The Fall 2011 edition of VERITAS is hot off the press! Veritas is OLSWA's regular newsletter, published three times per academic year, and covers student, alumni, faculty, campus and development news. 

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On November 25, OLSWA was honoured to host Dr. Peter Burnell of the Department of History at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Arts and Science. Dr. Burnell has taught at several Canadian universities, including McMaster and Queen’s. He received his BA at the University of Wales, in his native Britain, and wrote his PhD thesis on the classical writer Virgil. Dr. Burnell is a classicist who has developed a special interest in St. Augustine and has published many works.

Dr. Burnell lectured on the controversial topic of the “damnation of babies,” as discussed by St. Augustine. At first, Augustine seems to posit unequivocally the horrifying thought that babies who die before baptism are “consigned to hell for eternity.” Dr. Burnell went on to show how complex the issue actually was to Augustine.

“You need to be free from sin in order to enter heaven,” said Dr. Burnell. “All human beings are conceived in a state of spiritual alienation from God.” They need the gift of the Holy Spirit if they are to be brought into intimacy with God. A necessary means of this intimacy is baptism. But unbaptized babies die in the state of original sin.

It turns out that, contrary to what many people think, Augustine did not invent the concept of original sin; he only coined the phrase. It first appears in his Confessions. Dr. Burnell indicated that some Church Fathers who preceded Augustine, such as St. Irenaeus and Tertullian, seemed to support such a doctrine. Importantly enough, the 1997 Catechism of the Catholic Church maintains similar principles regarding the necessity of baptism for salvation. Yet the Catechism also states that, “[A]s regards children who have died without baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God” (CCC 1261).

Dr. Burnell would yet want to extend the hope of salvation that is also expressed in the Catechism to Augustine’s thinking as well: “Augustine does not assert or imply that unbaptized babies are damned as a class.”  He notes that in both the Catechism and in Augustine, “divine compassion is limitless, and that God applies that compassion to every human being, and does not withhold it for enigmatic reasons.” Thus, those who do not receive God’s compassion are those who reject it. But what about the guilt of original sin? “Augustine… allowed numerous exceptions to baptism… like the martyrs, the Patriarchs, and [the non-Israelite] Job, who all give witness to the vital grace of faith.” Most curiously, Augustine included among the martyred, the ‘Holy Innocents,’ who were, of course, unbaptized infants.

His conclusion was both provocative and elegant. “The Church is careful in its assertions. It doesn’t propose a theory. The Church is content to point out what it does not know, and shows what it may believe.” Therefore, it is possible to maintain a note of hope with regard to the salvation of unbaptized infants. Neither Augustine nor the Church is without this hope: “There is no divergence between Augustine and the Church’s teaching today.”

Dr. Burnell’s lecture was well-attended and well-received. The OLSWA community appreciated his brilliant insight into such a controversial subject and appreciated his thorough explanation.
 

Besides academics, daily Mass, sports, clubs, pilgrimages, and other events, life at the Academy includes gathering several times a day for meals in St. Hedwig’s church hall. Students pay for their meals, included in the cost for room and board, and the food is prepared by OLSWA’s dedicated cooks, Sandra Etmanskie and Rachel McGuey. Based on student feedback, during the course of this past summer, the Student Life Committee decided to change the menu in favour of more variety and better nutrition. OLSWA enlisted the help of Mrs. Rhea Baklinski, who works locally as a certified food and nutrition manager, to devise a new menu. The plan involves a four-week rotation so that meals are repeated only once a month. The improved diet is well-balanced, offering more and healthier food choices. The cooks say that having the monthly schedule is a nice change which makes meal preparation easier for them to manage now that there are set recipes to follow each day. Students have also expressed satisfaction with the new meal plan. They love the variety and the well-rounded diet. Thank you, Rachel, Sandra, and Rhea!

A book signing for Michael D. O’Brien’s latest novel, The Father’s Tale, was held in Ottawa at St. Patrick’s Basilica on the evening of November 24.  The Artist and Writer in Residence of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy addressed the crowd of O’Brien fans and also graciously met with guests and signed everyone’s copies of the book.  Mr. O’Brien began his talk by reading the prologue of the novel, which paints a scene from far into the story.  He then spoke briefly about the book, and the main character, Alexander Graham, who discovers “he is more than he thinks he is, and that grace and Divine Providence are always at work.”



To read more about this epic story, please visit Mr. O'Brien's website, StudiObrien, here.  
A "book trailer" can be viewed here.

 

Third-year student David Groves presents the cheque to Dr. Keith Cassidy, President, and Maria Reilander, Senior Development OfficerOur Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy extends its heartfelt thanks to the Knights of Columbus Council 5793 of Collingwood, ON, for their recent gift in support of our mission. Third-year student David Groves presented the donation of $2,000 to Dr. Cassidy on behalf of his home-town Knights of Columbus Council.

The gift came in response to an appeal made through various Knights of Columbus contacts, highlighting the K of C Ontario State Board’s May 2010 motion to encourage councils to support Catholic institutions such as Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy. The motion had also been reiterated this year in the March 2011 issue of the K of C Ontario State Bulletin (read about it here). David Groves’ father, a brother Knight, had presented the request to his council, which was impressed with the work of the OLSWA. In a letter to the Academy, Grand Knight Michael Dynes expressed his amazement at the “dedication and devotion of [the] students,” and his conviction that if Catholic values are to be preserved in our society, “we need to support this type of education.”

Students performing at Defund Abortion RallyThe week of October 16th to 22nd was a busy one on the OLSWA Pro-Life front. Students spent lots of time getting ready for the first ever Defund Abortion Rally which took place in Toronto on Saturday, October 22nd. To prepare for the rally, Rebecca Richmond from National Campus Life Network (NCLN) visited the Academy to lecture on effective communication of the Pro-Life message.  She generously gave of her time so that as many students as possible were able to attend and benefit from the talks. She spoke about the logical presentation of Pro-Life apologetics and how to engage in positive discussion with others whose views might be clouded by their emotions.

Thursday evening, thirteen OLSWA representatives attended the annual Renfrew County Right to Life dinner in Pembroke, at which Rebecca Richmond also gave a speech about the importance of getting involved in Pro-Life activism. Later that night, St. Hedwig’s church was open overnight for Eucharistic adoration so that people could come and offer prayers for the success of the rally. Both staff and students came to spend an hour or two with the Lord over the course of the night, from 9:00pm until 7:45am Mass the next morning.

Defund Abortion Rally

Alissa Golob ('08) addresses the crowd.It is a great travesty that Ontario taxpayers pay a minimum of $30 million annually to cover the cost of abortions performed in our province, leaving some other health care needs unmet.   A group of youth in Ontario banded together to protest this injustice in front of the Provincial legislative buildings at Queen’s Park in Toronto.  Alissa Golob, Campaign Life Coalition Youth Coordinator and OLSWA alumna, was the leading organizer of the rally.  

Fifty students and several staff participated in the rally, heading down to Toronto by bus following an early Mass by Fr. Hattie.  There they stood in solidarity together with over 2,000 others, while listening to speeches given by pro-life doctors, young people, and post-abortive women.   OLSWA alumna Sharon Milan spoke movingly about her mother, OLSWA art instructor Patricia Milan, and her struggle with mouth cancer. Sharon highlighted the injustice of the situation in which Mrs. Milan had to pay out of pocket for many necessary treatments that were not covered by OHIP, whereas unnecessary and harmful arbortion procedures are fully subsidized. 

A petition to defund abortion in Ontario was also signed by all the participants, to be sent subsequently to the provincial legislature. The band Survived ’88, made up of OLSWA students Kathleen Dunn, David Groves, Rory MacIntyre, Tereza Smith and Elliott Warner as well as alumnus Patrick Wilson provided upbeat music before and after the rally. 

After another successful Pro-Life week, the Paul Sanders and Janine Lieu Pro-Life Club considers itself blessed to have a community who supports their cause, and wishes to express their thanks to Fr. Shalla and St. Hedwig’s for their charity, generosity and prayers.

OLSWA band "Survived '88" performs at Queen's Park, Toronto.

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NCLN Symposium

NCLN 2011 - photo by Andrew GrantThe first weekend in October, a handful of pro-life leaders from OLSWA attended National Campus Life Network’s annual symposium in Toronto. NCLN is an organization that coordinates and guides campus pro-life clubs from universities across Canada. This conference welcomed leaders from these groups as they came together for a weekend of leadership training and inspiring talks, while sharing valuable information on how to improve their campus pro-life clubs. OLSWA students John D’Agostino, and Ashton and Matt Hatchen were present to promote “Crossroads”.  Marie-Claire Bissonnette and Sarah Wilson, part of the executive team OLSWA’s pro-life club, attended on behalf of the Academy, and have returned from the symposium with enthusiasm to continue spreading the pro-life message. 
 

On Thursday, November 24, OLSWA Artist and Writer in Residence, Mr. Michael D. O'Brien, will be launching his new novel, The Father's Tale, at St. Patrick's Basilica Crypt in Ottawa, ON.  Book signing begins at 7:30 p.m., with an address by Mr. O'Brien at 8:00 p.m.  We hope to see you there!

The Father's Tale is a novel about a quiet man whose college-age son suddenly disappears.  The story, which traces the father's long search to find his missing son--and himself--is a modern retelling of the parables of the Prodigal Son and the Good Shepherd combined.

To read more about this epic story, please visit Mr. O'Brien's website, StudiObrien, here.   
A "book trailer" can be viewed here.

Click here for the book launch poster.

The evening of October 17, OLSWA was pleased to host Dr. Clemens Cavallin, a professor of religious studies at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, who came to speak about the “place for religious studies in the context of a Catholic liberal arts education.”  Dr. Cavallin, “a man of profound Catholic faith” is interested in the relation between non confessional  studies of religion and the theological search for wisdom as Mr. Michael D. O’Brien said in his introduction.  Dr. Cavallin is presently mainly focused on academic exchange with Indian universities and is also the author of several publications on the theme of religion, including a book entitled The Efficacy of Sacrifice.

Dr. Cavallin introduced his speech with a background on the challenge for Catholic education in a country where the State controls the universities, a state only recently freed from political ties to the Lutheran Church.  Teachers teaching religious studies are obliged to adhere to “confessional neutrality”, a neutral standpoint with regards to religion, which imposes difficulties on confessional theology. Dr. Cavallin explained that it was only last year in which the first Catholic institution of higher education since the Protestant Revolution, The Newman Institute, was awarded rights of examination.

There is no strong tradition of the liberal arts in his country, he said. Dr. Cavallin believes, however, looking at Catholic liberal arts studies in other countries, that there is a place for religious studies which, if taught within the proper Catholic context, will aid students to a better understanding of the recent phenomenon of globalization and will open up channels for interreligious dialogue.  He stressed the importance of “how to incorporate other cultures without succumbing to cultural relativism and a ‘smorgasbord approach’” which says that one may pick and choose what religion, or elements of different religions, to adopt into their own system of beliefs and practices.

He advocated for a shift away from the modernist utilitarian approach to education (a mere “transmission of scientific knowledge and methods” directed to economic gain) in favour of the more fruitful and fulfilling education of a Catholic liberal arts program, whose pursuit is truth and personal development.

Many OLSWA students and staff attended the lecture, and were left with new ideas to think about, with regards to new educational material, as members of a Catholic liberal arts school.

On Sunday, October 16, a large group of OLSWA students hiked to the neighbouring community of Wilno on the annual, autumnal pilgrimage. As usual, they started out from the Academy early in the afternoon, making their way through town and onto the wide dirt path of the old railway track which leads from Barry’s Bay to Wilno, ten kilometres away. This year’s hike took place a few weeks later than in previous years, but the weather held out nonetheless and the pilgrims enjoyed a fine autumn day to walk, sing and pray before reaching the beautiful Saint Mary’s Church at the top of one of Wilno’s hills. Following a short time of reflection there, and a look at the stunning panorama, the travellers were welcomed to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Zakrzewski for a hearty outdoor meal and delicious home-made pies, around a glowing campfire and under the last light of a beautiful sunset.