Saint Basil’s Parish was established in 1956 and the first mass was celebrated on Christmas Eve 1960 in the new, uniquely designed round church. The circle represents eternity and is a constant reminder of creation and resurrection. The design was chosen so that all participants would be around the altar and as near to it as possible.

The Basilian priests spent 34 years in service to the parish and to the community. One of the early pastors was the well remembered Fr. Ruth, who loved nature and was an avid gardener. Over the years our gardens have been cultivated by varous parishioners and lately by our sponsored Syrian refugee family. This is an area which has room for expansion.

Because of the age of the church, a systematic overhaul of the structural fabric inside and outside of the building is taking place. Our heating and lighting systems will be upgraded and recently all lighting was changed to LED. During the years, many parishioners have been conscious of our environmental footprints. Our Coffee Sundays and other social events use only reusable cups and fair trade products and recycling bins are used in the kitchen. We encourage all people renting the hall to follow these guidelines.

With the publication of Laudato Si’, the message from Pope Francis gave us a further incentive to find more ways to “care for our common home”. In 2016, with the blessings of our pastor and the Parish Council, a Green Team was formed to try to find new ways of improving our ecological practices. We challenged all committes to come forward with some suggestions for doing this in the areas of Spirituality, Education or Action. So far, committees have planned to reorganize the recycling in our kitchen, introduce NO Bottled Water signs and ways of saving paper. We have also included a Green Tip in each of our Sunday Bulletins.

By becoming a member of the Green Churches Network, the parishioners of St. Basil’s will be more fully aware of our need to continue to find more ways to implement environmentally  friendly practices.

St Basil’s Church
940 Rex Ave., Ottawa, ON
K2A 2P7

Phone: (613) 729-5149

Website : http://www.stbasilsparish.ca/