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My name is Joshua Grandmaison, from Stittsville, Ontario. I have five brothers and three sisters; I’m the fourth oldest of the family. My parents are devout Catholics that brought me and my siblings to Mass every Sunday. Our house had a crucifix in each room and there were statues of Mary and religious pictures throughout the house to keep us mindful of the spiritual realm. These sacramentals would later point me in the right direction to find the answers to the questions of life that I was asking.

In primary school, I remember someone asking me what I wanted to be when I grow up. And I replied “I don’t know. I just want to be happy”. During my adolescence I thought that joy came through satisfying my appetites rather than taming them. So I tried to put God aside and make my own rules which I thought would lead to freedom. With my new philosophy I would be able to do what I wanted to do, and go where ever I wanted to go. But by the grace of God before I knew it, I was yet the cause of another car accident. Thankfully I wasn’t physically harmed. So there I was on the side of the road with my hands up in the air, surrendering to whatever the Lord had in store for me. That day I turned my life over to God. That was in the summer of 2007.

Shortly after that experience I found myself at Madonna House experiencing God’s forgiveness through the sacrament of Reconciliation. As soon as I heard the priest forgive me and heard the words of absolution, I felt the Lord’s power and a strong desire to serve as a priest. I spent a few years keeping that sense of a call to myself. I figured that before I could take that call seriously, I had to grow in my relationship with the Lord and learn more about the Catholic church. So I attended St-Therese School of Faith and Mission in Bruno, Saskatchewan for 2 years. It was at St-Therese School of Faith and Mission that I first encountered the Companions of the Cross.

It seems like the Lord has been leading me here ever since I said that dangerous prayer of abandonment on the side of the road back in 2007. I’m grateful because here I have found glimmers of joy that satisfy the longing of my heart. I’m still not completely content, but I can accept that I will never be supremely happy in this life. I am excited and at peace about my embarkment with the Companions of the Cross.

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