A Blessed Family

St. Elias Church Celebrates its Milestones

By Halya Wawryshyn

On Thanksgiving Weekend, St. Elias Church in Brampton celebrated the 10th anniversary of the consecration of its temple.

Situated on the outskirts of Brampton, Ontario, St. Elias Church is an amazing wooden structure built in the Boyko church style found in western Ukraine. It is one of only two churches, along with one in Drohobych, Ukraine, with five cupolas rather than the usual three.

The Ukrainian-Catholic parish was founded in 1976, but the church was built in 1995.  Under the inspirational and dedicated leadership of the parish’s Pastor, Mitrophoric Archpriest Roman Galadza, St. Elias’s thriving and active community has grown considerably and, in a decade, has managed to pay off a substantial mortgage.

The weekend celebration began with Great Vespers on October 8. This was followed by a friendly fellowship of the parishioners and a lecture by Reverend Andrij Chirovsky of the Sheptytsky Institute in Ottawa. The lectured titled, “Make Disciples of all Nations,” dealt with the evangelization and the mission of the Kyivan Church worldwide.  In his lecture, he pointed out the Ukrainian Catholic Church needs to embrace change to progress and the biggest obstacle to change is negativity. Young people must be involved in something meaningful he said.  Also, the relative smallness of our parishes, with their sense of community, and the beauty and depth of our liturgy attract people to our Church.  We have, as well, said Rev. Chirovsky, a Church of Martyrs where many in Ukraine suffered to maintain the spirituality of the Ukrainian Church.

Father Chirovsky ended his lecture on a positive note.  He said that we must look to the past but be ready for the future as the golden age of our Ukrainian Church is yet to come.

The next day began with Sunday Matins and, later, a Pontifical Divine Liturgy with His Grace, Bishop Stephen Chmilar, the Eparch of Toronto. The Bishop was assisted by Mitrophoric Archpriest Roman Galadza and many other priests. As always, at St. Elias, the beauty of the church and the liturgy were enhanced by the harmonious singing of the parishioners.

Following the liturgy there was a sumptuous banquet in a tent, seating 300 people, which was set up beside the church. As Bishop Chmilar entered the tent, he was greeted by a group of children who danced and sang for him.  Like a pied piper, Rev. Roman Galadza led the enthusiastic children with musical accompaniment on his guitar.

An accordionist entertained the hromada as they enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner. Yuri Palaszczuk, vice-president of the parish council and emcee, welcomed everyone.

After dinner, a group of young people, calling themselves the Dead Saints Society, presented humourous skits about their happy memories and events in the history of the church. It was a refreshing change from the programs of many Ukrainian anniversaries commemorated primarily by long speeches.

Next, Rev. Peter Galadza, Rev. Roman Galadza’s brother, spoke to the guests.  He said that real virtue is what you do when no one is looking and he pointed out that his brother is even better than he looks – so much at St. Elias parish is due to the efforts of Rev. Roman Galdza and his wife, Irene, the Panyi Matka (Reverend Mother).  The assembled applauded enthusiastically to show their appreciation.

The main speaker, Mitrophoric Archpriest Andrij Chirovsky, said that when praise to God is real and true, there is an explosion of joy. The parish demonstrates that people can have joy in living and working together.

Afterwards, greetings were delivered by groups and individuals. Taras Pidzamecky, C.E.O. of the Ukrainian Credit Union, Toronto, also spoke. He said that the best guarantee for a mortgage is faith, and that he has a lot of faith in St. Elias Church. Although just over $11,000 of the $930,000 debt still remained, donations were coming in quickly.  To bring this down further, Pidzamecky presented a $1,000 donation on behalf of the Credit Union.

Thanks to the marvellous cooperation and generosity of parishioners, the parish paid off a loan of approximately $1 million in 10 years. During that time, the iconography in the church was also completed, a bell tower was built and, recently, a fountain was added in the front of the church to enhance the landscaping. In addition, worthy projects were supported in Canada and Ukraine.

At the closing of the banquet, Bishop Chmilar gave a blessing.  Many Mnohaya litas for those who made the celebration possible and a Vichnaya pamyat for reposed founders and benefactors were sung.

The evening was concluded by Rev. Roman Galadza leading the congregation in a rousing rendition of De zhoda v rodyni (Where there is Peace in the Family). Truly this parish is a blessed family that has done extremely well.