mountains, across the desert, through the flooded prairies and dry western Ontario. The Crossroads team has spoken at churches and prayed outside abortion clinics, wearing white t-shirts with “Pro Life” written prominently across the front. While the visual witness is important, however, it is not the only aspect of their walk.
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Every year approximately 1.6 million children are aborted in Canada and the United States. Worldwide the figure is over 40 million. The numbers are stunning. This summer two students from Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy in Barry’s Bay, Ontario, Michael Hayden and Jonathan Baker, have decided to do something about it. They’ll be going for a walk.
