CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

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very Sunday, the whole family attended mass at the Holy

Redeemer Church on Spring Park Road around the corner and

down the street from their home. Everyone dressed in their “Sunday best.” Bill would slick the boys’ hair back with Wildroot hair cream and it was off to mass, where they filed into their accustomed place.

The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer was originally established in 1929 when Bishop Louis ].O’Leary invited the Redemptorist Fathers

to minister to the spiritual needs of the people living in the west end of Charlottetown. The Redemptorists order was founded in Italy in 1732 to minister to the poor. As the order grew, it established missionary communities around the world with a focus on missions, retreats and parish ministries. Under the direction of successive Redemptorist priests, the Holy Redeemer Parish grew and expanded.

The original Holy Redeemer church which accommodated 600 people was built at the corner of Upper Queen and Bayfield Streets and was opened with the celebration of Midnight Mass at Christmas of 1929. From its beginning, it was described as a very closely—knit, spiritually motivated and socially active parish community.

By the early 1960s, the parish recognized that the old “basement church” could no longer accommodate the growing population in the western and northern ends of the city, and the decision was made to construct a new

church on Spring Park Road. The church, which accommodated 1000 people, was opened in July of 1964.

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