St. Columba ParishToronto is the most multicultural city in the world, and a Toronto parish looks like it. Founded by Irish and Italian families, St. Columba now prays in six languages. Language Masses are not separate parishes; they are the same community praying in its mother tongue, and every parishioner is welcome at every Mass.
- English
- Español
- Tagalog
- Italiano
- Português
- தமிழ்
Spanish-speaking community
Mass in Spanish: 1st and 3rd Sundays, 1:00 PM, with the Coro Hispano. Renovación Carismática: Tuesdays 7:00 PM in the hall. Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 with mañanitas at 6:00 AM, Mass and a fiesta; Via Crucis viviente on Good Friday; Alpha en español in January. About 200 families from Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Peru and Venezuela.
Contact: Carlos Mendoza · hispana@stcolumbatoronto.ca
Simbahan ng mga Pilipino
Mass in Tagalog: 2nd Sunday, 1:00 PM. Bukas Loob sa Diyos prayer community after the Mass. Simbang Gabi: nine dawn Masses from December 16 to 24 at 6:00 AM with breakfast after; Santo Niño feast in January; Flores de Mayo. The community also runs the Sunday 5:00 PM supper once a month.
Contact: Marlene Aquino · filipino@stcolumbatoronto.ca
Italian community
Mass in Italian: 4th Sunday, 1:00 PM. Padre Pio Prayer Group: 3rd Sunday after Mass. Feast of San Rocco in August with a procession and a pasta lunch; the Christmas presepio in the church since 1963. The community founded the parish in 1954 alongside the Irish, and its seniors are the backbone of the Wednesday Prime Time club.
Contact: Giuseppe Rossi · italiana@stcolumbatoronto.ca
Portuguese community
Mass in Portuguese on the first Sunday of May and October at 3:00 PM, with the candlelight procession of Our Lady of Fátima in May; the rosary in Portuguese on the 13th of each month at 7:00 PM. Confessions in Portuguese by appointment with Fr. Moreau.
Contact: Maria de Sousa · portuguesa@stcolumbatoronto.ca
Tamil Catholic community
An annual Mass in Tamil for the feast of Our Lady of Madhu in August, a Tamil rosary group on Saturday evenings, and a growing group of young families from Sri Lanka and India who serve at the 11:00 AM Mass. A visiting Tamil-speaking priest hears confessions in Advent and Lent.
Contact: Anthony Selvaraj · tamil@stcolumbatoronto.ca
International Mass & potluck
On Pentecost Sunday the 11:00 AM Mass is celebrated with readings and hymns in all six languages, followed by the parish's most popular lunch of the year. Each community also takes a turn hosting Coffee Sunday.
New communities
Toronto changes, and so does the parish. If there is a group of parishioners who share a language and would like a Mass, a devotion or a feast celebrated, speak to Fr. Moreau. The parish can often find a visiting priest through the Archdiocese's ethnic chaplaincies, and the hall and church are made available without charge. In the past five years we have added the Tamil rosary group and Simbang Gabi; the next community is probably already sitting in the pews.
Questions
Can I go to a language Mass if I don't speak the language?
Of course. The Mass is the same everywhere; bilingual missalettes are at the door, and the homily is often summarized in English.
Are sacraments available in other languages?
Baptisms and weddings can be celebrated bilingually in Spanish, Tagalog, Italian and Portuguese; confessions are heard in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese by our priests.
I am a newcomer to Canada.
Welcome. The community contacts above can connect you with people from home, and the St. Vincent de Paul conference and refugee committee can help with settlement questions.