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  • A Brief History of a Spiritual Initiative The “New Generations, Same Roots” Project


A Brief History of a Spiritual Initiative The “New Generations, Same Roots” Project

Category: Headlines
Published: June 05 2025

A Brief History of a Spiritual Initiative

The “New Generations, Same Roots” Project

 

From May 29 to June 2, His Grace Ioan Casian, Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada, made a pastoral visit to the Western Canada Deanery, in the province of Alberta.

The main purpose of this visit was to consecrate the site of the future St. Metropolitan Dosoftei Center - a diocesan metochion and a religious, cultural and mission center. The title of the project is New Generations, Same Roots. The center will be located on the site of the former Nativity of the Virgin Mary Parish in Hairy Hill (AB), approximately 4 km from the historic Dormition of the Mother of God Church in Boian (AB), known as Saint Mary.

To better understand the context in which the need for this project arose, we must mention a few aspects related to the history of the Romanian community in this part of Canada.

The Boian/Hairy Hill area, Alberta, is the birthplace of the oldest Romanian community in Canada, founded by emigrants from Bukovina in the late 19th century. They arrived here and were able to buy a piece of land for $10, but they did not find any infrastructure or a roof under which they could even rest at night. But through their work and effort, they managed to establish a community that was very united and numerous for several decades.

In the early 1900s, the Romanian community in the Boian/Hairy Hill area was served by Russian priests, because there were not enough Romanian priests in western Canada. This situation generated tensions, because services were not held in Romanian, which led to misunderstandings between Romanians and Russians. After a period of conflict and legal interventions, a judge recommended that the Romanians build their own church.

On February 13, 1911, the first official meeting of the Romanian community took place in the house of Vasile Moroz, where a parish council was elected and the name "the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Romanian Orthodox Parish of Hairy Hill, Alberta" was established. After two years of work and sacrifice, the church was built on three acres of land donated by Vasile Moroz and consecrated on August 14, 1914 by Archimandrite Silvestru Ionescu, under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitanate of Moldavia and Suceava. Over time, the church was a central point for the religious and cultural life of the Romanians in the area. Over time, the members of the "Saint Mary" parish in Boian and those of the "Nativity of the Virgin Mary " church in Hairy Hill united, forming a single community, using the "Saint Mary" church in Boian for liturgical services. Religious services at the Hairy Hill church continued to take place only on the occasion of the feast day and the day of remembrance of the deceased, in recent years, the services being held in the churchyard due to the advanced state of degradation of the church building.

In October 1972, the church and cemetery at Hairy Hill were donated to the Romanian Orthodox Missionary Diocese of America, led at that time by His Grace Bishop Victorin Ursache, to found a monastery, wishing to be a continuation of the faith and a testimony to the efforts and sacrifices made by the Romanian pioneers to preserve their spiritual and cultural identity in Canada.

At the beginning of 2025, the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada (established in 2016) took all necessary steps to take possession of the church and the land at Hairy Hill, the land on which the present project is intended to be carried out.

Today, the Boian/Hairy Hill area and the historic St. Mary's Church are points of reference for the approximately 84,000 Romanians living in Western Canada, serving as an important link between Romanian traditions and their new life in Canada.

However, the existing religious and cultural infrastructure in the region is limited, and the phenomenon of cultural assimilation and loss of identity is increasingly evident, especially among the younger generations. Thus, the need to create a place of pilgrimage, prayer and reconnection with Romanian traditions is becoming increasingly urgent. The project to build the St. Metropolitan Dosoftei Center - a diocesan metochion and religious, cultural and mission center at Hairy Hill / Boian comes as a response to this need, offering not only a place of worship, but also an opportunity to preserve Romanian identity in an increasingly globalized and diverse world.

The realization of this 53-year-old wish begins to take shape in a year with multiple meanings for the Orthodox Church in general and the Romanian Patriarchate in particular: 1700 years since the First Ecumenical Council, 140 years of autocephaly and 100 years since the elevation of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the rank of Patriarchate.

(Nun Ana Bulgariu)

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