Translated by the Archdiocese of Montreal

Dear Colleagues and Friends, 

The Red Mass celebrated on Thursday, September 7, 2023, can be considered a solid success for the Société St-Yves de Montréal, for whom this was the first year in charge of coordinating the ceremony for the beginning of the 2023 - 2024 judicial year. 

The number of participants was much higher this year than last, with approximately 89 attendees, not counting some late arrivals and the choir members, whose names appear in the Mass booklet attached*. 

There were several judges, many lawyers and notaries, some legal clerical staff and a number of other guests. 

The Montreal Bar Association having unfortunately withdrawn its support from the tradition, we are grateful to Me. Darche, President and founder of the SSYM, along with Me. Lozeau and Me. Birks, for carrying on this beautiful ceremony in joy and serenity. 

Several weeks and countless hours’ worth of effort on the part of Mes. Darche, Lozeau and Birks went into the preparation and organization of the hour-long celebration. Tasks included coordinating the choir, reserving the chapel with the parish priest of Notre-Dame Church and obtaining the approval of Msgr. Lépine, Archbishop of Montreal, writing and publishing newspaper articles, taking out advertising on the SSYM website, printing booklets for the Mass, inviting colleagues, sending e-mails and notifying law firms. 

The ceremony also owed its success to the assistance of the team from the AJCQ (Association des Juristes Catholiques du Québec), including Me. Jacques Périgny, Me. Marie-Hélène Périgny, Me. Pallascio, Me. Haeck, Me. Rabbath, Me. Paquette and ourselves, along with Dr. Ayas and numerous other contributors, contacts and journalists. 

We will be pleased to send you some photos taken by Monique Gendron. In order to ensure the protection of attendees’ identity and privacy, full-face photos were not allowed, aside from certain well-known personalities. 

Please accept our kindest regards, as we look forward to seeing you again! 

Alexandre N. Khouzam, lawyer 

*Download the Mass booklet PDF