International women’s ministry finds fertile ground in Vancouver

An international women’s ministry has just started a new chapter in Vancouver.

About 100 women arrived for the inaugural event of Magnificat, a women’s ministry founded in New Orleans with roots in the charismatic movement.

“It’s something new and it’s attracting new people,” said Mary Jane Norris, head of the Magnificat’s Our Lady of Guadalupe chapter in Vancouver.

One hundred women was as many as the venue, the hall at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre, could hold for breakfast, praise and worship, prayer, and testimonies May 12. The women came from as far as Abbotsford, ranging in age from early twenties to mid-nineties.

“They are very kind and they are nice, supportive,” said young mom Gisela Rodriguez, who has been praying for the ministry for two years and was happy to see it finally launch.

“When we were praying the Rosary, we did it in two different languages, English and Spanish. I was amazed how people prayed back in Spanish,” she said. “That made me realize there was a lot of diversity and different cultures gathered.”

Mary Ann Waslen, 95, also found the event inspiring. “This is what I’m looking for. I’m looking to be in a place where there is peace and goodness,” she said.

Waslen, involved in the charismatic renewal movement for 60 years, said she enjoyed the testimonies given by Norris and the new chapter’s spiritual adviser, Lennie David. “They were very beautiful to know that God is so active in our lives and close to us and loves us.”

Magnificat’s aim, Norris said, is to help women “grow in holiness through the opening of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.”

Named after the Song of Mary, this women’s ministry first founded in the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1981 and now has chapters across Africa, Europe, and the U.S. Events include breakfast, prayer, worship, and testimony.

Vancouver joins two other Canadian chapters in Halifax and Toronto. Norris, whose mother brought Magnificat to the country when she founded the Halifax chapter in the 1990s, said she felt suddenly moved to bring the ministry to Vancouver seven years ago.

“I’ve always been a good Catholic, but I haven’t been a soul on fire,” said Norris.

Also, “because of my close relationship with my mom, who was my best friend, I didn’t need another mother. I knew Mary, our blessed mother, I knew her role in salvation history, and I was pretty good at saying the Rosary, but I didn’t know Mary.”

Then, her mother passed away in 2011. During the funeral in Halifax May 31, Norris experienced something she described as a divine introduction.

“It was one of those spiritual moments where heaven bent down,” she said. “It was like my mom introduced me to our Blessed Mother, and my heart was on fire. It was like, how could I have not known? I did not know Mary until that day. It was like this burning love for my Blessed Mother, and I really feel like my mom made that introduction: ‘You had a mother all along. Don’t miss me so much. Do what I’ve always wanted you to do: start a Magnificat in Vancouver.’”

Norris, who had been attending charismatic prayer meetings and had played hostess for dozens of Magnificat events in Nova Scotia, had a sudden conviction that a chapter had to come to the West Coast.

“I asked very single person I knew: could you please start a chapter? I’ll be a hostess! I truly thought it was not my job. I was just the seed-planter,” said Norris.

“They all gave it back to me. The holy, prayerful women I loved all looked at me and said: ‘I think the Holy Spirit wants you to do this.’”

So, she began. It took seven years of preparation; to start a Magnificat chapter, one must first get the approval of the local archbishop, create a non-profit with a constitution and bylaws, have the archbishop review them, and gain charitable status.

“That took a long time. The longest time was probably the prayerful discernment. We did not do anything without praying over each and every detail.”

For the last 2 1/2 years, a group of women has been actively praying for the launch of the ministry. Now, it has finally come to fruition, and organizers and participants alike are saying this is something local women need.

“All women need that support between each other,” said Rodriguez. “I think that when you are having a problem or something, it’s something good you can enjoy and (the women) make you feel better and make you feel strength to continue.”

A second event is in the works for Oct. 27.