I have a dear friend who regularly attends Mass in Chesterton House Chapel. I wish it had been founded whilst I still lived in Edmonton.
From the Anglicanorum Cœtibus Society(Editor’s note: Chesterton House is a retreat ministry run by Glen
and Therese McDonald and their family, who belong to St. Benedict’s Catholic Community, the Ordinariate parish community in Edmonton, Alberta. Chesterton House located in Mundare, Alberta is notable both for its great work in the community, for Catholics and non-Catholics, as well as for its role as current host of the St. Benedict community’s Divine Worship Masses. Therese McDonald, who in addition to her work, maintains their blog, graciously answered some questions from the ACS's Jackson Perry about their work for the ACS Ordinariate Newsletter, which we reproduce here. We encourage you to subscribe to keep updated on the latest news regarding the Ordinariate in North America.)
In response to heavenly direction and the Grace of God, our family acquired the old Mundare Hospital in 2015 (it had more recently been the convent of the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate). We established a Catholic cultural centre of sorts, an apostolate operated completely on a donation basis. After providing service for about a year, through a series of amazing opportunities, God gave us a priest who serves the Ordinariate (Father David McLeod). St. Benedict's community out of Edmonton has regular Divine Worship on Sundays. Father lives in Mundare and received permission to provide liturgy to us at Chesterton House, which includes daily Mass (T-F) and a Saturday evening (Sunday Vigil) Mass at 5:30PM. After a time, Bishop Steven Lopes visited Chesterton House, consecrated our chapel and designated Chesterton House as an "An educational ministry of St. Benedict Ordinariate Catholic Community."
In naming it after the great G.K. Chesterton, we pray this home may reflect his common sense, his example of holiness, loyalty to Christ and His Church, and his profound wisdom. We can only anticipate with excitement the entire plan God has, but we have been inspired with at least a beginning vision. We have established, by invitation, a calendar of events, celebrations, and activities primarily for Catholic families and individuals.
Although this endeavour is very much, at the heart, Catholic, we are welcoming of our non-Catholic brothers and sisters. Chesterton House is a place of formation, hospitality, and encouragement. We seek to promote the New Evangelization, a culture of life, and the best of Western Civilization, as we reach out with invitation to visitors and guests to be part of our activities. We celebrate the feast days, have processions, educate youth and families in catechesis, history, literature, current events, politics, life issues, homeschooling, and Catholic culture. We also host sports days, youth events, potlucks, campfire fun, movies, documentary nights with discussion, and whatever else strikes us as building up a community of faith and family.
Our outreach happens in a landscape of ways, which includes a warm welcome to those inquiring about the faith. My husband Glen is a former Anglican and it is through him that we have membership in the Ordinariate. It is not unusual to have non-Catholics retreat at Chesterton House, experience Divine Worship for the first time as they continue on their faith journey. This is also a place of refuge and rest. We welcome private retreatants and group retreats as well. Chesterton House is not a public venue, but is community minded, charitable in nature, and generous to the needs of God’s people.
Chesterton House needs volunteers! We will welcome ideas, inspirations, and requests. We need practical help with cleaning, gardening, baking, cooking, and building maintenance. This is not a commercial venture, but cannot exist without generous support. The expenses of keeping open a 12,700 sq. ft. building are real. That said, all we do is done on a donation basis. Nobody is charged a fee for anything. Those that can give, give, and those that cannot are equally welcome to activities.
Our son Luke McDonald is Canada's sole Canadian seminarian for the Ordinariate. He completed his philosophy degree at St. Philip Neri in Toronto and is now at Bishop's Lopes's House of Formation in Houston TX. Luke has begun his studies for his Masters of Divinity program through St. Thomas university in Houston and now serves in Houston as he gains more experience and exposure to parish life.
We are following directives from the chancery regarding Covid. We moved outdoors under a big tent and this has allowed for greater social distancing and such. During these times, we've come to treasure even more greatly the blessing of our liturgy and especially Holy Eucharist. We've been able to navigate Covid with relative ease and have moved many of our talks and gatherings to online using Zoom. We have a very committed community that keeps in close touch with each other.
To learn more about Chesterton House:
Email: chestertonhousemcdonald@gmail.com
Mailing Address: Box 258, Mundare, Alberta, T0B 3H0
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