L’abbé
/ Fr. Gilles A. Surprenant
Paroisse
S. Luc / St. Luke Parish
106A Anselme-Lavigne,
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC H9A 1N8
Home Phone/Tel Personnel 514-685-8329 Church Fax
514-683-0836
EMail:
frgilles@sympatico.ca courriel: alphafranc@sympatico.ca
Blog Site:
http://fathergilles.blogspot.com/
Site blogue:
http://labbegilles.blogspot.com/
Web Site:
http://fathergilles.net/
Aumônier à l’Hôpital Général du Lakeshore General Hospital
Chaplain
Centre de santé et de services
sociaux de l’Ouest de l’Île
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Je suis né samedi le 9 avril 1949 à minuit entre le
samedi et le dimanche, et c’était le Dimanche des Rameaux, de la Passion du
Seigneur, dans la maison de mes grands-parents paternels au 1020 rue Leman et
fut baptisé le lendemain
le dimanche après-midi le 10 avril à
Sainte-Thérèse-de-l’Enfant-Jésus rue S. Hubert près de Jarry à Montréal. Mes parents construisirent une
nouvelle maison à Rosemère mais retournèrent chez mes grands-parents avant d’acheter
une vieille maison au 10171 rue Parc Georges à Montréal Nord. I learned English on the street and my parents sent me to St. Rita
Annex # 3, which successively became Blessed Adrian Fortescue # 2, and finally
St. Alice. I then went to St. Pius X
High School under the Christian Brothers of
It was during our first high vocation week that Fr.
John Brayley, our Chaplain, gave his vocational testimony, and the Lord seduced
my young heart. I knew I wanted to be a
priest. As I turned 16 and looked
forward to a social life, my parents bought a dairy farm in l’Épiphanie, and I soon found myself in
exile, as it were. I experienced
considerable emotional turmoil over the next 10 years, during which time I
wasted a year playing cards, socializing, and losing my scholarship to
After seven years in the world during which time I
was a substitute high school teacher (English as a second language), Air
Traffic Control trainee, unemployed, Senior Collector for Master Card National
Bank and Training Supervisor, theology student and resident at St. Gabriel Parish,
I entered St. Paul University Seminary in Ottawa in 1978 and finally requested
Holy Orders in 1983. I was ordained a
Deacon on February 27th by Bishop Leonard Crowley at St. Elizabeth
Parish in
As an infant, I was quite solitary, counting a lot on Maman’s presence
in my life. J’ai un souvenir d’environ 4 à 5 ans où j’avais peur de la noirceur le
soir et Maman m’a enseigné mes prières et comment réaliser que je n’étais
jamais seul. À partir de ce temps-là je
me savais comme en présence de Dieu. Maman m’a permis de me savoir entouré de
Jésus, de Marie, de Joseph, et des saints et aimé du Père. Plus tard Maman m’a expliqué qu’elle avait
utilisé une petite lampe pour appuyer son enseignement, et la lumière dégagée
par cette lampe appuyait ce qu’elle me disait et m’avait aidé à comprendre ou
plutôt à percevoir la lumière intérieure qu’est la grâce de Dieu, la présence
et l’amour de l’Esprit de Dieu.
I have
vivid memories of being struck by the large posters in class which were the
same as pictures in our catechism book, and in particular of the one of the
Nativity of Jesus. Something happened
deep within me as I looked at that picture and at the others, especially around
the time of my First Holy Communion when I looked at a picture of Jesus on the
Cross. The Holy Spirit was doing
something in my soul, as I look back and think about it, that brought me
somehow closer to Jesus and to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the first One that I felt in relation
with as a little child. Then around the
age of 12, when I was again struck by the scene of Jesus in the
These
are developments of which I was conscious at the time, though I might not have
spoken about them in that way at the time.
There were other experiences that were far deeper and much less
conscious. At the time we were preparing
to be fully initiated in grade 2, we learned our prayers and then experienced
the sacraments, all within a few days. I
don’t remember the exact sequence of those sacraments, but the records show I
was confirmed April 29th, 1957, Monday after what is not the Feast
of Divine Mercy, the second Sunday of Easter. I believe in those days they confirmed before
allowing First Confession and First Holy Communion, so I probably celebrated
Penance and Reconciliation for the first time that week, perhaps on Friday May
3rd, and would have received Jesus for the first time on Sunday May 5th.
It might have been during a special Mass
on the Saturday, but I think the practice then was still to allow First Holy
Communions during Sunday Masses, but I may be wrong. There aren’t any records that I know of and I
haven’t had the occasion to ask retired teachers and principals.
The
point is that something significant happened.
Je me souviens que mes grand parents Eva
Quevillon et Albert Surprenant et ma Tante Thérèse Surprenant et son mari Oncle
Raymond Hotte et peut-être d’autres sont venus à un repas spécial préparé par
Maman. More
importantly, when I was in my twenties, for the first time as an adult I
thought back to these experiences while on a retreat and discovered to my
amazement that I had extraordinary memories of these events. I remember being confirmed by the bishop, his
presence, and being touched by him, and going back and sitting down, and
feeling within me a holy presence, like there was someone there with me, the Holy
Ghost, who was doing something mysterious inside of me. It was pleasant and deeply moving and yet ever
so natural, very mysterious.
I
remember my First Confession, which took place probably in our little 6-class school
in the little auditorium. I remember the
little portable “grill” that I knelt on with the priest sitting in a chair on
the other side. I remember being
impressed by the priest and the experience itself, and touched. Something real happened. I felt different after, perhaps holier and
closer to God would be what I might now say about it.
The day
of my First Holy Communion, I remember lining up with my classmates in the hall
of St. Rita Parish church, and the teacher using her little wooden “clapper” to
get our attention and as cues for each move we were supposed to make as a
group. We were fasting since midnight
the night before, and it was all so impressive, that one of the boys got sick
and threw up – it’s funny what we remember. I remember having been told and being careful
to sit a proper distance from the boys on my left and right, and that the girls
were seated on the other side of the main aisle. I remember receiving Jesus on my tongue and
going back to sit down, and saying my prayers as I had learned them, and that I
actually felt Jesus with me, as if He were actually there within me and beside
me at the same time. It was mysterious,
wonderful, and again ever so natural, yet unusual.
As a young
child it seemed that all my life was one thing all together, but as an older
child and as a teenager I began to realize that my life had different parts. I felt so good in church and most of the time
in school, but not so good at times there, at home, and when I was playing
outside. For example, around 8 or 9 I
had a problem with stealing coins from Papa’s business cash box or purse, but
one day my parents set a trap for me and caught me and left me with a very
impressive lesson. I was never inclined
to steal again, except for a few more subtle work related adult temptations. Then there were confusing years wondering
what to do about my sexuality and relations with girls and later young women. During those turbulent years, there were a few
deep moments when I felt God’s presence or love. One was when I heard Fr John Brayley give his
testimony as a priest in first year high when I was 13. Singing in the Glee Club at Pius was a
spiritual experience, and learning to serve Mass before school.
Vivre et travailler sur la
ferme à l’Épiphanie à partir de l’âge de 16 ans fut une expérience profonde et
spirituelle en raison d’une nouvelle relation avec la nature et les saisons en
plein air. Mon départ du Grand Séminaire
à 22 ans fut ma première décision adulte, et une profonde expérience
spirituelle, comme une nouvelle naissance psychique. Après mon départ j’ai continué plus ou moins
régulièrement à prier le Bréviaire, et ce fut vraiment une expérience
spirituelle comme jeune adulte qui m’a marqué. Entre 1974 et 1978 j’ai vécu quelques
expériences de conversion qui ont fini par m’amener de retour su séminaire pour
une formation théologique et pour y discerner si j’avais vraiment une vocation.
J’ai fait partie d’un groupe de jeunes
adultes pendant 2 ans, et cela a consolidé en moi un sens d’être quelqu’un.
J’ai vécu un rapprochement
profond de la Sainte Trinité en préparation à l’ordination alors que coïncida
dans notre famille un accident tragique qui prit la vie de mon petit neveu
bébé. Lors de deux retraites en six mois
la question que je me posait concernant ma vocation est devenue claire : « Seigneur,
que veux-tu de moi ? » est devenu « Et toi, Gilles, que veux-tu ? » Alors je me suis demandé « Est-ce que je
veux être prêtre ? De Montréal? Avec ces prêtres qui sont
déjà là ? La réponse positive s’est
fait sentir en moi et j’ai demandé d’être ordonné. Par la suite, les difficultés ont été de
grandes grâces pour moi, y compris 4 ans de counselling, ainsi qu’un pèlerinage en Europe en 1990, et depuis, mon implication
avec Madonna House et le Spiritual Life Institute, ainsi que de nombreuses
retraites et sessions de formation à tous les ans depuis mes années au
séminaire.
I was
assigned summer Chaplain to Camp Orelda-Marian and to provide the Eucharist for Trail’s End Camp, and also
served Kinkora at the Director’s request.
Appointed Curate at St. David, I began at the end of September 1983 and
after only 2 years was sent to the team responsible for St. Brendan, St.
Aloysius, St. Dominic, and St. Philip Neri September 1st, 1985 but
began a month later. I became Moderator
of the Team February 5th, 1986 during Fr. Brian Moon’s recovery from
a heart attack and succeeded him September 1st, 1986. I was elected to the Ministry to Priests Team
and confirmed by Bishop Crowley on October 23rd, 1987.
After consultation with the other priests on our team
serving those four congregations, I recommended to the Archbishop a break-up of
the team and became Parochial Administrator of St. Aloysius Parish and St.
Philip Neri Mission September 22nd, 1989. Five years later, what is now my previous
parish was without a pastor; so I offered my services to Mgr. Neil Willard and
was appointed Parochial Administrator of St. Thomas à Becket Parish September
11, 1994. Then on April 24, 1998, I was
elected one of our priests’ representatives to our Archdiocesan Synodal
Assembly and participated in both weekends in October and November 1998. My appointment to Becket was changed to that
of Pastor effective September 1st, 2000, for 6 years.
In 2003, my appointment as member of the Ministry
to Priests Team changed as our new Episcopal Vicar and Director of the Office
for English Pastoral Services, Msgr. Sean Harty, changed the consultative
structure at the service of the English Vicariate and constituted EPAC, the
English Presbyteral Advisory Council, of which I am currently an appointed
member. Then our Archbishop appointed me
Spiritual Advisor of the Montreal Archdiocesan Council of the Catholic Women’s
League of Canada effective October 15th, 2003 till August 31st,
2008.
Since September 1st I have been
Assistant to Fr. Roger Martineau, Pastor of Paroisse S. Luc/St. Luke Parish for
3/5 of the work week. This part-time
appointment was made by Cardinal Turcotte so that I might be available for 2/5
of the work week for service at the
I
could also be called by the CLSC Pierrefonds, Centre Benjamin Viger, or the
CLSC Lac St.-Louis. This is unlikely to
happen very often, since in order for just the LGH to have adequate coverage
there should be two full-time positions.
As it is, we are rarely, between the two of us at five days a week, able
to make contact with all the patients assigned a bed in the hospital, let alone
be present to all the people who come to the Emergence Room or come in daily
for ambulatory care. Although the team
of volunteers helps us provide better service, adequate coverage by chaplains
would significantly enhance the hospital’s healing mission.
Je fus
éduqué en anglais depuis l’école primaire jusqu’à l’université. Là j’ai commencé à prendre des cours en
français. Voilà pourquoi je maîtrise
davantage l’anglais. J’ai obtenu un B.
ès Arts en Littérature Anglaise avec un mineur en philosophie et théologie de
l’Université de Montréal (Collège Loyola) et en 2005 un B. ès Arts de
l’Université Concordia reconnaissant celui accordé en ce lieux par l’UdeM, un
B. ès Théologie à la fois de l’Université d’Ottawa et de l’Université
Saint-Paul, et une M. ès Arts Études Pastorales (Ministère Général) de
l’Université d’Ottawa.
J’ai
complété un certificat d’Éducation Clinique Pastorale pour le ministère
hospitalier, un autre pour le contrôle de la circulation aérienne, et encore
d’autres pour « L’Actualisation des Forces Vitales Humaines »,
« L’École d’évangélisation Billy Graham », et un semestre d’études
sabbatiques. En plus, j’ai suivi des
cours et ai participé à des conférences sur la sexualité humaine, les
innovations pastorales, et le Cours Alpha.
J’ai fait depuis 40 ans de nombreuses retraites ignaciennes,
sacerdotales, et
privées, et de nombreux séjours spirituels à Madonna House, avec des ermites
dans la tradition carmélite au Canada, aux É.-U., et en Irlande, et aussi à
Rome, Lourdes, et en Terre Sainte. J’ai
participé aussi dans diverses fraternités sacerdotales avec des confrères ici
même dans l’Archidiocèse.
Dans ma jeunesse j’ai travaillé l’équivalent de dix ans à
temps plein sur la ferme laitière de mes parents, et ce sans aucun
salaire. Il s’agissait de mon devoir de
fils. Mon premier emploi payant fut comme
instituteur substitut au secondaire pendant pas tout à fait un an, suivi d’un
peu plus d’un an comme stagiaire au contrôle de la circulation aérienne, après
quoi – suite à une brève période de chômage – je devins percepteur de carte de
crédit et formateur des nouveaux employés.
En attendant de retourner au séminaire j’ai même livré des épiceries en
fourgonnette.
Depuis mon ordination en 1983 j’ai servi comme aumônier de
camps d’été pour un été complet, comme vicaire à St. David de 1983 à 1985,
membre de l’équipe responsable de St. Brendan, St. Dominic, St. Aloysius, et
St. Philip Neri pour quatre mois puis soudainement chef de cette équipe en
1986. J’ai demandé d’être pasteur pour
ces deux dernières communautés de foi en 1989, pour ensuite devenir pasteur de
St. Thomas à Becket de 1994 à 2006.
Enfin, me voilà vicaire à S. Luc/St. Luke et aumônier à l’Hôpital
Général du Lakeshore. Apparemment, on
s’attend à de nouveaux changements en septembre.
I have a reasonable baritone
singing voice and enjoy leading the congregation in song, something I learned
to do mostly at weekday Masses during the year and at Sunday Masses during the
summer.
Papa m’apprit de nombreuses
habiletés manuelles pour l’entretient de la maison, de la voiture, de ses
pigeons voyageurs, et de la flotte de camions pour la livraison d’huile à
chauffage domestique. Sur la ferme j’en
appris beaucoup plus encore. J’ai touché
à beaucoup de choses pour atteindre à la fin une certaine confiance pour faire
face à presque tout nouveau défi.
J’aimais beaucoup la satisfaction de l’accomplissement lorsqu’on a
complété un travail manuel. C’était une belle saison de la vie.
I began composting in 1992
and have since encouraged my households to participate. We can do much more to care for our
environment, which is in danger and is accelerating towards some kind of
disaster.
For 20 to 25 years, I have
enjoyed swimming, walking/jogging, cross-country skiing, warm-up and stretching
exercises, and I have enjoyed cycling and ice skating since my early
youth. From 16 to 24 I worked a lot on
my parents’ dairy farm and found myself in almost peak physical condition. For the next three years I helped them
part-time and this helped me remain in fairly good condition. From 27 to 32 I studied and was less active
but went for regular walks and occasional ice skating in winter.
Finally, I realized I needed
more vigorous exercise and resumed the elementary swimming I had been taught by
my mother as a child. I asked for tips
from the lifeguards and improved significantly and this became a good form of
exercise when I couldn’t ice skate or go for a good walk. I did this irregularly from 1981 to 1986, when
a counselor helped me realize I needed regular vigorous exercise.
From 37 to 45 were my best
years as every other day I would engage in vigorous or extended
walking/jogging, or cycling, or cross-country skiing, or ice skating, or
swimming. I even took tennis lessons,
but hurt my shoulder, realizing I wasn’t strong enough in the shoulders for
this sport.
From 1994 to 2002 I kept in
fairly good condition by continuing the same sports, but not nearly as frequently,
being now in a much busier parish. At
WYD 2002 I suffered a small hernia in the groin, and between waiting for
surgery and then recovering, avoided vigorous exercise for over a year. Even then I was slow to get back into a
regular routine. When I did, I
occasionally developed aches or pains mostly because I had lost the condition I
had previously enjoyed due to both inactivity and aging. The recent changes have aggravated this
situation and I am in need of restoring an exercise regimen.
While in the Seminary at the
age of 32 I developed conditional hypoglycemia, which means that there are
triggers causing a rush of insulin drastically decreasing my glycemia or blood
sugar, and that my organism is unable to restore the balance by itself without
eating something. That is why I now
avoid anything with white flour or refined sugars. I can have a teaspoon of honey occasionally
or even of maple syrup, but gone are the days when I can enjoy them as
dessert. This means I generally cannot
have any dessert or chocolate or candies.
Even orange juice is too sweet.
While in my first parish at
around 35 I had an attack of kidney stones and was told by the urologist to
avoid spinach, eggplant, rhubarb, glycerin, berries, and caffeine, which
includes any form of chocolate or coffee, and most teas. Over the years, I have lost my taste for
these things and have developed new tastes for plain yogurt, cheeses, nuts, and
tart fruit such as grapefruit, limes, lemons and certain apples.
Depuis ma plus tender
enfance j’ai toujours aimé être seul avec mes pensées aussi bien qu’être avec
les autres. Au jeu je me retrouvais souvent
le ou un des meneurs parmi les amis. Je
suis plus confortable avec une seule personne, mais avec le temps j’ai trouvé
un certain confort dans des situations de groupe et en publique. Je n’ai jamais eu peur de la solitude, au
contraire, j’aime m’y retrouver.
By contrast, I am not a
“life of the party” type, and don’t care for gregarious socializing, touching
everyone, acting as a kind of cheerleader.
I can occasionally do that, if it is really important, but it requires
real effort, is draining, and generally comes off looking staged or
strained. It just isn’t me.
I am contemplative by
temperament, and for many years my friends thought that I would become a monk
or hermit, that is, a full-time contemplative within the religious orders of
our Church. The Lord has called me
instead to active ministry, and over the years, I have learned how to engage in
this active and mostly parish ministry in a contemplative way.
In 1992 I received the great
grace to become involved with two different apostolates in the Church – Madonna
House Apostolate, which is primarily a lay apostolate, and the Spiritual Life
Institute, which is a contemplative community of women and men hermits in the
Carmelite tradition.
Four years later at 47 I
made final promises as an associate of Madonna House Apostolate, wearing their
Pax + Caritas cross, and made personal promises related to the Spiritual Life
Institute. These spiritual associations
have together shaped my life as a priest of Montreal and how I go about
pastoring the people of God in our archdiocese and in particular in the West
Island.
J’aime bien voyager et
rencontrer les gens, voir des paysages, des cultures, et des mœurs
différents. J’aime
surtout découvrir la présence de Dieu partout.
I enjoy traveling for the
joy of seeing and exploring different places – both nature and culture – and
meeting people, and mostly for the joy of experiencing God’s presence
everywhere.
By temperament I tend to
connect to the world around me through my emotions, and this makes it very
difficult to remember names and places or to associate correctly memories with
people, time and place.
Par tempérament j’ai
tendance à toucher et à être touché par le monde autour de moi par la voie des émotions,
ce qui me rend la tâche difficile de me rappeler les noms et les sujets de
conversations. Je ne suis pas du tout
comme ces prêtres qui peuvent ou même aiment « transiger et brasser des
affaires » dans l’église, la salle, ou la sacristie avant et après les
messes dominicales. Je ne peux tout
simplement pas me rappeler de qu’est-ce qui s’est passé qui a dit quoi, qui m’a
donné quoi, et ainsi de suite. Alors
malheureux la personne qui a l’impression que je ferai suite à une conversation
que nous avons eu « en passant » après ou avant une messe.
Unlike some other priests it
is a very bad idea for me to attempt to “transact business” on Sundays in
between or before or after Masses. I
simply can’t remember who said what or even that it took place. As a result I generally fail to follow up on
anything we may have talked about on Sunday.
I need to write everything
down and prefer people to call, email, or write me so that I can receive it
during the week when I have access to my office and working tools. I have learned the hard way not to transact
any Church business on Sunday or in church only to discover once it is too late
that someone expected something of me that I wasn’t able to remember outside of
the church afterwards. I usually
remember to ask people to communicate with me during the week, but if I forget,
then be warned.
From the first moment I was
offered by my superior Msgr. Sean Harty in December 2003 to go on sabbatical in
the Fall of 2004 a reflection and questioning process began within me, which
became a writing project on pastoring, especially in the parish setting. While in
Durant mes dernières
quelques années à St. Thomas a Becket, dans le cadre du 40e
anniversaire, j’ai suggéré aux gens qu’il pourrait être utile de réfléchir à
notre expérience de foi, de la paroisse et de nos engagements, et d’en rédiger
un récit qui pourrait avec ceux de tous les autres constituer une ébauche
d’histoire de la paroisse. Cela a fait
boule de neige et j’y ai participé moi-même, contribuant un certain nombre de
documents de valeur historique. Entre
autres, nous avons révisé notre pratique de la Messe.
At the end of my stay at Becket, in the
context of the then upcoming 40th anniversary, I suggested that we might all
reflect on our experience of faith, of the parish, and of our involvements and
write some form of accounting of our stewardship in view of an eventual parish
history. The idea took off and I made
significant contributions to the process.
Among others, we revised our practice of the