Two-day visit to historic parishes
and the newest in the province of Alberta
On May 14-23, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian paid a pastoral visit to the historic parishes of Edmonton area and the newly established Calgary Parishes in Alberta.
On Tuesday, May 17, the hierarch together with Father George Bâzgan, diocesan-vicar and Father Mircea Panciuk, archpriest for Canada-West, went to the area of Boian village where the first Romanians who came at the end of 19th and early 20th century settled.
The first church visited was the one in Mălin dedicated to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The parish celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2014. It is a church that is in good condition. Father Mircea Panciuk regularly serves there twice a year, in addition to other occasional services. The church has a well-maintained cemetery that testifies to the antiquity of the Romanian presence there.
The Canadian hierarch and his two priests were greeted by a group of local believers. Memories were unraveled, the history of the parish was talked about and the troparion of the resurrection was sung.
The second church visited was the one in Hary Hill dedicated to the Nativity of the Mother of God in the very vicinity of the historic village of Boian. The church in Hary Hill was built since for a longer period the parish of Boian had passed into Russian jurisdiction and the Romanians had to build a new one. The church in Boian has returned thanks to His Eminence Archbishop Victorin. The church is over 100 years old and has a small cemetery. Due to the time and the fact that the Romanian believers went to the bigger cities, it has not been used for a long time and the church building is structurally affected. To preserve the main pieces of furniture - the iconostasis, the historical religious flags, the pew, the processional crosses, etc. - in good condition and with a good exposure in order to know the history of Romanians in the area, a 10-year loan agreement was signed the same evening between the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada and the Canadian Romanians Society of Alberta. The company already maintains a historical museum in Boian with various exhibitions - a memorial house, a historic hut, various pieces of folk art (folk costumes, rugs, kitchen utensils, weaving wares, etc.) as well as agricultural machinery and circulation epoch machines. Exhibitions from Hary Hill Church will be on display in this museum together in a special area dedicated to the church. During the month of July, a Romanian festival is held for several days in Boian, in which Romanians from all over Canada and even from the USA participate every year.
After a brief visit to the parish of the Dormition of the Mother of God and St. Dumitru in Boian and lunch prepared by some of its members in the social hall, the hierarch and the two clergy members headed to another historic church in Golden Creek / Hamelin dedicated to the Descent of the Holy Spirit. The church is in a small meadow. Unfortunately, due to a similar situation to Hary Hill building, the church here is structurally affected just as much. Like the other historic churches, it has a small cemetery next to it. The hierarch and the two priests returned to Edmonton in the afternoon.
Thursday, May 19 HG Bishop Ioan Casian together with the two clergy members went to the city of Calgary for a pastoral visit to the two Romanian parishes there with the patron saints - St. Andrew (Father Vasile Ioan Moisi) and the Holy Trinity (Father Ovidiu Moldovan).
The three clerics were greeted at St. Andrew's Parish by Father Vasile Ioan Moisi with a group of parishioners. The troparia specific to the period were sung after which the community offered the lunch. The parish recently managed to purchase a building to be converted into a church. The complex with many auxiliary spaces was visited and the plan of the church arrangement was presented (iconostasis, altar table, proskomidia table and part of the subsequent interior architectural arrangement).
A meeting followed with His Grace Ilarion, Bishop of Edmonton and the Western Eparchy (Ukrainian Metropolia/Ecumenical Patriarchate) and Metropolitan locum-tenens. The situation of the Ukrainian parishes and community in Canada, the situation in Ukraine and other issues of theological interest were discussed. The meeting was also attended by Father Timothy Chrapko - a priest at St. Anthony's Parish, a theology professor and counselor. Father Timothy introduced visitors to the parish where he serves. As a child he is the spiritual son of Boian, growing up close to Father Mircea Panciuk as an assistant at the altar for religious services for a long time.
Afterwards, a visit was paid to Father Ovidiu Moldovan. The situation of the parish, which does not yet have its own place of worship, was discussed.
At the end of the day, HG Bishop Ioan Casian and the two priests headed to Edmonton for the next day's program.
