3898 Highway #7 East | Unionville, Ontario, Canada | L3R 1L3 | Tel: (905) 479-2463 | Fax: (905) 513-8077 | e-mail: administrator@stjustin.com
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3898 Highway #7 East | Unionville, Ontario, Canada | L3R 1L3 | Tel: (905) 479-2463 | Fax: (905) 513-8077 | e-mail: administrator@stjustin.com |
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Click on any of the following Sacraments to receive more information.
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| Baptism | Call the Parish Office for more Information |
| Baptism is the
first of the sacraments of initiation into the Catholic
church. It makes us adopted children of God, incorporates
us into Christ, pardons all our sin, and forms us into
God’s people. It confers a permanent relationship
("character") with Christ and his Church which
lasts even should one cease to be an active member of the
Catholic community. For this reason a validly baptized
Christian is never re-baptized and has the right to a
Christian funeral. Baptism of infants takes place within the first few weeks after birth in the parish Church. It is highly desirable that baptisms take place during Sunday Eucharist when the parish community is assembled for worship. Otherwise, baptisms are scheduled by the parish staff, as required. It is important to recall that this sacrament is a church and not a family celebration, that the parents must have the intention of raising the child in the Catholic faith and that both parents and godparents are to be instructed on the serious responsibility they take upon themselves when they present their children for baptism. Fill out the information form obtained from the Parish Office. The deacon will then contact you. An evening baptismal course is required. |
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| First Communion | Call the Parish Office |
The decision concerning an individual child’s readiness to receive First Communion rests in the first place with the child’s parents in consultation with the child’s parish priest and teacher(s). However, it is the duty of the parish priest to see to it that children who have not yet reached the use of reason, or whom he has judged to be insufficiently prepared, do not come to Holy Communion (canon 914). Adequate preparation (in the Archdiocese of Toronto) is understood to be the successful completion of the initial preparation for this sacrament (either in a Catholic school or in a parish) and of the immediate preparation provided by the parish for all First Communion candidates (e.g. enrolment of all candidates for First Eucharist and, where these exist, additional classes). |
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| Reconciliation | After the
9:10 a.m. mass on Saturday |
"According to the Church’s Command, after having attained the age of discretion, each of the faithful is bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1457) However, the Church encourages Catholics to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance at least monthly throughout our lifetime so that we can benefit from the graces obtained through reception of this sacrament. This sacrament reconciles us with God and joins us to him in intimate friendship. It also reconciles us with the Church and revitalizes her life which we have weakened by our sin. Children must be prepared simultaneously for the two sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist since the opportunity of receiving both according to the designated order begins at the same time. The universal law of the Church states that First Communion is to be preceded by sacramental confession (canon 914). Given that a child who has the idea of God, which is necessary for First Communion, could also grasp the concept of sin, priests, parents and catechists may not determine without proper consultation whether or not children may receive First Communion before First Reconciliation. The basis for this preparation is not so much the state of sin in which a child may be but rather the formative and pastoral aim to educate to the true Christian spirit of penance and conversion, to growth in self-knowledge and self-control, to the sense of sin, to the necessity of asking for pardon from God and above all to a loving and confident abandonment to the mercy of the Lord. (Norms for Sacramental Preparation, Archdiocese of Toronto, 78, 80) |
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| Confirmation | Call the Parish Office |
"... by the Sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1285). All baptized persons who have not been confirmed and only they are capable of being confirmed. It is required, if the person has the use of reason, that he/she be suitably instructed, properly disposed and able to renew his/her baptismal promises (canon 889). In the Archdiocese of Toronto, the Cardinal Archbishop has recently delegated authority to pastors to confirm their parishioners due to the large size of the diocese and to enable young people to be Confirmed on or close to the Feast of Pentecost. Sponsors for this sacrament are ideally, the same persons who served as one’s baptismal sponsors. They are intended to be models of faith and so must be Confirmed themselves, be practising their faith, and be mature enough (usually sixteen years or older) to carry out the role of sponsor. A sponsor can be either male or female. Parents cannot be sponsors for their own children (canons 874 and 893). Young people in the Archdiocese of Toronto are ordinarily Confirmed in their grade eight year. This applies as well to children of catechetical age (7 to 14 years) who were not baptized as infants but as young children. |
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| Marriage | Call the
Parish Office for an appointment |
"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1601). In the Latin Rite the celebration of marriage between two Catholics normally takes place during Mass because of the connection of all the sacraments with the death and resurrection of Christ. The parties to a marriage covenant are a baptized man and woman, free to contract marriage, who freely express their consent. The Church holds "the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element that ‘makes the marriage’" (Catechism,1626). If there is no true consent, there is no marriage. One year's notice is required. Must live within the parish boundaries or support the church for at least three months before the first interview. No wedding dates will be booked before the couple meets with the priest. Call the Parish Office for an appointment. |
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| Anointing of the Sick | Call the Parish Office |
| The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is celebrated with those who are seriously ill, those who are preparing for surgery, and the elderly. This sacrament of healing is meant to heal the whole person, spiritually and physically while at the same time reassuring the person of God’s love and mercy. The preferred place for celebrating this sacrament is in the church with family and members of the church community present. Celebrating the sacrament before entering the hospital means the ill person can better appreciate the prayers and symbols of the rite. | |
| Viaticum | Call the Parish Office |
| For those who are about to die, the Church, in addition to the Anointing of the Sick, offers the Eucharist as viaticum - food for their journey home. | |
