Mary Lake Augustinian Monastery

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The Mary Lake Augustinian Monastery, also known as Mary Lake Monastery, Mary Lake Shrine, or simply Mary Lake is an Augustinian monastery in King City, Ontario, Canada. The campus is nearly 1000 acres, residing on Keele Street, just north of King Sideroad. It is part of the Province of Saint Joseph. Mary Lake is the chief foundation of the Augustinians in Canada, and is now well known as a spiritual centre for the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. Mary Lake generally refers to the complex which includes the property, the monastery and shrine, and which operates the retreat centre. The shrine is named the Our Lady of Grace Shrine, whose title is taken from an Augustinian shrine in Lisbon, Portugal.[1] The monastery motto is One mind and one heart unto God.

In 1999, the monastic order established a school on the property, St. Thomas of Villanova College. The school campus is within the grounds of this Augustinian monastic foundation. It uses the house system, with houses such as St. Augustine, St. Nicholas, St. Rita, and St. Monica.

[edit] History

Originally, the property was the farm and summer home of Sir Henry Pellatt,[1] and was named for his wife Lady Mary Pellatt.[2]

An agricultural school was established on the grounds in the 1930s by the Basilian fathers, and in 1942 the Archbishop of Toronto James Cardinal McGuigan "invited the Augustinians to establish a shrine and to offer a program of weekend retreats for lay people"[1] The success of this program resulted in the construction of the shrine in the 1960s, which was dedicated n November 30, 1978 by Cardinal Carter.[2]

The building consists of split field stone native to Mary Lake, based on designs by J. Stuart Cauley.

Mary Lake held its first mass in 1945.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Tantalo, S.G. (John). The Augustinian Monastery. Mary Lake Monastery. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
  2. ^ a b Burchill, Aemon. History of Marylake. Mary Lake Monastery. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
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