Are you going to the [Cottage, Cabin, Camp, Chalet]?

In this part of the world, the Victoria Day Weekend is known as the start of cottage season. Today thousands will pack up the kids and leave the city to head north to open the cottage and for the first sweet taste of summer.

There's nothing more relaxing than sitting in the middle of the woods listening to the birds in the trees and the loons on the lake. As John Burroughs put it, "I go to nature to be soothed and healed, to have my senses put in order." Even our bishops have been known to escape to the cottage once in a while...

Emmet Cardinal Carter with his mother, Minnie Carter at Fourteen Island Lake, 1946. Cottages can be a great place to spend time with family.
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Archbishop Pocock spent some time with friends, including Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie Alexander Carter, at a cottage in the 1970s. I would love to have been able to hear some of the conversations that happened in this circle!
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Archbishop Philip Pocock relaxes at a cottage in the 1970s. This looks like a great place to nap, and the dog knows it!
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Even the Pope needs a cottage getaway once in a while! Saint John Paul II relaxed for a few days with the Basilian Fathers on Strawberry Island in Lake Simcoe during his visit to Toronto for World Youth Day in 2002. The Archdiocese's own Emanuel Pires had the opportunity to have lunch with him, which you can read about on the Archdiocesan Blog.

Emanuel Pires, Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, and Pope John Paul II on Strawberry Island in July 2002.
Photo courtesy of Emanuel Pires.

ARCAT wishes everyone a fun and safe holiday weekend. Don't forget the sunscreen!

This Day in History: Archbishop Ambrozic becomes Cardinal Ambrozic

On February 21, 1998, Most Reverend Archbishop Aloysius Matthew Ambrozic became His Eminence Aloysius Matthew Cardinal Ambrozic. 

Aloysius Matthew Ambrozic was born in Gaberje, Slovenia on January 27, 1930. In September of 1948 he and his family emigrated to Canada where he studied philosophy and theology at St. Augustine's Seminary. On June 4, 1955, he was ordained priest by Cardinal McGuigan in St. Michael's Cathedral. 

On March 26, 1976, Father Ambrozic was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto. He was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Toronto on May 22, 1986, and succeeded as Archbishop in March 17, 1990.

On January 18, 1998 Pope John Paul II nominated Archbishop Ambrozic a Cardinal, and he was elevated to the College on February 21.  

Cardinal Ambrozic retired as Archbishop of Toronto on December 16, 2006. He passed away on August 26, 2011 and was interred in the Bishops’ Mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery, Toronto.

Cardinal Ambrozic receives a red watered silk biretta from Pope John Paul II. This photo was published by L'Osservatore Romano in Rome, Italy.

ARCAT holds the above biretta (displayed on our nifty head model) owned by Cardinal Ambrozic. Birettas are worn by clergy from Cardinals to Seminarians, and are thought to have been derived from academic caps of the middle ages. The clerical biretta has three peaks, and is always worn with the non-peaked corner facing left so that the wearer can grab the middle peak with his right hand.