Pascal DiFlorio Blog 1920…Margaret
The separation from Margaret was hard but we wrote each other often, so we did not mind our separation. In fact we found that we loved each other very much. The year 1920 I received my B.A. degree from McGill University. Margaret was present. Graduation was remembered as a great event in the lives of both Margaret and I. The following year I received my Bachelor of Divinity from the Wesleyan Theological College and was ordained as a minister of the Methodist Church, in the Montreal Conference, Cornwall, Ont. Canada. The date was June 5th 1921. At the time I was appointed to a little church in an out of the way place. This was not to be; in that, I applied also to the Board of Home Mission, in Toronto, Ontario to pastor an Italian Church. I went to Toronto and interviewed Dr. Smith who took a great interest in my case. He phoned the District Superintendent at St. Catherine, Ont. And gave him information and qualifications (which I had) to serve as a minister among the Italians in Welland, Ont. And Niagara Falls, Ont. I was to receive $1200 per year as long as I was single and $1500 plus the rent of a house if married. So at once I informed Margaret and we agreed to proceed to make preparations for our wedding day.
In the mean time I stayed in Thorold with a college friend named Santo Gualtieri. While I was in Thorold I looked for a house. I ended up renting a furnished house at 73 Ross Street, Welland. By correspondences Margaret and I planned to marry September in Brockville in the home of the Rev. Arthur Kelly, whose wife Alice was Margaret’s sister.
On September the 8th we met in one of the rooms in the Kelly’s home in the presence of Margaret’s father, Mr. Peter MacLauren and of the Kelly’s- Arthur, Alice, Doris, Norma and Elaine. The service was simple; the way both of us wanted it. After the service we sat for dinner, it was a treat on the part of the Kelly’s. After dinner Margaret and I extended our thanks for the hospitality and kindness. They helped to make the event memorable. In the afternoon Margaret and I bade goodbye to everyone and set out for Welland. We took the boat and went to Toronto where we visited the Exibition. We had planned to stay in Toronto a few days but the weather was very hot so we decided to go on…to Welland where our first home awaited us!
On Sunday we went to church…we had to walk about 20 minutes and both of us had a job…Margaret officiated at the piano and I at the pulpit. The congregation was small and made up of Italians. With the passing of days we visited in the homes and thus we instructed them in the ways of the Master. Besides Welland we had two other preaching places- Bridge Burg, New Yort and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
We assisted people to secure jobs, naturalization papers and night classes in English. We linked the city and the people associated with the church.
The separation from Margaret was hard but we wrote each other often, so we did not mind our separation. In fact we found that we loved each other very much. The year 1920 I received my B.A. degree from McGill University. Margaret was present. Graduation was remembered as a great event in the lives of both Margaret and I. The following year I received my Bachelor of Divinity from the Wesleyan Theological College and was ordained as a minister of the Methodist Church, in the Montreal Conference, Cornwall, Ont. Canada. The date was June 5th 1921. At the time I was appointed to a little church in an out of the way place. This was not to be; in that, I applied also to the Board of Home Mission, in Toronto, Ontario to pastor an Italian Church. I went to Toronto and interviewed Dr. Smith who took a great interest in my case. He phoned the District Superintendent at St. Catherine, Ont. And gave him information and qualifications (which I had) to serve as a minister among the Italians in Welland, Ont. And Niagara Falls, Ont. I was to receive $1200 per year as long as I was single and $1500 plus the rent of a house if married. So at once I informed Margaret and we agreed to proceed to make preparations for our wedding day.
In the mean time I stayed in Thorold with a college friend named Santo Gualtieri. While I was in Thorold I looked for a house. I ended up renting a furnished house at 73 Ross Street, Welland. By correspondences Margaret and I planned to marry September in Brockville in the home of the Rev. Arthur Kelly, whose wife Alice was Margaret’s sister.
On September the 8th we met in one of the rooms in the Kelly’s home in the presence of Margaret’s father, Mr. Peter MacLauren and of the Kelly’s- Arthur, Alice, Doris, Norma and Elaine. The service was simple; the way both of us wanted it. After the service we sat for dinner, it was a treat on the part of the Kelly’s. After dinner Margaret and I extended our thanks for the hospitality and kindness. They helped to make the event memorable. In the afternoon Margaret and I bade goodbye to everyone and set out for Welland. We took the boat and went to Toronto where we visited the Exibition. We had planned to stay in Toronto a few days but the weather was very hot so we decided to go on…to Welland where our first home awaited us!
On Sunday we went to church…we had to walk about 20 minutes and both of us had a job…Margaret officiated at the piano and I at the pulpit. The congregation was small and made up of Italians. With the passing of days we visited in the homes and thus we instructed them in the ways of the Master. Besides Welland we had two other preaching places- Bridge Burg, New Yort and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
We assisted people to secure jobs, naturalization papers and night classes in English. We linked the city and the people associated with the church.
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