HOLY SPIRIT SENIORS 55+

In 1985 Sister Jane asked one of our parishioners to try to interest the seniors of the parish in meeting once a month - thus Holy Spirit Seniors was formed. The first meeting was in the portable which was connected to St. Benedict's school. When the Martha Sisters arrived in Calgary a short time later, they very kindly offered us the use of their Convent, where we held all of our meetings until we moved to the new church in 1991.

Since then we have more than doubled our membership and have become involved in many more activities.

We have tried to interest our members by acquiring knowledgeable speakers such as: a health nurse, a fireman, a member of the Board of Directors, a representative from Catholic Charities, Father Edmund and Dr. Rudolph Valerio.

Our social programs have increased in popularity. We have visited three museums: Glenbow, The Military Museum, and the Heritage Museum at Cochrane. Also we have been to the Planetarium, the fish hatchery, the Herald, the Italian Bakery, the Zoo and Rosebud Theatre, as well as to the Jubilee Auditorium to hear a Chinook Winds Concert. These outings were usually followed by a luncheon.

We have also helped to celebrate special anniversaries and birthdays: Sister Anastasia's 50t" anniversary was held at the Convent, Sister Mary Ann's 50t" was held at Lethbridge and Sister Michaila's golden jubilee was at the church. Father Alex also had a 50'" anniversary to the priesthood. We had a luncheon for him at the same time that we bid farewell to the Sisters. Our president presented Father with a cheque. We also had a special birthday for one of our members, Mrs. Hazel Beingessner, who celebrated her 100t" birthday in 1997.  We have an annual memorial Mass for all of our deceased members.

Over the past two years, we have been privileged to have Fr. Chris speak on his life in Africa, also Fr. Mariuz gave a talk on India where he spent some time.

This coming December meeting, Fr. Chris will be giving an Advent Presentation.