Fr. Roy Farrell
(Pastor)
I
grew up in a small outport southwest of
St. John’s, Newfoundland called Marystown.
The first local priest dedicated the town
to Mary, the Mother of God. My dad, “Bill”,
was a fisherman and later became a sea captain.
My mother was a teacher and, after she married,
she was very faithful to her mission of
homemaker and was completely dedicated to
the education of her children. There were
six children, five boys and one girl. Two
of my brothers died very early in life.
I am the youngest. I have wonderful memories
of my childhood growing up in a very Catholic
environment.
The first thought
of a vocation to the priesthood was when
I was ten years old. It began when I started
to serve Mass as an altar boy. At home I
would always “practice” saying
Mass with my siblings. Even though I was
a little guy, I perceived God’s calling.
As I continued growing up there was a longing
in my heart. God had given me so much, how
could I respond with anything other than
my whole heart? However, I still had all
of the other typical teenage interests.
After graduating
high school I attended Memorial University,
where I completed my undergraduate degrees.
I was certified as an elementary teacher.
Teaching jobs were hard to come by, so
I headed for “da mainland”, as
we Newfoundlanders affectionately call Toronto.
It was there that I joined the Basilian
Fathers. I was sent to Gary, Indiana and
Missouri City, Texas where I discerned my
vocation with them. After a two year period,
I decided that I was more suitably called
to be a diocesan priest. I was ordained
for the Archdiocese of Toronto on May 8,
1999. I served my first three years as an
associate pastor at the Epiphany of Our Lord in
Scarborough, spent two years at St. Isaac Jogues
in Pickering, and was then assigned as Pastor
to St. Elizabeth Seton in 2004.
I recently read a
prayer for vocations on the back of a prayer
card. It summarized, for me, the meaning of
the priesthood. The prayer goes like this:
“Grant saintly priest to the world, priests
who live close to the Eucharist, with deep
spiritual lives, who work and suffer, but
with joyful hearts; priest who give every
moment of their lives for the salvation
of souls and the triumph of the kingdom.”
I ask you to pray that I will live out that
prayer in my own life.
Fr. Roselle Azares (Associate Pastor)
I was born in the northern part of the Philippines. My father is an engineer and my late mother was a nurse.
I have one brother and one sister; I am the eldest.
I first felt called to the priesthood at a very young age.
As a child, I went to Sunday mass with my late maternal grandmother.
I developed a great admiration for the Holy Eucharist. My
favorite part of the mass was when the priest elevated the
bread and wine to become the Body and Blood of Christ.
I told myself, I also wanted to bless bread and wine to
give to people as the food for their souls.
My initial response to God’s calling was to enter a
high school seminary in the Philippines when I was twelve
years old. To be separated from my family for the first
time was hard. But, with the support and encouragement of
my parents, I persevered in my seminary formation.
I went to university seminary after high school. It
was during this time that a priest opened my eyes to
the possibility of serving as a priest in a foreign country.
He said that we, Filipinos, first heard the Gospel of Christ
from foreign missionaries. He encouraged us to consider being
evangelizers in other nations, since we were blessed
with many vocations to the priesthood.
I went to major seminary after university. After one
year of theological studies, I moved to Canada in the
year 2000. I spent a year at Serra House and I entered
St. Augustine’s Seminary in the fall of 2002. With the
grace of our Almighty God, I was ordained to the priesthood
on May 13, 2006.
I served as associate pastor at St. Boniface in Scarborough
for three years and was assigned, this July, as associate pastor
here at St. Elizabeth Seton.
