Mary Queen of the World Cathedral - Sunday, March 9, 2025 

In this Jubilee Year 2025 under THE SIGN OF HOPE, took place for catechumens the RITE OF ELECTION AND ENROLLMENT OF NAMES led by the archbishop. 

The Jubilee Year invites us to a moment of living, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, who is “our hope” (cf. 1 Tim 1:1), and “HOPE DOES NOT FAIL” (Rom 5:5). 

The whole Church, which leads catechumens to the encounter with Christ, gathered last Sunday more than 200 of catechumens around Archbishop Lépine during a diocesan celebration at the Cathedral.  

The Church proceeded with the RITE OF ELECTION, i.e. the admission of catechumens deemed suitable to receive the sacraments of Christian initiation during the upcoming Easter celebrations.                                        

Archbishop Lépine heard the testimony of all those who had supported and initiated the catechumens. After the catechumens had expressed their willingness to receive the sacraments. The catechumens then signed their names in the register of those elected. The archbishop presented them with a scarf, the purple/violet color of which is a sign of spiritual struggle during Lent.  

This register has been handed over to the superior of the Carmelite Convent in Montreal, Sister Nicole Hamel, for the Carmelite Sisters to carry in their prayers.  

Since they have been judged suitable and have decided to walk towards the sacraments of Initiation, catechumens are now called “electi”, or members of the elect. 

The Catechumenate is a journey that needs to experience these powerful moments together, to nourish and strengthen hope, the irreplaceable companion that gives us a glimpse of the goal: the encounter with the Lord Jesus”.  Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee 2025 n.5 Pope Francis. 

Angèle C. Assalian
Coordinator, Catechumenate
Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Cœur Parish in Lasalle