Ottawa ON †The Protection of the Theotokos Russian Orthodox Church 1999-2019

Ottawa, Ontario, †Russian Orthodox Church of the Protection of the Theotokos, 1999-2019

Prehistory of the parish

The history of the parish of the Protection of the Holy Virgin in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is inextricably linked with the history of its honourable rector, the Mitred Archpriest Dimitry F Sever.

The immediate prehistory of this community, however, is found in the now defunct Holy Trinity Bukowinian Orthodox Church in Ottawa, Ontario. This community was the first Orthodox Christian parish to be established in Ottawa, before World War I, and it was a community with a somewhat unstable history. It began in the Russian Mission, and continued into the time of its successor, the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America (ROGCCNA, known as the “Metropolia”). Then it spent time in the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada before settling for a long time in the Canadian diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). Finally, for the last decades, it returned to the “Metropolia”, after which this jurisdiction became “The Orthodox Church in America” in 1970.

Establishing the community, 1970

On 1 February, 1970, the 37-year-old Deacon Dimitry Sever was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Archbishop Vitaly (Ustinov) of Montréal and Canada (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia) (ROCOR).

Assignment of Priest Dmitry Sever, 1970

Archbishop Vitaly (Ustinov) assigned Father Dimitry to serve as the rector of the nascent community which had separated from Holy Trinity Bukowinian Church in Ottawa after that parish returned to The Orthodox Church in America.

The mission-size community at that time consisted of several people, and services were held once a month, in a place where one could scarcely swing the censer. Then Father Dimitry adapted a small house into a Temple. On the second floor, there was an apartment, where he lived with his wife, Matushka Irena, and her parents. Thanks to the titanic efforts of Father Dimitry, the worship-space became crowded, and the Divine Liturgy came to be offered on a weekly basis (in Slavonic), in rented space underneath a Protestant church. They began to remove walls in order to make a larger space for worship.

Building the Temple

Then, in the late 1980s, the Memorial Temple of the Protection of the Theotokos was constructed on Stonehurst Avenue. The first service in the new Temple with the golden domes was offered in 1988, the year of the millennial anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’. The new Temple complex included also the new Saint Vladimir Russian Residence.

Transfer to the Moscow Patriarchate ; reaction, 1999

In 1999, the parish council decided to move to the jurisdiction of Patriarch Aleksey II (Ridiger) of Moscow and All Rus’, to the Russian Orthodox Church (the Moscow Patriarchate).

The new generation of immigrants had experienced the revival of the Orthodox Church in Russia. Those who visited from Canada could see that the Faithful in Russia were true children of our Lord Jesus Christ, and they all suffered from the lack of Eucharistic communion with the Russian Orthodox Church (there had been a schism since the 1920s, after the establishment of a communist government in the Soviet Union).

Moreover, this decision was taken 8 years previous to the historic reunification in 2007 of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR).

Therefore, the earlier event of the transfer of this parish to the Moscow Patriarchate was followed by a rather dramatic response : Father Dimitry and most of the parishioners were forced to withdraw from the Temple, which was kept under the control of the ROCOR.

Re-organisation ; a new site

The Lord was merciful to the community. There were several moves, one of which was to a large room in the former Roman Catholic Holy Cross Convent on Baseline Road (which had been purchased by the Villa Marconi in 1995, and which was in the early days of renovation). New parishioners arrived.

New site, Booth Street

Then it became possible to move to a building belonging to the Italian parish of Saint Anthony of Padua at 412, Booth Street.

Mitred Archpriest Dimitry Sever serving

Moscow Patriarch Parishes in Canada, 1999

After 1999, the parish belonged to the Administration of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada. At that time, this administration was led by Archbishop Mark (Petrovtsiy) of Kashira (until 20 April, 2005). After him, it was then led by Bishop Iov (Smakouz) of Kashira. When he returned to Ukraine, it was led by Bishop Matthew (Andreev) of Sourozh.

In 2002, the Reader Alexander Zakharov, was ordained by Archbishop Mark (Petrovtsiy) to the Holy Diaconate.

Supreme Court ruling about property ownership, 2005

In March, 2005, an associate chief justice of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario was assigned to serve as the legal mediator in the dispute about parish ownership that arose after the 1999 transfer to the Moscow Patriarchate. Ultimately, the property was yielded to the administration belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), and all the other outstanding legal and financial disputes were brought to a resolution.

Reconciliation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia with the Patriarchate of Moscow, 2007

On 18 May, 2007, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) were reconciled, and Eucharistic Communion was restored between the them. This reconciliation and healing of the schism (which had come about following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia) culminated in the concelebration of the Divine Liturgy by Patriarch Aleksey II (Ridiger) and Metropolitan Laurus (Skurla) of the ROCOR.

As a consequence of this act, this parish returned to Eucharistic Communion with the ROCOR, and established eucharistic communion with The Orthodox Church in America, and with all the other Orthodox Churches. Father Dimitry and this parish had been, in effect, in the vanguard of this reconciliation.

After 2008, Father Dimitry began to try to retire ; however, for various reasons, several candidates who were presented to succeed him did not fit the requirements.

Resolution of legal disputes, 2011

On 28 October, 2011, the legal disputes were finally resolved between Father Dimitry and the administration of the Memorial Church of the Protection. Money that was judged to belong to him was transferred to him, and he was officially released from any obligations to that community.

In 2012, Bishop Iov (Smakouz) of Kashira elevated Deacon Alexander Zakharov to the dignity of protodeacon.

In early 2015, Father Dimitry began to face more health challenges (he had suffered from a series of illnesses for several years).

Priest Nikolay Melnik, 2015

In February, 2015, the Priest Nikolay N Melnik (a priest of the Archdiocese of Canada (OCA) in Ottawa) was assigned (with the blessing of the bishops) to serve in the parish as associate and deputy rector. He arrived with his wife, Matushka Svetlana, their 2 sons and their daughter. Matushka Svetlana was able to help both with the choir and with the sisterhood.

Father Nikolay cared for the pastoral needs of the parish during this illness of Father Dimitry until the summer of 2017. By this time, Father Dimitry had had surgeries and other procedures, and he felt strong enough to return to full-time service on his own. Father Nikolay and his family returned to service the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Ottawa.

Priest Nikolay Melnik and Protodeacon Alexander Zacharov

Attempted change of the parish dedication, 2015

In 2015, there was a decision to change the name of the parish to "The Kazan Icon-Protection Temple of the Mother of God". However, because of some internal differences of opinion, the decision was never promulgated (although this title appeared occasionally in certain documents).

During 2018, Father Dimitry's health became slowly weaker. He was able to participate in the services in the Temple, but he did not have the strength to serve them himself.

Archpriest Stelian Liabotis, 2018

Another priest was engaged to serve, and Father Dimitry did those things that he was able to do, such as hearing confessions. This priest was another priest of the Annunciation to the Theotokos-Saint Nicholas Cathedral, the Archpriest Stelian Liabotis.

Temple interior

Bereavement, 2019

On 1 April, 2019, the Mitred Archpriest Dimitry Sever fell asleep in the Lord in Ottawa.

On 3-4 April, 2019, the funeral services for the Mitred Archpriest Dimitry Sever took place in the Temple of the Protection of the Theotokos, The funeral services were presided by Archbishop Irénée (Rochon) of Ottawa and the Archdiocese of Canada.

After the completion of the funeral obsequies, the body of Father Dimitry was interred next to that of his wife, Matushka Irina Sever, in the Protection Church Section of the Pinecrest Cemetery in Ottawa.

Grave-marker Mitred Archpriest Dmitry and Matushka Irina Sever

Closure of the parish, 2019

After the repose of Father Dimitry Sever, the parish continued to be served weekly by Father Stelian Liabotis for several months. However, the parish had been worshipping in rented quarters, and their rental agreement came to an end.

At that time, although the Moscow Patriarchate sent another priest to investigate the situation, the parishioners could not agree about what to do next together. As a result, the parish was closed at the end of 2019. The parishioners then attended one or another of the parishes in Ottawa.

Some parishioners move to Annunciation Cathedral, Ottawa

A significant number of the original parishioners came to an agreement with Archbishop Irénée (Rochon) of the Archdiocese of Canada, The Orthodox Church in America.  They became members of the Cathedral Parish of the Annunciation-Saint Nicholas in Ottawa, and they began to be served there by Father Stelian Liabotis at a Slavonic Divine Liturgy early of a Sunday morning, before the main Divine Liturgy of the day.

Nevertheless, a small group of the parishioners seemed to maintain an attempt to continue, and from November, 2019, the rector of the parish was Archpriest Sergei Kazarin (according to the web-site). However, there was thereafter no indication that these hopes were fulfilled in any way.

Holy Protection Russian Orthodox Cemetery Section

At Pinecrest Cemetery in Ottawa, at the corner of Pinecrest and Baseline Avenues, there has been a Russian Orthodox Cemetery section, just to the west of the cemetery of the Cathedral of the Annunciation to the Theotokos-Saint Nicholas. The majority of Russian Orthodox interments are in one or the other section. The Holy Trinity Orthodox Cemetery on Merivale Road is the third site of such interments, chiefly before the establishment of the Protection parish.

Parish particulars

This parish was a part of the Parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in Canada. The last bishop to serve them was Bishop Matthew (Andreev).

Services were offered in the Church Slavonic language.

This parish followed the Old (Julian) Calendar.

The Altar Feast-day of this parish was the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, 1/14 October.

In 2019, the rector of the parish was the Mitred Archpriest Dimitry Sever.

Address :

The Russian Orthodox Protection of the Theotokos parish met in a room at 412, Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario.

The parish was located just north of the junction of Booth Street and Gladstone Avenue, on the west side (across from Saint Anthony’s School).

Reference

History of the Protection of the Theotokos Russian Orthodox Church in Ottawa

Russian Orthodox Church History Book Committee, “Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Canada, Millennium of the Baptism of Rus’” (Edmonton : Russian Orthodox Church History Book Committee, 1988). ISBN: 0-88925-830-9.

Additional information :

Protection of the Theotokos Russian Orthodox Church, Ottawa listing

Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in Canada web-site

Wikipedia article about the Protection of the Theotokos Russian Orthodox Church, Ottawa, Ontario

Orthodoxwiki article about the Russian Orthodox Church in Canada

Moscow Patriarchate web-site

Orthodoxwiki article about the Moscow Patriarchate

Orthodoxwiki article about the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

Orthodoxwiki article about the Archdiocese of Canada (OCA)

Orthodoxwiki article about the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)

Patriarch Aleksey II (Ridiger)

Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov)