For the month of March, 2012, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy was honoured to host literature professor Dr. Edoardo Rialti from Florence, Italy. Dr. Rialti translates into Italian the works of local author and artist Michael O’Brien, through whom he heard about the Academy and offered to teach a four-week, intensive course on major themes in European literature. Dr. Rialti grew up reading the works of great European authors who profoundly influenced his life and led him to a deep religious devotion. He is passionate about sharing this journey with others and Friday, March 30th, the professor gave a lecture about his journey to God through the help of his favourite authors, for the benefit of the Academy and the Barry’s Bay community.

“C.S. Lewis has been my Virgil,” said Dr. Rialti, comparing himself with Dante who was led to Christ through Virgil’s Aeneid. He grew up in a Catholic household but around the age of ten he began to drift away from the Church. He began asking questions – who  am I? where can I find happiness? But at that point the Church did not seem to have the answers.  There were many books which he read which brought him further away from God but he also realized that there were many beautiful things in life including his friends and his family. By his mid-teenage years, he had left the Church in favour of the life of a “happy pagan”. 

Even though he was living a comfortable life, there was, at the same time, sadness. “Everything was going well,” he said. “But I was missing the feeling that I was looking for.” He began having a feeling of “dark desperation” which only grew as he got further away from God without finding what he was looking for. However, in C.S. Lewis’ work, Surprised by Joy, Dr. Rialti said that he too was surprised to find that Lewis, who had also left Christ, came back to him because he discovered Him to be the very thing he was looking for and loving. From that moment on, the Church no longer appeared strict and structured. Other works of literature such as The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien made more sense as to why they “pierced his heart”. The message of authors such as Tolkien was that of the “mysterious longing for Christ”. Dr. Rialti drew the title of his talk, “So It Was You All Along”, from Screwtape Letters,  saying that all along it was God who had been drawing him towards Himself without him knowing it.

Dr. Rialti then read some passages from some of his favourite works, Screwtape Letters and The Problem of Pain by Lewis, Purgatorio by Dante, and The Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton, pointing out examples of how God  moves each man towards Himself through the things he loves. “We are saved by the people and things we love the most” said Dr. Rialti, who has made the journey to God through his favourite pieces of literature. “I have the feeling that I am travelling with the people I love the most.”

Dr. Rialti’s lecture drew a large crowd from Barry’s Bay and the surrounding community. The speech was well-received and the audience thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the gift of Dr. Rialti’s own experience, wisdom, and passion. OLSWA extends their deep gratitude to Dr. Rialti for bringing a new perspective on literature and a breath of Tuscany to the Madawaska Valley.

On the eve of the Solemnity of the Annunciation, students took the time to celebrate the fiat of all the teachers and staff who have dedicated themselves to Academy. The reception took place in the beautifully decorated St. Hedwig Hall  and was organized by third-year student Emily Stuyt and first-year student Ksenia Choly.

Three courses of gourmet desserts, including fresh fruit, Greek baklava, and lemon chiffon cake were served along with wine and coffee. MC Paul Taylor welcomed the guests and introduced the various performances by talented student singers and musicians. Some of the members of OLSWA’s own band, Survived ’88, performed a few pieces including a lovely rendition of “Scarborough Fair.” Other students performed vocal and piano numbers, and some played on harp, cello, and violin.

Students volunteered as black-tied waiters, as cooks, set-up and clean-up crews, with the hope of showing their appreciation for all that the teachers and staff give to the school. Second MC, Anna Pierlot, delivered a brief speech on behalf of all the students, thanking OLSWA faculty not only for their dedication to the Magisterium and to academic excellence, but also for their faithfulness to the Catholic way of life. As “fellow workers in the Lord’s vineyard” (a favourite phrase of our assistant chaplain, Fr. Hattie), the professors and staff members were sincerely thanked for their unified, honest, and generous efforts in tending the “garden oasis” of OLSWA. Education “only begins with the academics,” they were told. “Your example, in your spiritual and personal lives, and in your relationships mean so much to young people, especially in a world as spiritually dry as ours is.”

Paul Taylor finished the evening by awarding a couple of farewell door-prizes (including a vibrant painting by student Joseph Ferrant) and with words special thanks to all who helped to make the night a wonderful success.

Ladies from Blessed Kateri Residence, with their patroness at the Midland Shrine.The annual pilgrimage to the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, ON, is a definite highlight of the year at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom.  Every year on March 16, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Jesuit Martyrs, Sts. Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalement, the Academy marks this historic and holy day by visiting and praying at the sites of the Jesuits’ capture and martyrdom.

After a long bus ride to the Georgian Bay region, by Midland, the pilgrims make their first stop at the Martyrs’ Shrine and pray the Way of the Cross along the beautiful outdoor stations.  After a picnic lunch, and a moment of prayer outside the Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons’ palisade near the remains of Brébeuf and Lalement, the group visits the place of the first Mass on Ontario—a site surrounded by farmers’ fields and marked by an outdoor altar commemorating the historic event of August 12, 1615.  

The third stop is St. Louis, where St. Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalement, along with a number of Hurons, were taken during an Iroquois raid on the village in 1649.  Here the pilgrims listen to an account of the capture, and pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.  Then it is off to the final site, that of St. Ignace, where Sts. Jean and Gabriel, with their Huron companions, were brutally tortured and killed for their faith.  Professor John Paul Meenan, who has led the pilgrimage each year since the founding of OLSWA, reads an account of the horrendous martyrdom, and pilgrims have the opportunity to pray silently at the cross which marks the site of the saints’ deaths. Fittingly, the pilgrimage concludes here with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

This year, we were blessed with unseasonably high temperatures, sun, and dry ground.  Fr. Tom Lynch and members of his Lindsay youth group joined us, and we were blessed to have Fr. Lynch offer the Holy Mass at St. Ignace.  First-year student Dale Aalbers of Alberta expressed his sentiments on the occasion of his first pilgrimage to Midland: 

For me the highlight of the day was being able to walk and see the places where our Canadian Martyrs worked and died. Additionally, being able to do all of these things on the day of St.Jean de Brébeuf's death was truly inspiring. Furthermore, the pilgrimage was an amazing opportunity to pray and have Mass celebrated on the very ground where 353 years ago these men shed their blood for Christ and his Church. This was a great experience for me and I would say that it was one of the highlights of my year.

Click here to read more of the about the Jesuit mission in Huronia and the martyrdom.

This past St. Patrick's Day, St. James the Less Parish in Eganville, ON, certainly saw the best of their local talent! Annually, Pastor Fr. John Lacey hosts an evening of Irish entertainment, as a fundraiser to support the Diocesan mission in Peru and a local charity. This year, St. James Parish generously selected OLSWA as the recipient of a portion of the event's proceeds. The evening began with Mass celebrated by Fr. Lacey and Fr. Ryan Holly. Following Mass, everyone gathered in the parish hall for an upbeat evening, complete with Irish jigs and reels, ballads, tap dancing, fiddle playing and more, performed by talent of all ages. Four students from OLSWA, Kathleen Dunn, David Groves, Rory MacIntyre and Elliott Warner, members of "Survived 88," were honoured to perform together at the event, alongside the many entertaining acts in the lineup. OLSWA would like to send a big thank you to Fr. Lacey and St. James Parish for showing their support for the Academy through their prayers and donations. 

On Saturday, March 10, several OLSWA students hit the slopes of nearby Madawaska Mountain to enjoy one of the last days of skiing in the Madawaska Valley. After several days of warm weather and melting snow, students were overjoyed to see a solid snowfall and cool temperatures just in time to catch a last day on the hill. The hill, owned by Mark Willmer and Madawaska Mountain Ltd, boasts 12 runs ranging from easy to very difficult, on one of the highest ski hills in Ontario. The very friendly and humorous staff did their best to ensure a fun-filled time for all the skiers. 

Students with varying skiing experience enjoying testing their skills, whether trying to balance on the t-bar lifts going up the hill, or flying back down on the icier-than-usual runs. Tumbles and bruises were laughed off by some with poutine and hot chocolate inside the simple but cozy ski lodge, while some others dared the jumps and bumps of the more advanced slopes. While temperatures returned to melting-levels the next day, OLSWA students were better able to appreciate the spring weather after one last salute to winter. 

2nd-year student Christa Henry plays a celtic tune.OLSWA talent strikes again! On Sunday, March 4, several Academy students entertained their fellow classmates at the first-ever Coffee House. The student body gathered in St. Mary’s classroom for coffee and refreshments while enjoying the wide range of talent. There was singing, story-telling, piano-playing, fiddling, guitar-strumming, harp-plucking, and more singing. The Academy draws students from all over the map, and Coffee House provides an opportunity for everyone to demonstrate their various skills collected from far and wide. Among the many performances, the audience enjoyed a sung recital of “Beren and Tinuviel” by Maria Wagner, second-year student from Colorado,  as well as “The Girl in 14G” sung by Marie-Clare Bissonnette, second-year student from Brantford, ON. After the pressure of “mid-term season,” the students were able to sit back and relax on a Sunday night, recharging their batteries for another week of school.

Dr. David Craig, a well-known and well-loved Catholic poet and author, visited the Academy this past Friday, March 2. Dr. Craig, who holds an MFA and a PhD from Bowling Green State University, is currently a professor of literature at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, specializing in creative writing and poetry. He has published nine collections of poetry, including, in the last decade, Sonnets from Matthew, The Hive of the Saints, and Mary’s House. His poetry has been widely anthologized, and his volume Mercy’s Face was chosen as one of the 500 most important literary works in the history of Christendom by the Masterplots series.

Dr. Craig gave a guest lecture during the Survey of Literature class on March 2, and gave a recitation of his poetry later that evening, where the whole community had the opportunity to enjoy his work. Many of the selections which he chose to read were based on the writings of and about St. Francis and St. Therese. Dr. Craig’s unique style of writing brings these saints to life in a new and beautiful way. 

The following poem of Dr. Craig’s was based on a journal entry of St. Therese for May 1st: “My heart was filled with a heavenly peace today. I prayed much to the Blessed Virgin, thinking that her beautiful month was about to begin!”

The leaves, finally asserting themselves,
and the sun, no stranger in the sky.

Who doesn’t stretch out to his full height today?
Who doesn’t walk the wooden path
amid the chatter of green companions?

Oscar Wilde visited Barry’s Bay this weekend when Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy put on his three-act romantic comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest. The school’s Don Bosco Drama Club had been working since early October under the direction of Mrs. Jenny Hayden-Baklinski, who has directed several other plays presented by the Academy. Other years, the focus has been on bigger productions involving a large cast and crew, such as the musical, Oliver!, in 2010. This year the club decided to focus on a smaller production, and opted for Wilde’s well-loved classic. Set in the late Victorian period, the play presents the complicated relationships among two sets of young, amorous couples who are simply trying to tie the knot, but who find themselves mixed up in deceit about the unexpectedly popular name of “Ernest.” Each character is charged with personality and the play is full of witty lines. “To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness!” says Lady Bracknell, portrayed by Anna-Therese Pierlot, a third-year student from Prince Edward Island. The excellence of the production was in the well-timed comical interchanges between the characters, brilliantly acted by the OLSWA talent. The performance was particularly challenging for the actors as most were battling a respiratory flu. The show did go on, however, and the drama club put on three successful performances at the Madawaska Valley District High School. Many hours of hard work went into the production, the results of which delighted the audience. The Victorian-style costumes, complete with flowery, feathered hats and smoking jackets, lit up the stage. Friends and family of the cast members came from near and far to watch the show, and the local community was once again able to enjoy another of the Academy’s highly entertaining theatrical productions.

Jack Worthing (Luke Nyenhuis): "My dear Algy, you talk exactly as if you were a dentist. It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn’t a dentist. It produces a false impression…"

Lady Bracknell (Anna-Therese Pierlot) to her nephew Algernon regarding his invalid friend Bunbury: "Well, I must say, Algernon, that I think it is high time that Mr. Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or to die. This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd. Nor do I in any way approve of the modern sympathy with invalids. I consider it morbid."

Cecily (Lucy Landry) to her fiancée Algernon (Patrick McNeely), “You dear romantic boy…. I hope your hair curls naturally, does it?”

The idle young bachelor, Algernon (Patrick McNeely), “Bunburying” in the country. “If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.”

Dr. Chasuble (Dean of Students, Jason Gould) and Miss Prism (Jennifer Matte). Dr. Chasuble, it is said, “is a most learned man. He has never written a single book, so you can imagine how much he knows.”

The stylish Victorian lady Miss Gwendolen Fairfax (Sarah Wilson). “I never change, except in my affections.”

"I do not know whether there is anything peculiarly exciting in the air of this particular part of Hertfordshire, but the number of engagements that go on seems to me considerably above the proper average that statistics have laid down for our guidance." (Lady Bracknell)

Curtain call