St. Dunstan's Basilica Parish

Outside St. Dunstan's Basilica this Sunday 11:30 am – 1 pm. Proceeds will help parish youth, Lucas Pollard, achieve his fundraising goal to take part in the NET Canada program this coming August. Cost is by donation. Anyone wishing to sponsor Lucas may also visit his page at: https://www.netcanada.ca/support-a-missionary/lucas-p

To be held at the Roman Catholic Cemetery, Charlottetown, Sunday, July 28, with Mass beginning at 2 pm. For the safety of all attending there will be no parking in the Cemetery. Please park in St. Pius X Church parking lot. Anyone with mobility issues, please come early. In case of rain the Mass will be held at St. Pius X Church.

The Basilica welcomes back Montreal organist Philip Crozier in his return engagement to Charlottetown. Wednesday August 14 at 1 pm. Admission is by free will offering.

The Basilica welcomes back Jean-Willy Kunz in his return engagement to Charlottetown He is resident organist for the Montreal Symphony. Also featured will be soprano Robyn Perry. Wednesday August 7 at 1 pm. Admission is by free will offering.

The Basilica welcomes Toronto organist/composer J Thomas D Gonder in his debut organ recital here on PEI. Wednesday July 31 at 1 pm. Admission is by free will offering.

The summer organ recital series continues Wednesday July 24 at 1 pm with organist Don Fraser (music director for Trinity United, Charlottetown). Admission is by free-will offering.

The annual summer series of organ concerts at the Basilica kicks off Wednesday July 17 at 1 pm with soprano Andrea Corder accompanied by Basilica organist Leo Marchildon. Admission is by free-will offering.

An evening of Adoration and fellowship for young adults seeking deeper relationship with Christ. Please check out the “Upper Room PEI” Facebook page for more information and upcoming dates during the summer.

A suggestion has been made that children at Mass should be accompanied to the washroom downstairs by a parent rather than going on their own. In the interest of safety, this is a prudent practice to follow. If your child has such a need, please go with them.

1ST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH: Parishioners who are able to donate non perishable food items, please bring them to the weekend masses for the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry. Donations may be left near the angel holy water fonts at the entrance to the church. We hope that you can continue to give generously to support the needy in our parish community.

As a way of marking the centennial of our present Basilica, we will be providing some historical sketches over the course of this year. Our thanks to Fr. Art O'Shea for these. Today, we'll start way back…
Two hundred years ago the Diocese of Quebec was the only Roman Catholic Diocese in what is present-day Canada. In the summer of 1812, Bishop Plessis of Quebec made an extended tour of our Maritime region, remaining two weeks on Prince Edward Island, where Father Angus MacEachern was at that time the only priest serving the scattered Catholic population here. The Bishop spent two days in Charlottetown where there was yet no church. As he was leaving here, he directed Father MacEachern to arrange the building of a suit- able church and he designated its proper location: a high point in the town overlooking the harbour – the site of the present St. Dunstan's.

Automatic debit is an option for those who would like to contribute using that means. Please contact the Parish Office for information.

The church building, which was to become the first cathedral of the newly-formed Diocese of Charlottetown in 1829, was erected on the site of the present church in 1816. It was replaced by a larger wooden building in 1843, which itself gave way to a magnificent stone structure, destroyed by fire in 1913. This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the dedication of our present St. Dunstan's Basilica, the fourth cathedral of the Diocese of Charlottetown. As a way of marking the 100th Anniversary of our Basilica, Confirmation and other catechetics classes from across the Diocese will be invited for tours of our Diocesan Cathedral. Our thanks to the organizers, Charlene Peters and Fr. Art O'Shea.

Scented products such as perfume and cologne can aggravate health problems for some people. Please refrain from wearing scented products at Mass. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.