Arran SK Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Cemetery 1909

Arran, Saskatchewan, Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Cemetery, 1909

General information

The village of Arran, Saskatchewan, Canada, was named after the Isle of Arran in south-western Scotland. This is an indication of 3 usual possibilities : the earliest settlers were from Scotland ; the name was given by the railway developers ; the name was given by Canada Post to the settlement. It is a common occurrence in Saskatchewan that the earliest arrivals were of Western European origin, and that they were followed by newcomers from Central and Eastern Europe, but it is not stated that this was the case with the village of Arran.

The area around the village of Arran was part of the “North Reserve”, also known as “Thunder Hill Reserve”, one of the “block settlement” areas allocated for the Doukhobor immigrants who arrived in Canada in 1899 from Imperial Russia’s Trans-Caucasus provinces. The Doukhobor newcomers were numerous, they lived in "communes" instead of owning land privately, and their main language was Russian.

Surveyor map of Arran, Saskatchewan

Arran was incorporated as a village on 21 September, 1916.

The Doukhobor settlement of "Vosnesinia" (Ascension), on the Swan River northeast of Arran, in the early 1900s.

Removal of the Dukhobors

In 1907, a law was enacted requiring Doukhobor settlers to take oaths that would lead to citizenship and private land ownership, which most of them declined to do. Their lands were ruthlessly confiscated and offered for public sale. Demise of the communes resulted, and mass exodus began to the Kootenays in British Columbia. It was followed by an unprecedented land rush for the vacated farms that were repossessed and released again as homesteads.

Furthermore, after the departure of the Dukhobors to British Columbia, there were left at least 2 cemeteries : "Bogomdannoe" ("Given by God"), and "Khlebodarnoe" ("Giver of Bread"). In both cases, cemeteries were obliterated. One was overgrown (markers removed), and another was farmed over (markers removed). The same was the case with "Blagosklonnoe" ("Favourable") near Good Spirit Lake and Buchanan, Saskatchewan.

Founding the parish

Although it is not clearly so indicated, it may well be that this parish of Holy Trinity was founded in 1909, since that date is associated with the establishment of the cemetery. The location of the parish is about 1 km south of Arran, on the eastern side of the road.

It was the custom amongst all the Orthodox who arrived from Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans that the people organise amongst themselves a system of regular communal services of worship. These services, in the form used by a Reader, would be conducted in private homes or schools or some other adequate place until it became possible to construct a proper Temple. Furthermore, it was usually the case that a Temple would be constructed in the village, and at least one other Temple in the midst of the homesteads round about in the country-side.

Because of the approximate date of its founding, this parish probably originated as a community within the “Russian Mission”, and then a part of the “Diocese of Canada” vicariate (diocese headed by a vicar-bishop) of the “Archdiocese of New York and the Aleutians”. The Canadian Diocese was initiated in 1916).

It is also likely that at some time, a decade or more after the founding of the “Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada” in 1918, this parish community moved away from the “Russian Mission” and into that new entity. Such a move was usually because of the use of the Ukrainian language, although sometimes it had to do with political opinions.

Ukrainian People's Home, Arran

Move to the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada

It is likely that around the year 1922, the parish of Holy Trinity moved away from the “Russian Mission’s” Diocese of Canada of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America in order to join the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada (UGOCC).

This was the year in which the Parish of Saint Michael in Gardenton, Manitoba, made this move, and there were certainly activists in this region who desired the use of the Ukrainian language in worship services. There is no indication available about the precise year in which this occurred, but it was likely near the same time as the move of the first Saint Michael's parish in 1922.

An indication of this possibility is the report in the village history that

 A community hall known as the Ukrainian People's Home was built in 1919.  It was the scene of many church 
 functions, drama nights and a wide variety of festive gatherings.  School concerts featured excited students acting 
 their roles garbed in crepe paper and make-up as they were transformed into fairies, angels, shepherds, Maypole 
 dancers, and evil-looking monsters.

Although such establishments (sometimes called "reading rooms") were not specifically related to Orthodox communities, they were sometimes harbingers of Orthodox Christian communities to be established in the future.

Second Temple

The second Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church at Arran, served by Priest L Diachina, was built by local architect Wasyl Huziak and volunteers in 1936. Its first funeral service occurred a few months later with the untimely tragic death of Katherine Berezowski, a young mother 39 years of age.

Rural depopulation

As became the case everywhere on the Canadian prairies, during the 1930s, there began a steady reduction in the population. The Great Drought of that decade was a major factor. However, the availability of machines reduced the physical labour required for farming. As a consequence, the process of consolidating and merging of farms began. Subsistence family farming began to fade away.

This process continued steadily after World War II with the development of commercial farming and the establishing of farms as businesses as they became larger and larger units.

Change of status of the UGOCC, 1990

Change of name, 1990

In 1990, the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada was officially renamed “The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada” (UOCC) by an Act of the Parliament of Canada.

Acceptance by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, 1990

In 1990, the 18th Sobor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba, decided to enter into Eucharistic Union with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople (Istanbul). This decision also changed the relationship with the other Orthodox dioceses and parishes in Canada in a positive way.

Closure, 2015

According to one source, Holy Trinity Temple was "deconsecrated" in 2015.

Centennial of the UOCC, 2018

In 2018, the 100th anniversary of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and also of Holy Trinity Cathedral were marked at an extraordinary sobor (assembly) at the cathedral in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The purpose of the sobor was to celebrate 100 years of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. The celebrations were attended by Ukrainian Orthodox faithful from across Canada and beyond.

The Sobor began on Thursday, 9 August, 2018, with a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in the Chapel of Saint Petro Mohyla Institute, presided by Bishop Andriy (Peshko) of the Eastern Eparchy, with the responses sung by the Clergy led by Father Michael Lomaszkiewicz. This was followed by an All-Canada Clergy Conference.

Centennial Clergy Conference

All gathered for Vespers at the Mohyla Institute Chapel and this was followed by a wine and cheese reception as the delegates and guests registered for the Extraordinary National Council.

The celebrations continued for a year.

2020-2021 Coronavirus-19 virus restrictions on parishes

In early 2020, the Covid-19 virus made its appearance in Canada, and it quickly became a world-wide pandemic. Because of the rules governing gatherings that were laid down by the provincial and city governments, the parish stopped any further services after 8 March, 2020. Including the rules regarding social distancing, the decreasing numbers permitted for any gathering, and the considerations regarding the health of all concerned, this and other parishes were required to close for a time.

As elsewhere, there was some controversy about the legal requirements.

Election of Metropolitan Ilarion (Rudnyk), 2022

Election of a nominee by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

On 15-19 June, 2022, the 24th Sobor of the Ukrainian Orthodox of Canada was convened "on-line". This conference-meeting was convened thus instead of convening physically (as customarily) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. There were 6 cathedrals in Canada where this meeting took place simultaneously through a computer-network : in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Holy Trinity Metropolitan Cathedral) ; Vancouver, British Columbia (Holy Trinity Cathedral) ; in Edmonton, Alberta (Saint John's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral) ; in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Holy Trinity Cathedral) ; in Toronto, Ontario (Saints Vladimir and Olga Cathedral) ; in Montréal, Québec (Saint Sophie Cathedral).

There was a total of 205 delegates, which was near the average attendance for such sobors.

In the course of the work of the Sobor, there was the necessary election in order to nominate to the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople a candidate for election as Archbishop of Winnipeg and Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, who would succeed the Retired Metropolitan Yurij (Kalistchuk).

There were 3 candidates who were considered : Archbishop Job (Getcha), Bishop Ilarion (Rudnyk), and Bishop Andriy (Peshko). The final choice of the members of the sobor was Archbishop Job (Getcha). He had received more than the minimum required 51% of the votes, and there was no subsequent voting required.

The election by the Sobor (Assembly) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada then had to be confirmed by the Holy Synod of Bishops of Constantinople (as is described in the Consistory By-laws).

Upon having received the nomination (with accompanying documents) from the Sobor of the UOCC, the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople elected Vladyka Ilarion (Rudnyk) to become Archbishop of Winnipeg and Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople elected Archbishop Job (Getcha) to become Metropolitan of Pisidia, in west-central Türkiye (Turkey), north of Lycia, and east of Ephesus.

Confirmation of election in Constantinople/Istanbul, 2022

On 29 August, 2022, Vladyka Ilarion (Rudnyk) was at the Phanar in Constantinople for the purpose of the first confirmation of the election in June, 2022. He co-served the Divine Liturgy with Patriarch Bartholomew (Archontonis) in the Cathedral of Saint George at the Phanar.

Enthronement as Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, 2022

On Saturday, 19 November, 2022, at 9:30 a.m., in Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Enthronement Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was served. Metropolitan Ilarion (Rudnyk) presided at the Divine Liturgy. He was assisted by Bishop Andriy (Peshko), many priests, several deacons, subdeacons and Altar-servers. Present also were Metropolitan Archbishop Sotirios (Athanassoulas), Exarch of Canada for the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Retired Metropolitan Yurij (Kalistchuk), Former Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada.

Metropolitan Ilarion (Rudnyk) at the Phanar, Istanbul, 2023

On Sunday, 2 July, 2023, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Archontonis) was present and praying during the Divine Liturgy at Saint George's Cathedral in the Patriarchate compound. He gave the blessing that Metropolitan Ilarion (Rudnyk) preside ("horostasia") over the Divine Liturgy. Metropolitan Job (Getcha) of Pisidia, Bishop Athenagoras (Ziliaskopoulos) of Nazianzos, and the Honourable Roman Nedilskyi, General Consul of Ukraine in Constantinople were also present and praying with the congregation of the Faithful.

Change of calendar for the UOCC, 2023

On 1 December, 2023, in accordance with the resolutions of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, Metropolitan Ilarion II (Rudnyk) announced that, effective that day, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada moved to use the New (Revised Julian) Calendar. He allowed that for a brief period of time, a parish might remain on the Old (Julian) Calendar.

It seems that subsequently, John's Cathedral in Edmonton, Alberta, was the first to adopt the New (Revised Julian) Calendar.

However, a previously-existing group of persons began to encourage resistance to the immediacy of this change. It was their understanding that the process would be determined ultimately and finally at the next general sobor of the UOCC. Therefore, on 16 December, 2023, Metropolitan Ilarion issued a formal letter concerning the situation, together with a letter of support sent to him by his predecessor (Retired Metropolitan Yurij (Kalistchuk)). He called the resisters to repentance.

Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery, 1909

Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery is also known as “Arran Ukrainian Peoples Cemetery”. It was established in about 1909.

Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery

GPS : 51.87337, -101.71682

RM Saint Philips #301

(Arran, Saskatchewan)

S0A 0B0

In 2024, the cemetery has 159 recorded interments. The earliest listed date is 1909.

Holy Trinity Cemetery Cross

Holy Trinity Cemetery entrance

Holy Trinity Orthodox Cemetery

Priests who served in this parish include :

 Priest C Sawchuk 			1920
 Priest S Hrebeniuk 			1923
 Priest Peter Melnychuk		1925
 Priest T D Wolochatchuk		1926-1927
 Priest Metro Seneta			1928-1931
 Priest Metro Kirstiuk		1931-1935
 Priest L Diachina			1936-1940
 Priest Michael Bodnarchuk	1940-1942
 Priest William Oponiuk		1943-1945
 Priest John Mayba			1945-1949
 Priest Kost Zaleskewich		1950-1952
 Priest Fred Leheniuk		1952-1956
 Priest Harry Krystanowich	1957
 Priest Peter Zubryski		1958-1959
 Priest Steve Hredil			1960-1965
 Priest Jaroslaw Puk			1966-1968
 Priest Ambrosi Chrustawka	1969-1974
 Priest Paul Shadursky		1975-1977
 Priest Peter Krywych		1978-1979
 Priest Eugene Stefaniuk		1980-1988
 Priest M Sidorski			1988
 Priest Victor Lemoskewich	1988-1993
 Priest Michael Kopchuk		1994-1996
 Priest Victor Stajkowski		1996-1997
 Priest John Petruchuk		1995-____

Particular parish information

This parish is part of the Canora-Kamsack-Swan River Region of the Central Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. The bishop is Metropolitan Ilarion II (Rudnyk).

This parish follows the Old (Julian) Calendar.

The Altar Feast-day of the parish is the Feast of the Holy Trinity (Pentecost).

For information regarding this parish, contact : fr.mfaryna@icloud.com

Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church

GPS : 51.87337, -101.71682

RM Saint Philips #301

(Arran, Saskatchewan)

S0A 0B0

Directions :

Arran is situated in the Rural Municipality No. 301, near the Saskatchewan-Manitoba, border, 49 km (30 mi) northeast of Kamsack, Saskatchewan, and 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Benito, Manitoba. It is located on Highway #49 and Road #660. It is 49 km north of Kamsack, Saskatchewan.

By car from Yorkton, Saskatchewan :

Drive north from Yorkton, Saskatchewan, on Highway #9, about 74 km. At the junction of Highway #9 with Highway #49, turn right (east) onto Highway #49. Drive about 49 km. until Highway #660. Turn right (south) on Highway #660. Drive about 800 metres. The Temple and cemetery are on the left.

By car from Kamsack, Saskatchewan :

From Kamsack, Saskatchewan, drive north on Highway #8, about 32 km. At the junction of Highway #9 with Highway #49, turn right (east) onto Highway #49. Drive about 49 km. until Highway #660. Turn right (south) on Highway #660. Drive about 800 metres. The Temple and cemetery are on the left.

References

“A Brief History of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada”

Archdiocese of Canada, “The Orthodox Church in Canada : A Chronology” (Ottawa : Archdiocese of Canada, 1988).

“Russian Mission in North America”

Yereniuk, Professor Roman, “Short Historical Outline of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada” (UOCC)

Additional information :

Martynowych, Orest T, “Ukrainians in Canada : The Formative Years, 1891-1924” (Edmonton : Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, University of Alberta, 1991).

Tarasar, Constance J, ed., "Orthodox America 1794-1976 : Development of The Orthodox Church in America" (Syosset, NY : The Orthodox Church in America Department of History and Archives, 1975). ASIN : B000ZLZAUE.

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, Arran, Saskatchewan, Orthodox World listing

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, Arran, Saskatchewan parish listing

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada web-site

Orthodoxwiki article about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

Wikipedia article about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

Church of Constantinople web-site

Orthodoxwiki article about the Church of Constantinople

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Patriarch Bartholomew (Archontonis)

Archbishop Alexander (Nemolovsky)

Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky)

Metropolitan Theophilus (Pashkovsky)