Roots of community - First Divine Liturgy
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There was no fitting home in which to have a Liturgy and so it was decided to have it in the open air. A rise in the midst of the open prairie on the farm of Theodore Nemirsky was chosen.
On the crest of the land was placed a large, three-barred cross, decorated with a wreath of wildflowers and greenery. A new table was hedged with spruce saplings along its three sides, and between these trees, white cloth was draped to ensure that the candles could remain lighted. Although at this time there is often rain, the weather remained quiet and clear, as if for our purposes…the received appeared to number about 600 souls, with women and children… Excerpt from Fr. Kamnev's Report After the evening service (Vespers), a place was chosen for a church and cemetery and a Church Construction Committee was selected, consisting of Ivan Lakusta, Constantine Nemirsky, Dmitro Balan, Ivan Tkachuk, Vasyl Strashuk, Ivan Danchuk and Ivan Boris; Ivan Halkov was chosen as chairman, Theodore Rudyk as his assistant and Theodore Nemirsky as secretary. This was the first Orthodox parish committee in Canada, forming the first parish dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity at Stary Wostok (Old East), Alberta. The inscription on the cornerstone read: IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE FIRST ORTHODOX CHURCH IN CANADA IS FOUNDED IN THE NAME OF THE HOLY TRINITY ON JUNE 4, IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1898, DURING THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR OF ALL-RUSSIA NICHOLAS II AND THE QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN ALEXANDRA-VICTORIA, UNDER THE RULING OF HIS GRACE BISHOP NICHOLAS. |
The visit of the first priest, Father Dmitri Kamnev and reader, Vladimir Aleksandrov, of the Seattle Mission began on June 24, 1897 by train via Calgary, which he described “as a town with an enormous quantity of mosquitoes that give no rest to the visitor.”
They reached Edmonton, another young prairie town, and there inquired at the Immigration office for the location of the Ruthenian families. They were told that some were 15 miles away at Rabbit Hill and about 120 families had gone farther, about 70 miles to a place known as Limestone Lake.
Hiring horses, they set out for Limestone Lake, reaching the house of the nearest Ruthenian, Mikhailo Melnyk. Fr. Kamnev was amazed equally by their poverty and by their cheerful steadfastness, “they wait for the not too distant future to gain the promise this virgin land holds, both for the raising of crops and of cattle.” Everywhere they went, they were met with joy, and the Divine Liturgy was set for Sunday, with the blessing of water, the blessing of the spot for the service, and an All-Night Vigil served on Saturday, with provision for talks to prepare the settlers for a formal Rite of Union, if they wished to join the Church.
Due to an typographical error in the report of their travels in Vestnik, the exact dates of services can only be calculated from their start-out date from Seattle, and their return date, leaving Edmonton on the 16th and getting home on July 20th (bearing in mind that by then both the Gregorian and Julian calendars were used in Vestnik).
The impoverished conditions touched us so—besides a table and 2 or 3 boards put across stumps in place of benches, there was absolutely nothing! - and the family is quite large, a wife and 5-7 children. He was glad of us and informed us that they were awaiting us, and had arrangements for our lodging in the home of Theodore Nemirsky—but to get there would be ten more miles!
